We Learned and We Departed

 

Royal College 1959

 

Six years after RPS, in 1959 when we were just turning 11, many of these stalwarts, now clad in crisp white shirt and white long trousers, happened to come together under the hallowed halls at Royal College in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo-7. Some were day scholars and others, who hailed from homes away from Colombo, chose to spend their coming years at the College Hostel, not knowing the horrors and happiness which lay in store for them.

If Corridors could Speak?

January 1959 saw an exodus, of a band of young and active men, moving out of the playful wonders of slides, seesaws and maypole swinging, into the serious depths of secondary school, Royal-Thomian cricket matches and Bradby Shield Rugby encounters.

 

The minds of the young men came with a mixed bag of feelings. It was more like graduating towards higher echelons and feeling the majesty of College in hearts and minds, and most of all, being pleased to have crossed that hurdle which many crave to achieve.

 

A gamut of new life awaited us and we surely looked forward, in great amazement, to a brave new world of many-splendored days to come. The sadness of having to part with some a few of those guys who could not make it was mixed, with the joy of new faces, friendships, learning, and a new lease of life within the hallowed corridors of honor and pride to a place where our fathers had learned the ways before us.

 

The mighty victory roar of "R*O*Y*A*L - Royal!" will ring and reverberate forever in our warm hearts and probing minds. An AD1959, we were over 200 chaps in Form I. The classes were divided into six groups, ranging from Form 1A to Form 1F.

 

Class teachers in that formative grade included, Capt. MKJ Cantlay, (later Brevet Lieut-Col. MKJ Cantlay, e.d., JP) affectionately called Canto, (1A), Messers V Sivalingam, MM Alavi, Lieut RIT Alles (Rita), Abdeen, Justin de Silva, and of course, the Headmaster of the Junior School, Major CP de A Abeysinghe (CowPox).

 

The principal of the Senior School was Mr Dudley KG de Silva, a man of great personality, stature, discipline, and well earned respect, whose dedication and commitment to Royal, and to us, is etched in our memory palaces, and, which loyalty we shall never forget.

 

It would be failing not to mention two significant personalities of that era, Mr Bogoda Premaratne (Vice Principal) and Mr EC Gunasekara (Kataya) whose impact on all our lives is something one cannot equate materially. No doubt all the other members of the teaching and administrative staff played an important role in our lives at some stage or another during those wonderful years at Royal.

 

Other names of those eminent mentors who nurtured us through our academics at Royal College are Messrs E S. Elmo de Bruin (Bruno), Viji Weerasinghe (Duckie), M Ratnayake (Ghandi), math guru V Arasaratnam, S Gulasekaram (Thosay), Hari C Arulanandan, MT Thambapillai (Thamba), M Muttiah, R Rajendran, V Shanmugaratnam, V Menon (Pope), D Weerasingham (Blackie), S Sabaratnam (Half Soda), (Kota) Silva, Attanayake, Sawaad, EW Rupesinghe (Rupperty), EFC Perera, Mrs Samarasekera (Madam), “Teddy Bear” of the Metal Work shop, (Kos) Dias, John Henri de Saram, Major R Ratnathickam (Rat), A Canagaratne, Thavaneetharajah (Thavam), Karunaratne, Civics guru who helped many a leading lawyer today on his career path to fame, Thillainathan (Liston), and Canegaratnam.

 

The camaraderie between the students and the teachers was amazing even though many of the teachers were extremely strict and tough on the boys. There was a certain air of love and respect that could only come from the honor and value that the students upheld their mentors.

 

The quality of the teaching methods used by these amazing teachers is also most commendable. They spared no pains in spending extra time in ensuring the students were understanding the subject and progressing successfully.

 

The same prevailed in the sports arena where the teachers in charge spared no pains in making winners of the teams they managed. The success factor that the students have proven in both academics and sports through the years is ample proof of this claim.

 

Dedication and commitment was their absolute goal in life. The success of the student was their own success.

School of our Fathers

Royal College, began its sojourn in the year 1835 and has soared high and above in almost 200 years of education in Sri Lanka. Many are the luminaries, celebrities, professionals, and sportsmen, the school has produced and delivered.

One of the oldest school boy alumni fraternities in Sri Lanka symbolizing unity in diversity, the Royal College Union (RCU), contribting almost 130 years of dedicated service to its alma mater, members and society.

The RCU founded in 1891 by a few old boys, has now grown to comprise over 11,000 members, speaking volumes for its inimitable longevity, commitment, and solidarity. Many are the clubs and associations which facilities the school offered us, as students, to participate in and learn in a range of diverse disciplines apart from books and academics.

The headmaster of the lower school was “Cowpox” Abeysinghe, was extremely dexterous with the cane during his rounds while strolling through the corridors of fame. Even the exercise books that covertly padded to our bottoms by us hardly offered protection from pain, from the wild swings he delivered, or as the saying goes, “six of the best.”

We were always excited to join the Royal Cycle Procession which was the precursor organized on the eve of the Royal Thomian big match cricket encounter. The following morning saw another interesting sojourn, in our colorful fancy dress costumes in several old crocks, paying a courtesy call to all the girl schools around College. The procession took off from Reid Avenue and wound its way to Visakha Vidyalaya, and then, on Galle Road towards Holy Family Convent before saluting the girls at Methodist College. This followed an unofficial “pit stop” at Krème House, in Colpetty, so that the boys could run across the opposite end for refreshments, at the little tavern on the land side of Galle Road.

After this brief, but exhilarating, interruption, the procession trudged its way, back to Methodist College, and then on to Bishops College, CMS (Christian Missionary Society) Ladies College, Buddhist Ladies College, and finally, St. Bridget’s Convent, and back to ROYAL.

It was as early as 1957, before we entered College that CMS Ladies College was boycotted, after the sensational incident which occurred with the late Aru S and the Ladies College principal. Aru plucked the roses from the Principal’s prized rose bed in the school’s garden, walked into her office and physically carried her, presenting her with the bouquet from her own garden. She, in turn called the cops and since then CMS Ladies College has been, on all Royal Thomian big match days, officially closed.

On the Big-match day, College closed at 10.20 am, since the match in those days started on a Friday at 12 noon. By the time the procession of old crocks, in all its fanfare and glory, got  underway and reached the oval it was almost 2.30pm.

In those days there were no sudden terrorist attacks or parcel bombs exploding. However, CJ Orloff, the Trinity College principal, did dispatch a “Parcel Bomb” to the Royal College Principal, Dudley KG de Silva, which contraption blasted in the Royal College Prefects Room. Immediately, after the Bradby in Kandy, Orloff collected all the cigarette butts and beer bottle caps, which were found in the Royal team changing room, and mailed the package to Dudley, who summarily de-badged all the cops in the Royal College team with immediate effect. Luckily there was no Sunday Leader newspaper in those days to expose this misdemeanor akin to the recent coverage given to the Thomian prefects’ ragging fiasco

After the Orloff incident, Kadalay, (our one-man gram-vendor cheer-leader at every sports event), created the one man “Homeland Security” regiment at Royal. He ensured that no more parcel bombs were sent to Royal. After every match ended, he carefully inspected the rooms occupied by the Royal College teams ad ensured the absence of butts or bottle caps

The facility fee levied by the school at that time was Rs 5/- per term and Arasa used to always remind us, in his own unique style, to pay up. He used to say “Hey man, you monkey, do whatever you can and bring the money”

There was a story floating around about a sergeant of the College Senior Cadets. The cadets used to conduct drill practice on Mondays, while the rest of us had to attend PT in the College grounds. The sergeant in question used to march the Cadet Squad to the rear gate of St. Bridget’s Convent, where they stood at attention. As the girls came rushing out, when the final bell was rung, the sergeant commanded the boys to salute. The girls returned the salute and the boys marched back, thrilled and smiling, all the way to College, happy that their deed was done, all in a good school days work.

