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Dyan the Lion Heart
One of the most flamboyant schoolboy cricketers of the mid 1960s DyanPathiravithana of Ananda College finally pulled out stumps on 26th May 2021to end a cavalier innings at 74. As a tribute to this very special friend of mine, I reminisce here some special moments in Dyan’s time at our beloved school Ananda.
In the 1960s the number one spectator sport in Sri Lanka was school cricket. Division 1 Sara Trophy club cricket was for the connoisseurs and Test cricket was still a distant dream. In the absence of Television, smart phones, WhatsApp et al crowds thronged to the school cricket matches on Fridays and Saturdays, as a simple form of relaxation and entertainment.During this era DyanShanthaPathiravithana was a star attraction. Tall and ruggedly handsome he was a heart throb of many a schoolgirl as well
I was very fortunate to be a close friend of Dyan from 1960 when we were teammates of the Ananda College under 14cricket team. I happened to be Dyan’s vice-captain with AG Perera captaining the team. However, by 1964, Dyanhad surpassed both AG and me, and was our vice-captain of the 1sr XI team with Duminda Siriwardaneas captain. While AG too was a valued senior player of this team I was in and out of the team struggling to keep my place!
At the end of 1960 cricket season, I was awarded a special prize of Sir Don Bradman’s classic book the “Art of Cricket” for taking 24 wickets in 5 innings. (It was kindly donated by Mr BR De Silva the then MD of the accounting firm BR De Silva and Co,) This book had sequential photos of practically every batting stroke from the “Forward Defense” to the Pull and Hook shot. Dyan was highly fascinated with this book and promptly borrowed it from me. He would keep the book opened on his bed and standing in front of a full-length mirror shadow practice his strokes. He could spend hours doing this. May be this also had some positive effect in his batting prowess.
Dyan was appointed under 14 Captain in 1961 and had a superbly successful season leading from the front. In the match against St Peters, he scored a brilliant 75 not out which included several sixers to win the match. It so happened that our designate 1st XI Captain for 1962 Sarath (Batta) Wimalaratne was umpiring this match. It was the practice in those days for a senior player of the 1st XI team from each side to stand in as umpires.Sarath who was a shrewd and very knowledgeable cricketer, having observed Dyan’s great temperament had decided then and there that he would like to have Dyan in his 1st XI team. Up until then to the best of my knowledge no one had walked into the 1st XI team as a regular player straight from under 14 to 1st XI.
The 1962 Ananda team was a formidable side with three exceptional players in Sarath Wimalaratne (Captain) TD Rajapaksa (Vice Captain) and Para Polonowita (the previous year’s captain) who could have walked into any school or even a 1stDivision club side. To be in this side before his 15th Birthday was an achievement.Dyan was selected to play against Royal at Reid Avenue in the first match of the season. From the very start he showed superb temperament taking on anything that came his way with absolute confidence. Being tall strong and well-built and the confidence with which he took on the opposition no one would have thought that he was still just a 14-year-old Fresher. Ananda lost that first match by a whisker, but with just a little bit of luck it could have gone the otherway too. As for Dyan, it may have even been a blessing in disguise as he showed much promise in that first match itself and if we had won it may have given a young fresher like Dyan a sense of overconfidence as Ananda went on to win the next three or four matches on a trot.
Sarath Wimalaratne was a great role model for Dyan as well as many other younger players. Sarath was one of the best if not the best all-rounder in school cricket at that time. Dayan undoubtedly set about to emulate his captain. In addition, in that first year itself he got well moulded and tempered by having to face exceptional bowlers of the caliber of TB Kehelgamuwa of Dharmaraja who was the fastest bowlerand aptly dubbed “The Kandyen Express”andspinners such as Keith Labroy and Barney Reid of St Thomas’s and Tyrone Lemercier of St Peters just to name a few. By the end of that season Dyan had not only matured into a very good all-rounder, his exceptional leadership qualities and confidence was also very evident.
