Treasured memories of my ‘pen’ friend will live on
I first met Rohan nearly 18 years ago at the chambers of our family dentist. We had both come without appointments and had to spend time, initially standing next to each other.
Having exchanged smiles we realized that we were looking hard at each other’s pockets admiring the pens safely berthed. I broke the ice by stating that he is sporting the latest Dunhil AD 2000 and he responded by stating that he can spot the latest Parker Duofold in my pocket.
As the patients reduced, we sat and admired each other’s pens, wrote a few lines on a sparsely populated advertisement of an ancient TIME magazine.
He mentioned that he obtained the pen from Singapore and I did mention that I got mine as a gift from the Parker Company. He was thrilled and said I must then get to know you. That was the birth of our friendship which grew day by day to the extent that by the time he left us forever, we used to take turns to call each other every day.
True to the first day, we continued to write with each other’s pens and discuss our experiences to the amusement of my wife.
Rohan hailed from a distinguished family, his father worked for International Agencies in Africa. He was educated at St. Joseph College after which he worked in the UK, before returning to Sri Lanka to work with Upali Wijewardena, founder Chairman of the GCEC, presently known as BOI.
I understand that Rohan played a pioneering role and immensely enjoyed that experience, in particular travelling with the great man in many countries. He married Dileeni also from a prominent family and they were blessed with a daughter, Shayani whom he adored so much.
My wife and I had the privilege of their company over the years and being entertained by them. We spent many Sunday afternoons together and our relationship was even greater because Dileeni and my wife were contemporaries at school.
Rohan was one of the most knowledgeable persons whom I have met. He had a gentleman’s library worthy of admiration. Books covering a wide range of subjects such as, wildlife, photography, historic battles, armour, literature, arts, Sri Lankan maps and prints as well as others were methodically placed in teak book cases and these were part of his legacy to Shayani. At any given time he would be reading a few books simultaneously.
Rohan had rich tastes and to an extent was a selective and knowledgeable collector. Whether it may be a Sri Lankan map or print, a vase, ancestral writing bureau or a Chinese wooden screen, he knew the history of his collections A to Z. It was a pleasure listening to him and exchanging views on these subjects, always with his perpetual smile, focused eyes, providing the best of description using minimum amount of words that too spoken softly.
He would come back to me if there were any gaps in his stories. Even though Dileeni reminded him of the magnitude of his overflowing library he managed to sneak in more books.
He also had a rich culinary taste which unfortunately was at variance with his medical conditions and sometimes led to difficult situations. I realized this when unknowingly I obliged him by bringing some specialist cheese from Zurich.
Whenever I prepared an article to a pen magazine he had the first preview and I would always take on board his thoughtful comments. Very recently we were preparing several joint manuscripts covering lesser known tales of pens and their manufacturers.
He always encouraged me to find tales which were not in the public domain. Over the last two months he was researching ‘inks’ and had downloaded more than 50 articles to prepare a manuscript. I am happy that I was able to obtain a bottle of his favourite ink, the Pilot Yama- Budo made in Japan, fit for an emperor.
During a recent visit to the UK, Dileeni surprised Rohan by bringing him the 90th Anniversary Rose Gold Montblanc LeGrand pen which he treasured so much.
A few weeks before he died he experimented with several inks and wrote specific sentences in a note book and gave me the task of monitoring the written pages every week to observe any discolouring using my special magnifying glass. He will be happy to note that I am continuing his task with the same enthusiasm but without his reminders.
Both Rohan and I had rather complicated medical issues over the last five years and whenever I was in hospital he would visit me and then come home to check on me. On one occasion I had not briefed him on the gravity of a certain surgical procedure I had underwent and when he realized how difficult it had been, he was extremely kind to me providing all encouragement in every possible way to get back to my normal routine.
It was later he informed me that he had read deeply on the subject and many who underwent that type of procedure were subjected to depression and he did not want that to happen to me. That was Rohan at his best.
We enjoyed each other’s company so much. Rohan was a kind and generous person who extended a helping hand to many. He appreciated those who assisted him and I have never heard him speak ill of any person.
Both my wife Premini and I enjoyed the company of Rohan, Dileeni and Shayani. Rohan was very regular with the timing of his evening telephone call, and my wife would remind me to be ready for his call.
Rohan was a dear friend, a ‘pen’ friend and above all a very caring person who checked on me so frequently. He has left very happy and caring memories which we will treasure for life.
Our deepest sympathies are extended to Dileeni and Shayani.