Appreciations
View(s):DR. DONALD JAYASINGHE
Well known for his healing touch
Whilst some doctors show an obvious desire to help a patient in pain or anxiety or both, others demonstrate a desire to end an examination somewhat abruptly.
The former’s work is patently more humane and even ennobling whilst the latter’s seems more mundane. Dr. Donald Jayasinghe, who departed from this world a few weeks ago, was clearly of the first category.
Donald, one could argue, gained a lot from his sound understanding of the physiology and psychology of people. He, I feel also could have gained from his wide reading of men and matters quite apart from his years of practice as a doctor.
Donald, who was my wife’s relative, happened to be a favourite doctor, indeed one of the first to be consulted by her in the event of somebody in the family falling ill.
We had been so taken-up by Donald’s inborn kindness and warm responsiveness. His advice initially on the phone was also most reassuring. Donald’s experience went a long way in giving an initial diagnosis that was to prove unerring in due course after a physical examination and clinicals.
Donald was a member of a family that had distinguished themselves in the sphere of medicine for long. They all hailed from the coastal town of Payagala. It is said that most of the Jayasinghes are from a village named Mahagammedda in the verdant hinterland of Payagala.
It is a truism that during the final phase of the British colonial era and afterwards most middle class or upper middle class families in the maritime provinces became increasingly aware of the value of higher education. The first generations of some of these families inculcated in their progeny the importance of being professionally educated.
I am told Donald’s father, whom we called Winnie Uncle was based in Galle for some time and Donald’s early education was in Galle and at St. Thomas’, Mount Lavinia, from which great institution he entered the Colombo Medical School.
Donald later specialized in cardiology in the U.K and returned to Sri Lanka. He became a much admired physician in Negombo, a bustling, relatively prosperous coastal town. I am personally aware of the admiration for his medical acumen in Negombo since I have friends and relatives in that town who had availed themselves of his uncommon abilities and his proven healing touch.
He also gradually established a private practice at his home in Battaramulla along with his wife also a doctor who had specialised in psychiatry.
But Donald’s final achievement was to nurture his children and ensure that they too followed him into the field of medicine. That was the reward that nature bestowed on Donald.
It was an achievement that was not merely in conformity with the Jayasinghe tradition but it was also part of a rich legacy.
Thus, we see all six members of a single family who are doctors, which need I say, is a rarity anywhere.
I cherish the memory of Dr. Donald Jayasinghe.
- Jagath C. Savanadasa
RALPH IGNATIUS THOMAS ALLES
Our guiding light
You were the beacon who showed us the way
And guided us through the path to emblazon our crest
Your vision brought glory and loads of fame
To embellish in gold the ‘Gateway’ name
As I penned these lines to be sung at the Annual Staff Workshop in 2014; the very first after your departure, my eyes welled with tears. Needless to say all those who were seated in the front row, Mrs. Rohini Alles, Dr. Harsha Alles, Mrs. Dinali Alles and the rest of the directorate blinked away their tears when the teachers of the primary section soulfully sang this song.
I remember your benign smile, the noticeable crinkle at the edge of your eyes as you walked down the corridors of our school talking to each and everyone of us when you were vibrant with energy. The light hearted banter with which you spoke to us as we were called to meet you individually and express our candid feelings on issues that troubled us most in school would never be forgotten.
On one such occasion a teacher who served on a casual basis was made permanent back dating her date of appointment with remunerative benefits with retrospective effect. This was something she hardly dreamed of. She still speaks of you with tear filled eyes.
Sir, you braved the journey from Colombo to Kandy, in spite of your failing health to distribute your autobiography ‘My Life’ personally to all the teachers on July 22, 2008. A selfish streak in me prompted me to get mine autographed which you did holding your pen between unsteady fingers.
You were the absolute embodiment of loyalty to your family and friends, not being a fence sitter you may have earned the wrath of some which never affected you or deterred you from your forward march. Your unfailing kindness, selfless caring and hospitality endeared you to all who associated with you from all walks of life. You had time for the dignitaries as well as those of lower ranks; which brings to mind Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘IF’ from which I quote …’or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch’…
You were a treasury of wisdom, a perennial fountain of love that quenched the thirst of those who sought your guidance in crucial, indecisive moments. In short, you had time for all of us.
It was an arduous task to bring together all the teachers to instill in them the necessity of living as a family and the annual workshops we had, encouraged the participants to work as a team. I remember a workshop we had at Habarana Holiday Resort where our young teachers like fledglings took to the floor and gyrated through the night to swelling and blaring music till the wee hours of the morning. You were there on your wheel chair stubbornly refusing to leave the discotheque till the last young teacher left the floor.
When I have a discourse with our young teachers, I always tell them, they are in a high security zone where nobody could trespass unless we dare to cross the boundary at unguarded moments; such is the caring nature of our school.
This is due to the values you instilled in everybody who crossed your path. You made an extraordinary impact on all of us. You touched our hearts in myriad ways extracting from us the best we could impart to our students.
Sir, for you, the naughtiest of the brood was ‘a darling child’, when we grimaced at their tough ways, we soon corrected ourselves mellowing with a feeling of guilt of what was expected of us. Such was the impact you had on us, you extracted the best from the worst.