On the following Monday, the squad was marched to the CMS Ladies’ College gate for a similar customary salute. This exercise was enacted for an appreciable period of time, with marches extended on alternate weeks to St Bridget’s and CMS Ladies’. Dudley finally got wind of this antic and the boys were banned from marching out of the Boake Gates.

On the subject of marches, I am reminded of the late Lohicca S, who was a few years senior to us. It was in the mid-60s, that the “Ashwa” Vidyalaya was formed at the Colombo Campus. The Race Course was converted to the Arts Faculty till such time as the premises were ready for lectures, the arts students, all freshers, used to assemble at the College Hall, after 4.00pm. Lohicca, used to drop in around this time, pretending to be a senior undergrad and courageously order these innocent fresher undergrads out on to the tarmac and conduct drill practice. He used to line them up and march them to and fro between the Flower Road and reid Avenue roundabouts! This lark was continued regularly until one fine day Dudley while driving by, recognized Lohicca, stopped the car called him over asked him what he was doing, since he was not a Sergeant let alone a cadet! Dudley also realized that the boys were not students of Royal College but new undergrads of the “Ashwa” Vidyalaya!

It was the end of Lohiccas ragging

To relive those great days of books and men, and playing the game, knowing very well that it is more like asking to be reborn into College again, will always be our dream. 

Those Magnificent Men

“It certainly is impossible to go back to the past,
To those treasured memories, we yet hold steadfast.”

Remembrances of Teachers Past§ at Royal College - Vela Velupillai I was blessed with better teachers than I - a lackadaisical student, deserved.   Four teachers left indelible marks on my professional and personal life: Mr Justin de Silva (‘Lincoln’ - Class Master, in ‘form’ 1E), Capt.  L  Samararatne (‘Pol Tokka’ – Elementary Sinhala), Mr V Arasaratnam (Math) and Mr Viji (‘Duckie’) Weerasinghe (English Lit).   Mr Justin de Silva helped hone my feeling for justice, with his passion for Abraham Lincoln; Forty six years on, I visited Gettysburg in May, 2005, entirely because of his dedicated teaching.   Capt. Samararatne taught Sinhala in a way even an incompetent Tamil boy like me could learn and appreciate the richness and nuances of the language. Mr Arasaratnam’s ‘lectures’ in pure, math applied math and advanced math were, for someone as I was, without any tradition in the subjects, a lesson in the art of formalisation and mathematical proof.   But, above all, ‘Duckie’ taught me to read Julius Caesar, the Bard’s masterly play, with Siva’s ‘divine eye’ – and enjoy even a tragedy. Their legacy lives on, nobly.

---

§ Pace Proust!

Four Muses – Irreverance, honor, humor and grace

- Monte Cassim 

A healthy dose of irreverence is a hallmark of our alma mater. It is said that the elite from our black-hearted rival school by the sea, walk as if they own the world. Royal’s golden braves, though, walk as if they do not care who owns the world. It is a worldview that the ’59 Group possesses in abundance, best epitomized by the life of our late dear friend, Naveen Rajapakse, eulogized here by Praki Chandrasoma. Irreverence can easily slip into cynicism and, even, irresponsibility, but it was not so with Naveen and, perhaps, with the rest of us too. Our saving grace is the value imbibed in us by our old school to lead, as Skanda once said in one of his always memorable speeches, a life of honor. This has forged in us the steel of a critical outlook to serve honorable purposes. The good Royalist, who brings betterment to situations seen through the lens of irreverence, is rarely pedantic. Any hint of this last would bring an uproar from peers, cutting things down to size. Honorable acts, shrouded in cloaks of good humor and self-deprecating grace, is what the ’59 Group is celebrating today… in short, lives well lived, and long  may they thrive - Cheers!

Although unsure when Ajith, Nande and Anoma asked me, I was surprised at how vivid the memory of our school days is. Events that shaped our character may well be frowned upon in today’s “softer” times. Life started for me in the Lower School with a rejection that stood me in good stead. After three months of deftly using the hard cover of my monitor’s exercise book to protect myself from MJK Cantlays towering showers, he bellowed at me to leave his Sinhalese class. “You will fail the (GCE) ‘O’ levels if you remain in the English medium!” and had me transferred to the Sinhalese medium…. and, unquestioningly, there I remained through Lower School and Middle School. Although “Poltokka” Samaranayakes knuckled approach eased me into this new regime, Second Form was a another ball game. Here, our Sinhalese homework was done, weathering the threat of the Wariyapola ring, as a backhand swipe connected with the cheek of the errant student. We resolutely ploughed through Munidasa Cumaratunge’s elegant poetry, Martin Wickremasinghe’s prose for the proletariat and the moral codes of Buddhism through the stories in the Ummaga Jathaka. SH Perera was one such teacher of the richness of our heritage. It was in his class, though, that I learned to dream with my eyes open…. a useful skill, I find now, to pepper the boredom of boardrooms with showers of irreverence.

The Orient coalesced into the Occident as we went through Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy in Lenny (“Lena”) de Silvas English Class. He must have done a good job because even while drunk and standing on one leg on a precarious stool in Hotel de Buhari in our later years during the “Big Match”, Naveen Rajapakse could recite the “Daffodils” with an occasionally richer insert than Wordsworth had intended. “Ducky” Weerasinghes sound foundations of Latin drove us into EFC Pereiras open arms. Here, in his Latin and Greek classes we studied Virgil’s Aenid. I immediately fell in love with the maddening, but prophetic, Cassandra. Julius Caesar’s “de bello gallico” (The Gallic Wars) held our interest with extremely detailed crafts of war, but it was arduous and long. When I complained of this at home, my father (whose second language in school had been Latin and who learned to read and write Sinhalese along with me… he did a better job of it, though, and I often got him to do my homework… ssshhh!), said I should thank Brutus. The seven volumes that Caesar wrote were, apparently, the notes for a detailed series that he intended to write later… God forbid, and indeed it appears He (God, not Caesar) did! We did not quite realize it at the time, but we were being exposed to a rich liberal arts education, towards which the world is now going back to at all levels of education after a sojourn into nurturing utilitarian and pragmatic mindsets. It did, I am sure, shape our world view and mould our characters, spiced with a healthy mix of irreverence, honor, humor and grace.

Reminiscences such as this are not complete without a tribute to our mentors. During my years in the Sinhalese medium, I was a little worried that my English would suffer. So, I asked EFC what I should do to speak English well. I thought he would direct me to the library (today it would be to a tuition class, I guess) but he just said: “Become an interesting person!” Noticing my startled look, he elaborated: “If you are an interesting person, even if you do not speak the language fluently, people will try to understand you. Likewise, when they reply to you, you will endeavor to understand them because you will be happy that they responded. If you reiterate this several times, you will end up speaking well!” My utilitarian bent was also evident when I protested to EC (“Kataya”) Gunasekera that we would fail our ‘A’ level zoology because, although he taught us many interesting things, he had not covered the syllabus. He agreed to our request for extra classes and also agreed to see us all day on Saturday for four weeks to make up for what we lacked. What was evident after the fourth Saturday was that we had not made much headway with the syllabus for the ‘A’ levels. We did, however, learn how to annotate and reference research, design experiments and surveys, maintain field and lab notes… all of which certainly has made me a better professional. However, at the time I voiced our shared concern to EC “Sir, you haven’t taught us for the exam”, to which he replied tight-lipped and barely opening his mouth: “I do not teach for exams, I teach for life!” …and that he certainly did. I continue to this day to hand down this wisdom bequeathed by “Kataya” to generations of my own students, over half a century later.

