The RPS We Knew – 1953 to 1958

Floreat

The trials and tribulations of primary and secondary education in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the fifties

History of RPS

Royal Primary School (RPS) was first established in 1933 as a preparatory school to prepare students to enter Royal College, which was situated next to it (until the 1960s there was an entrance exam for its students). In 1944 it was evacuated to the Glendale Bungalow in Bandarawela where it remained until 1948.

From 1966 to 1969, RPS was built specially designed for local drama and music which required open air type auditorium in accordance to local dance forms. On 2 March 1972, Ceylon became a republic when the new Republican Constitution was passed by the Parliament that met at the Royal Primary School Hall.

The school was augmented with Royal College Colombo in December 1977, becoming the Primary School of Royal College Colombo which exists to this day.

Beginnings

January 1, 1953. Thirty three smartly clad young boys, in white shirts and shorts, strode into the English Medium 1C classroom that was managed by Ms Croning at Royal Primary School in Colombo. Some were accompanied by their parents, a few grandparents were seen too, while others had a nanny or ayah who came along to ensure that the lads will settle down comfortably on their first day of primary school. Mixed emotions prevailed among the lads. Some clung on to their guardians while others, sheepishly, settled down into their colorful wooden chairs inside the class.

There were Muslim, Burgher, Sinhalese and Tamil boys among the English medium gang. The majority were Burghers, followed by the Muslims, since it was the English Medium stream, and these two communities, especially living in Colombo, preferred the English stream for their kids.

61 boys in the Sinhala Medium and 22 in the Tamil stream, also joined their respective streams, making up a total of 116. Entry to the school was based on a test that was conducted by the respective class teachers in December of the previous year.

It was an exciting time in the lives of these budding five year olds who now had the whole world in front of them to explore and conquer. Admission to Royal, being the most prestigious school in the country, was another feather in their caps. Some of the fathers were also old Royalists and this day was also a great moment for the old boys.

Landmarks

The many landmarks that stood out within the premises were the Mudgetty Tree that spilled its daily content of red seeds all across the open garden area, The Royal College Hostel that stood right in front of the 1, 2, & 3 primary section class rooms, and the circular caged enclosure in the middle of the yard where the mum, grandparents, and nannies waited till school was over. Towards the main office buildings the school grounds stood on the right, while the maypole, swings, and slides, bordered the road. The headmasters office stood in the center of the buildings on the left.

RPS School Song

This is our School

Let Peace Dwell here;

Let the room be, full of contentmen.

Let Love abide here,

Love of life itself,

And Love of all things good;

Let us Remember!

Let us Remember,

That as hands build a house,

So many hearts make a school

So many hearts make a school.

TEACHERS

Sinhala Medium

1A Ms Sheila E Jayasinghe, Lenita Goonesekera

2A Ms Perera & Ms Pieris

3A Ms HD Sugathapala & Ms Wimala Ekanayake

4A Mr Wijesinghe, Mr M Banneheke

5A Mr HD Sugathapala, F John G Silva

6A Mr TK William, Mr HP Jayawardene

Tamil Medium

1B Ms Rajakariar

2B Ms Niles

3B Ms Ambalavanar

4B Mr Kanagasabai

5B Mr Subramaniam

6B Mr Nalliah

English Medium

1C Ms Croning

2C Ms Perera

3C Ms Dissanaike

4C Mr Pinkamage

5C Mr ABC David

6C Mr J E de Silva

Academic Staff RPS 1953

Front Row Seated: Ms G Sugathapala, Mr H P Jayawardena, Ms Sheila E Jayasinghe (1A Sinhala), Mr H D Sugathapala, Ms G C Niles, Major A F de Saa Bandaranaike, Ms D Perera (2C English), Mr M E Piyasena, Ms Nicholas (English Music), Mr A B C David (5C English), Ms E D C Peiris

Middle Row: Mr T K William, Ms M. A. Rupa Perera, Mr P Nalliah, Miss. H P Ambalavaner, Mr F John G Silva (3A Sinhala), X, Mr M Banneheke (4A Sinhala), Miss H G Dissanayake, Mr D V G Pinkamage (4C English)

Back Row: Ms U Somasundaram, Mr D M Wijesinghe, Ms F H de Mel Laxapathy, Mr J E de Silva (6C English), Ms Wimala Ekanayake (2A Sinhala), Mr S Kanagasabai, Ms Croning (1C English), Mr A G Sugathapala, ?

