Appreciations
View(s):The last dribble of one who had a great zest for life
Shehan Perera
On May 11, a Saturday we played basketball. This was a ritual; every week-end and on holidays the old boys of St. Sebastian’s College gathered to enjoy a wonderful game. Shehan, fondly known in the court as Santa Claus was indeed a live wire, full of fun and humour and a great and entertaining player, if ever there was one.
That was the last day he played. Just after the game he suffered a massive heart attack and our dear and dearest Santa Claus breathed his last as he was rushed to the Panadura hospital. Such is life, so tragic and in a way senseless why a young father of three lovely children and a husband to a loving wife had to leave them all in such a sudden and heart breaking manner.
Shehan was a true Moratuwaite; he had every possible iron in the fires of the town’s people and the town’s involvements. Be it playing soft ball cricket at the Carlton Club (he was a Vice President) or at the ‘kodi gaha ussana event’ at St Joseph’s feast. Of course his old school St Sebastian’s was very dear to his heart and specially the basketball courts where Shehan was perhaps best known. He was diminutive and stood a little taller than five feet and was better known as Shehan Batta (too many Shehans in Moratuwa.) He played in the Pan Pacific Masters games in Australia in 2010 and 2012 in the over 35 category.
Yes, Shehan was good and the best I saw was the day he died. I was guarding him and he slipped every time and took unbelievable shots that went in and then he grinned at me and said “kohomada Santa Claus ge wada.” So much so Chaminda Alwis (former Sri Lanka Captain) who was playing on my side said “Elmo Aiya, Batta should buy a sweep ticket today” and we all laughed.
That was the last laugh; it was Chaminda who called me an hour later from the hospital and said Shehan had passed away.
It was a paralysing shock; the effect has still not died down.
I for one would miss him very much and especially in the basketball court. I have no doubt that the sadness of his absence will engulf us all when we dribble and shoot basketballs and wonder how and why he had to depart from us in such an unfathomably sad manner.
If it is so for us, how much more is it for his loving wife Nadisha and the three little ones Shenan, Uvindi and Kenara? How could their mother explain their beloved father’s absence to the innocent little ones who lived in his embrace and loved him so dependently, a husband and father who was a total family man on all counts?
To live in the hearts you leave behind is but surely not to die. Shehan was far too nice a person to be ever forgotten. That is a consolation. Shehan Batta will be in hard disc memory of the many who knew him. His generosity and his zest for life made him who he was, an amiable and wonderful young man whom people simply loved.
Now there is no point of a coach’s ‘time out.’ It would be almost impossible to substitute him. So long Santa Claus, I find it too sad to write, hence, I must say good-bye.
Elmo Aiya
Always with a cheerful smile, you were there for all of us at all times
Rita Perera
Proverbs 31:28-”Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her”
Devoted wife, loving mother, caring sister, inspiring grandmother, loyal friend and above all, a wonderful human being– these are what come to mind when I think of Rita Perera, my achchi. Born to this world on February 22, 1930, being the eldest among five other siblings, achchi was not only a sister but also a mother figure to them all. Achchi and Seeya were married on September 25,1952
In a world where marriage is taken lightly and divorce rates are on the rise, achchi was a shining example to all women on the sanctity of marriage. She enjoyed 60 years of marriage, a milestone which many dream of, but only few could achieve. In all its ups and downs, success and failure, sickness and health, joy and sorrow, she stood by Seeya. Surely she was the woman behind the success of the well renowned gynaecologist, Dr. Wilfred Perera.
Achchi was always duty conscious. Even in her old age and time of illness she never forgot to carry out her duties as a mother and grandmother. She would always be the first to wish us all for our birthdays, as she made it a point to call early in the morning.
They say “a mother is like a candle that burns itself to light the way for the others”. My memories of Achchi over the 21 years of my life are innumerable and impossible to put into words. We were blessed to have received love and guidance from our younger days. She was always concerned about educating her children and moulding them to be model citizens in society. Having accomplished that as a mother she devoted the same concern towards us, her grandchildren. She showed great interest in our education, from kindergarten to university.
Achchi was a devout Catholic. She was close to Mother Mary and always held the rosary close to her. Her God-fearing nature and unshakable faith was a good example to us all.