SAA Perera, in the Third Form instilled in me the importance of being meticulous: Although my left hand was able to replicate my mothers writing quite closely, “A letter of excuse with wet ink raises doubts about its authenticity, Cassim” he said as he quietly reached for the blotting pad. “Use chalk if you cannot invest in one of these” was his advice as he accepted the letter. I wonder if the roots of our irreverence lie in this wit. Sitting in the back row of the Fourth Form gave Naveen R, Shiran G and myself access to crumbling plaster from the wall behind us. Vela Kumaraswamy was the target of paper pellets filled with plaster. Getting Vela to look behind at us was the trick and, when he did, pellets flew across towards him. An involuntary cry, “Sir!” from the aggrieved Vela as they hit his rather dark cheek brought John Henri de Saram to look up from his desk on the podium. “Gypsum will not make you prettier, Velupillai” was his laconic comment and dry humor won over justice that day.

Since those carefree days, dear friends of the ’59 Group, spouses and families, we have come a long way. Quite a few of us left Sri Lanka in the late sixties and early seventies. Vela was one of the first, leaving for Japan and ending up in Sweden. Ajith Dias left for Manchester, and I remember his last evening at his parents’ Park Road house. While his dad, who looked like Ajith does now but with a moustache, did not appear overly concerned, his mum was in tears. We were tongue-tied wondering how to console her when someone in the circle of friends said, “Yes ma’am, you are losing a son… but you will gain a man”. How profound, I thought…now why could I not think of something like that? Our sojourn out of Sri Lanka into the unknown was aptly described by Praki Chandrasoma as “We were a pioneering generation at the frontline of globalization, except that none of us poor saps knew it at the time”. In the meantime, our country lapsed into sadness. It sapped our spontaneous laughter, replacing it with a brutal, almost nihilist brand of cynicism and black humor that surviving troubled times seems to require. We have a chance now to come out of the chilly years. The ease with which the ’59 Group accommodates ethnicity, language and religion is remarkable. Indeed, the ties that bind us transcend time. These values of inclusion are what our country needs today. Dear friends, in whatever way we can, let us push the divisive forces in our land into the distance. I pledge to do so in my own small way, drawing strength from our eternal friendship, for which I can only say, simply and humbly, “thank you”.

Thondaan Remembers – S Sivasupramaniam (Siva)

When I was in Form 3, I was quite a heavyweight student. One of my very close friends was Kumaraswamy Velupillai (Vela) who was not only a brilliant student but also an excellent athlete.

Since I weighed a solid 180 pounds (that is how much Muhammed Ali weighed when he was the world boxing champion!), I was rather slow "off the blocks."

Some junior students knew this and poked fun at me, calling out "Ado  Bada" and running away knowing very well that I did not have a chance in hell of catching them. What they did not bargain for was that Vela my friend who was with me was a Public School coloursman in athletics.

So the moment I requested Vela to give chase and catch those guys for me, he "put on his-sprinting shoes" and had captured them and brought them to me in no time.

My simple job was to mete out summary punishment by landing a few slaps to them and severely warning them. Happily from that day I was never bothered by the junior students!

The “A” factor – Ajith Dias

I was a clever chap when I joined Form I in 1959 at Royal College, but with the sorts who eventually became my friends, Kreme house at Kollupitiya was a bigger attraction to me than the classroom. I learned some very bad stuff from those who sat next to me in class - Cooke and the late Priyanath Dias. When we were invited to Priyanathas place, in Panadura for lunch once, he came out with a classic – “Machang my mother is a good cooker!” We went there by train and Cooke carried a tin of cancer sticks (Du Maurier, I think) and forced me to smoke, a bad habit that I had to put up with for several years after.

On one of the trips we made to Kandy, to watch the Bradby, Cooke brought a bottle of beer along, which six of us shared. That was my initiation to the spiritual world. This trend, I have since continued, with a few wee drops is purely on the professional advice of  many of our group Veda Mahattayas, as they swear that it is supposed to help ease chest congestion, especially among Asthmatics!

Then there was a time when I chose to take up Advanced Math, while young Suren opted for Elementary Sinhala. I was totally a lost ball on the complexities of Cot and Tan, forget about dy/dx. Being the good soul that I was I thought of helping him and sat for his term test exam. He, who normally gets a low of 5 and a max of 15 in all his subjects, suddenly got a 90 for Elementary Sinhala and right royally conned his old man into believing that his sons future was going to be definitely scholastic in Sinhala!

Most of us didn't make it to the O’Levels on the first attempt but a surprising result we saw was good old Suren Goonewardena, who loftily boasted that he had done quite a lot of studying at home and that we should also do the same if we are more attentive in class. Many thought that due to his parents being ministers there had been some kind of a fiddle that had gone on in order to get him across the bridge when smarter chaps like me couldn't make it.

While we were attending classes for the repeat exam one day, Suren G walks into Arasa's class and after a brief conversation was asked to sit down among us, and on inquiry we were told that he had been credited with someone else's results. He was welcomed back with howls of laughter, as those were the days where you could be anyone’s son, but the rules applied equally to everyone.

I was packed off to the UK as my parents knew that keeping the company I did would not get me too far in life. The fact that I barely made it was due to a fair bit of charity on the lenient marking from some of the lecturers there. There were a few 59erss around in the UK at that time,  Sarath (SC) Guneratne, small Hapu, Ranjan (MR) Perera, Senaka Jayasinghe, and a few from the ‘60 Group.

I must admit that I have been fortunate to have traveled a little and had the opportunity to keep up with many of those who had gone overseas from the Group. We have met often and enjoyed a good laugh, and, as Nigel would say, “have a few Sherbets and a good meal”. What is most appreciable is that these guys have always come up with generous funding for all our projects including many valuable contributions for this event, the souvenir, and also for the dinner on 05 Mar 2018.

There is a saying that, “ones oldest friends are the best of friends”, and I must say that I am most privileged to have been among this bunch of lads, both, then and now, and that includes Mr Cooke, too.

The fact that we can laugh at ourselves often, and more, still remain good friends without any hang ups and prejudices, means we have learnt of books and men and learnt to play the game, in its right royal spirit. Long may our friendships last and let not the odd aches and pains that sometimes do pop up on and off, stop us from meeting, greeting, and partying more often.

Putting the Shoulder to the Wheel

#	Description	Number
1	Business Management/Company Director/Executive	109
2	Healthcare/Medical Science/Surgery	25
3	Banking/Finance/Accounting	16
4	Engineering	15
5	Academics/Education/Teaching	10
6	Legal/Judiciary	8
7	Hospitality/Travel/Tourism	5
8	Sociology/Environment	5
9	Military/Services	5
10	Administration	4
11	Information Technology	3
12	Plantation/Agriculture	3
13	Laboratory/Investigation	3
14	Architecture/Building Contracting	2
15	Religion/Clergy	3
16	Entertainment/Music	1
17	Diplomats	1
	Total	218

Boss Mahattayas and Kankanis

It is indeed, a great privilege, to see that a large majority of the chaps took to the corporate sector where they have excelled in business, management, manufacturing, and industry.

Ajith (Ando) Dias, the “A-Mudalali” from Panadura has contributed immensely to the nation and its people by way of multichannel business development that involves manufacturing and franchise. Ando has served as the Chairman of the national career, Sri Lankan, flying high, so to speak.

