Ranjit would have been 65 on June 4. He passed away on November 8, last year. He was four months older than I. We had been friends for well over 50 years. Ranjit was an exceptionally gifted individual.
He was born to a family of engineers, who were pioneers in their particular field. Ranjit like his three brothers studied at S. Thomas’, Mt. Lavinia, and then went on to study engineering at the Loughborough University in the UK. However he did not stop there.
He studied finance and gave leadership to the phenomenal growth of the Jinasena Group, and then became an information technology expert, a computer analyst and programmer of great distinction.
At STC, he was never considered a genius, but there was indeed a streak of genius in him which blossomed much later in life. He was actively associated with stage lighting for the STC Drama Society and typically enjoyed the backstage job! He was associated with the famous rocket launch on the big club grounds of the college in the early sixties. He did much of the work but remained in the background and allowed the brilliant guys in the science stream, who were the official ‘rocket team’ to enjoy the launch failure!
When he took an interest in any particular area of work or subject, he mastered it and became an expert and an authority in that particular field. I remember when he took an interest in Christianity and the study of the Bible very late in life, he became such an authority on the Bible, that he put many of us who are supposed to have studied the Bible from our childhood to shame.
Some years ago he and his wife Nilanthi were invited to get involved in raising badly needed funds for the Ceylon Schools for the Deaf and Blind with two schools in Ratmalana and one in Kaithadi, Jaffna. This they did together with some equally dedicated friends drawn from the business community and those with interests in motor sports, another passion of Ranjit’s. They made a huge contribution to the improvement of education in these schools.
If leading a fund raising group came naturally to him, it was his contact with the schools and the children that inspired him to do everything possible to help these children in their education and future careers and to improve the quality of their lives. He was a compassionate individual who was deeply moved by the stories of these children.
He realised that more can be done for the education of these children. Given the necessary support, he was convinced that these students can excel and compete as equals with children who did not have such disadvantages. In his usual thorough style, he made it his business to find out and learn how best sight and hearing impaired children are educated in other parts of the world.
He made contact with organizations and individuals involved in similar work throughout the world, and was able to bring these resources to these schools to benefit the children. The innovative use of information technology, an area in which he himself was an expert and the development of computer software have opened many new opportunities for these hearing and sight impaired children.
Software was developed in Sinhala, and multi media methods used to teach in both the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf. The software that was developed was so successful that it was nominated for the “World Summit 2009” awards, and was adjudged winner in the category “ e – Inclusion & Participation”.
Ranjit was always in a hurry, and wanted everything ‘done yesterday’. He had told some of us about 4-5 years ago that with his health problems he did not think he would live for more than another two years. This was perhaps one of the reasons for his impatience. I count Ranjit among my closest friends, a friendship spanning as I said before over fifty years. But even this lifelong friendship was sometimes under strain because of his commitment to the special schools at Ratmalana and Kaithadi. He was forthright in what he had to say, and didn’t ‘sugar coat’ the pill even to a friend. He was firmly of the view that if you agree to be a volunteer for a cause then you take on a commitment, and can’t give excuses for not doing the job you volunteered to do.
In recognition of what he had achieved in Ratmalana, Ranjit had just been invited by the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education to implement these changes in other special schools (serving the sight and hearing impaired) in the island, and he had just begun this work when he fell seriously ill.
This is a huge blow to these children with such special needs. He was always generous, generous to a fault. Many were the occasions when funds had run out for a particular programme of work, and he very silently, made available his personal resources to continue this work. There are many young people, whom he supported and mentored over the years to educate themselves and develop their careers who are today very grateful to him. In recent years he paid special attention to former students of the School for the Blind who were encouraged to believe in themselves, and who made tremendous progress under his guidance. To them Ranjit’s death is a huge blow.
Ranjit was always blunt and some misunderstood this as arrogance. This was not the case. He was a quiet, compassionate man, almost shy, who never sought to be in the limelight, but it was just that even to those who were closest to him a spade would always be called a spade. This attitude was perhaps one he acquired from his genius father and the manner in which the father and sons ran their business. The Jinasenas typically maintained the highest standards in business ethics, and could never be influenced by people in authority to lower their standards. Not even the most powerful of politicians could do this.
They always stood their ground when they were certain they were right, and consequently probably lost a lot of business because they refused to give anything ‘under the table’.
Ranjit’s loss is felt by many and most by Nilanthi and sons, Suren and Chanaka. We hope they will find consolation in the fact that Ranjit will always be regarded as an outstanding human being who made a very real contribution to improve the lot of many people, and in recent years made a very significant contribution to improve the quality of life of sight and hearing impaired children and to give them hope for a better future.
Eksith Fernando
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