Not Identified: Mr I Sebastianpillai, Ms M G Rajakariar, Mr S Subramaniam, Ms M A R Perera

RPS BOYS - SINHALA MEDIUM
Abeysena N *	Piyasena, Surath *
Abeysinghe, Sunil (SK) * (USA)	Rajapakse, Naveen (ND) *
Bamunawala, Hema (HB) *	Ratnapala, Kamal (KG) *
Chandra Prasad, *	Ratnapala, Suri (AS) * (Aus)
Chandrasoma, Parakrama (PT) * (USA)	Ratwatte, Charitha (JC) *
Colombage , Christopher	Salgado, Geethapriya *
Cooray, Thusitha *	Samarajeewa, Rohantha *
Dandeniya, Ranjan * (UK)	Samarasekare, Harindra (HDP) * (Can)
de Silva, Gamini *	Senanayake, Athula (MDA) *
De Silva, Jayantha (SJ) *	Senerath-Yapa, Sarath (SC) * (UK)
Dharmadasa, Upali (URM) *	Seneviratne, Keerthi AM RKB *
Fernando, Sarath (MS) * (UK)	Silva, Nihal (NKNG) *
Godamunne, Vipula (VB) * (Aus)	Silva , Milan *
Gooneratne, Nimal (AN.) *	Soysa, Preman (HPN) *
Gunaratne, Panini (PN) *	Suraweera, Upali (AUC) *
Gunaratne, Shiran (SN) *	Suriyasinghe, Sarath (KSN) *
Gunasekare, Nihal (NPR) *	Thevarapperuma, Dixon
Gunawardane, Buddhapriya (BC) *	Thurairatnam, Indran (IR) *
Jayasinghe, Mahinda (DM) *	Warusavithana, Sarath
Jayasinghe, Senaka (SR) *	Weerasekare, Daya (DCR ) *
Jayasundare, Chandrakeerthi (CP) *	Weerasinghe, Asoka
Karunatillake, Sunil *	Wickramarachchi, Sisira (SGM) *
Kiriella , Punyasiri *	Wickramasinghe, Gamini (DG) *
Kulasinghe, Upul (UE) *	Wickramasinghe, Panini (PH) *
Kulathunga, Bandula *	Wickremaratne, Daya Jasenthu *
Lathpandura, Lakshman (LP) *	Wickremasinghe, Git (RG) * (UK)
Madanayake, Ranjan *
Mallikarachchi, Ananda (DA) *
Manchanayake, Palitha (PA) * (Aus)
Mendis, Prasanna (DPG) * (Aus)
Palihakkara, Nanda (ND) *
Padmaperuma, Deepthi *
Perera, Ravi (MR) *
Perera, Ravindra (KPR) *	*Moved to Royal College in 1959
Perera, Premalal (PV) *	Red decd as of Jun 2021

RPS BOYS - TAMIL MEDIUM	RPS BOYS - ENGLISH MEDIUM
M. Balakumaran * (2020) (UK)	Anthonisz, Alwyn J. (Aus)
Suren Cooke *	Aziez, Shirzard T. * (2021)
M Devakumar * (UK)	Bahar, Shah Jehan * (Aus)
C Krishnarajan * (Can)	Canagasabey, Nihal *
S Muthulingaswamy * (UK)	Cassim, M Monty * (Jap)
A P Ponnambalam * (UK)	Chapman, Maurice * (Aus)
P R Puvanendrarajah * (EU)	Chitty, Suren *
R Rajaratnam * (1999)	De Kretser, A. Nigel F. * (Aus)
R Rajasooriyar *	Ebert, Fredrick Allan * (Aus)
M Ratnathicam *	Ernst, Cedric * (Aus)
S Sambandan * (UK)	Fazleali, Mazher *
J Satchithanandan *	Fernando, Bryce * (EU)
S Satchithanandan * (UK)	Foenander, Eardley * (Aus)
S R Sellamuttu * (2008)	Grenier, Dallas (Aus)
S P Sellayah *	Gunewardene, R. S. Ramlal *
R Sivasubramaniam *	Guruswamy, Arthur Premasiri
S Skandakumar *	Hashim, Mohamed *
S Sridharan *	Hussain, Jezley
V Tiruchelvam *	Iqbal, M.N.M.
K Velupillai * (EU)	Jaffer, Imthiaz A Dr. *
R Vigneswaran *	Koch, Graham EC * (Aus)
N Viswalingam * (Aus)	Koch, Wilhelm *
	Lieversz, N Brian L *. (Aus)
	Mohideen, I Shibly *
	Perera, Jeremy * (Aus)
	Saleem, Mohamed
	Sameer, M Fazli H. *
	Sheriff, M Arooz * (USA)
	Solomons, William B * (Aus)
	Stork, Phillip (Aus)
	Vanderwall, Rodney E. (Aus)
*Moved to Royal College in 1959	Walpola, Don V. Anthony * (Aus)
Red deceased as of Jun 2021	Willis Aubrey (UK)