Suren Cooke, much as he was a bloody pest in College, Suren Cooke Associates, has now, gone on to become one of the leading pest control services in Sri Lanka.

HL de Silva served as the Chief Valuer at the Government Valuation Department for many years.

Others who ventured into the business management sector in public and private corporations are, SM Abeygunewardene, Nihal Abeysena, Sunil Andradi, the late HAS W Bamunawela, Nihal Canagasabey, Upali de Livera, LC.C de Silva, YKH de Silva, the late P Dias, Bryce Fernando, the late KPG. Fernando, NM Fernando, PSJ Gomes, the late Don ER Hapuarachchi, the late Mahinda Jayasinghe, UC Jayasinghe, C Krishnarajan, Jayantha Kudahetty, Indra Lokubalasuriya, the late Ranjan Madanayake, MBM. Naizer, GSC Perera, Jeremy Perera, MPV Ratnaike, and SGM Wickremaarachchi.

  

Those Mighty Men of Mice and Medz

Twenty five young men from the ’59 Group chose to wade through the tunnel of dissections and labs, of mice and men (probably, women too). This has been quite an academic and professional achievement for any group at College in the late 60s and early 70s.

Noteworthy to mention here, and, notwithstanding the fact that all of them have been exemplary men wielding the steth and scalpel, are Prof. Para Chandrasoma,  Prof. MH Rezvi Sheriff and Prof. Lakshman (Sam) Samaranayake.

Para and Sam are World renowned medics, while Rezvi has contributed his knowledge and skills immensely for the Colombo Medical faculty and also pioneered the treatment of Kidney disease in Sri Lanka.

Professor Parakrama Chandrasoma is a pathologist in Pasadena, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Keck Hospital of USC and LAC & USC Medical Center. He has been in practice for more than 45 years.

Para, was invited to the WHO panel of experts on adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and adenocarcinoma of the esophago-gastric junction, and, was also elected to the Best Doctors in America list, from 1998 to the present. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the European Surgery, International Advisory Board of “Esophagus” (Springer, Tokyo), the Official Journal of The Japan Esophageal Society, 2003, International panel of reviewers for the Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2002, Editorial Board, Diseases of the Esophagus, the Official Journal of The International Society For Diseases of the Esophagus, 2000, and acted as reviewer for Neurosurgery, Gut, American Journal of Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Modern Pathology, Lab Investigation, Annals of Surgery.

Professor Lakshman “Sam” Samaranayake: BDS (Sri Lanka), DSc (Sri Lanka), DDS (Glas), FRCPath, FDSRCSE, FDSRCPS, FRACDS, FHKCPath, FHKAM (Dent Surg) has done the group proud by achieving the status of a multi-talented clinical academic with expertise in clinical research. He is also the former Executive Dean at University of Hong Kong and University of Queensland, Australia.

He, is considered the foremost global authority on oral fungal diseases and has authored more than 400 ISI publications cited in the literature over 20,000 times. He is also one of the top five most cited scholars in dentistry.

Sam has received numerous international accolades including the coveted King James IV Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for research excellence in surgical sciences, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the International Association for Dental Research, Washington, USA, Doctor of Science (honoris causa) award from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, an Endowed Professorship from the University of Hong Kong, and honorary fellowships from the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Hong Kong College of Dental Surgeons and the Hong Kong College of Pathologists. For his distinguished accomplishments and services to the community, Prof Samaranayake was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sri Lanka Foundation of Los Angeles, USA in 2014.

He is currently the Vice-Dean of the University of Sharjah, College of Dental Medicine, in the UAE.

Prof M. H. Rezvi Sheriff FRCP (Lon), FRCP (Edin), FRACP, FCCP, FSLCGP, FNASSL is a Consultant Physician and Nephrologist, retired as the Senior Professor of Medicine and the former Head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. He pioneered kidney disease treatment and performed the first transplant in Sri Lanka. The Titular honor, “Vidya Jothi”, was conferred upon him by the Government of Sri Lanka in recognition of his contribution to Nephrology, Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation in Sri Lanka.  

Rezvi has over 250 research communications and publications in Nephrology, Transplantation, Snake Bite and Oleander Poisoning, in peer reviewed  journals,  and, is also responsible for clinical training of many Postgraduates including many reading for M.Phil and Ph.D. he is a contributor to the Kumar & Clark Clinical Medicine Textbook and the Oxford Text book of Medicine. A 15 year Scientometric web based citation database study to find the top 30 Scientists in Sri Lanka in 2013 rated his contribution as the first bringing honor to the University of Colombo.  He is also a Fellow of the National Science Foundation. 

He, presently, works for the Ministry of Defense at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University and also as Senior Professor of Medicine, towards the development of an ultra -modern Teaching Hospital for this University at Werahara Sri Lanka.

Ranmohan Gitendra Wickremasinghe arrived in the UK in 1968 and read for a BSc in Biochemistry at Bedford College, University of London. He then did a Ph.D in the same subject at University College London. Subsequently, Git embarked on a career researching leukaemia, at the Department of Haematology, Royal Free and University College Medical School and worked at the same bench in the same lab for forty years, ending up as University Reader in Cancer Biology. During this period he trained several Ph.D Students and post-doctoral fellows. Git also taught a course in Cancer Biology.

Sidha Sambandhan has obtained his MBBS, MRCS, LRCP, DFFP, AM;DDM, FHEA, FRCS, FRCGP,  GP/GPwSI Orthopaedics/ GPCPD Tutor/Senior Lecture Sailands Yare Vally Medical Practice and resides and practices in the UK.

Other Veda Mahatmayas among the group are, the late SA Abeywardena, KADCP Chandrasekera, LVK de Silva, M Devakumar, Allan Ebert, Panna Gunaratne, NPR Gunasekera, KA Gunawardena, Buddhi Gunawardena, AN Guneratne, IA Jaffer, D CP Karunaratna, Michael Kreltszheim, Irshad Mahmud, MJM Peroos PGWG Premaratne, M Satchithanandan, Sarath Senaratah-Yapa, R St Elmo Thambapillai, IR (Mousie) Thurairatnam, and V Tiruchelvam.

Most of them are now resident overseas and all their commendable achievements bring us great joy and pride.

Bass Unnahas

Of those clockwork machine minding boys who made things work, we are proud to raise a glass or two to the following chaps who have made a mark in turning the wheels through life.

D Ranjith Pullaperuma has obtained the BSc(Eng), CEng, FIET, FIE(SL), MBA (Utility Management) Ireland, Fellow IESL (1999), Fellow IET (1999-2016).

He served the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for 34 years, covering most of the Power Sector before being appointed to the position of General Manager, in Oct 2006 serving until September 2008, the first ever Engineer from Katubedde Campus to assume this position.

Key contributions made by him, at the CEB are, the Development of CEB’s own communication & SCADA systems, Establishment of System Control Centre Formulation of Tariff Systems for power sector, and Coordinating with Energy Supply Committee (ESC) for major Power Sector Procurements.

He was appointed Chairman, National Engineering Research and Development (NERD) Centre, (2009-2013).

CPJ (Chris) Senaratne started off as the Production Engineer at the Ceylon Steel Corporation and academic staff of University of Moratuwa. Completed post graduate studies in Mining Engineering and obtained his M.Phil in Mine Environment at the University of Leeds, UK. Moved to Edmonton, Alberta, in  Canada. Presently, holds the position of the Dean of the training center of the Alberta Fire Training School since 2004. Appointed member of the Committee on Accreditation of an International Fire Service Accreditation body, the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) based in the US, since 2011.

