Plus - Appriciations

The sudden death of Professor Cyril Jeffrey Babapulle at the age of 66 on May 29, this year in Colombo, deprived the Sri Lankan Medical Profession of one of its greatest exponents of Forensic Science. His death came as a sad blow to everyone who had known him, but the blow was particularly hard on those who had worked with him or had benefited from his personal kindness or professional assistance.

His death has left a deep void in the scientific community, and it will always remain a source of profound sadness to all of us who were privileged to have known him. He had been in failing health for some months but he faced his illness bravely with equanimity, great mental and physical courage, and religious conviction. Jeff's children, Mohan and Sharmini took leave from their jobs in Canada to be with him during the last days. Their presence was a great comfort to Jeff who took great pride in the activities and achievements of his children. Jeff's wife Mary, son Mohan and daughter Shamini, and Jeff's brother Patrick, his wife and family were by his side when he passed away. It was the end of a beautiful life.

Jeff was born in Colombo on December 10, 1939 - the eldest of the six children of Dr. Cyril and Marjorie Babapulle.

The Babapulles include four generations of Doctors. Jeff's parents valued education above anything else. With unbounded confidence in the abilities of their children, Cyril and Marjorie gave them a good catholic education to instill discipline and develop their character. Jeff was sent to St. Joseph's College in Colombo where he excelled in studies and was made the Senior Prefect. He became a compulsive and voracious reader at a young age and began building a small library at home.

Being such a clever student, there was no doubt that he was destined for a career in medicine. The standing joke was that it was awful to be a Babapulle and be stupid. The block chipped and Jeff, following his father's footsteps, entered the Colombo Medical College in 1960. In the very first year itself, he discovered a demure young girl by the name of Mary Jacob, an old girl of Kandy Girls' High School, and proposed to her. It was love at first sight. Despite his uncertain temper, most people including Mary found his generosity and zest for life irresistible. Young Jeff had more charm than a stadium full of people. Jeff and Mary married in 1967.

Having graduated from the Ceylon Medical College with honours in the second class, Jeff worked for several years as the Medical Officer of Health at Wattegama, and then as the Medical Officer at the Bogambara Prisons, and subsequently joined the Department of Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya on secondment as Lecturer for two years. He received permanent tenure as Lecturer at the Department of Forensic Medicine in 1983, where his career proceeded along a smoothly ascending trajectory from Lecturer to Professor, solely on the strength of his phenomenal research and publications.

He has a M. Med. Science in Medical Education and 2 PhDs, one in Law and the other in Logic, and an MD on his thesis entitled, "Physics as applied to Injuries of the Calvarium". He wrote several books on a variety of topics that include medical education, law, logic, forensic toxicology, and medical physics, to name a few. His last book on medical diagnosis is to be published posthumously.

At the Faculty of Medicine (University of Peradeniya), there was no downside to being Prof. C. Jeffrey Babapulle. He was a towering figure with a stern exterior that belied a gentle and generous nature. He rarely took leave and was at his desk putting in long hours of work with religious regularity until the very day he retired in December 2004 as Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Science.

As a teacher, he had few rivals. He was adored by students, and he knew almost every student by name. Jeff was both teacher and friend to his students, whose academic performance remained always his prime concern. His basic characteristic was that he enjoyed life, and this enjoyment spread to those about him. His forte was the possession of a lucid mind, a booming voice, and an excellent command of the English language in all its subtleties. He had enviable qualities of clarity and imagination, qualities that many academics lack today. There was something hypnotic about the way he looked at you. He had a sense of the theatre. Like the late Professor Hilary Crusz, the power to keep people spellbound was partly a matter of his personality, for he knew the art of oral scientific presentation. He rarely used technology to enliven his lectures; instead he often used the "pregnant pause" to mesmerize his students. His lectures and ward classes were hilarious as he enlivened them with anecdotes derived from his experience and recollection. There would be peals of laughter from the students.