GALLERY

Sinhala Medium

Tamil Medium

English Medium

FLOOR PLAN OF RPS

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

Headmaster, Mr AF de Saa Bandaranaike, was man of strict discipline who spared no pains in maintaining the integrity and quality of the institution at its highest level. The boys loved him very much too even though he wasextremely demanding on performance and conduct.

Mr HD Sugathapala was the deputy head who supported Mr Bandaranaike in maintaining the smooth running of the school.

Mr HW Jayawardene was third in line in the organization and also responsible for the Sinhala Medium stream

Activities

The school has four houses named, Bardby, Perera, Reed, Sampson, after four ex heads from the past. The boys were divided into one of the four and all academic and sports activities were accredited to the house they belonged to.

Cricket, Athetics, and Football were some of the outdoor sports that were popular. Of the talented sportsmen names that come to mind are Maurice Chapman, Nigel de Kretser, Brian Lieversz, Ramlal Gunewardene, S Skandakumar, K Velupillai, Sarath Fernando, Shiran Guneratne, Ranjan Madanayake, Naveen Rajapakse, Kamal Ratnapala, Athula Senanayake, & Git Wickremasinghe.

The school Magazine “Gateway” was published annually and highlighted all the activities of the classes, academics, sporting events, and other features.

The Annual School Sports Meet was also a great event filled with excitement and glamour that everyone looked forward to. Events were organized from the Sack Race to 4X400 Relays. Team competition, judged by house, was always at its peak levels with the boys contributing their best to make their house champs.

The Professionals

Description

Number

Business Management/Company Director/Executive

Healthcare/Medical Science/Surgery

Banking/Finance/Accounting

Engineering

Academics/Education/Teaching

Legal/Judiciary

Hospitality/Travel/Tourism

Sociology/Environment

Military/Services

Administration

Information Technology

Plantation/Agriculture

Laboratory/Investigation

Architecture/Building Contracting

Entertainment/Music

Diplomats

Library Services

Migrated overseas in the early 50s

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 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.

***

An Extract from Four Muses – Irreverance, honor, humor and grace

By 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!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

Aerial View of Facility

Memories from the Newspapers

“Bulla”

Chitta Ranjan (CR) de Silva – childhood memories of our school days

Memoir

January 4, 2014, 12:00 pm
by Senaka Weeraratna – Island newspaper

Our journey as childhood friends commenced in year 1954 when we found ourselves as rather bewildered school children in the lower kindergarten class of Mrs. E. D. C. Peiris at Royal Primary School. From the very outset Chitta Ranjan strode the class room scene as a healthy, robust, bubbly boy with a huge inclination for outdoor sports. He was pre-destined to play a bigger role in life both in school and post – school than many of his class mates. The very choice of his name ‘Chitta Ranjan’ was a foretaste of what was to come. His father the eminent Justice K.D. de Silva had big dreams for his youngest child out of eight children, when he named the latter after the great Indian Bengali nationalist and freedom fighter – Chittaranjan Das. The Indian patriot’s first name was borrowed and split into two as Chitta Ranjan and that is how he became reputed later as ‘C.R. de Silva’.

Chitta Ranjan was the pet of the family. An age gap of eighteen years separated the eldest Ananda from the youngest. Next to ‘C.R.’ was Rohana, eight years older (now deceased). When the elder siblings returned home after work they naturally called for the company of ‘C.R.’. They showered him with affection and love. With such care and support from his family and later on by others in his early childhood, ‘C.R.’ grew secure in the knowledge of his acceptance and place in the world.