Ahmed (Monty) Cassim took up a career in Architecture and is now, an academic, resident in Japan. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Ritsumeikan Trust, from April 2004 until January 2010, and was also the President of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan where he remains a Professor, to date. Feliciated by the Japanese Government and the Japanese Emperor, he was presented an Honorary Award for the contribution made by him to higher education in Japan and the strengthening of friendly ties between Japan and Sri Lanka.

Of the others who entered into this career path are, the late Gamini de Silva, Sarath Fernando, Sarath Jayatilleke, KP (Geometry) Jayaweera, GEC Jebanesan, Firoz Nilam, HDP Samarasekera, MH Subasinghe, LV Talagala and Sunil Wimaladharma.

 

The Law and its clA$$

A man of great courage, who upheld the bench in its purest form and maintained justice to the letter, was our grand old comrade, the late Judge of the Colombo High Court Sarath Ambepitiya, who was shot dead with his bodyguard IP Upali Bandara, by criminals on 20 November, 2004. On 04 July, 2005, five criminals were tried by a High Court Trial-at-Bar and sentenced to death by hanging.

Professor Suri Ratnapala is Emeritus Professor of the T C Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. He held the Chair of Public Law of the University of Queensland until retirement in 2015. A graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, he holds the degrees of LLB (Colombo); LLM (Macquarie) and PhD (Qld). He has taught and published widely in the fields of constitutional law, legal philosophy and constitutional political economy. He has received numerous awards for scholarship including the Sir Anthony Fisher International Memorial Award, a John Templeton Foundation Award and a Centenary of Australian Federation Medal. In 2012 he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Professor Ratnapala has been a consultant with USAID, AusAid, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in Asia including Sri Lanka. Prior to entering the academy, he was Senior State Counsel in Sri Lanka.

Charitha (Chari) Ratwatte, another legal eagle, stepped one rung higher in taking up the honored position of Secretary to the Treasury in the Sri Lankan Government. He is, now, a senior advisor to the Prime Minister.

Lakshman (Lucky) Kiriella, of Bambalapitiya Flats fame, passed out as a Lawyer, and now serves as the Leader of the House, and, also the Minister of Highways, in the Sri Lankan Parliament.

Other legal eagles within the gang are, A Kodikara, Nigel de Kretser (Soliciter), Surath Piyasena, and Sivakumar (Rajan) Sivasupramaniam.

Kanakku Pulles and Money Changers

Money, may be the root of all evil, but it sure didn’t prevent a good bunch of our blokes seeking greener pastures in this arena.

A tribute to Naveen by Parakrama Chandrasoma – Feb 2018

Mousey, Para, Cherine (Mrs Para now), Monty, Naveen, & Chari in those halcyon times

Naveen Rajapakse was my friend. I will recount my first, wackiest, and last memories of him. He was a born story-teller. For many years in our earliest days at Royal Primary, I would walk down with him at the end of every day to Thurstan Road. We sat on our suitcases as I listened wide-eyed to a story that he had started at the beginning of each year. His stories had wonderful heroes with fantastic exploits, a mix of a James Bond movie and soap opera. At seven years old, I was enthralled. Every day, when his car drove up, to pick him up to take him home, to Panadura, Naveen had reached a cliff-hanging point in the story that made me wait eagerly for the next episode. It was only much later that I realized that Naveen just wanted someone to keep him company. His never-ending story was designed to prevent gullible me from walking the five minutes to my home, on Fifth Lane.

In our teenage and early adult life, Naveen had the wackiest midnight ritual whenever we were at a party. He would gather as many of us as he could, march out of the party house and find a metal trash can in the neighborhood. He would climb on this, assume a regal pose and wait for us to salute and say: “Hail Caesar!” He would look at us like we were his subjects and solemnly reply: “Caesar hails you back!” Then he would get down and we would walk back to the party, laughing at our own inanity.

The last time I was with Naveen was at his hotel in Kalutara. After a sea-bath, we were at one of those scrumptious Sri Lankan lunches. Naveen, at the head of the table, was a little tipsy. On this day, he was on the subject of religion. He said to me, “Adey, you bugger, I feel so sorry for you. You got caught to this bloody woman. I know that you are a nice but stupid guy and will hang on to her till you die. I know you are just waiting for your next life in the hope that you will find something better. But I am sorry to tell you that she is going to be born where you are and will catch you in your next life, and the next, and all your future lives. Nirvana is your only salvation and that is so far away.” We all laughed. Naveen waited till the laughter subsided and turned to Monty: “You can laugh, you bugger. You think you will go to your paradise and have fun with all those virgins. Let me tell you, those virgins will all be shit bits wearing burkahs. All the belly dancers and devilled pork will be in hell with me.”

After addressing Montys and my afterlife, he went on with the wry grin that was his trademark, “But, machang, I am okay. I will be reborn somewhere after I die. But my wife will join her God and live in eternal bliss in heaven. Unlike you, I will be open for business in my next life.” Naveen, wherever you are, I hope you are happy and in business.

“Hail Caesar!”

Others who dabbled in the numbers game are: Sunil Abhayasinghe, M Balakumaran, , the late P. Chandrakanthan, Ranjan Dandeniya, GES. (Jiggs) de Silva, Anil Kannangara, Nande Palihakkara, KAR Perera, S (Chutta) Ratnathicam, the late Rama Sellamuttu, Arooz Sheriff, DS SriRam, Anthony Walpola, and RT Wickremaratne.

Guns & Roses

Of the valiant lads who chose to step into uniform, two departed servicemen, Captain Nizam Jaimon, and Senior Superintendent of Police Ramlal Goonewardene, who was with the CID, was a member of the War Crimes Tribunal for Bosnia in the Hague in Holland. Their contributions towards their military assignments, as well as their magnificent performances in Rugby and Athletics will always be savored.

GES (Jiggs) de Silva: held the position of Commodore of the Sri Lanka Volunteer Force and was awarded the PSV (Presidential award for long & meritorious service rendered with an unblemished conduct in the Sri Lanka Volunteer Naval Force).

OKP Goonesekera: served as a Major in the Sri Lankan Army and is now resident in Canada. Indra Lokubalasuriya: served with the Navy. M Chandraprasad spent time with the Sri Lanka Police and held the position of Senior Superintendent of Police within the service prior to his retirement.

Fawlty Powers

The hospitality industry has grabbed some of our chaps and made sure that they serve the people with a smile. Niki Kumarage and UC Jayasinghe, took up this challenge and have, all, proven to be excellent hosts.

Niki Kumarage started his career, together with U. C., at the Hotel School, in Colombo.  He was offered a scholarship to the Hotel School in Beirut in September 1968. 

He then, took up a  Management  Training job with the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHC) in the UK. Returning to Sri Lanka, thereafter, he commenced work at the Ceylon Hotels Corporation, as  Manager of the Tissamaharama Rest House. He then moved to Lihiniya Surf Hotel in Bentota as GM. Niki rejoined the IHC Group in  London as Financial Controller and has spent the next 31 years, in the UK in the hospitality industry.

 

UC Jayasinghe kicked off his career by embarking on a Catering and Hotel Management Program at the Ceylon Hotel School (FCHGA) from 1967 to 1970.

 

Subsequently, he took up a fellowship by ILO to participate in an F&B program at the Excelsior in HongKong. He served at the Bentota Beach Hotel, Neptune, and took up the role of Director/GM at the Kandalama Hotel, run by Aitken Spence. He was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of National Contribution and Professional Excellence for Development and Promotion of the Sri Lankan Tourism and Hospitality Industry, by the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association. Many are the awards and accolades that have been bestowed on his achievements throughout his illustrious career in the hospitality industry.

