It was the voice that struck you first….
Loud, stentorian, authoritative and, if some students or underlings were around, laden with expletives. The walls of the wards or the office reverberated long before the man himself was visible.
Rotund, stern-faced, eagle-eyed and immaculately dressed, he radiated confidence, authority and sheer intelligence. He was one formidable figure of a man.
It took us, his obstetrics students and I, his sole administrative understudy, years to learn what his family always knew – that once you came under the guidance of Dr. Jayatissa Nalin Rodrigo, you had a mentor, guardian and friend for life.
His was a life lived to the full.
Of aristocratic origin, he had an impeccable academic record and an unblemished professional life. As the doyen of Sri Lankan Obstetrics, his achievements as a doctor alone would have ensured his legacy. But his legend was built more on his outlook as a man.
Although he was the scion of one of the most prominent families in the country, he appreciated values other than aristocracy in people close to him.
“He is from good stock – his father was a well known poet,” he would say of a now eminent obstetrician. The fact that my father was a professor, as was his own, made him look beyond my own limited academic achievements and groom me as a medical administrator.
He regarded life as a joyous journey where having fun took pride of place. Ward rounds, lectures, and even meetings, were regarded as occasions to enjoy rather than to be serious about. When it came to patient care, however, he was seriousness itself, and everyone from the highest in the land to the most humble patient at Castle Street Hospital can testify to his diagnostic genius and surgical virtuosity.
In the journey of life, his principal ambition was to clear the path, so that the journey became easier for those who followed in his footsteps. The numerous obstetricians who adorn our country today will testify to the value of the Double Sponsorship Programme he initiated and which has enabled them to study abroad and become consultants.
Now that three years have passed since his demise, we take stock of our own lives and of those who lived in his shadow. His gracious wife and loving children have weathered the storm of his passing and have carried on their own successful lives. The achievements of his daughter and son in their respective spheres are the best testimony to their illustrious father.
His students have become eminent professionals, and their pioneering work, as well as their compassionate attitude to their patients, pays silent tribute to the values instilled in them by their mentor.
All of them not only take time out of their busy schedules to enjoy the fruits of life, but clear the path for those who follow them by actively engaging in the teaching and grooming of budding obstetricians working under them.
Boss would have been truly pleased.
In the three years after his passing, whenever we gather, Dr. Nalin Rodrigo still forms the centre of conversation among us. Strangely, we never discuss his passing, the tribulations of his final illness or the void he has left in our lives.
What we talk about are the many anecdotes of his colourful life and the joyous moments we spent around him.
More often than not, we end up raising a glass in his memory and saying from the bottom of our hearts, something that we have said countless times during his life: “Thank you, Sir!”
Dr. Janaka Weeratunge |
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