Dr. Theodora Munasinghe - An exemplary life

The death of Dr. Theodora Munasinghe brought to an end an exemplary life sincerely dedicated to the welfare of others and pursuit of happiness through meditation and inner life transformation. She was no ordinary Doctor. While remaining faithful and committed to her professional calling, she also explored alternate health systems and spiritual life comprising yoga and meditation, and travelled overseas to meet reputed Yoga teachers.

Dr. Munasinghe (‘Dora’) passed away peacefully on January 22, 2019 at her residence in Dehiwala. She was 94 years old. She was born on November 22, 1924.  She was my aunt (my mother Muriel Weeraratna’s younger sister). 

Ancestral background

She was the daughter of Don Elaris Weerasiri and Nancy Weerasiri. She was one of 12 children. Her paternal grandfather was Don Theodoris Weerasiri, who ran a jewellery shop called ‘Don Theodoris’ in Chatham Street, Fort. This shop had Royal patronage from the likes of Queen Victoria, and Prince of Wales and Prince of Waldemar of Denmark who made large purchases on their visit to Ceylon in 1901.

The name ‘Theodora’ was given to my aunt in memory of her paternal grandfather Don Theodoris Weerasiri.

Her maternal grandmother was Cecilia Thenuwara, a wealthy landowner who it was said then owned half of Maradana. She built a huge mansion with eight rooms (for their eight children) at Stork Place, Maradana where she lived together with her husband Carolis and the eight children. This building now houses Stafford College.

Upon returning from a visit to the Dalada Maligava in Kandy (travel then was by bullock cart) and inspired by the sight of ‘Budu Ras’ emanating from the casket holding the sacred tooth relic while standing in the queue.  Cecilia Thenuwara had vowed to build a Buddhist temple that she could see daily at the dawn of daybreak.  She bought the land in front of her house, brought down a pious monk from Galle (Ven.  Matale Vipulasena Thero) in 1903 and gradually built a Buddhist Temple with the help of her children and others in the neighbourhood.   The ashes of Carolis Thenuwara (Cecilia’s husband) were buried in this plot of land on top of which the first Dewale of the Temple was built.

This temple widely known originally as ‘Ode Pansala’ was later renamed as Sri Lanka Maha Pirivena. It is presently situated at Vipulasena Mawatha (named in memory of the first Viharadipathy of the Temple), Maradana.  This temple gained wide prominence, when the second head of the Temple, Ven. Baddegama Wimalawansa Thero, became a Buddhist and national Leader in the 1950s. The Thenuwara and Weerasiri families were the chief dayakayas of the ‘Ode Pansala’ for a long time.

Education

Dora Munasinghe studied at St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo before entering the Colombo Medical Faculty. She played hockey for St Bridget’s. Though she studied at a Missionary school the home atmosphere was very much Buddhist as she says in an interview.  “I was brought up as a Buddhist and my mother exposed us children to Buddhist sermons every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday”.

She graduated with a MBBS in 1950 obtaining 2^nd Class Honours. She also acquired a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H) from the University of London in 1960. She served as a Doctor in Kurunegala, Avissawella, Castle Street Maternity Hospital, Lady Havelock, Lady Ridgeway and Durdans hospitals (short stint). Dr. Dora Munasinghe was one of the first two House Officers appointed to the Castle Street Maternity Hospital at its inception in 1952. During this time (circa 1953), Aunty Dora while driving her car had a narrow shave with death at the unprotected Castle Street Railway crossing in Borella, Colombo 08. She never drove a car thereafter for a long time.

But it was at the Colombo Municipal Council Medical Clinic that she served for the longest period until retirement. 

Wedded life

Dr. Theodora Weerasiri married Douglas Munasinghe (an old Thomian), Chartered Accountant and Director (Finance) Lake House Group in 1952. The marriage took place at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Gladys Devasirinarayana at Gothami Road, Borella, Colombo 08.