 

Akram Dawood ventured into the travel and tour industry, while Sarath Suriyasinghe ended up flying high with Air Lanka/SriLankan Airlines

 

Lucky Lathpandura/Upali Dharmadasa: have been engaged in the Travel/Tour industry since leaving College.

 

Bits (not the skirted ones) & Bytes (forget Green Cabin)

Information Technology was still to raise its power packed head, in a significant way, in old Ceylon in the early 70s. Three courageous ‘59ers had the will to step into this arena, early in life, thanks to good old Rupperty, Thosay, and Arasa for the math and logic.

VA Samaranayake, Fazli Sameer, Vipula Godamunne,and the late LAK (Asoka) Waranasuriya, made their moves into the field of computer technology in Sri Lanka, making them the pioneers, both, from the Group as well as in the country, in this new domain.

VA Sam moved to the USA where he has been involved in IT research and development for many years.

Vipula achieved his MSc at Monash University, in Aussie, and has had a lucrative career in IT since 1973. He is, currently, retired, after spending an illustrious career with two banks and IBM, in Australia, and serves as an Expert in Software Quality Standards Development with ISO, in Aussie. He also represents Australia in the development of ISO 25000 series of standards, and, is a co-editor of some of the standards.

Fazli worked in information technology, for IBM (3 years), in Colombo, The Chartered Bank (10 years) in Colombo, Citibank/SAMBA Technology (20 years), and Al Faisaliah Group Technology (10 years) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, before hanging his boots in 2008. He is presently involved in Blockchain development training and also providing Consultancy Services in IT to several private sector corporations.

Asoka served with Nixdorf Computers in Colombo. He passed away, sadly in 2017.

Those who played with Balls

Many were the lads who excelled in sports at the College and National levels reaching great heights of securing victories, championships and trophies. The pride of Royal Sports always fell upon the Cricket and Rugby teams, with the Royal-Thomian big match being played in March and the two legs of the Royal-Trinity Rugby encounters, for the coveted Bradby Shield, being played in August, each year.

Royal-Thomian Cricket Team 1967

(Jani, Brian, Metha, & Jayantha)

Jayantha Kudahetty: Member of the Royal-Thomian team of 1967, Head Prefect  - 1968, House Captain – 1967, College 1^st X1 Cricket – Vice Captain- 1968, College Badminton – Captain – 1965. College Colors - Cricket & Badminton - 1965 – 1968. First Royalist to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in 1^st XI Cricket - 1966-68. Represented Ceylon at Cricket and Badminton

R. C. Rugby Team 1966

Standing (L to R): Chitta Ranjan (Bulla) de Silva, Jeremy Perera, Tilak (Tikka) de Silva, Shahul (Ganja) Mohamed,  Deutrom Thambapillai, Gihan de Silva, Laia de Silva, Duleep de Chickera, Ahmed Cassim, Ramlal Goonewardena, Manik Devakumar, Chaminda (Clacky) Perera, Sanath de Silva 

Seated (L to R): Brian Lieversz, MrMahes Rodrigo (Coach), Indran (Mousie) Thurairatnam, MrDudley K. G. de Silva (Principal), Bryan Baptist, MrMoses Thambapillai (Master-in-Charge), Nizam (Sonna) Jaimon 

Seated on ground (L to R): Malik Samarawickrema, Charitha Ratwatte, Branu Rahim

 

The late Wilhelm Koch was one of the best javelin throwers of that era. He made us proud with so many coveted trophies and cups, at national athletics events. Wilhelm also played rugby. It was sad to lose him early in life. May he Rest in Peace!

 

Firoz Nilam was a talented TT player in College, who secured the Ceylon Men’s Singles Champion in Table Tennis in 1966 and 1967, England Number 5 in 1976, and All India Boys Doubles Champion Gold Medalist, together with Barney Reid.

Mudalalis

 

Among the business enterprise folks we have, C. Abeywickrema, ST Aziez, Mazher Fazleali, MR Perera, the late Naveen Rajapakse, Rohantha Samarajeewa, Kirthi Seneviratne, Preman Soysa, and KM Totamune.

 

Pothey Guras

Vish Vedage has achieved the MSc (Eng.), M.Phil, CEng, CMarEng, MIE (SL), AMIMechE, MIET, and was leading the HNC program in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Newham College of Further Education in the UK. Vish passed away in the UK in 2020. May he Rest in Peace!

Geethapriya Salgado is the only member of the '59 Group with a professional qualification in Library & Information Science obtained from the University of Colombo.

He served the University of Colombo, then spent a short stint in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, moved back to Sri Lanka to work with Gateway College, Colombo, as their first Librarian and, later on, as Registrar.

He is presently, designated as 'Consultant Registrar' for the four Gateway Colleges in Sri Lanka.

Others who ventured into the field of academics and education are, SJ Bahar, R Rajasooriar, R Chandrasena, and Melwin Mallawarachchi.

Shiran Guneratne, CPBT Jayasundera, the late P Dias, and the late Wilhelm Koch were all engaged in the plantation Industry.

 

The Redeemers

 

While school days were a long and winding road quite a distance away from kneeling at altars, we still had a few decent men who took the straight path and walked in the way of God towards salvation.

The Rev. Roger Herft in Australia, The Rev. RM Attiken in Europe, and Ruchi L Perera in Sri Lanka, have led their flock over the mountain, having learned all the tips and tricks of “goodness” from those halcyon days at Royal, since 1959.

Roger held the position of the Bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He was Previously the Bishop of Newcastle and the Bishop of Waikato. Roger was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013 for the services rendered to the church, particularly in interfaith relations and social justice

Attiken earned a Doctor of Ministry degree at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio (USA) in 1995.

Don Hapuarachchi and LCC de Silva: moved into the Timber/Furniture Industry.

 

Bryce Fernando: joined the United Nations Organization and moved to The Netherlands.

 

DPL

 

What a great honor the group received when our erstwhile, enthusiastic, and energetic past president and also former Chairman of George Steuart & Company Ltd., Somasunderam Skandakumar, was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia in 2017.

 

Shakers & Twisters

 

If ever the group can be proud of a talented musician, par excellence, whose passion for playing guitar ran through his veins, it is none other than PR Puvanendrarajah, affectionately known as “Puvi” by the boys, and who, later, took the stage name of IndraRaj. Puvi’s craze for music was unimaginable. His choice of dress code, imitating the great musicians of our time, was totally hip. His rise to fame after joining the leading band in the island, The Jetliners, is well known to all. He now performs in Europe as a top notch lead guitar player. May his music play on, forever.

 

Other western musicians in the group are Sunil Abhayasinghe of Elvis Presley fame, Loranjan Dias Abeygunewardene, who is now a professional musician in Ireland, and Fazli Sameer, a jazz drummer who now teaches music in his dotage.

 

Git Wickremasinghe was also a saxophonist in a band, “Jazz Academy”, which, among other things, did gigs on cruise liners in the Med and Caribbean. He conducted the classical orchestra of University College and directed stage musicals such as Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. Git is also a keen classical and jazz pianist, still doing gigs.

 

We will, certainly, be failing in our duty if we do not mention the names of the late Rohan Fernando and KPG Fernando, who were the backbone of setting up the ’59 Group Alumni in the first place. Their valiant effort, strongly supported by the rest of the Mohicans, has kept the group afloat through 50+ years of ‘59ing, if you may want to call it that. Had it not been for them we would not have gathered here today. Bless them all.