Achchi was always enthusiastic about house work, even in her old age. She maintained a beautiful garden full of flowers, which she proudly looked upon every morning from the balcony. She was always well informed about the happenings in the country and the world. She never failed to read the newspapers and watch the news.
Another beautiful quality was her humorous nature. Old age could not slow her down or take away her funny and cheerful self. Even when she was in hospital, she was still able to wear a beautiful smile amidst the worried faces that surrounded her. Her smiles and laughter illuminated the house and kept all around her cheerful. Achchi had a sweet tooth and could never walk past a chocolate without having a taste of it. She believed that while you lived, you needed to live to the fullest.
Many would agree when I say that her greatest quality was her generosity. Matthew 6:3 says “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Not even her husband knew the extent to which she went to help others in need. It was in her death with the testimonies of several people that we came to know the true extent of her generosity. She opened her house to many children, nephews, nieces and several others and looked after them like a mother.
All in all Achchi lived a virtuous life with great integrity. Abraham Lincoln once said,” in the end it’s not the years in your life that count but the life in those years.” You may no longer be with us Achchi but the exemplary life you led and the lessons you taught us will always remain in our hearts. We can only promise you that we will do our best to fulfil the dreams you had for us. We can never express enough love and gratitude for what you have done for us. But I would like to offer a simple thank you and a heart full of love. We love you Achchi ! Your grandson, now and forever.
Sahan Perera
From figures to problems everyone counted on her
Lakmali Nanayakkara
Lakmali, Laki to everyone within our firm was a role model to any young Chartered Accountant. Having joined Turquand Youngs, the predecessor firm of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka in mid-1979 she worked till mid-2012 when she opted to take an early retirement long before she reached the retirement age of the firm. As much as we endeavoured to persuade her to stay on, in the interests of our organisation, some inner calling compelled her to change course to embark on studying psychology. She took to psychology in her early fifties as she took to accountancy in her early twenties. Immersed, enthused, thorough, enjoying every moment of her newly chosen field.
As an accounting student, petite, demure and unassuming, Lakmali swept the board with prizes in every exam she sat. In her work; technical competence, diligence, commitment, attention to detail, clarity and client focus were visible in abundance. Having commenced in the field of audit and then into consultancy, she settled into a career in tax although she had the ability to change course into any one of these fields. She was admitted as a Partner, the first woman to be a Partner before she turned thirty and was selected to lead the Tax Department of our firm.
To the Accountants reading this appreciation, Laki grew the tax practice at an amazing speed achieving a CAGR of 10.3 percent. To the non Accountants who may be tempted to “Wikipedia” the term, “Compound Annual Growth Rate” is what it is. No mean average!
On the last day of her work, the partners met that evening for the last time in our Board Room, toasted her success and presented her with a pictorial album of her tenure. In her response to the toast she said very emotionally that it was her second home for over 30 years and how she enjoyed her work and the company of its people. She reminisced her career; the success stories, the challenges and spoke of her plans for the future.
Hearing of her retirement many large corporates offered her non-executive directorships. She turned down all of them and said privately to us, “If I wanted to work in the commercial world I would never have left Ernst & Young”. When Governance Codes referred to gender diversity on boards I used to consider it a populist view, a fad of sorts! But Lakmali proved otherwise. She was insightful and brought a different perspective, saw aspects, opportunities and risks we did not see and never hesitated to express her views. In a lighter vein she called us, her male colleagues, an old boys’ club and opined that we look to surround ourselves with ‘clones.’ But most importantly she taught all of us a significant lesson; the debate ends when the meeting ends, the majority rule prevails. She never hesitated to tell me that unless there was full discussion and debate our decisions would be subpar and blinkered. I could not agree with her more. Sadly her early retirement and untimely demise deprived us of a colleague, a friend and a person everyone went to share their pain and seek advice, knowing that she would take the time to listen and be honest and sincere in her views.
Lakmali’s contribution was not only to our firm and the clients she served. She served the profession as the first elected female member of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. She was the Co-Chair of the Tax Faculty and Taxation Committee, chaired many other Committees and served as a lecturer and subsequently examiner on taxation.
In the commercial world Lakmali served on Boards and Audit Committees of public listed companies contributing immensely to their governance process.
At a policy formulation level Lakmali served on the Taxation Committee of the Ceylon Chamber as its Chairperson and was often consulted when fiscal policy reforms were initiated by Government. The high point each year was the post Budget Seminar when Laki would work overnight to come up with the “best” budget review and somehow be at our seminar by 8 a.m. looking fresh as ever to give her insightful analysis.
