APPRECIATIONS
View(s):He will go down in history as an unsung hero
GOMIN DAYASRI
What is a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself- your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better or worse – when you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With him you breathe freely – you can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and, in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no matter. He likes you – he is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands – he understands. You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with him, pray with him. Through it all and underneath – he sees, knows and loves you.
A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself. — C. Raymond Beran.
It is with great sadness that I pen this article about a well known personality who was very patriotic and contributed immensely to the welfare of our country. I had the privilege of associating with him from 1956 when I was enrolled to the premier Buddhist school Ananda College as a pupil of Standard Six.
I had had my primary education at St. Thomas College, Bandarawela, under that great educationist W. T. Keeble of ‘Ceylon Beaten Track’ fame. It was a novel experience to enter a new school in the Colombo metropolis, also a new classroom block in the newly built three-storeyed Olcott Memorial building at the entrance to Ananda College from Maradana Road and make brand new friendships.
The first person I made friends with was Gomin Dayasri, who greeted me with a friendly smile. Having joined Ananda College at the primary level, he was familiar with the traditions and way of life at Ananda and quickly put me at ease to carry out my day-to-day activities. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Gomin. His sincere and solid friendship influenced me immensely.
My nostalgic memories go back to the wonderful times spent in school together. I often used to ride my bicycle from my grandmother’s house in Borella to No.21, Bagatalle Road where he lived with his family, to do joint studies. His parents treated me affectionately as one in their own family. He was also a cricket enthusiast and we enjoyed watching and cheering at inter-collegiate cricket matches.
I was privileged to continue my friendship with him up to the Advanced Level in school and later as a colleague in the legal profession. We kept in touch regularly, enjoyed each other’s company and developed a very close friendship as we had a lot of common interests.
Gomin Dayasri was the only son of N. Q. and Ratana Dias. His father was a senior civil servant and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence during the term of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first woman Prime Minister of Ceylon. Gomin himself was one time-confidant and adviser to Mrs. Bandaranaike from 1970 to 1977.
He was a senior attorney par excellence. There were only four eminent lawyers as per my memory who were fit to hold the title of President’s Counsel but on principle refused to apply for the title. They were Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, R. K. W. Goonasekere, S. L. Gunasekera and Gomin Dayasri, who had high principles and always acted with honesty and integrity.
Gomin was a law lecturer par excellence and leading commentator on legal and political matters. He contributed many valuable articles to the daily English and Sinhala newspapers and to discussions on TV. He was a philanthropist and helped in many charitable projects, assisting his old school Ananda on many occasions. However he was an introvert and modest to the extent that one could say that his left hand did not know what was given by his right hand. He will go down in history as an unsung hero!
I quoted C. Raymond Beran at the beginning of my tribute to describe what Gomin was to me – a genuine friend with a unique personality!
Dear Gomin, my sincere friend I will miss you dearly and hope we will meet many times in this unending cycle of Sansara. My sincere wish is for your journey through Sansara to be peaceful and productive. May you achieve the Noble Bliss of Nirvana in the shortest possible time.
Indrakumar Wijayatilake
She truly was a matriarch of many facets
Leela Magodaratna
July 6 marked the first death anniversary of my mother Leela Magodaratna. Born in Ratnapura to an Estate Medical Officer, Albin Wilegoda who worked across Sabaragamuwa and adjoining provinces and Olivia Abeysinghe, she had one sister – Lalani.
Both had all the worldly comforts two young girls growing up in Ceylon of 1930’s and 40’s could ask for including a good education in the English medium at Ferguson High School, Ratnapura under principal Ms. Evelyn A. Allsop.
Her father passed away while she was 16 and his sudden death left the family in some difficulty. Fortunately, her paternal uncle, the head priest at Veralupe temple came forward to help secure some of their houses and lands.
As she preferred something to do in the medical field and it had been her father’s dream too, my mother coaxed her uncle to help her apply to the first WHO Nursing School at Kandy housed at Savoy Hotel at the time. She was selected in early 1951 among a batch of 26 girls and two boys. She was grateful to the principal Ms. Kraigh and tutors for her career and the qualities of love, kindness and empathy instilled in them.
She left her nursing career in December 1958 after marriage and almost single-handedly brought up the four children as my father was either stationed in Ratnapura or Gannoruwa intermittently or was away either on foreign training or assignments working at the Department of Agriculture and later at the Ministry of Agriculture. Though she had domestic help to look after the fields and cattle, she learned how to milk them and care for them. I still remember her burning Kohomba oil on coconut shells and nursing the calves or cows that suffered a chill on a cold night.
She was a maestro of home-remedies. We rarely consulted a doctor when we were small as she prepared treatments and remedies from both the Western and Ayurvedic medicine for numerous ailments. Her care and compassion was not limited to the household.
Her cooking prowess was also impeccable. All she had was a mincer, a beater and a set of nozzles and spatulas my father brought from his overseas trips and a kerosene oven, but the cakes and puddings she made were endless. I cleaned up after her when the ‘beating & mixing’ was done. She made the local delicacies – Wandu Appa, Lavariya, Halapa, Muruthan Bath, Mun Ata Kiribath et al too.
Every drop of dairy was put to good use, and Amma made sure that all the coconuts plucked were used to the fullest. Some were sold to the neighbourhood at a ‘concessionary’ price and the rest made into oil for the household including King Coconuts used for hair-oil. The residue of the oil-making process was made into succulent ‘Thelika’ – similar to Kalu Dodol.
Amma just loved radio. She would record the education programmes aired in the morning on the SLBC Education Service on my father’s spool recorder for my brother and sisters to listen after school. She was both an ardent listener and contributor to ‘Home-Scene’ the housewives programme on SLBC, sending in home remedies and recipes, and an ardent listener to Pasan Niwasa, the afternoon housewives’ programme on the Sinhala Commercial Service. Just as much as Jim Reeves and Perry Como, were her favourites she loved Victor Rathnayake and Somathilaka Jayamaha. A loyal reader from Day 1of the Lanka Woman, she was an avid reader of Tharunee as well. It was her ability to hover across contrasting spaces which instilled so much into her children.
She sewed most of our clothes and schoolbags, and her needlework adorned many homes of friends and family. She sewed and cooked until her last days.
Amma was an active social worker, an early member of the Panadura Social Service League. She was heavily involved in managing the Moravinna Girls’ Orphanage run by the League as the Asst. Manager. Training girls in sewing, Amma helped the nursery class and held classes on cookery and needlework for school leavers at the Panadura MOH office through the League.
She was a pioneering member of the Panadura chapter of the Sri Lanka Housewives’ Association and the Panadura Senior Citizens’ Club. We used to laugh at the intensity and commitment she had for all these activities.
A matriarch of many facets – she was strong-willed yet kind and compassionate to the core. I still wonder how she managed these differing roles so well.
May her journey in Sansara be short!
Nishan Magodaratna
Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.