The stream that entered Royal Primary School (RPS) in 1954 comprised four classes divided on the basis of language medium (two Sinhala, one Tamil and one English medium classes). This batch was the one that later grew and became known as the Royal College Batch of 1960 when we all entered Royal College in 1960 from RPS together with a fair number of additional students drawn from both Colombo and outstation schools.

The epithet ‘Bulla’ became attached to Chitta Ranjan much later in life when he started playing Rugger at both Royal College and near his home at Park Road and to this day I have always preferred to refer to him by the name that his parents had given him.

The challenges at Royal Primary were varied and the school culture encouraged active involvement in extra – curricular activities including scouting (actually cubbing – there was a Wolf Cub Pack), sports and the like in addition to studies. The larger natural surroundings of RPS (now crowded with concrete buildings) provided added incentive to develop one’s talent for outdoor exertions. Chitta Ranjan accepted these challenges as a duck takes to water showing aptitude for sports in his early days at school. The annual ‘Gateway’ Magazine of the Royal Primary School, which was begun by the Headmaster Mr. A.F. de Saa Bandaranayake and unfortunately discontinued by a successor Mr. H.D. Sugathapala, carries several group photographs related to the years 1956 and 1957 showing Chitta Ranjan among School Cubs, Perera House Relay teams, Athletic teams and the like.

Chitta Ranjan was privileged to have had a Supreme Court Judge as his father while being in Primary School. Justice K.D. de Silva (Supreme Court Judge from 1953 – 1960) adjudicated in some sensational cases such as the Adeline Vitharana murder case in 1958 and a few years later functioned as the Chairman of the Navy Commission, a Judge of the Constitutional Court and Chairman of the Press Commission (1963 – 1964), perhaps his crowning achievement. Two of Chitta Ranjan’s brothers namely, Jagath Ananda Dhammika de Silva and Indunil Senani de Silva are active practitioners in the Civil Courts. The legal atmosphere and table conversation on law related questions at home had a strong influence on Chitta Ranjan and he became accustomed from his early school days to being approached by his class mates for elucidation on matters related to the judgments and other high profile work of his illustrious father that were hitting newspaper headlines. Colloquially speaking CR got his training early in such contexts in being able to answer knotty questions. These interactions gradually strengthened his dialectical and advocacy skills which flowered to full bloom when in active practice.

Teachers at Royal Primary School

Chitta Ranjan had the following teachers as Class Mistress / Masters at RPS: Mrs. E D C Peiris (lower kindergarten), Mrs. Seela E. Jayasinghe (upper kindergarten), Miss Wimal Ekanayake (class 3A), Mr. M. Banneheke (Class 4A), Mr. F. John G Silva (Class 5A) and Mr. H.P. Jayawardena (Class 6A).

Bandaranaike Assassination (1959)

In the year 1959 Chitta Ranjan was seated immediately behind me in Mr. H.P. Jayawardena’s class at RPS. On that fateful day, Sept. 25, 1959 at about 10.30 a.m. we saw Anura Bandaranaike (who was in another parallel class conducted by Mr. T. William) walking on the corridor outside the class room being escorted out by his ‘ayah’. During lunch time we heard the sad news that Anura’s father (Hon. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike – the Prime Minister) had been shot and was in hospital. As batch mates we were all shaken and a few days later the entire class visited Parliament and paid our respects to the remains of the late Prime Minister. This was a water shed moment in our young lives and it contributed to a lot of soul searching and innumerable discussions on a variety of topics among Anura’s class mates.

Chitta Ranjan’s cousins

Chitta Ranjan had two cousins in the class room at RPS, Sanath de Silva and Wimal de Silva later to be joined by another cousin Jayapriya de Silva (also known as ‘R.J.’) when we moved to College. All of them had elder brothers and together with CR’s brothers enabled Chitta Ranjan to network with a wide range of senior students that was not easily possible for those of his class mates lacking elder brothers in school. It made a huge difference and opened the ‘world’ for those who moved closely with Chitta Ranjan as getting to know College seniors was a distinct advantage in school. Thus through Chitta Ranjan and his cousins we came to know schoolboy ‘heroes’ such as T. Peraivarar (Royal College Cricket 1st eleven Vice – Captain 1957), Lalith and Nanda Senanayake (Cricket), R.C. ‘Chanaka’ de Silva (Cricket), H.S. de Silva, Ralph Wickremeratne and U.L. Kaluarachchi (Rugger) and the like. A common venue for rendezvous or to spend the day was the palatial house of Sherman de Silva (Sanath’s father) at Cambridge Place and within walking distance of RPS.

