Moving to RC 1959

The '59 Group

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, is 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 on our part, at this juncture, 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, the Civics guru who helped many a leading lawyer today on his career path to fame, Thillainathan (Liston), and Canegaratnam.

 

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.

“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!

   

 

The Mentors

Fathers

Thondaan Remembers – Rajan 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 as good friends without any hangups 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 Shoulders to the Wheel – The Professionals

#	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.

Tissa Jayaweera is a professional, who has held many prestigious positions in the corporate sector. He served as chairman/managing director Lanka Ceramic PLC and many other similar corporations and industries during his career in Sri Lanka. He also held the positions of president Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, vice president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Member Business Advisory Group UNESCAP, chairman International Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka Accreditation Board.

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, PS.J Gomes, 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 Magnificent 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.

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 five of our chaps and made sure that they serve the people with a smile. Graham Koch, 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, of course) & 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.

Vipula Godamunne, Fazli Sameer, 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.

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 providing Consultancy Services in IT to several private sector corporations in the Middle East.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Other Professions

Don Hapuarachchi and LCC de Silva: moved into the Timber/Furniture Industry. Hapu passed away after a brief illness in 2020.

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 & Swingers

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.

Founders

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.

 0O0

The ’59 Group Library Project – Chari Ratwatte

The Library project which was launched by the ’59 Group at Royal has been the cynosure of all achievements we have made through the years as a form of giving back to College for the glory that College has given us. Many were the members who put their hands up to support this project and see its fruition to the end.

Chari sums up the story well, when he states, “It all started when I was driving my son, on Saturday mornings, from Library to Library, the Public, the British Council, USIS etc. I asked him about the College Library”. He responded, “what library?” I gave him directions on how to find it. He returned from College and said, “it is totally locked up, and a huge padlock hangs on the main door”. I went up to College, and, to my horror, found, that the library was closed because they had no librarian to manage it

“That very week, the '59 Group Committee met, and, I took the opportunity to mention this sad state of affairs to the group. We decided to take the matter up with the then Principal. This set off a chain of events that eventually resurrected the library from its “Rip Van Winkle” slumber. We put our heads together and managed to hire a Librarian, who

developed a program to improve the facility as it was in a totally dilapidated state.

Geethapriya Salgado, contributed his professional expertise in library management and also put us in contact with others, including a University Professor, who supported the project. Fund raising followed with many hands being extended, generously, to finance the various needs of the project.”

In the coming years, we also managed to find another College Alumni Group, much junior to us, to twin with us, for the long term sustainability of the project. They will carry the flag forward when we are all gone from this planet. 

There is also a deposit with RCU Trust, the biggest one, which is an endowment for the Library Development Program.

 0O0 

Two cents worth from Nihal and Naizer

 Naizer kicks off with the fact that it was sometime in the early 80s that he bumped into Rohan Perera at Lakehouse, and, he related that he was in touch with Metha to try and get all the old 59’ers together to form an alumni group. Eventually, his dream materialized in 1988 with an inaugural meeting that was held at College. Rohan, KPG, Nihal, Bamuna, RSR. and Naizer attended, along with a few others who were formed into a committee of management.

Rohan was unanimously elected as the founder President. R. S. R. emphasized the need to draft a decent constitution which was done later and adopted. It was Charithas idea to embark on the Library Project as a service since the facility was in a very dilapidated condition and also locked up for many months.

The group made an inventory of the available books that still remained in the library, retained some of the good ones and had to discard the rest that were of no value on account of their poor condition. We also refurbished the library, including the furniture, and several members donated books, magazines, and periodicals, on a continuous basis to keep the facility growing. Thanks to Hapu for replacing all the newspaper stands.

The guys then initiated a project to identify, locate and list all the ‘59ers with their contacts and professions. Group meetings were held, on a regular basis, at various venues, supplemented with Vadai and Tea, and even I had the privilege of hosting a few at my office down Fareed Place, at Bambalapitiya.

