Gajan Pathmanathan moves on

Pathmanathan passes away

Niranjan SELVADURAI - Daily News Sep 1 2012

Former cricketer Gajan Pathmanathan passed away in Maryland from Pancreatic cancer on August 29.

He was 58 years.

Gajan the stylish stroke maker, mesmerised us at the 1971 Royal-Thomian with an explosive 97 in 110 minutes. Many still remember waiting at the boundary ropes for a field invasion when Gajan would reach his hundred.

Gajan has the unique distinction of being the only Sri Lankan to have played cricket for Oxford and Cambridge Universities and later Sri Lanka.

As an undergraduate, he played for Oxford and subsequently during his post graduate studies he played for Cambridge. Incidentally, Gajan opened batting for British Combined Universities along with another Royalist in Aziz Mubarak pulverizing a West Indian team lead by Sir Garfield Sobers with an opening stand of 87.

In 1972, Gajan represented Sri Lankan Schools against the visiting Australian schoolboys.

The team was lead by Asitha Jayaweera and included the likes of Duleep, Warnapura, Roy Dias, Flavian Aponso, Ajith de Sliva, Ranil Abenayake, Rajiv Benedit. Gajan opened batting with Bandu.
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His Professional and Personal lives were replicas of the impeccable straight blade he showed in all his elegant innings on many a turf both here and overseas. An exceptional human being who combined his phenomenal successes with extreme humility at all times......God declared this  gem of an inning  after 58 memorable years when he was convinced  that it had made an indelible global impact.....as rare as they come ! Skanda.

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PATHMANATHAN - GAJAN. Dearly beloved husband of Dhamayanthy, devoted father of Ishani and Anjali, ever-loving son of the late Sundary and W. Pathmanathan and son-in-law of Arunthathy and the late T. Thiruchittampalam, loving brother of Wiji, Dai and Dharshi, passed away on August 29th, in Maryland, USA. Cremation on Sunday September 2nd, Maryland, USA.     228964