Dr. Chandra de Silva (nee Devasirinarayana) (also called Dr. Dianne de Silva in USA) has shared her thoughts on Aunty Dora as follows:

“I too admired her compassion for patients. She looked upon the practice of medicine as a way of serving humanity and not for acclaim. She was selfless in her devotion.She lived with us for almost one year before she left for her Castle street residence. I had the misfortune to be stricken with Rheumatic carditis around that time. My doc informed my parents that this illness had a 70% chance of fatality. My parents were very disappointed with this news. Aunty Dora told us we don’t just accept this as our fate we fight. She encouraged me to be very positive and hopeful and not to give in to despair. I believe seeing the way she functioned as a doctor really helped me make up my mind about my medical career. To this day I remember her wedding at our place. Amma (Aunt Gladys) was very fond of her. She felt she had to step in as Siya was not even talking to aunty. I got close to uncle Douglas well as he was visiting Aunty at our place. He took me several times with Aunty to Fountain cafe, Piccadilly etc. I made him my witness at my wedding. 

Aunty was also very kind to her servants Sophie and Jane.On a visit to her home I asked where Jane was. She took me to her room where she was sleeping and made sure the mosquito netting fully covered her. She regularly wrote to me like Aunty Muriel and kept me informed ofall the goings on with the family.She also shared the lessons shelearned from meditation masterssuch as Jack Kornfield, Goenka and Jo Goldstein. She recommended that I meet them which I did. Whenever I am asked what inspired me to start my career in Medicine, I always mention Aunty.

I remain ever grateful to my aunts and Amma for encouraging me to do my best with the very limited time we all have.”

Family

Every four years Douglas would get leave from work to travel overseas with his wife for short periods of time. They visited the United Kingdom in 1956 and Japan in 1960.

Uncle Douglas was a man of style driven to lead a high-flying life. He wore beautiful clothes and an attractive silk neck scarf to match.

They had three children, namely, Daljit, Priyaraj (P.L.) and Nissanka, all of whom attended St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia. Daljit and Nissanka are no more among the living having died in tragic circumstances.

Aunty Dora was very proud of her second son Priyaraj, who was popularly known as ‘P.L.’. He was the school head prefect. He excelled in sports and captained the St. Thomas College Rugger Team (1975). Under his leadership at the Royal Thomian rugby match in July 1975, his team came from behind to beat the favourites Royal 8–3 to win the Michael Gunaratne Trophy. Priyaraj scored the match winning two tries in this Royal Thomian encounter. He represented Sri Lanka at Rugger while being a schoolboy, and won school colours in both Rugger and Athletics. He came second in the 100 metres sprint race and was a member of the Thomian Relay team (4 x 100 metres) that came first at the Public Schools Sports Meet. He later played Rugger for Havelock Sports Club.

Priyaraj went on to qualify as a double accountant i.e. Chartered and Management. He now lives in Fiji as a CEO of a leading corporate entity that has wide business interests spread all over South Pacific.

The death of her third son Nissanka at the age of 27 years in a motor accident in Orange County, Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1991 unsettled Aunty Dora so much so that she was never able to recover her bubbly self after that tragedy.

Aunty Dora established a Trust Fund in the name of her late son Nissanka Munasinghe in the sum of Rs one million.

Douglas and Dora commenced their wedded life in the early 1950s residing in a well -appointed house with a large garden in Hendala, Wattala, in a somewhat rural country side and within walking distance of the Modera beach. I used to visit this house regularly in the company of my parents and relatives.

Uncle Douglas had the edge over others in grand living. When visitors came to his house, he used to entertain them with drinks and riveting music by playing Gramophone LP records. I can still remember Italian instrumental music played on their Gramophone.  

They also had a good library. Aunt Dora was a voracious reader. When I was in school, I used to read a lot of second world war themed books. During my school holidays I spent a few days in 1963 in this Modera house and much of the time was spent reading the books in their library. ‘I flew for the Fuhrer ’ by Heinz Knoke, was one of them. 

In the mid- sixties the Munasinghe family moved to the refurbished ancestral home of Douglas Munasinghe located on the land side of Galle Road, Dehiwala.

Douglas Munasinghe passed away in 1978 at the age of 55 years in this house.

The house was re-built during Douglas’s time according to a Mexican architectural plan. Several weddings of relatives were held in this spacious house.

However it was the splendid reception hosted by Aunty Dora on the occasion of the marriage of her son Priyaraj to Ms. Vajira Cabral (a law graduate) held at this sprawling residence called ‘El Retiro’  in October 1980, that captured the hearts of all those friends and relatives who were privileged to attend the occasion. Drinks and dinner were served for 400 guests to the strains of lovely background music. Aunty Dora had looked the epitome of elegance and had carried herself with great dignity. She was undoubtedly the happiest mother on that day.