Chitta Ranjan displayed a strong interest in cricket in his primary school days and early years at College before Rugger became an all consuming passion in his life. As he used to stay close to my house before they shifted from Bambalapitiya to Park Road, we used to travel together often after watching inter – school cricket matches or after school. It was through Chitta Ranjan that I came to know his other two cousins Sunil and Mithra Wettimuny, both of whom represented Sri Lanka at cricket at national level. They were Anandians living at McCleod Road before their parents shifted house to Park Road to live next to Chitta Ranjan’s house. I used to play soft ball cricket with them in the large space available behind Chitta Ranjan’s house adjacent to Asoka Gardens and spreading right up to the rail tracks close to the beach, and later at Colts Cricket Club grounds, when they shifted residence to Park Road in the early 1960s.

Park Road Cricket

In the mid sixties we were all members of the Park Road Cricket Club which had Chitta Ranjan, Sunil and Mithra Wettimuny, and the two Jeganathan brothers (who played cricket at national level), Dion Alles, Mohan Alles, Ajit Dias, Sarath Hettiarachchi, ‘Palam’ Thomas. Haren Wijeytunga, Vijitha Thabrew, Mahendra and Sepala Amarasuriya among others. Hemaka Amarasuriya was the Captain of this side for several years. This team was a well known cricket side playing Sunday soft ball cricket and it played against such teams as Uncle’s Paradise (comprising some well known cricketers from Royal College such as Vijaya Malalasekera) based at Brownrigg Park, the Roustabouts (captained by Eardley Lieversz), and several other teams based in Thimbirigasyaya, Kirulapone and Bambalapitiya. The well- known Peterite cricketer David Heyn played in one of those teams.

Chitta Ranjan was very adaptable and developed a broad minded outlook that helped him to mix with people at various layers of society without difficulty. However he had close friends both at RPS and later at Royal College and I would count Ajita Wijesundere, Sarath Abeysundera (Bakey), Madhava Perera, Chirantha (Chubi) Jayasinghe, Hiran Weerasekera, Vipul Boteju (National Record Holder in Swimming), Ananda Athukorale, Malik Samarawickrema, Ajit ‘Conte’ Abeywardene, Ajit Abeyratne, Jayantha Jayasinghe and Jayantha Senanayake among them. No account of our primary school days is complete without a reference to Ajita Wijesundere who excelled in both studies and sports and was treated as a role model for others until we went to Royal College where Ajita faced stiff competition from the likes of Rohan Wijetilleke, (an entrant from St. Thomas’s Prep. School) who shone in almost every activity including ‘King’ Cricket that he touched. But that is another story.

English and Tamil language streams

Likewise it would be a remiss if we do not acknowledge the contribution made to RPS life by students from the other language streams. The English medium class of our batch produced some of the finest sportsmen we had and among them were Christopher Van Twest, Glen Van Langenberg, Jonathan Toussaint, and Babu Chatterjee (Captain of RPS Soccer team and son of an Indian Diplomat). All of them went their own way after RPS as guided by their parents and did not enter Royal College. The outcomes of inter – school cricket fixtures particularly the Royal Thomian matches a few years down the track may have taken a different turn if we had Christopher Van Twest and Glen Van Langenberg in the RC first eleven teams. But destiny decided otherwise with Van Twest migrating to Canada and Glen Van Langenberg joining Trinity College. Other notable RPS players were Alan de Kretser, Nihal ‘Jumbo’ Fernando (Cricket and Tennis), Christopher Amarasekera, Ranjith Gunasekera, and Eardley Lieversz. Both Ranjith Gunasekera and Eardley Lieversz captained the Royal College Cricket teams in 1968 and 1969 respectively and to Eardley Lieversz fell the high honour of leading the Royal team to victory in the Royal – Thomian in 1969 after a long period of 18 years.

The Tamil medium class produced some high achievers in both studies and sports and among them we must include V. A. Gnaneswaran, N. Raveendranathan, R. Balasubramaniam, Suren Anketell (Cricket), and R. Nadaraja (Cricket). The outstanding student of the 1960 batch was undoubtedly Ranjan Ramasamy who obtained eight (8) distinctions at the GCE (Ord.) level held in Dec. 1964 and came first in the whole island. The only other person who had achieved eight distinctions at the Senior Cambridge Examination (the equivalent of the GCE Ord. level) up to that point of time was Father Peter Pillai in 1920.

