Appreciations
View(s):Enid Madugalle Hulangamuwa
A gallant lady from the central hills
The radiant smile which was the hallmark of this genuine and warm-hearted lady is no more; she departed silently a little over a year ago, just three months short of her 90th birthday.
On that unfortunate dawn of August 21, 2014, as she drifted away from all those who loved and admired her, the life giving sun kept away, permitting the overcast skies to weep for a continuous period of 48 hours.
From her young days, family members and those who got to know her well, very often used to wonder how she possessed the astonishing qualities of generosity with exceptional qualities of being loving, attentive, most affectionate and last, but not least, courageous.
She was also blessed with the magnetic capability of drawing the attachment of those around her with her simplicity, sincerity and forthright nature.
Presumably she may have inherited all this from her much adored Pappa, a distinguished Trinitian and her Mamma, a lady of much grace, who both were from very respectable families whose history was linked to the Kingdom of the Central Hills.
Her father, S.B. Madugalle was the first recipient of the Rugby Lion of Trinity College, Kandy, way back in 1912. He was also an ardent elephant lover.
His descent could be traced back to the Madugalle Disawa of Wellassa, who fought alongside Keppetipola and Ehelepola Disawas against foreign domination.
Her mother, a Mediwake, was the daughter of the Rate Mahatthaya of Mediwaka. Therefore it is quite natural for her to have inherited such noble qualities from these distinguished families.
Quite naturally she blended these well with her faith in Buddhism and was deeply rooted to her beliefs.
Destiny most probably made her marry into a family from Matale. She entered wedlock with Suriyagutha Hulangamuwa, who at that time was a Divisional Revenue Officer and they had three children – a daughter, son and daughter.
His career made him serve in many Kandyan areas and he become an Additional Government Agent, serving thereafter, at the Mahaweli Authority.
At a time when “a lady at the wheel of a car” was seldom heard of, she as a young mother became a pioneer from the Central Hills to take the wheel. Once, in the early stages of driving, much to the awe of the rural folk, a young lad had once shouted, “me balapalla ganiyak car ekak elawanawa” (Hey, take a look, a woman is driving a car).
Her ability to manoeuvre a car up and down the narrow, rough surfaced hilly terrain, which even at times, deterred the males from taking on the task, was well known; this was the lady who would take the challenge without hesitation.
She whilst running house, would take the children to school, devote time to family members who needed attention, help the needy and was well known for her hospitality and expertise in culinary preparations.
She loved the game of Rugby and keenly took an interest even to watch the matches on TV when she was feeble. Whilst in Kandy, her neighbours, most of whom who adored her, as an extra special person, kept in constant touch, even much later in life.
She had to bid farewell to her Kandyan domain, when she had to be with her husband who needed medical attention in Colombo, spending her life as a devout wife.
He predeceased her by 15 years. After his death, she spent more time concentrating on her religious beliefs. Having given up running house, she lived a contented life, taking turns to live with the two daughters.
Her determination knew no bounds. Owing to certain mishaps on two separate occasions, she had to undergo two major surgeries.
Once the femur (thigh bone connecting the hip bone) had to be replaced, but her sheer perseverance enabled her to walk again and to be independent in her day-to-day activities.
The Murray family, who were once neighbours in Kandy, sent a return air ticket, with all arrangements done, to spend a lengthy holiday with them in Australia. She returned rejuvenated.
At an advanced age of 85, she with her immediate family members undertook a pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya in India, which was one of her long time ambitions.
An unfortunate leg injury on the third occasion, needed surgery with hospitalisation, but her isolation from the family whilst at the intensive care unit did take a turn for the worse, when most of the family members had congregated at the hospital.
With the final words, “I wish to close my eyes forever”, she drifted beyond the great divide. Latterly she had often spoken to her relatives that her duties were done and that she should take flight soon.
Thus diminished and faded away the flame, which had given light to many a living being, never to tread the path again.
This was the Gallant Lady from the Central Hills, Enid Madugalle Hulangamuwa.
Ranjan, Surani and Devika
Pat Mannikkawasagan
In memory of a true gentleman of our times
When someone near and dear to us departs from this world, we cannot bear the pain. When Pat Mannikkawasagan passed away, it was a mournful moment.