THE WORLD BANK/IFC/MIGA August 31, 2012    It is with great sadness that I advise his many friends and colleagues    in the World Bank Group of the death of Mr. Gajanand Pathmanathan on August    29, 2012.    Gajanand, known among his colleagues and friends as Gajan, was born in    Sri Lanka on January 23, 1954. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in    Agricultural and Forest Sciences from University of Oxford, UK, followed by    two Master’s degrees, in Agricultural Economics from Oxford University in    1978 and Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1982.    Gajan joined the World Bank in 1984 as a Young Professional (YP),    followed by various assignments in the Bank including Agricultural    Economist at the South Asia Projects Department, YP Administrator, Senior    Economist at the Eastern Africa Department, Lead Economist, and    subsequently Sector Manager at the South Asia Rural Development Sector.    Between 1990 and 2002 Gajan worked in Kenya and India. Since 2007 Gajan was    Manager of the South Asia Sustainable Development Operations Unit in    Washington, the position he held until his death.    Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Gajan worked as Economist for the    Central Bank of Ceylon in Colombo, Sri Lanka.    Gajanand, as his name suggests means “Ganesha – The Elephant God.”  In    the Hindu culture, “Gajanand” is the first Deity to be worshipped and is    usually put at the entrance of homes. The significance of this is that as    the Elephant that walks through the forest clears a path before him,    “Gajanand” is worshipped to remove all obstacles from our path and make our    work smooth.  Gajan was aptly named as he made his reputation as a talented    manager who excelled at helping teams move forward and “clear the path” for    their work in support of the clients of the South Asia Region.  His passion    for development, wise counsel and many contributions to the sustainable    development practice of the Bank will be missed.    Our deepest sympathy is extended to his wife, Mrs. Dhamayanthy    Pathmanathan, two daughters, Anjali and Ishani, and to other members of his    family.    Viewing will be held on Saturday, September 1, at 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.,    and Funeral Service will take place on Sunday, September 2, at 1 p.m. at    Robert A. Pumphrey Funeral Home at7557 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814.    In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made in    Gajan’s name towards the cure of pancreatic cancer or to any charity. Sean McGrath Vice President Human Resources Services Replies to this message will not be answered Sent To: All Bank Group Staff Courtesy Puni- Ado Travels Appreciation Gajan Pathmanathan-By Jagath Fernando September 17, 2012 Jagath Fernando Gajan attended Royal College from 1966-1974 where he represented the first X1 cricket team in 1971 and 1972. He had the distinction of making the highest fresher’s score in a Royal-Thomian match at that time when he most unfortunately was out just short of a well-deserved century for 97! I was fortunate enough to be able to watch and experience this classy knock at first hand from the other side of the wicket for the entire innings where we were associated in what was then a record breaking stand of 178 runs. He left for England to complete the first phase of his higher studies where he graduated from Oxford University and represented them in cricket. He then proceeded to Harvard University in the US to do his Masters after which he returned to the Cambridge University UK to do his doctorate which he did not complete as he was recruited by the World Bank for their Young Managers Program. He has the unique distinction of representing both Oxford and Cambridge at cricket. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies Gajan returned to Sri Lanka and represented the country in a Test match when we were still playing unofficial tests. He also played for Sri Lanka in the ODI team. Gajan spent the rest of his working career with the World Bank and held such positions as Operations Manager, Sustainable Development Department, South Asia Region. He was married to Dhammi who too comes from a sporting family, her brother Thiruchithampalam being a well known rugby player at Royal in his day. He has two daughters. The older of the two Ishani is in the 2nd year of her Medical Residency and Anjali is doing a Degree in Law. The comments above are some of the key events and achievements in Gajan’s relatively short life. However if I were to finish my appreciation by simply stressing his qualities as a gentleman, I will not be doing justice to him, his family or you the reader. I therefore wish to make a sincere effort to weave a tapestry by depicting the environment in which he grew up in ways which will, hopefully, provide a more complete picture of his life. In every society there are some families that are known and recognized by a family name and in this instance it was so of the Coomarasamy family (quite obviously from his mother’s side ) of whom his Uncles Raju and Sathi stand out. Raju was a loved, respected and well known figure in the higher echelons of the UN Agency he worked for – the UNDP. Sathi was equally well known locally having represented Sri Lanka in cricket, been an active member of the Tamil Union Cricket Club and ending his professional career at what was the well-known firm, Shaw Wallace & Hedges Ltd. Raju’s children, Indrajit and Radhika, need no introduction, although both have spent much of their working lives overseas. Indrajit schooled in Harrow, UK where he played cricket and rugby for his school. He returned to Sri Lanka and captained both the CR & FCC and Sri Lanka at rugby and represented the Tamil Union at cricket. He completed his higher studies in Economics at Cambridge and Sussex University. At the time of his retirement, he held the position of Director Economic Affairs Commonwealth Secretariat. Radhika completed her studies in the UN school in NY and thereafter at Yale, Harvard and Cambridge. She then worked for sometime in Sri Lanka at the ICES before joining the UN where she has served in many capacities, including Special Representative for the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict Areas. What pedigrees! Of Sathi’s children probably the best known is his youngest daughter Anushya. We were colleagues at John Keells until she prematurely quit her job as the Group Finance Director. Gajan’s father ‘ Pat ‘ Pathmanathan was a Civil Servant (a very respected service in his day and time!). Little known about him is that he captained Jaffna Central College at cricket for two consecutive years ! He too, like his son Gajan, was a very soft spoken person. Gajan’s first brother Viji is a double accountant and works for Ernst and Young London as an Executive Director Capital Markets. His second brother, Dai, is the Managing Director of George Steuart Teas who is himself an accomplished cricketer having played X1 cricket for Royal College. Dai’s son Devin is an outstanding young cricketing prospect for Sri Lanka and will captain Royal College at cricket in the coming season. His sister Dharshi represented Ladies College at Hockey played cricket for the Colts CC and completed her Degree in the US. From all that has been said above it is abundantly clear that this is a very versatile and talented family which can boast of many achievements both intellectually and in the arena of sports. But boasting is hardly their style! To my mind this is what stands out most about this family which I have known from my very early days. They have shown all those qualities of decency, simplicity, humility, integrity and, above all, mutual respect for all human beings. They are a family of true class, people who have lived by their values in a world where these are increasingly only spoken words. They truly epitomize the simple, honest, hardworking kinsmen of Our North whose one ambition in life is to educate their children, earn a honest living and improve the lot of one’s family. For these values they found themselves on the wrong side of the northern rebels who despised the cultured. On the other side of the divide they were sandwiched in a hostile majority environment that surely made their lives unpleasant many a time. It is no surprise then that many from this family, including Gajan, chose to work, live and educate their children outside the country. Yet those who know them well know they consider Sri Lanka their home and dearly look forward to the day that ALL such decent and peace loving citizens of this country of all ethnic origins can live together in equality, with mutual respect and in harmony. This then will be the greatest testimony to the life that Gajan and his family have led for all the World to see! May he Rest in Peace and May God Bless him and his family.