In the batch that was one year senior to us (1959 RC Batch) also we saw some remarkable students in the likes of Kumarawamy Velupillai, S.W. Selliah (Cricket) and S. Skandakumar (Cricket). Another outstanding contemporary during our RPS days was Indrajith Coomaraswamy who played Bradby House Cricket with us. He was one year junior to us and belonged to the 1961 RC Batch. His subsequent exploits at Harrow School in England, Cambridge University and National level Rugger are too well known to be recalled here. Any reference to the 1961 RC Batch must necessarily include Lalith Weeratunga, who is the Secretary to the President and Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

Entry to Royal College

Chitta Ranjan entered Royal College in 1960 and was placed in Class 1D under Mr. H.M. Samaraweera. Class 1A was under Mr. Justin de Silva and Class 1B had Mr. Lennie de Silva as the class master. Our 1960 batch had several members who were children of prominent politicians, and who also followed in the fullness of time in the footsteps of their fathers into politics. Anura Bandaranaike and Dinesh Gunawardene figure highly in this respect. Their parents in the late 1950s were on the opposite sides of the political spectrum engaged in fierce public debates, and this was a decisive factor in the decision of the school authorities to keep the two children away from each other in two separate classes i.e. Anura in 1A and Dinesh in 1B.

Royal College in the 1960s

When we entered College the country was in a state of rapid change and socio – economic transition from one of entrepreneurial culture to a socialist form including the introduction of swabasha as mediums of instruction at school. Our 1960 RC Batch was the last batch to be taught science exclusively in English from the Fourth Form onwards. Mr. Dudley K.G. de Silva was the Principal of the School when we entered in 1960 to be replaced by Mr. Bogoda Premaratne in 1967. The trends in school direction and culture were not immune to the transformation taking place in the larger world outside.

Class Debate (1961)

During our formative years being impressionistic youngsters the unfolding international events did not fail to shape our thinking. At the height of the cold war leading to the Cuban missile crisis in 1961, an interesting incident took place in a class room at Royal College. Briefly it must be mentioned here that upon entry to Royal College we had all mixed classes with English as the general medium of instruction, however in certain key subjects such as Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, General Science, Geography and History, the language of instruction was one’s mother tongue until we reached the fourth form. It was to one such class that Mr. T.D.S.A. Dissanayake arrived one day in 1961 to give instruction on Arithmetic.

T.D.S.A. Dissanayake was a former Royal College and Public Schools Athlete holding national records in Discuss Throw and Putt Shot. He had a B.Sc. in Applied Maths from the University of Peradeniya under his wing and more importantly a repertoire of anecdotes and tales garnered from wide travel overseas. He was the ideal teacher to whet the appetite of students hungry to hear ‘juicy’ and heartwarming stories and he did not let his students down. He had taken a temporary job as a teacher while awaiting an appointment as Probationary ASP (Assistant Superintendent of Police). His father was C.C. ‘Jungle’ Dissanayake, Senior DIG (Police). In addition to his interest in teaching maths subjects ‘T.D.S.A.’ was a great raconteur, full of tales and interesting anecdotes, and stimulating conversationalist on a range of topics. To us all this was very welcoming and refreshing.

One particular quote that he often cited in class was the then saying in Russia which the Russians were said to be fond of repeating referring to their mainstream newspapers ‘Pravda’ ( meaning Truth) which served as the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party during the Soviet Union, and ‘Izvestia’ (meaning News) which expressed the official views of the Soviet government, that there was no news in Pravda and no truth in Izvestia.

Soon after arrival to teach our class ‘T.D.S.A.’ held a General Knowledge contest to appoint a Class Monitor and upon winning this contest he appointed me as the Class Monitor. It had a very interesting group of students which included Anura Bandaranaike, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chitta Ranjan de Silva among others who became prominent later in public life.

One day a debate was organized in this class that took place after school hours on the topic ‘Whether Capitalism or Socialism was more suitable as basis of economic life for a country’ and the team that presented the case for Capitalism comprised Vijitha Kuruwita (leader), Anura Bandaranaike and Ranil Wickremesinghe and the one that argued for Socialism comprised W.S. de Silva (leader), Chitta Ranjan de Silva and Senaka Weeraratna. The presiding Chairman was Upali Attanayake (then a Science teacher and later a well known playwright).