Spicy Snippets from RPS 1953-58

Mrs. De Alwis and the Rickshaw Man - Jeremy Perera

 

Mr. De Alwis, who was a retiring teacher soon after we joined RPS., was also my grand aunt. I remember my first days in school when I used to travel at her feet in her rickshaw (drawn by her faithful rickshaw man, Sandanam) along with my cousin Alaine, who was in a parallel class at Ladies. Must have been some sight? Three in a rickshaw!

 52 Years Apart

R*O*Y*A*L – extract from Fazli’s Autobio

 

quote

Moving to College in 1959 was a tremendous change for everyone. Some of the Burgher boys were in the process of migrating to Australia with the Sinhala only policy coming into place. 

 

Some didn’t make it having failed the entrance test. New guys joined us from various other schools. We had a batch of over 200 in the first year at Royal College in 1959 spread out into seven classes classified as Form 1A to Form 1F. 

 

I was in Class 1E and my class teacher was Mr Justin de Silva, affectionately known as “Abraham Lincoln” for his tremendous love and respect for the former American President whom he used as a role model. He even sported a beard and tried to look like old Abe in the best of his own inimitable style. 

 

Form 1A was taken by that wonderfully dynamic teacher, Capt. MKJ Cantlay, renowned for his activities and contributions with the Scout Troop and the Cadet Corps. I also remember Mr MM Alavi taking one of the classes in Form 1. 

 

My Form 2 class master was Mr Sivalingam, Mr J Henri de Saram taking Form 3, Ms Samarasekera taking form 4 and then Mr Canegaratne also taking Form 4.

unquote

 KOSSO 1968

SOME OF OUR MENTORS – captured by Brian Lieversz

 

Mr Thavaneetarajah (Thavam)

I remember we were in one of the new classrooms overlooking the college grounds and there was a cricket match being played on the main grounds. This was the time when Darrell (my brother) was playing. We were in class and Thavam came to take it. He had a look out of the window and realized the match was on. After 10 minutes, and after a few more anxious glances out of the window, he turned to us and said in a loud whisper, "there's a match going on, our 1st eleven is playing, you guys can “scoot” off two by two and go watch the match. “Don't all go out together, but get lost in the grounds.” It was the way he said 'two by two' that made us all smile. We did as we were told of course. He actually made this a common feature. Come to think of it? I really don’t know what he actually taught in College, but he was sure “crazy” about cricket. He was a good old soul.

 

Mr HC Arulanandan (Arul)

Arul taught us Chemistry. it was not one of my favorite subjects.  Anyway, one day he said to me in utter disgust, "If you pass your GCE in Chemistry, I will give up teaching." The exams started, we were in one of the Classrooms next to the Hostel. Chemistry came along, and one of the students finished very early. He obviously took the paper to one of the studious hostel boys who began shouting out the answers. I “cashed” in on that, and, listening carefully, and managed to answer all the required questions correctly. The guy calling out was very clear, stating "Question 1, 1st part, and he'd give the answer. it went on for quite some time. So, I completed them all. The results came after some weeks and I passed in Chemistry. Wow!!

 

I ran to Aruls classroom (the Lab). He saw me standing in the corridor and came out and asked me what I wanted. I said, "Sir, guess what? I passed in Chemistry. Not that I wanted him to give up teaching like he said he would, But I was excited myself. He said, "I knew you could do it son", and he actually gave me a hug.

 

Mr MT Thambapillai (Thamba)

Our lovable rugby Master in Charge! We had arrived at Trinity College in Kandy and were tired from the Coach trip. The TC master in charge came up to us and with his outstretched hand approached Thamba and excitedly said, "Welcome Mr Thambapillai, welcome! welcome! welcome!" and, Thamba, obviously very tired from road the trip was taken by surprise, replied ,"yes welcome! welcome! Sir.

 

HOWLING TIME

A collection some of the best possible factual statements that came out of the lips of our beastly boys and also many of our majestic mentors.

Submitted by the melting minds of the best collectors of howlers the ’59 Group has always had

 

·        Can you see that man with the bald hair?

·        Suddenly there was a sound of noises!

·        You are wanted at the gate now immediately at 3 0'clock.

·        Wait a minute, I'll come in 2 minutes.

·        Can you count up to 10 backwards?

·        I'm going to be a bachelor like my father.

·        Both of you can sing a solo.

·        He has 2 sons, both are boys.

·        I'll hit you so much that when you get up in the morning you'll be dead.

·        I don't go talking in front of anyone's back.

·        I know it is one of the both of you.

·        Sorry I cannot make any speech because my spelling is bad.

·        Run up downstairs and bring me a chalk piece.

·        "Now boys, were you listening to what I was doing?"

·        All of you must buy this book or you can lend it from the library.

·        Those people will stone you with stones.

·        Something is better than good for nothing.

·        I know that 99 out of 10 of you boys won't behave like this at home.

·        He cannot hear at all, he's dumb.

·        Out of the 5 men who were killed, 2 were injured.

·        When a person commits suicide, and if he does not die, how much will he suffer?

·        We have new concrete nets at college.

·        Take a pin and button up your shirt.

·        He took out his knife and shot him.

·        It happens once in a blooming moon.

·        "First and foremost, you are a fool, second and foremost you are a ...."

·        Even if you kill them, they won’t tell the truth.

·        One glass was full of water, and the other one was full of empty.

·        I was born in Colombo when I was very young.

·        You must put your foot down with a firm hand.

·        The silence is getting louder!

·        The 30 year’s war went on and on for 30 long years.

 

 

IN MEMORIUM

“They have gone before us. We will certainly follow them. May the turf lie softly upon their chests”

1. RGA de Silva 2. Thusitha Cooray 3. Mahinda Jayasinghe 4. Punyasiri Kiriella 5. Wilhelm Koch 6. Jezli Hussain 7. S P Selliah 8. M Nizam Jaimon 9. Rohan M Perera 10. RS Ramlal Goonewardene 11. Radha Rajaratnam 12. D Mahinda Jayasinghe 13. Naween Rajapakse 14. Aubrey N Willis 15. CJL Wijeratne 16. HASSW Bamunawela 17. Iqbal Najumudeen 18. Jeeva Satchithananthan 19. P Chandrakanthan 20. Sarath Ambepitiya  21. Rama Sellamuttu 22. Priyanath Dias 23. SL Gunasekera

24. Sunil Abeyesundera 25. Robert S Daniel 26. Alvapillai Senthilkumaran 27. Ananda D Amarawardena 28. P Dias Abeygunawardena 29. Athula Senanayake 30. KPG Fernando 31. SW Athukorale 32. Bandu Kulathunga 33. Sydney K Goonesekere 34. Gamini de Silva 35. L Lathpandura 36. HP Kariyawasam 37. Suren Chitty 38. Asoka Waranasuriya 39. Ranjan Madanayake 40. Mahadevan Balakumaran 41. Vishwa Vedage 42. Ananda Mallikaratchi 43. Nihal Abeyasena 44. DER Happuarachchi 45. Shirzard T Aziez

 

 

ROLL CALL 1959

ABEYAGUNAWARDENE, SM

ABEYASENA, Nihal

ABEYASINGHE, Sunil K

ABEYSEKERA, DSDJ

ABEYSEKERA, Lal

ABEYWARDENA, SA, Dr

ABEYWICKREMA, C

AMARADASA, Kodikra K

AMARASEKERA, SS

AMARAWARDENA, Ananda Dias (d:04 Nov 2011)

AMBEPITIYA, Sarath (d:19 Nov 2004)

AMERASINGHAM, R

ANDRADI, WMP Sunil

ANTHONISZ, Alwyn J

ARSECULARATNE, GL.S. (de Silva)

