On a sunny afternoon, at about 3 p.m., our good friend Merrill went out for his usual bicycle ride to nearby Tarrytown, in suburban New York. He waved goodbye to his beloved wife Maxi, saying he should be back in 15 minutes or so. Alas, that was his last goodbye to Maxi. He was knocked down by a bus and succumbed to his injuries shortly after.
When I heard the sad news in New York later that evening, I was in total shock. Merrill was one person I truly loved and respected among my friends. He was a great husband to Maxi, wonderful father to his only daughter Tania, affectionate father-in-law to Tim and doting and proud grandpa to his grandson and granddaughter.
Merrill was very fond of the country of his birth, Sri Lanka, and was always nostalgic about his happy years, growing up in that tropical isle. He was also proud of his heritage as a Burgher of British origin. “I am one of the better Burgher buggers,” he would joke.
As a youngster, he started off as a cost clerk at Walkers, Colombo, and worked under his hero and mentor, Mr. Alagaratnam (chief engineer). After completing his cost and management exams, he rose up the management ladder quickly. He later joined the United Nations, worked in countries such as Bangladesh, and finally ended up at UNICEF, New York, where he was budget director at the time of his retirement, some years ago. While working at UNICEF, he studied for a Master of Public Administration degree at the New York University Wagner School of Public Service.
Merrill was a very likable and unpretentious person. Because he was non-judgmental, he made friends easily among the Sri Lankan community in the US and the Americans. He was devoted to his adopted country, the US of A. I remember the day he became a US citizen. He was ecstatic.
As a friend, he was phenomenal. Can we ever forget the founder of SODA – Sri Lankans Online Discussion Association? We are all beneficiaries of this unique organ. Merrill would give pen-names to all his buddies at SODA. I was given the name “Poet”, for my esoteric expressions, I suppose. Luke de Silva of Stamford, Connecticut was called the Duke of Stamford. Brahman Sivaprakasapillai was referred to as “Your Highness”, and ChandraRaj was affectionately called the “Moon King”.
Merrill was fondly called the “CEO” by us all. Whenever some of us fell behind, owing to lack of time or just plain lethargy, our CEO would give us a pep talk and the e-mail traffic would start humming again. How we enjoyed his messages. They were priceless.
Those of us in our twilight years found SODA a great vehicle to keep us occupied and informed. There were jokes galore, too, as our CEO was a man of humour. He loved jokes of all kinds, the darker the better. Below-the-belt jokes were very welcome.
In the meantime, our CEO started a blog of his own. It was brilliant, and a resounding success. Our CEO was a veritable intellectual who could write on any subject, from management, accountancy and economics to health, life, sports and a lot more. His writing was balanced and poised.
Merrill was cool, calm and collected. He had a unique, non-confrontational way of communicating, with that soothing mellow voice of his. And we all listened.
Merrill was a sportsman. He was a runner. He ran many marathons till his feet gave way. He was a champion swimmer. And he was a bicycle aficionado. He was an expert on sports bikes and had four great ones in his garage, next to his Toyota Avalon. He promoted biking to all and wrote many articles to the local newspaper on the environmental benefits of biking.
All of us are reeling from the blow of Merrill’s death. Some of us still refuse to accept the fact that he is gone. My heart is heavy.
Till we meet again, Merrill.
Thayaparan |
E-mail