Our paths crossed in the mid-1970 when Jeff would discuss books with me. He was particularly keen to understand the mind of the Jesuit biologist and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who in his seminal work, "The Phenomenon of Man" tried to reconcile his Christian theology with the scientific theory of evolution. Another thinker who had a profound influence on Jeff was the Nobel Prize-winning French biologist Jacques Monod, who was probably well known for his book, ""Chance and Necessity" published in 1970, in which he put forward the view that "Pure chance, only chance, absolute but blind liberty is at the root of the prodigious edifice that is evolution". Jeff had a wide interest in all aspects of life, and at his home, you never knew whether you were in for a discussion on science, art, literature or music. He was a great lover of music and gardening, both of which gave him hours of pleasure and relaxation.

The tragic and untimely death of his eldest son Naresh in the US was a blow from which Jeff and Mary never recovered. It may have even triggered the decline in Jeff's health. The sadness plunged Jeff into a deep grief that amounted virtually to melancholy. Despite the strength of Christianity, Jeff could never come to terms with the death of his dear son. And for the rest of his life, Jeff lived with the thoughts of his dead son never far from the surface of his mind.

I have been exceptionally fortunate in my friends; among them, one of the most important was Jeff for whom I have the greatest respect, affection and admiration as a man, mentor, and polymath. Jeff was among the most civilized, courteous and considerate of men, and his conversations, both scientific and social, have always been stimulating, provocative and just.
With Jeff gone, I find the world cold and less joyful.

You believed in the truth and nothing but the truth -

Those who killed you rely on falsehood and half truths

You relied on sound reasoning, logic and effective advocacy -

Those who killed you rely on unreasonable rhetoric and unethical lobbying

You were a peaceful person committed towards the establishment of a non-violent society

Those who killed you are violent and are committed towards infliction of harm through acts of terrorism

You treasured human life and respected people for their humanity

Those who killed you do not protect human life and have scant respect for humanity

You were committed towards the development of a plural society in which all peoples of this country could live peacefully whilst enjoying equal rights and privileges

Those who killed you are committed towards the establishment of a mono-ethnic,

mono-political, authoritarian State for their benefit only

You always acted in the best interest of all peoples of Sri Lanka including the Tamil ethnic community and other Tamil speaking people -

Those who killed you act against the interests of all Sri Lankans and certainly do not act in the best interest of the Tamil ethnic community and other Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka.

You were determined to preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka -

Those who killed you are determined to destroy the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the single nationhood of Sri Lanka

You were loved by your people and commanded respect and admiration for your knowledge, ability, foresight, vision and commitment -

Those who killed you demand respect and honour through infliction of harm and fear, and are hated by their own people

You lived to protect Sri Lanka -

Those who killed you assassinated you in revenge and to facilitate the separation of Sri Lanka

You had the courage to accept responsibility for all what you did -

Those who killed you are cowards and continue to deny their involvement in having assassinated you

Sniper’s fatal shot pierc’d thro’ his precious heart
Flame O’his life flicker’d out on Ides of August
Dew-laden-soft-night-sky silently sobb’d
His last breath mingl’d with th’air that we inhale.
No harbinger o’doom appear’d ere his death,
Soothsayer did ne’er foretell his tragic end
Neither a spooky nor a ghostly figure was in sight
Nature didn’t show-up an ill-omen on the fateful night
Ashes to ashes, his mortal remains reduc’d to ashes,
That were scattered’d o’er the river, steep and wide,
Murmuring rapids ardently embraced them soon
And carried’em safely to the bosom of th’ocean
He’s no more; yet his spirits seem to reign on th’earth
Dead Kadirgamar prov’d more potent than the livin’ un
The efforts he made sans fear, with undaunt’d courage
Came to full fruition, in the period-post-demise
Breeze that mix’d with his last breath,
Blew fastly across many continents and oceans
Conveyin’ a decisive message thro-out the world
Alightin a deadly blow on the terrorist-outfit
Expand’d European Union impos’d a total ban
On the most-cruellest-and-brutal-strip’d-felines
Virtually inactivatin’ their arms-deals abroad,
And incapacitatin’ their terror-machines
He earn’d the highly deservin’ sobriquet ‘Prince of Peace”
Undoubtedly outshining all our national heroes
Tho’ the eulogies sung will never restore him to the earth
Name Kadirgamar will ne’er be consign’d to oblivion.