Intrepid educator with a soft heart
The First World War had ended several years earlier. But the political rumblings in Europe, particularly with the rise of Hitler and increasing drum beats of Nazism, suggested that more was likely to come.
But to those in our part of the world, Europe still seemed far away. South and Southeast Asia, mostly under British colonial rule, had other concerns such as India’s spreading struggle for independence and Ceylon trying to revive its ancient legacy of Buddhist religious education trampled underfoot by successive western colonial occupations, some more aggressive than others.
As Ceylon came increasingly under colonial rule, Buddhism and Buddhist education taught then mainly in temples and pirivenas, fell victim to the religious teachings of the new colonial power often preached by foreign missionaries brought into the country to proselytise the native people and undermine their traditional teachings and culture.
Happy 100th b'day Madam: Fond reunion with some former students
It was not until 1815 with the signing of the Kandyan Convention that Britain gained power over the island. The advantages of political unification were obvious as historians have pointed out, but Kandyans appeared deeply apprehensive of all foreigners.
In the post-Kandyan Convention period, colonial administrative laws spread across the whole territory and what remained of Kandyan conventions and cultural traditions began to disappear often under official pressure or other means, as the populace bowed to the colonial diktats.
While there might have been benefits of British rule in the Kandyan kingdom, it is the deleterious effects on the social, educational and community life post- Convention and the undermining of a long tradition of an entire people and the suppression of their rights to education at their will, particularly for Kandyan women, and the struggle to bring it back to life that forms an essential part of the history of Kandy under the British.
That unfortunate aspect of foreign rule and the struggle of an educationally suppressed are an integral part of the story that cannot be easily severed as the umbilical cord, certainly not from those strongly committed to Kandyan history.
Lalitha Abeysinghe Fernando
Some might wonder why my appreciation of a valued educationist, Lalitha Fernando nee Abeysinghe who was Principal of Mahamaya Girls College in Kandy from the butt-end of a youth insurrection but was also my elder sister, should venture me to delve into the impact of western colonialism and the revival of Buddhist education, instead of our family history.
It would have been easy to write about the happy days when our extended family met together at various times during their school holidays, but I was left out of the frolics as too much of a nuisance and goof enough to be looked after only by a domestic.
This agglomeration of tales from various branches of the family are not only entertaining enough to be retold, but they must be held back for another day and today is not that day for they could well cause real concern among those who wish to see sleeping dogs lie.
But as the youngest in the family, my sister Lalitha, some 12 years older than I, was my guardian angel and often shielded me from others. When she passed out of University in Colombo in 1949, my brother Mervyn had just entered University and my other brother Kingsley was all ready to wrap the stethoscope round some recalcitrant patient’s throat. My eldest brother Stanley had much earlier in life joined the British Army hoping to play catch-up with some Nazi tank commander in Rommel’s Africa Corps.
Shortly after, “Punchi Akka” as I used to call her, joined the prestigious Colombo girls school, Visakha Vidyalaya, under the dedicated and able guidance of Susan George who steered this Buddhist school with tender care.
This tells us from where my sister picked up those finer points of caring for the school, its staff and students who adored her over the years. I came to meet Mahamaya College students who were my batchmates at Peradeniya University and some of whom I know as they still drop in to see her at Sarasavi Gardens, Nawala where she now lives, looked after with meticulous care by Anoma Palihakkara nee Munasinghe, the daughter of our elder sister Nalini Munasinghe who herself was an English teacher in those early post- 2nd World War years.
An appreciation would be better appreciated if left to those more acquainted with the wider subject in this instance than personal anecdotes which might raise a laugh or two but diminishes the importance of the roles played by a wide society to resuscitate and revive a rich culture made moribund by imperialism
What better way to pick up those crucial threads of history without too much bother than a fascinating book. And this book titled “With A Fistful of Rice” by Indrani Meegama brings to centre stage Mahamaya College Kandy where my sister Lalitha was first a student along with my sister Nalini, and later Principal for eight years (1972-1980) during a crucial period when the education of Kandyan women had virtually been destroyed by British efforts to eliminate Buddhist education and indeed Buddhism.
What is perhaps less known and might raise a tickle is that both my brothers were also boarders at Mahamaya along with my sisters. However, gossip has it that brother Mervyn did not last long but the boarding was ready to have brother Kingsley string along for as long as he liked.
Indrani’s book which sketches colonial attempts to crush Sinhala cultural and education traditions at the time by making English a compulsory language and the language of education, was increasingly opposed by Kandyan ladies who established Mahamaya Girls College as a countervailing force to British efforts.
With Mahamaya placed at the centre of her thesis she sets out to identify those who helped make Mahamaya Girls School possible and sustainable, a Mahamaya that would be the beacon of Buddhist education for women in Kandy.
That exercise required that Indrani name names, including Principals, who made the school one of prestige. It is that identification by name that makes is somewhat embarrassing for a member of the family to name one of his own.
Yet there is one reason that makes my sister stands out from the rest. That is the fact that unlike other Principals she has completed her 100 birthday much to the joy of former staff and pupils.
Well that is good enough for me as a reason.
- Neville de Silva
| A student recalls | |
| The day I was appointed as the head prefect, I was punished in front of the Principal’s office for a few hours. Mrs Fernando made sure that I didn’t remove my prefect’s badge!! The reason was … We had a lab boy by the name of Appuhamy. He had a push bicycle. I could never ride a bicycle, so was determined to learn. So I got on the bicycle with the help of a few of my friends and away I went. What we didn’t realize was that Appuhamy had his lunch box tied to the back of the bicycle. So a few yards into the ride I fell and Appuhamy’s lunch scattered all over the basketball court. He complained to Mrs Fernando and we all got punished. Up to date I can’t ride a bicycle!! Long after, when I used to go and see Mrs Fernando in Colombo we used to laugh about it. School years were the best years of my life. Mrs Fernando was an excellent Administrator and is a wonderful person. I learned so much from Mrs Fernando. Ashanthi Divitotawela Wijenaike
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