Aunty Dora’s eldest son Daljit married Ruth in the early 1980s,  and they had two children, Badrajith (nicknamed ‘Baji’) and Tanya. Aunty was particularly fond of her grandson Baji, whom she took on a sight - seeing tour of Egypt.

Daljit had another son Thilan from a subsequent (second) marriage to Geetha from Anuradhapura.  He is currently studying at St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia.

Kind of heart

Aunty Dora’s life was governed by two main drives. To help others as a Medical Doctor which she performed with consummate ease and to sustain and develop her inner spiritual life.

She stood out among her relatives and close friends. She was blessed in many ways. She was tall, slim and beautiful and always neatly dressed.  Graceful in every sense of the word she was a heart throb in her younger days, especially at the Medical College where she was highly admired for her good looks and elegance.

Her work as a Doctor based at the Colombo Municipal Council clinics at Kotahena and Kuppiyawatte, Maradana, for nearly 40 years brought her into contact with a wide cross section of the society mainly the poor. She attended on a large number of destitute patients in the Colombo Central district.   Furthermore, she was our family doctor. She was also the family doctor for almost all of our relatives.

Whenever we had a health-related issue, the first call was made to Aunty Dora. She would have written hundreds of medical prescriptions for members of my family over the years. She used to visit our residence regularly and was a great source of strength to us in many ways.

Retirement

Upon retirement, Aunty Dora turned towards leading a spiritual life and meditation while continuing to work as a Voluntary Medical Doctor for the Dehiwala St. Mary’s Church Medical Clinic and also for the Mallikarama Temple whose medical team used to travel to Homagama and Matara on a regular basis. She joined the Teachers Travel Club. On several of these trips she took her grandson Baji along.  She was so fond of Baji that she took him to Bangkok for his 21^st birthday, a trip arranged by the Teachers Travel Club.

She attended meditation retreats and made several pilgrimages to India. She had met well known Meditation Masters such as Goenka, and Joseph Goldstein in Nilambe, and Jack Kornfield, and also Reverend Kasyapa of Rockhill Hermitage, Gampola, and Vimala Thakar when she was in Lewella.

When the famed Theosophical Society celebrated its 100^th Anniversary in Adyar, Madras (now called Chennai), India in 1975, Aunt Dora attended the event.  There were Theosophists from all over the world and a person from each country was requested to deliver a speech. She was the only one from Sri Lanka and she was asked to speak on behalf of her motherland. She was completely unprepared but made a well-received speech on the significance of Colonel Olcott for the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, especially in respect to the establishment and resurgence of Buddhist schools.

In 1979, Aunty Dora visited Buddha Gaya in India and on her return trip she met the famed Indian Philosopher and spiritual leader Jiddu Krishnamurti in Adyar where she was able to pay personal homage to him. On this trip she also visited Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s ashram in Pune and spent seven days there.

Dr. Dora Munasinghe was chosen as an interesting personality  in Sri l;anka by the Millennium Register. She was amazed and felt privileged to be so chosen, after submitting a 300 word article entitled ‘ My Guiding Principles as a Practitioner’.

She has cited a beautiful quotation she hads seen displayed in a Cancer Clinic. It reads as follows:

‘Dedication to duty is not a sacrifice but a justification for your existence in this marvellous universe in which each individual is unique – No carbon copies. Are you aware that there is not a single leaf nor a single snow flake that has the same pattern?’

Aunty Dora used her skills as a writer occasionally to make a point(s) in the public discourse.

Health

Priyaraj often made visits to Sri Lanka to oversee the health and well-being of his mother. In the last 11 years of her life, Priyaraj employed on a full-time basis, a professional nurse, named Sandya, who took care of her every need.  Aunty was very fortunate that until her last breath she had company and was in the care of a dedicated and devoted nurse.

The passing of Aunty Dora was an irreplaceable loss to all those who respected and loved her. When my mother saw the remains of Aunty Dora, her beloved sister, lying in a coffin with a serene look, my mother cried ‘Dora, Dora’ and embraced her, stroking  the face of Aunty Dora in one last gesture of affection and sisterly love. It was a poignant moment.

Little did my mother or any one of us there realize that my mother too would within a matter of months and forty days short of her 99^th birthday join Aunty Dora and all those who had passed before us into the infinite realm of Sansara.

May Aunty Dora attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana.

-Senaka Weeraratna