DyanPathiravithana, had Ananda embedded in his blood bones and veins. His father SugathadasaPathiravithanaand his mother Malini (Mani) VitachiPathiravithana were both Anandians. His mother had been at Ananda from the primary school to upper school. Her father Mr S.P Perera too was a teacher at Ananda during the Kularatne era. Aunty Mani was a well-known Anandian during our school days. Once, when Dyan’s parents were coming for a parent-teacher meeting, the watcher at the gate (at that time there were no security officers or “Sickas”) had said “Ah dennama ole bois la ne!”. Both maternal uncles of Dyan,TazieVitachi the internationally famous correspondent for the Time magazine and TotsieVitachi the former Principal Collector of Customs andGovernment Agent of Jaffna were also distinguished Anandians.So it’sno wonder that the “Spirit of Ananda” was well embedded in DyanPathiravithana.
ThoughDyan was not overly interested in “mundane class work” he was very well read. Like most of us at that time Dyan too was a fan of James Hadley Chase, Agartha Christie, and Earle Stanley Gardner. However his interests in reading went well beyond popular novels to books by authors like Perl S Buck, Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekov. I only knew of this because of the long chats Dyan used to have with my mother, who had a keen interest in English Literature and Poetry.
During thattime, we lived in Vajira Road and Dyan’s Grandparents and cousins used to live at Jaya Road in Bambalapitiya. On Sundays –especially during school holidays Dayn would cycle all the way from their home in Gothami RoadBorella, to visit his grandparents. On his way to (or from) Jaya Road he would drop by at our place for a chat and of course stuff himself with goodies if there were any on offer. During these visits he was quite happy to sit and chat, discuss and argue with my mother on various topics ranging fromEnglish Literature, Politics to Current Affairs. My mum was highly impressed with the knowledge and independent opinions Dyan had not just on Literature, he also had his own views on burning issues of that time, such as the Schools Takeover, Catholic Action, and the Coup of 1962. Obviously,his parents’ journalistic talents were well embedded in him as well.
Though Dyan had many interests his main and primary focus was on cricket. He was a goodathlete and hockey player too, but cricket took precedence over everything else. He played hard with no quarter asked nor given. He never gave up until the very end. A classic example of this was his determined performance at the 1963 Ananda –Nalanda Big Match.
After a highly successful season in 1962, 1963 was a “Team Building Year” for Ananda. To say it was a very mediocre year would be putting it mildly. We went into the Big Match verses Nalanda without having a single win for the season and losing 3 or 4 matches as well. We were the underdogs. By about 5.30 pm on the second day, we were in a bad way with Nalanda heading towards a historic victory. Shadows were lengthening but light was pretty good with no sign of even the weather gods coming to our aid. Nalanda batsmen Nihal De Silva and Bogologama were briskly heading towards their target, with plenty of wickets in hand. The Nalanda camp was jubilant while the Anandians were desolate and dejected. Ananda Captain Nihal De Silva (today he is a highly acclaimed medical doctor in the USA) who is usually very calm and collected seemed to be in a daze. Vice-Captain Duminda Siriwardne seemed no better. The body language of most of the other players also depicted a sense of doom and gloom.
The exception was Dyan – The Lion Heart -Pathiravithana. He was not going to give up that easily. He had virtually taken charge and did everything possible to raise the morale of the team. Dyon was not going to concede defeat till the very end. He took his time to get the field placing exactly as he wanted. All the jeers and boos of the Nalandians didn’t seem to bother him one bit. He was now in full control effecting the bowling changes, making the field placings and most of all encouraging the bowlers by speaking to them with his arms round their shoulders. The atmosphere was electric, but Dyon was composed focused and determined. He bowled a very tight over concentrating online and length and bowling to a tight leg side field. At the end of this over Nalanda were still short of a few runs and the clock was ticking into 5.59 pm. Probably there may have been time for one more over. However, confusion reigned and for some inexplicable reason Nalanda batsman Nihal De Silva grabbed a stump as a souvenir and started running towards the pavilion. Next thing we knew was Dyon too had followed suit by grabbing the other two stumps and heading towards the pavilion. The long and short of it was that Dyonthe Lion heart had saved the day for Ananda!