It was your unfailing courage, perseverance and diligence that helped to build the monumental educational empire; Gateway which became a household name. It won the grudging admiration of others because of the strategies you adopted to keep abreast with the high standard of education of other international schools or surpass them in all disciplines. Your professionalism, unwavering ingenuity and straightforwardness made you a formidable rival and a much loved and trusted friend.
When you founded D.S.Senanayake Vidyalaya on 10th February 1967 you may not have envisaged how quickly it would progress to be classified as one of the great colleges in Colombo. It was quoted in your book ‘One of the things which helped D.S.Senanayake most was the fact that D.S. had a heart’ – to grieve with the grief stricken and rejoice in jubilant moments.
On your last journey the contribution of D.S. was such; the mammoth crowd of D.S. students past and present that thronged the streets from Gateway College, Rajagiriya to Kanatte dwarfed us of Gateway in paying homage to their founder, testifying to all the mourners that D.S. certainly has a heart.
Your legacy as you hoped and prayed and may have predicted continues very well with the guidance of Dr. Harsha Alles fortified with the assistance of the directorate.
We remember you with love and affectionate veneration on your birth anniversary. May the supreme bliss of nirvana grant you eternal rest.
- Asoka Palliyaguruge
SUNETRA ILLANGAKOON
A childhood friend
Sunetra Illangakoon nee Seneviratne and I entered the kindergarten of Bishop’s College together and remained good friends ever since. Our parents were friends too, as were our grandparents, and we would spend the day together often, with our brothers at each other’s homes. Sunetra hailed from a most distinguished political lineage which has left its footprints firmly in the sands of time in our country’s history. Her grandfather, Sir Francis Molamure was the first speaker in both the State Council and in Parliament, her grandmother, Lady Adeline Molamure was the first woman senator, whose sister Mrs D.R. Wijewardene is the grandmother of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sunetra’s father, the late L.J.de S Seneviratne, was a senior public servant who rose right to the top.
Through our schooldays, we remained close friends and shared many teenage adventures and good times together. Those included being part of a gang of friends, who would spend our Sunday evenings taking the air at Galle Face Green dressed in our Sunday best, having icecream at Sundae Tea rooms and Fountain House, parties at each other’s homes and giggling visits to the cinema. The Royal Thomian match was a highlight of our social life and we would get new dresses for the event.Sunetra was much quieter than me, always ladylike and softspoken, but would join in most of our pranks, although sometimes reluctantly. We would chat for hours over the phone too, much to the annoyance of our parents’ who paid the bills!
Sunetra married Sepala Illangakoon, a planter soon after she left school. Prime Minister Ranil was the page boy at her grand wedding, an event which I will always remember. We continued to keep in touch and I spent holidays with her on some of the estates they lived in mainly in the Ratnapura district. She was a fabulous cook, and could turn out anything from any international cuisine and cakes of all kinds. She was also a superb seamstress, meticulous housewife, devoted daughter, granddaughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother.
When she returned to live in Colombo, after Sepala retired as a planter, but was a Director of Mackwoods and later on, was also appointed as Chairman of the Tea Board, we resumed our close friendship and she would give us fabulous meals when she entertained us. As her daughter married a planter, she looked after her three grandsons, during their schooldays at S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia. She never failed to supervise their homework, take them for tuition, kept a close eye on all their activities and showered them with that special love and tender care which is a grandmother’s privilege. She doted on them all as they did on her.
Sunetra also played an active role in The National Council for Child and Youth Welfare, which had been her mother Sita’s dedicated contribution to community service in her lifetime. She continued to visit those homes for children begun in various areas of the country, by her mother and her talents in sewing and embroidery came to the fore, to help others as a member of the Colombo Ladies League where she went every week to help develop sewing talent among underprivileged women and helped to market their products.Sunetra was always a sensitive, caring, cultivated person, who had discerning control over her emotions at all times.
She continued this work till she became ill and was confined to her home. Even when she failed to recognize most people when she watched television, she never failed to recognize her pageboy, Ranil and would smile happily whenever he appeared on TV programmes or events.
No appreciation of Sunetra would be complete without a tribute to her daughter Riyanjali and son-in-law Damitha. They gave up their beautiful home in Mount Lavinia, to move in with Sunetra who needed Riyo’s constant presence full-time. Right through my long experience in life, I have never ever seen such devotion from a daughter and son-in-law. They will, I know, be truly blessed for all that they did for Sunetra. Riyo rarely left her side, and particularly, during the last few weeks did everything she possibly could to make her mother comfortable and spare her pain and suffering.
I’m so glad now that three of her school friends, Rosemary, Indrani and I and Lakshmi, a friend from her days as a planter’s wife, kept in close touch with Sunetra in these last few years when she was ill. We shared in her joy on her last birthday last year, and watched her laugh and sing with us all while Damitha played his guitar.It was a joyous occasion shared also with her sister-in-law, Shirani and her son Lakshman.I was so happy when she told me that she loved me that day, when we all asked her that question. These last few months were difficult for her and perhaps even more so for Riyo and Damitha who took it all in their stride, never complaining, but smiling with Damitha making us all laugh through our tears with his jokes.
I will miss a dear friend who was there for me through the storms and sunshine of my life, through smiles and sorrow. But I know it won’t be long before we meet again on that beautiful shore where nothing but joy awaits us, as we reunite with our loved ones gone before us.
- Ilica Malkanthi Karunaratne