ATTIKEN, RM

ATUKORALE, SW (d:09 Dec 2014)

AZIEZ, ST (d:Mar 2021)

BAHAR, Shah Jehan

BALAGANGEYAN, R

BALAKUMARAN, M (d:2020)

BAMUNAWELA  HASS.W (d:2002)

CANAGASABEY, A Nihal

CASSIM, M Monty, B

CHANDRAKANTHAN, P (decd, USA)

CHANDRAPRASAD, M

CHANDRASEKERA, KADCP, Dr

CHANDRASENA, R

CHANDRASOMA, Parakrama T, Dr

CHAPMAN, Maurice DJ

COOKE, AW Suren

CUMARANASINGHE, NS

DANDENIYA, H Ranjan

DANIEL, RS

DAWOOD, Akram

DE KRETSER, A Nigel F

DE LIVERA, Joy Upali

DE SILVA, GES

DE SILVA, Gamini (d:12 Oct 2015)

DE SILVA, HR

DE SILVA, JLD

DE SILVA, LCC

DE SILVA, LVK, Dr

DE SILVA, RGA

DE SILVA, SJ

DE SILVA, SL

DE SILVA, YKH

DEVAKUMAR, M, Dr

DEVENDRA, SV, Dr

DHARMADASA, URM

DIAS ABEYGOONEWARDENA, PN (d:24 Jan 2012)

DIAS, AN

DIAS, P

DISSANAYAKE, Bandula

DISSANAYAKE, Winston

EBERT, Fredrick Allan Dr

FAZLEALI, Mazher

FERNANDO, Bryce R

FERNANDO, KC

FERNANDO, KPG (d:23 Jul 2014)

FERNANDO, M Sarath

FERNANDO, NM

GANEPOLA, NW

GEDDES, A. Russel

GNANAKARAN, P

GODAMUNNE, Vipula B

GOMES, PSJ

GOONASEKERA, NPR Dr

GOONERATNE, Panna A Dr

GOONERATNE, Sarath Chandra

GOONERATNE, Shiran N

GOONEWARDENA, MDM

GOONEWARDENE, RSRamlal (d:1999)

GUNARATNE, AN, Dr

GUNASEKERA, NL

GUNASEKERA, OKP, Major

GUNASEKERA, SK (d: 28 Sep 2015)

GUNASEKERA, SL

GUNAWARDENA, BC, Dr

GUNAWARDENA, KA, Dr

GUNAWARDHANA, AS

GUNERATNE, SN

GURUSINGHE, TK

GURUSWAMY, A Premasiri

HAPUARACHCHI, Don ER (d:2021)

HASSIM, Muhammad

HERFT, Roger Adrian, Rev.

HOGG, Peter

JAFFER, Imthiaz Ahamed

JAIMON, Muhammad Nizam (decd)

JAYASINGHE, Mahinda (decd)

JAYASINGHE, SR

JAYASINGHE, Susantha Nimal

JAYASINGHE, UC

JAYASIRIWARDENA, DMS

JAYASUNDERA, CPBT

JAYATILAKA, Sarath

JAYAWEERA, KP

JAYAWEERA, Tissa

JEBANESAN, GEC

KANNANGARA, DA

KARIYAWASAM, HP (d:16 Mar 2016)

KARUNARATNE, DCP, Dr.

KARUNATHILAKA, HSL

KIRIELLA, Lakshman B

KITCHIL, Tuan Arif

KOCH, Graham Cecil E

KOCH, Wilhelm L (decd)

KRELTSZHEIM, MA, Dr

KRISHNARAJAN, C

KUDAHETTY, Jayantha

KULASINGHE, Upul K

KULATUNGE, AB (d:12 Mar 2015)

KULDIP, Mathur

KUMARAGE, Niki R

LATHPANDURA, LLMP (d:2015)

LIEVERSZ, N. Brian L

LOKUBALASURIYA, I.K Lt

MADANAYAKE, Ranjan P (d:30 Dec 2017)

MAHMUD, Kamaludin Irshad, Dr

MALLAWARATCHI, W

MALLIKARACHCHI, A

MANCHANAYAKE, Palitha

MENDIS, B Sanath P

MENDIS, DPG

MOHIDEEN, Irfan Shibly

MUTHULINGASWAMY, S

NAIZER, Mohamed Buhary M

NAVEENDRAN, Viswalingam

NILAM, Firoz

PALIHAKKARA, Nanda

PATHMAPERUMA, DY

PERERA, CLAK

PERERA, GSC

PERERA, Jeremy

PERERA, KAR

PERERA, MR

PERERA, PG

PERERA, PV

PERERA, RL

PERERA, RMSK

PERERA, Rohan Mervyn (decd)

PEROOS, M Jabir, M, Dr

PIYASENA, Dhirasiri Surath

PONNAMBALAM, A Prathiviraj, Dr

PREMARATNE, PGWG, Dr

PULLAPERUMA, DR

PUVANENDRARAJAH, PR

RAJAPAKSA, Naveen D (decd 1999)

RAJARATNAM, R (decd 1999)

RAJASOORIYAR, R

RANJITH KUMAR, K

RANJITHAN, D

RATNAIKE, MPV

RATNAPALA, A Suri

RATNAPALA, KG.

RATNATHICAM, S

RATWATTE, Charitha

RIZVI, M Ashroff

SABARATNAM, DK

SALGADO, MGH

SAMARAJEEWA, Rohantha

SAMARANAYAKE, LP, Dr SAMARANAYAKE, VA

SAMARASEKERA, HDP

SAMARATUNGE, SL

SAMARAWEERA, SY

SAMBANDAN, Sidha, Dr

SAMEER, M Fazli H

SATCHITHANANDAN, M, Dr

SATCHITHANANTHAN, J (decd, USA)

SELLAMUTTU, S Rama (decd)

SELLAYAH, SP (decd)

SENANAYAKE, AMRKB

SENANAYAKE, MD Athula (d:11 Dec 2013)

SENANAYAKE, NR

SENARATNE, CPJ

SENERATH YAPA, Senarath C, Dr

SENEVIRATNE, AMR Kirthi B

SENTHILKUMARAN, Alvapillai (d:10 Jan 2011)

SHARIFF, Muhammad H Rezwi

SHERIFF, M Arooz

SILVA, N. KNG

SILVA, YM

SIRISENA, DMNR

SIVABALASUNDERAM, S

SIVAKUMARAN, N

SIVASUPRAMANIAM, Rajan S

SKANDAKUMAR, S

SOLOMONS, William Boyd

SOYSA, HPN

SRI RAM, DS

SRIDHARAN, S

SURAWEERA, AUC

SURIYASINGHE, KSN

THAMBAPILLAI, R St E, Dr

THURAIRATNAM, IR Dr

TIRUCHELVAM, V Dr

TOTAMUNE, KM

VANDERWALL, Rodney E

VEDAGE, Vishwa (d:2020)

VELUPILLAI, Dr K

WALPOLA, Don V Anthony

WARANASURIYA, LAK (d:21 May 2017)

WEDAGE, Vasantha

WEERASEKERA, DSJ

WEERASURIYA, CJ

WICKRAMARACHCHI, SG.M

WICKRAMARATNA, DBJ

WICKRAMARATNA, Ravindra T

WICKRAMASINGHE, PH

WICKRAMASINGHE, RL

WICKREMASINGHE, DP

WICKREMASINGHE, RG, Dr

WIJERATNE, CJL (decd)

WIMALADHARMA, Sunil

WIRASINGHE, Sunil

YASEEN, M Thacky