While on the topic of the 1963 big match I seek your indulgence to touch on another interesting incident involving Dyon. Our coach MrDhanasiri Weerasinghe wanted Lalith Guneratne to be in the final XI. The Captain, Vice-Captainand the other senior players with the exception of Dyan vehemently opposed this in favour of another player, Dyan’s was the only voice among the seniorplayers in support of Lalith. Dyan was not one who would just go with the tide. He was never hesitant to speak his mind out.Of course in the end everyone bowed to the coach’s counsel and not only did Lalith play in that Big Match he grabbed 4 wickets in the first innings and one in the second and later went on to establish a series record of 21 wickets which has not been bettered up to date.
Dyan was not just “The Lion Heart” he was Dyan the Kind Heart as well. He was ever willing to share whatever he had with his friends. Dyan was very fond of his grandparents and affectionately referred to them as Mommom and Popop. Following Dyan’s lead all his siblings, cousins and even their friends referred to them as Mommom and PoppopHe used to get one rupee as pocket money from Mommom every time hevisited her at Jaya Rd. Most times he would come and fetch me and Nimal Eddusuriya who was also a teammate who lived close by and head straight to Piccadilly Café and get three cones of ice cream.
Every Sunday Dyan’s mother would prepare a special lunch for the family. She had noticed that even though Dyan generally had a good and healthy appetite on Sundays it seemed to increase even further. He would serve himself very generously but after nibbling at his food for a while then excuse himself and keep the food in the fridgesaying he would eat later. Later on his mum had discovered that this was just a ploy ofDyan’s in order to share his food later with one of his friends who was an orphan. Of course, after his mum found this out Dyan’s friend was also a welcome visitor for Sunday lunch. These wonderful traits of his youth obviously had honed his character for adult life.
Those of us who knew Dyon well at school always thought he would opt for a career in the Defence Forces or in journalim as he had the attributes to excel in either. He chose the latter. He was a highly respected sports journalists and always maintained the highest standards. Dyon would have done equally well in our Defence Forces especially at a time when the country was in need of officers of Dyon’s caliber. If he did, he would have joined his three close friends and teammates Patrick Fernando (Rtd Maj Gen) TD Rajapaksa (Rtd Maj Gen) and Lalith Guneratne (Rtd Lt Col) who served the Sri Lanka Army with distinction.
Dyon’s elder son Ravi as a highly decorated Brigadier in the prestigious Armored Corp of the Sri Lanka Army reflects what his father would have been as an Army Officer. His younger son Charithon the other hand had opted for a career in the media as a Graphic designer continuing the family tradition of his father, uncle Ram, Granduncle Tazie and Grandfather, though in a more modern aspect in media.Dyan married his sweetheart of his school days Deepa on 8th May 1970and enjoyed the fruits of a very happy married life. Dyan and Deepa celebrated their 51st anniversary while in hospital just over two weeks before he passed away. I remember how he would go to Buddhist Ladies Collegeon the pretext of escorting his only sister Jeanne(MrsJayasinghe now) home after school, but we all knew that his real motive was to steal a few precious moments with his then Girl Friend Deepa who was a school mate of Jeanne’s. Theirs was a beautiful romance which happily went on for near on 60 years,
Dyon my friend, we are truly saddened that you have left us. But we rejoice in the wonderful memories you have left us with. Your humor sincerity and humility enriched our lives. Like what one of our favorite singers Frank Sinatra said in his ever-popular song “My Way”- you did it your own imitable way. May your journey through Samsara be short but hope we will meet again while on that journey too my friend and may you attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana.
-Prassa-
Prasanna.desilva04@gmail.com
To him we were people with problems, problems he tried to solve for us
Dr Lakshman Weerasena
Dr Lakshman Weerasena who passed away a few days ago was the physician who attended to members of my family and many of my friends. To me he was not only my doctor, but a friend who I looked to for advice, support and help that he readily gave wholeheartedly.