Joie de vivre in inter – school cricket matches

Inter-school cricket was a huge draw card prior to Sri Lanka’s entry to the Test Cricket arena in 1981. In the 1950s and 1960s top schoolboy cricketers had popularity ratings similar to matinee idols. Inter – School Cricket matches had several side attractions in addition to the drama in the middle. There was a visible organized cheering component that had its own lure in terms of song and dance to divert attention when things got dull in the match. Chita Ranjan before he started playing representative sports did his fair share of cheering for his school. Never did he miss an opportunity to turn up at these matches to cheer and support his school and engage in fun and frolic particularly in the big match. He had a streak for schoolboy pranks and mischief but within limits. He also had a knack for getting out of difficult situations with College ‘cops’ and school administration.

Organised cheering reached a crescendo at the Royal – Thomian big match in 1963. In fact it may well be said that this match will be remembered not only for the great entertainment provided through the scintillating century of Vijaya Malalasekera being a favourite talking point among his contemporaries even to this day but also for the huge float and old crocks rally displayed on the roads. Royal College cheering squad in the early 1960s (1961 – 1963) was effectively led by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, who brought a well decorated Queen Mary Trailer (60 meters long with ten pairs of wheels) to lead the old crocks rally in 1963. This vehicle was usually permitted to run only during night time to carry iron supplies from the Colombo Harbour. But Hemantha Warnakulasuriya had access to his father’s fleet of lorries and had no trouble in deploying the Queen Mary Trailer in the procession. It was quite a spectacle but caused a huge traffic jam on Colombo Roads.

Passion for Rugger

Chitta Ranjan had undoubted talent for Rugger and the necessary weight and physical strength to buttress his aptitude for this sport. He was the first Captain of the Royal College Under 15 Rugger team. In the match played against the St. Thomas College under 15 team at Reid Avenue, Chitta Ranjan kicked a ball that travelled over 45 meters to go over the goal post. His successful conversion decided the outcome of the match. In 1968 Chitta Ranjan captained the Under 19 Rugger team that beat Trinity College and regained the Bradby Shield for Royal College. In the very same year he captained the Ceylon Schools Rugger team. Three other members of the 1960 group who excelled in Rugger alongside Chitta Ranjan were R.S.I. (Sanath) de Silva (who obtained colours in both Cricket and Rugger the two glamour sports), Malik Samarawickrema (who captained the College Athletics team) and Gihan Jayatilleke (Rugger and Swimming).

When Ajita Wijesundere had asked Chitta Ranjan a few years before his demise as to what heChitta Ranjan de Silva considered as his most satisfying moment in a life full of innumerable achievements, it is said that Chitta Ranjan has had no hesitation in replying by saying ‘Lifting high the Bradby Shield’ having defeated the redoubtable Trinity College in both games in 1968.

Post – School life

Chitta Ranjan’s attainments as a lawyer have been the subject of many appreciations by members of both the Official and un-official Bar. Therefore it is not intended to tread the same ground in this article. On a personal note I wish to acknowledge many instances of personal favours that he extended to me without any reservation. For example, I was able to apprentice under Daya Perera, P.C. and later serve as a Junior to him largely as a result of Chitta Ranjan’s recommendation and good word. I left for Australia in 1975 to pursue post – graduate studies in law at Monash University. Chitta Ranjan in the meantime had joined the Attorney – General’s Dept. as a State Counsel. Whenever I returned to Sri Lanka for short spells I used to visit him at the AG’s Dept. and he very obligingly introduced me to several senior State Counsel including the then Attorney – General Mr. Siva Pasupathy. Once he invited me to listen to his submissions for the Respondent (State) in an Appeal case where N.R. Fernando, later Dr. Ranjith Fernando, a leading lawyer in the Court of Criminal Appeals, was appearing for the Appellant.

Chitta Ranjan was a member of the Law Commission and I used to meet him regularly when I was helping the Law Commission in my capacity as a Legal Consultant to draw the Animal Welfare Bill which Chitta Ranjan supported to the hilt. Subsequently he was heavily involved in several law reform projects concerning the welfare and protection of animals including introducing legislative amendments to Animal laws. He helped Mrs. C.I. de Silva in this respect. He was also generous in contributing funds to have animals released from slaughter and in setting up animal sanctuaries for released cattle. He also appeared on behalf of animal rights activists in several cases including the Munneswaran Animal Sacrifice case on a pro – bono basis.