He was born in Jaffna to a respectable, loving, large family of two brothers and three older sisters, all of whom are deceased except his younger brother who is resident abroad. I heard that they were very fond of each other.
He came to Colombo as a boy to further his studies and attended St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena. After completing his studies, he joined the Bank of Ceylon and worked devotedly towards the welfare of the Bank, until he retired in 1986.
He had a great history in the Colombo Y. M. C. A. where he received his membership in 1962 and later became an active member of the Colombo Y. M. C. A Forum, and participated in many debates and won on several occasions.
I met Uncle Pat for the first time when I attended his English lessons at the Colombo Y. M .C .A. He taught English thoroughly.
He often said to me ‘Do your best for your country and be an example with word and deed’. Without any hesitation I can say, he was a good banker, writer, orator, teacher and above all a good gentleman of our times.
Uncle Pat although we cannot see you now we cannot forget loving memories of you. Until we meet in heaven, may your soul rest in peace.
-James Sanjeewa Jayasinghe
Kalana Adisha De Silva
To our brave son whose smile will never dim
Our only son, Kalana Adisha De Silva, went on the flight of no return on September 17, 2014. Born on January 21, 1997, he lived only for 17 years with us, even though Yassas, his father and I had built great hopes on him, naturally as his parents.
Our beloved son always had a smiling face but the pleasure of having such a wonderful son was shortlived owing to a terminal illness osteosarcoma, a rare and dreaded cancer.
He was a son to be proud of – a prodigy at Trinity College, Kandy he came out with flying colours at the grade five scholarship examination. His long time objective was to put Trinity College on the educational map of Sri Lanka.
Trinity spirit was in his blood and soul even though he was a teenager at the time of his demise.
He first complaint was an acute pain just below his right knee. By and by, it became swollen and for us it was apparent that our beloved son was under the severe attack of a dreaded disease.
At the initial stage it was not possible to diagnose the illness due to its rare nature.
The condition worsened and he found it difficult to move about and the pain he bore brought tears into our eyes. In spite of his deteriorating health, he boldly faced his next hurdle, the G.C.E. (O/L) examination with high hopes and earned ‘’A’’ passes for all the subjects.
His cognitive skills had not been affected by the disease and so we continued with the hard struggle to save his life.
After the examination, his condition became worse signalling us to take additional measures to keep him alive. My son was fortunate enough to have good friends whose parents were medical experts at various institutions.
After careful scrutiny of the C.T. scan they diagnosed the disease as cancer of a rare nature. They advised that he be admitted to the Maharagama cancer hospital for further treatment and that we did, with reluctance, yet with firm determination to save him.
Our whole world collapsed around us. Our only daughter Punsarani’s education was adversely affected, yet we gave top priority to our son and we made a concerted effort to come out of the vicious circle of life in which we had become entangled.
All the vital drugs had to be bought from outside while our son was struggling for his life on a bed at the Maharagama cancer hospital.
It is here that the past Trinitians here and abroad, the principal, the Old Boys’ Association came to our rescue -a Godsend indeed.
Almost all the Trinitians, here and abroad showed their Trinitian spirit for which we are indebted forever.
His right leg below the knee was amputated by the blessed and skilful hands of Dr. Narendra Pinto at the General Hospital, Colombo.
It was a highly emotional situation for both of us and our daughter, yet we accepted it as our destiny. Our son’s cheerful smile always adorned his face even after the loss of one of his legs. We wondered from where such courage came.
His friends welcomed our son back. He stepped into his familiar second home, Trinity, with an artificial leg, yet with a smiling face.
His class teacher Nalika Gunarathna was like a mother to him until his demise while the principal and all the staff had a special soft spot for him.
I fail in my duty if don’t mention our gratitude to Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath for garnering the co- operation of their friends and parents to bear all the medical expenses of our ailing son at hospital. That is the greatness of being a Trinitian.
Due to untold hardships and mental agony we moved to Colombo as vital tests showed the spread of the cancer to his lungs. The final stage of his illness was in September 2014. Dr. Keerthi Gunasekara operated on his lungs to save his life.
All our efforts failed eventually and on September 17 he bade adieu to us forever.