To this day I remember his entrance into my life because it was so dramatic. It happened because of a particularly severe allergic attack; I collapsed at home and was rushed semi-conscious through a throng of patients into his office startling the doctor who was seated there. He treated me swiftly and competently, and he and his efficient nurse assistant whom we all knew as Madanayake became a part of my life thereafter.
As a family physician, Dr Lakshman was a doctor par excellence. When we entered his consultation room, he would greet us warmly, by name and ask us what the problem was. He would listen carefully to what we had to say interjecting questions to discover the specifics. His cross-examination of our condition was never superficial or perfunctory. In spite of the many patients who crowded into his waiting room, Dr Lakshman would have ample time to listen and reach out to the worried individual who sat next to him in the patient’s chair. His fluency in the language of his patients, be it English, Sinhala or Tamil helped to put the patients at ease.
With his vast experience over the years, his diagnosis was usually spot on, and although we as patients did not realize it, as we spoke, he would be observing us keenly to note other signs or symptoms to help him come to a conclusion. When in doubt, he would not hesitate to seek a second opinion and we would be sent on our way to another doctor if necessary.
Perhaps what underscored his strength as a physician was his sense of empathy with his patients. When I discovered a small red patch on my breast and was disturbed by unusual pain in my right arm, I went to Dr Lakshman thinking that it was an insect bite. The doctor knew better and immediately arranged for me to undergo a needle biopsy. When I presented the biopsy report to him, there was a hushed silence in the room as Dr Lakshman stared at the piece of paper with stunned incredulity. His reaction was so similar to my own that I felt comforted that even though the diagnosis was cancer, I had an ally who felt the same despair as I did about my condition. This ability to totally understand a patient and his or her distress or trauma was something that we rarely see in the doctors of today. All too often we are merely a number which the nurse at the door calls out and attended to as quickly as possible. To Dr Lakshman however, we were people with problems, problems that he tried to solve for us. To this end he would also use his knowledge to caution us about the food we ate, the lifestyle changes we would need to make, the care we need to take. A consultation with Dr Lakshman was a total package.
During the week, Dr Lakshman would work long hours, shouldering the burden of care of the many patients, rich and poor, crowding into his consultation room. And as if this was not service enough, at weekends, Dr Lakshman would reach out to sick people all over the island. It was quite a normal occurrence to walk into his clinic and negotiate one’s way through stacks of medical supplies waiting to be loaded into his jeep for his next Medical Camp. He cajoled his colleagues and juniors into joining him and would travel miles to help people who did not have the advantage of the services available in the capital.
Dr Lakshman Weerasena was an iconic presence in our neighbourhood – warm-hearted, friendly, caring, compassionate.
He leaves behind a legacy of humane care and humanitarian service that few can lay claim to.
May his soul rest in peace.
Ryhana Raheem
Dear grandma your parting was too soon
Eileen Paul
Grandma, you were such a loving mother and devoted wife
Having spent 57 years of married life
Harmless and innocent was the way you wanted to live
Never hurting anyone in any way
You were fond of all your grandchildren without any discrimination
Because that’s what you were made of, no exaggeration
You could have stayed with us for a few more years
Why did you depart from us so soon, dear grandma
While we all miss you we know you are in a blissful place
Someday we will all meet you in that peaceful place.
Granddaughter Sanjana
There is much to take from the life and times of this patriot
Stanley (Sam) Samarasinghe
Even with the prior knowledge that the end was near, when the news of the passing away of Sam on November 23, was conveyed to me, it was difficult to bear. Though living the better part of his adult life in the United States, to those with whom he had regular contact and dialogue, he was ever present. He succumbed to an illness that he bore with courage and fortitude for several years. In that time his enthusiasm to live his life to the full did not diminish. Except family and close friends none had even the slightest inkling that he was battling an invasive enemy within.
I have described Sam as a patriot, if its definition is “one that loves his country and zealously maintains its interests”, then it fits him well, as he did that in full measure.