To those whose lives she touched professionally and personally she will forever be missed, a vacuum that can never be filled. Her kindness, compassion, concern for the betterment of others was visible in all her actions.
As mentioned by a mutual friend on hearing of her demise “God never intended her to grow old in this world, he willed her to be the most intelligent and beautiful angel in heaven”.
May her journey in sansara be a short one.
Asite Talwatte
Farewell to a decent man and good doctor
Dr. C.L.V. Abeynaike
Cyril Lakdasa Vernon Abeynaike had most of the qualities that a decent man should possess. In his non-professional life he showed extremely humane qualities and as a medical practitioner he excelled in those qualities.
Vernie, as he was known to his friends, went through the joys of life as they came to him— fast driving, watching and playing cricket and enjoying a drink after his day’s work was over at the Old Thomians’ Swimming Club and supporting his Old School in all endeavours.
Soft spoken, I have rarely heard him raise his voice in the near six decades that I’ve known him. Simple in his ways, he had no airs about him, no desire for ostentation or making money and even any other ambition other than practising his profession well and looking after the interests of his family.
The only ambition he had from his school days that I observed was his desire to follow his father’s footsteps and be a doctor. He was a good student and studied hard, always in the ‘C form’, where the youngest and best performers were segregated in various grades at S. Thomas. At the SSC level he was in Upper Sixth C— which he recalled with much pride— that produced outstanding students who went on to become medical specialists and outstanding engineers both in Lanka and abroad. In sports the class boasted of three First Eleven cricketers and a tennis player who later became Sri Lanka’s tennis champion. It had— if I remember correctly— about 20 students in the First Division—a very rare accomplishment for any school at that time.
At times he was dogged with bad luck but in true Thomian spirit, Vernie carried on undaunted. On passing out of the Colombo medical faculty he was happy to serve in provincial hospitals at Ratnapura, Welimada and Mawanella where he learned very much the illnesses of the rural folk and in the early 1970s took to private practice at Mt. Lavinia alongside his father Dr. Felix Vernon Abeynaike who had retired after heading many government hospitals as the DMO. On his father ceasing his practice, Vernie moved out and established a dispensary of his own with one dispenser and his dear wife Marlene who knew nothing of medicine, as his assistant.
It was a simple dispensary sans any modern trappings but his reputation as a physician, simple and pleasant ways and sympathetic understanding towards the poor, particularly with regard to medical charges, attracted patients from the environs of Mt. Lavinia, Ratmalana and outlying areas. He directed his attention towards the poor. Once he observed: ‘The middle class usually don’t take medical advice from doctors and order their medicines directly from pharmacies. It is the poor that come to me’.
During inclement weather such as during the monsoons when humble shacks by the seashore were lashed by winds and rains and shacks of the shanty dwellers on canal banks and other places where the poor people live were inundated, they fell sick in large numbers and sought his assistance. Over the years he gained rare knowledge about the diseases that affected these people by sheer experience. He knew the kind of bacterial infections that were prevalent in particular areas and dispensed medicines accordingly. Rarely did he have to refer them for laboratory examinations.
The really good doctor charged the poor the minimal or nothing at all. Yet, he was still able to provide for his eldest son’s higher education for years in Britain and the education of his three sons and daughter at premier Colombo schools while still building a modest home for himself. Perhaps he sustained himself from treating tourists at Mt Lavinia’s hotels. Yet, his Christian conscience did not permit charging of unconscionable fees.
A Christian by birth and conscience, he mixed freely with those of other faiths, even atheists. Religion was something personal to him. During the month of March his friends found him laying off his traditional drink after work without making any open declaration. He was observing Lent.
He was too good to pass off at the age of 74 and those who knew him would have wished a longer stay. The demise of Marlene with whom he had a very close relationship for over 40 years a few years ago left him rudderless. His friends noted that he was drifting along without a purpose and the end came soon.
It was a paradox to see that many of his friends whom he had saved from a much early departure had to see him off at his funeral.
Vernon Abeynaike died with all saying what a decent man he was. There was none to say anything bad.
Well done Vernie. Esto Perpetua. Yours was a life well lived.
Gamini Weerakoon
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