Dr. Senarath Dayananda, Dr. Wasantha, Dr. Yamuna, Dr. Nilanthi, Dr. Amarasinghe, Dr. De Zoysa and Dr. Withanage – all his friends’ parents deserve our sincere thanks for their kindness as do the consultant physician at Kandy general hospital Dr. Sunanda Udagedara and the principal of Trinity college at that time Udaya Ariyarathna.
The dear and near ones of the family and our son’s teachers, friends, even the medical experts still share our grief whenever they happen to meet us.
Our tears know no bounds when we visualize how Kalana frequently told us, ‘’When I grow up I will be an engineer of my father’s calibre one day’’.
Kalana was a brilliant table tennis player at Trinity in addition to being a member of the orchestra of the Oriental Music Society. He was in the Trinity college cadet band too.
What is left for us, his parents and his sister Punsarani is only the refuge in Dhamma. Let me quote a few lines from Shakespeare for us to have solace in this world.
‘’So long as men can breathe and eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee’’
May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana in the long cycle of Sansara.
-Yassis Rajindra
Poornima Perera
Piyadasa Adhikari
A livewire of our batch is no more
It is just over a month since our good friend and colleague A.M. Piyadasa (Piyadasa Adhikari) passed away after a brief illness. ‘Piya’ to friends and colleagues, was born in 1943 and had his early education at St. Mary’s College, Chilaw and thereafter at Sri Palee, Horana.
He entered the University of Peradeniya in 1964 to pursue a Degree in Agriculture and was one of the 23 of the Batch of 64 to join the Faculty of Agriculture that year.
Soon after graduation in 1968, he joined the University of Sydney, and having completed a post graduate degree returned to Sri Lanka and worked as an Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture Field Station at Maha Illuppallama.
Later he moved to the Agricultural Development Authority and worked in the Puttlam District, and in the mid 1970’s joined the Coconut Cultivation Board as General Manager.
He also worked in Nigera as an Agriculture Engineer for International Projects and later as Lecturer at the Kaduna Polytechnic, and as Agriculture and Irrigation Engineer in Saudi Arabia.
Piya was a ‘live wire’ of the Agricola Batch of 64. He was the vocalist and the guitarist of the Batch. He was a key figure of the three-man band named ‘Agricola’s’, which was often invited to provide entertainment at Hall Socials at Peradeniya Campus.
His singing was special and unique – a family trait no doubt. He was caring and friendly and was always with a smile. He never failed to greet a person with pleasant words.
He was a cricketer, athlete and tennis player. He received Peradeniya University Colours in Cricket and Tennis and played Tennis for the Marawila Sports Club.
During his free time he took up painting and in fact studied art and art history at University of Modinagar, India during his retirement.
In retirement, he pursued his passion as an author and published a fiction novel as well as many Buddhist publications for free distribution. He was an avid reader and extremely well read.
He had a wealth of knowledge in various subjects whether it was science, history, culture or sports. He worked for charity as much as he could.
He was a philanthropist in later years teaching under privileged children and had dreams of building a library in his village. He was a kind and generous person and led a simple and happy life helping people.
He was a loyal and devoted family man and a great friend with innumerable great qualities. All of us from the batch of 64 miss him very much.
May God bless his soul.
-Dr. M.C.N. Jayasuriya on behalf of the Peradeniya Agriculture Batch of 64
Prof. Manique Gunasekera
Building bridges was her forte
I got to know Manique when I started my university life at Kelaniya in 1973. Manique had also joined the university but to pursue a different academic path, in the English stream.
I was on the other hand, pursuing a mass communication degree in the Sinhala medium.
Manique had joined from Holy Family Convent in Bambalapitiya, with a strong Catholic upbringing. Some of her qualities I cherish to this day.
Although she held high positions, she never lost the common touch and was known by everyone as a down-to-earth person.
As we started our campus career, within a short period of time she swept away many differences between the students of the two streams. Manique was the bridge between us. During our time at Kelaniya, there was no Students Union for the UNP.
Manique and I were among the pioneers of the UNP Students Union that went on to take control of the University in our final year.This was the only time a UNP students’ movement had taken control of student politics at University.
Hearing of Manique’s demise had a profound impact on me. Not only did I lose a good old friend, but our country lost an honourable lady.
After completing her degree, Manique pursued an academic career at the Kelaniya University, and went on to be Head of the English Department.