Having schooled in Kandy at Dharmaraja College, Sam completed a special degree in economics at the Peradeniya University. On being accepted by both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, he turned to his mentor, Professor H.A. de S. Gunasekera, who had advised him to take Cambridge. He went there with his wife Vidyamali, whom he had met at Peradeniya and obtained his Ph.D. in Economics. They both returned to Peradeniya and Sam became a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics. He taught there until 1989, when he left for the United States with his wife and two sons, Mevan and Ranmal. He was appointed Professor of the Development Studies Programme at the USAID, a position he held for many years in Washington.
What is remarkable, is that he continued his abiding interest in the many facets of Sri Lankan life, especially in education and politics and of course, Kandy. He returned to Sri Lanka at least twice a year. While others would spend such breaks as a let up from work, Sam vigorously involved himself in many spheres of activity.
Along with Prof. Kingsley de Silva, he created the only intellectual hub outside of the Peradeniya University in Kandy at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES). As Director, he secured funding for many academic projects that the Centre did. Sam was instrumental in the ICES buying its own place and then constructing a tarred road leading to the Centre. The way he set about it will give the reader an idea of the man Sam was. The road served at least 12 houses. He arranged a meeting of all the householders and sold them a deal that none could refuse. Each household was asked to pay proportionately to the distance from the main Peradeniya Road to their house. At the end of the exercise, Sam refunded the excess in that same proportion!!
Sam was an academic, researching and writing extensively, sometimes collaborating with other academics such as Prof. Kingsley de Silva and Prof. G.H. (Gerry) Peiris. On several occasions, he brought out his post graduate students from the Tulane University, New Orleans (where he was Visiting Professor of Economics) to Sri Lanka and to Kandy, arranged field trips and had them interact with academics and professionals.
His particular interest in Kandy made him do a study of its traffic congestion and he organised a public seminar with other experts on the subject. As the President of the Senkadagala Lions Club, Sam obtained funding for many of its projects. In fact Sam had a penchant for writing up project proposals, an expertise he ungrudgingly shared with anyone who asked for it. He started a monthly local newspaper in 1994, the “Kandy News”, becoming its Chief Editor and its main sponsor. The last issue was a special supplement done in the run up to the Kandy Municipal Council election in 2018.
When the tsunami struck the island in 2004, Sam was the lead Consultant of a World Vision programme designed to make a qualitative assessment of tsunami and non-tsunami villages from Kalutara in the Western Province to Kilinochchi in the Northern Province. A task he successfully completed with his team under the aegis of the ICES.
He was an advocate for cooperation and harmony among the races. His involvement in the post tsunami work in Jaffna and Trincomalee with the Lions Club is proof of that, as much as it was when he asked the guests to the nuptial reception of his son Mevan, not to give presents but to contribute towards the project initiated by Mevan and himself in giving school books and equipment to the Tamil Primary School at the Gomara Estate in Panwila.
My own association with Sam goes back to the time I ran for office as Mayor in 1997. He threw his weight behind me helping out in ways too numerous to mention. That friendship grew and grew and it embraced my family as well. He would ask me to criticise his writing, especially on politics. He was a stickler for accuracy and uncompromising on facts. His opinions were rational, practical and unbiased.
A bubbly personality, he was always a believer that there are better times ahead. His enthusiasm was infectious. His criticism of events and people was never personal. There is much to take from the life and times of Sam Samarasinghe.
We share his loss with his wife, the two boys of whom he was justly very proud of and his siblings whose welfare he always had. The country is poorer for his passing.
May he find peace in Nibbana.
Harindra Dunuwille
A man of goodness, humility and humanity who graced the legal fraternity
AJANTHA COOREY
The 20th death anniversary of eminent lawyer Emil Joseph Ajantha Coorey falls tomorrow, November 29.
Ajantha Coorey hailed from a family of legal professionals. He was a son of Austin Coorey, a senior attorney-at-law and Mrs. Muriel Coorey. His only brother Dr. Sunil Coorey is also a senior attorney-at-law.
A distinguished product of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10, he pursued his studies in law whilst serving in the Commercial Bank of Ceylon and obtained his LL.B from the University of Colombo in 1974. Thereafter, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the legal profession in 1977. He served in the chambers of the G. F. Sethukavalar, President’s Counsel.