My last official encounter with Chitta Ranjan was when I appeared before him at the LLRC. Having moved with him closely during our school days it is hard to accept that he is no more among the living. He led an active life until ill health intervened to stall him. He was a gentleman to his finger tips, reliable and kept his word. He will be remembered for scaling great heights and for his numerous contributions in diverse fields. He was the life of our 1960 Batch get – togethers. He will be sorely missed at our future reunions. He leaves his wife Kamalini now serving as the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, and three sons, Dulantha, Kushan and Shehan.

May his sojourn in Sansara be short.

island.lk

Royal College – the magnificent Group of 49

April 10, 2015, 5:23 pm

by A loyal Royalist in the Island Newspaper

Upali Wijewardene entered Royal Primary School at the age of five years when A F De Saa Bandaranayake was headmaster. Some of his classmates who joined the kindergarten (baby class) along with Upali were Dr. Ranjit de Silva (surgeon), Jayantha Gunasekera (President’s Counsel), Dr. R. S. B. Wickramasinghe (former Director of the Medical Research Institute), Sarath Weerasooriya (Chairman FINCO), Sam Samaranayake, Dr. N T de Silva, Dr. Tissa Cooray. Their teacher was Mrs. Keyt, who looked after her wards as if they were her own children. Almost all of them had ayahs and there was a special enclosure for them.

In 1949 Upali, entered Royal College after sitting an open competitive exam. Only about 60% of those who sought entrance to Royal College were successful, whilst the balance 40% went to Thurstan College.

Nearly 68% of Upali’s batch became professionals – an all time record!

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One of the last gentleman politicians – Dr. Ranjit Atapattu

An Appreciation

January 12, 2019, 8:02 pm

by Nihal Seneviratne in the Island Newspapers

It is just one year since my close friend Dr. Ranjit Atapattu passed on. Our bonding and friendship was formed and cemented over 80 years since he and I joined Royal Primary School at the tender age of 5. I recall with nostalgia how we both took part in the historic play Hiawatha by H.W. Longfellow at the age of 8 staged by the Royal Primary. Since then, we both moved onto Royal College in 1945 and our paths went different ways in 1954 when Ranjit entered Medical College Colombo to pursue his medical studies and self to Peradeniya to join the University of Ceylon there.

Ranjit hailed from a renowned family in Tangalla where his father carved a name for himself as the Member of Parliament for Beliatta in 1960 and 1965. Many were the occasions when I visited Ranjit in his stately ancestral home on our way to Kataragama. I had the good fortune of associating with his father when he functioned as a Junior Minister of State to the late President J.R. Jayewardene.

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Ged Gooneratne – fine gentleman and true friend

An appreciation by Nihal Seneviratne

September 17, 2016, 8:27 pm Island Newspaper

It is a month and more since Ged passed away after a brief illness. I read with pleasure the very elegant tribute paid to him by Lucky Chickera and felt that I should add a few words of tribute to a true gentleman, an able lawyer and above all a dedicated old Royalist. I hope these few words will help alleviate the grief his wife and children have had to undergo by his passing recently.

My close friendship with Ged goes back almost 77 years when he and I entered Royal Primary School (RPS) together. I treasure a truly historic photograph of Ged, I and other 8-year olds taking part in the play Hiawatha by Longfellow staged by the RPS over seven decades ago. Our bonding from RPS to Royal College through Law College and Hulftsdorp finally consolidated in our time in the Royal College Union where Ged and I became the most senior Vice Presidents. Our friends at RPS included Nihal Senaratne, Major Gen. C. H. Fernando, Dr. Ranjit Atapattu and T. L. K. Mendis, all of whom meet even how at the yearly reunion of the 1945 Group, 1945 being the year we entered Royal College proper.

Ged was the son of Major and Mrs. L. V. Gooneratne of Mt. Lavinia. His father was a legend not merely at Royal but in Mt. Lavinia too and Ged was a true inheritor. He was very proud of all his father’s achievements as a cadet master and the master who accompanied the very first Royal College cricket team to tour Australia in the 1930s.