Finally, she rose to the top position in her field by being the Head of the Postgraduate Department at Kelaniya. Manique’s departure from this world adds to the grief of losing another batch mate from Kelaniya only a few years ago.
Romesh Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka’s former Foreign Secretary, passed away in 2011. Romesh, Manique and I were at Kelaniya at the same time.
I had the privilege of associating with these two great personalities, who excelled in their respective fields, and made our nation proud.
Going back to our time in Kelaniya, Manique extended her fullest support in campus politics, especially during election time at the university. All our Sinhala language posters were translated by Manique.
She always took on the leadership in bringing the English medium students to union meetings. It was a great success for the UNP Union.
Once some of our batchmates wanted to go to a well-known fortune teller in Bambalapitiya,Manique also accompanied them. Unfortunately however many forecasts by him did not materialize in our life.
However, Manique managed to forecast good relationships. She had the rare quality of bringing together compatible partners for life, as I am sure many who read this will agree.
-Imthiaz Bakeer Markar
Arumugam Ratnasabhapathy
A government servant of a rare calibre and close friend
It was more than 50 years ago that I came to know Arumugam Ratnasabhapathy and his family and I am glad that I had that opportunity.
That was more than half of his lifetime. Born on 19.07.1915 he passed away in Melbourne on 08.10.2015 after reaching one hundred years.
As a cadet, in the now defunct Ceylon Civil Service, in January 1963, when I got my appointment as Assistant Government Agent of the Puttlam District in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, Mr.Ratnasabhapathy was the Extra Office Assistant (E.O.A) of the Kachcheri, the hub of the civil administration of the district.
The EOA in the Kachcheri is in charge of the accounts and finances, one of the most trusted and responsible positions in the establishment. (This was before the Bank of Ceylon and Peoples’ Bank opened their branches in the Kachcheries.)
So at the end of the day, EOA had to see that the daily accounts were balanced to the last cent, collections deposited in the vault and keys handed over to the Police for safe keeping.
This was only one of the functions of the EOA– Mr. Ratnasabhapathy took utmost care in the performance of this and other duties, not leaving anything to chance.
At the end of one year I was transferred to the General Treasury in Colombo but in 1970 when I came back as the Government Agent of the same District, I was surprised and glad to see Mr. Ratnasabhapathy continuing in the same post of E.O.A.
I found him the same Mr.Ratnasabhapathy, the efficient, meticulous and loyal officer who was there 15 years back. During these two assignments at Puttlam I came in close contact with him and his family particularly during the second stint.
By that time I was married and had two children and there was close camaraderie between the two families which grew up over the years.
I remember often in the evenings of weekends Raja Kumari, Nanda Kumar and Ratnakumar used to drop in at the Residency and play with my son Sujeevaka in the huge garden which stretched up to the lagoon while the parents were involved in discussions on local and national politics and official matters.
Mrs Ratnasabhapathy, the shy and pleasant lady was a passive listener along with my wife Anoma.
In 1970 Puttlam was a quiet and peaceful place. The town was predominantly Muslim with a small population of Tamils and Sinhalese who had no problems with one another.
But in April 1971 when the J.V.P insurrection broke out Puttlam was not spared. The quietness and peacefulness was shattered. It was the first such experience for many. Curfew was declared.
A Navy Unit was stationed in one of the government quarters. Communication facilities through wireless radio was set up to communicate with Colombo.
The Government Agent was appointed as the Coordinating Officer for the District. An extra load of work was entrusted to him. At this crucial time the presence of Mr Ratnasabhapathy was a tower of strength to me.
After a lapse of a few years, Mr.Ratnasabhapathy and the family migrated to Australia. I took up an international assignment in Jakarta, Indonesia.
We continued our relationship and he with his family was among those who visited us in Jakarta. Subsequently we reciprocated with a visit to him in Melbourne. Since our returning to Sri Lanka all three children did visit us whenever they came over here.
I was aware that both Mr. and Mrs. Ratnasabhapathy yearned to be in Sri Lanka but it was not to be.
Mr.Ratnasabhapathy led a full life.And when he reached his 100th birthday looking back I am sure he would not have had any regrets in life.
His wife predeceased him but until his death, his children, their in-laws and grandchildren looked after him well. He was certainly a fortunate person.
-Dr. P.G.Punchihewa