He enjoyed an extensive practice in the Original and Appellate Courts in the fields of banking and commercial law. Several of the leading banks in this country were his clients. He studied his briefs with meticulous care and left no stone unturned in his client’s interests. The time he spent on a case was never commensurate to the fee he received.
Mr. Coorey’s services to the legal profession, and to the Bar Association were outstanding. He served for several years as a member of the Executive Committee and later as an Assistant Secretary. He was elected Secretary of the Bar Association in 1993 after a keenly contested election. He was Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the very successful ‘Law Asia Conference’ held in Sri Lanka in 1993. He was a member of the Council of Legal Education and the Secretary of the Colombo Law Library at the time of his demise.
Mr Coorey was the author of the Consolidated Digest of New Law Reports and was instrumental in publishing the amended versions of the Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Partition Act which immensely benefited the members of the legal profession, the Judiciary and law students. He wrote extensively on banking law, and his articles were published in several prestigious journals.
A man of absolute honesty, integrity and fairness, he shied away from personal glory and publicity. His devotion and uncompromising loyalty to his profession were never in doubt. By nature, he was fearless and outspoken and did not hesitate to make his views known in matters relating to the legal profession and the Bar Association, no matter how unpopular such issues were.
He was a devout Catholic. His deeply rooted Christianity permeated every aspect of his life, professional, domestic and social. He lived his Christianity to the very best of his warm and generous heart.
Undoubtedly, his driving force was his family. He was a loving husband to Bernie and a devoted father to Shivan and Shaleeni. Notwithstanding his busy practice and other related work, he always had time for his family. Shivan has followed his footsteps into the legal profession while Shaleeni, a Chartered Architect is a Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Moratuwa.
Mr. Coorey and his wife kept in close contact with friends and relations, and were always there to see to their needs.
I had the rare privilege of serving in his Chambers for over nine years until his demise. The training and the experience I gained has been immensely beneficial in my career as a lawyer. It was he who guided me in my first trials in court, drafting of my first plaints, answers and written submissions etc., copies of which I still have as both valuable guidance and treasured memory. I am ever grateful to him for the knowledge and training I received whilst working under him.
It is said that greatness is never measured by birth, wealth or fame, nor by the worth of one’s material possessions, but those in whose hearts you live. Mr. Coorey is a good example of this.
On this 20th anniversary of his passing away, I thank God for blessing us with such an outstanding person of goodness, humility and humanity and also remember him with a deep sense of gratitude for all the good that his memory and legacy has brought me, his other juniors, his family and all who had the pleasure and privilege of knowing him.
Mr. Coorey has left us with unforgettable memories, an honourable name and goodwill earned for his extraordinary qualities and observance of the highest traditions and values.
May his gentle soul rest in the peace of the Lord whom he served faithfully.
Varuna Senadhira
Four years on the sorrow of her passing is still deep
Virginia Gauder
My wife of 34 years passed away on November 18, 2017, a victim of the dreaded ovarian cancer. We had celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on June 11, 2017.
With a broken heart and tears I can honestly say this is by far the most difficult time ever. We lost our rock, my wife Virginia, my best friend, our world .. four years ago ..it still hurts just as bad today as it did the day we lost her.
I met my wife in 1980 and we fell in love. My parents vehemently opposed this which only strengthened my will to continue. I visited her home often, and being a hotelier her parents too advised her not to associate with me. Despite all the opposition, she stood by me through thick and thin.
We were married on June 11, 1983, and we had two children, daughter Ashanti and son Wiranga.We are grandparents to a lovely 11-year- old Luvana – our daughter’s daughter.
I’m a stickler for neatness and quick to lose my temper when things are not to my satisfaction. She would tell me much later very politely, “You could’ve said it in a more subtle way” – that made me feel so ashamed.
My wife and I’ve been down the long and winding road, weathering many a storm together.
Four + years into my walk in the valley of grief, I’ve resigned myself to the truth that this is a life sentence. At the end of my time here on the planet, I will either be reunited with my wife in some glorious mystery, or simply reach my last day of mourning her loss.
Wasanthakumar
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