During this period we managed to kick off several fundraising projects to supplement our financial resources in order to be able to give back to College for many of its programs. One was the Army Band show, and the others were four benefit shows held at the Liberty Cinema followed up by a very successful raffle draw. KPG was the Secretary and Nihal was the treasurer, during this era.

All proceeds from these projects, amounting to almost two million Rupees, were deposited into an endowment fund with the RCU The fund was secured by a condition laid down in

the constitution which stated that they were to be utilized for value added projects as decided by the committee of management.

After the sad demise of Rohan, several other “young” and able members took over the management and continued the good work which was started. Annual reunion events were held, on a regular basis, during the Royal-Thomian and Bradby Shield events, in order to keep the lads together.

A medical fund was mooted for the benefit of group members who may be need assistance. Members living abroad responded positively and contributed towards this cause. Later on, it was decided to hand over and share some of the activities of the group with the ‘93 Group, in order to ensure continuity since we were running behind time in a big way.

Nihal chips in as follows:- Let’s get down to the 59ers, first. Machang, l drifted into the ’59 Group Committee with the tide, as, l had the founder Treasurer's post thrust upon me with gusto, and I was just able to do, the little that l could, to try and help an awesome bunch of people – you guys of course - achieve something extraordinary for many more young Royalists to come. 

There were many players who helped, and they are too numerous to name.  A few come to my, somewhat forgetful mind; Rohan, KPG., RSR. (behind the scenes in true CID “James Bond” fashion), Ando, Mazher Fazleali, Don Hapuarachchi, Al Haj MBM Naizar, the late Hema Bamunawela, Upali de Livera, the late Gamini “Keti” de Silva, Sarath Perera, Geethapriya Salgado, Rohantha Samarajeewa, N. R. Senanayake, Keerthi Seneviratne, Skandakumar, Sarath Suriyasinghe, Sunil Wimaladharma, also chipped in during the latter years.

During the initial stages of the project, many of them spent every single Saturday at the Library for a few months on end, re-arranging, cleaning and reorganizing the place. It would be an injustice to mention names, I'd rather say it was the 59’er spirit that did it and, eventually, saw it through to fruition. A monumental task, it was, if any of you may recall what the Library had slipped back into, performed with dedication and commitment by a host of very highly focused, not so old, 59’ers then. 

Really, the idea of refurbishing the library came from Chari, but the coordination and motivation to see it through came from “Hitler”. . . oops sorry, the late KPG. As l clearly remember, he was as a ’59 Group committee member, the driving force behind us all, for over 30 years. To say that KPG. was amiable and benevolent, nevertheless a dictator of the highest order, would be putting it somewhat mildly. He goaded us with subtle threats, at times, and got the job done.  At the time of his untimely passing, he was documenting all the work the 59’ers had done on the Library project. Sadly, this could not be completed by him. I have requested his son, Chamath, for a copy of his notes, if he could lay his hands on them. Chamath is a successful and busy lawyer, today.

Sarath Perera and his lovely wife, Ranji get a very special mention, as they, initially, very willingly and readily, opened up their lovely home many times, when we, initially,

had no place/funds to host a few get-togethers.  l really mean opened-up because nothing

was spared by them in making the event/s the success they eventually turned out to be. Booze, music, staff; nothing was held back.

Fazli, you too, should take a deep bow for all the unsung work you did in covering us with a very comprehensive and updated website of our own, during those tiring years. Whatever you do don’t cut this part out, please, as the guys must realize and know what you have done for the Group, dealing with a lunatic or two in the process. No prizes for guessing who, though!

Three, or maybe four, films were screened at the Liberty Cinema in aid of the 59 Group Library fund. There were also a few raffles, and a show by the Army Cultural Troupe, held at the Elphinstone Theatre. This was organized by our very own “Hitler”. . . oops, sorry again, KPG, through his buddy Captain Delwela. KPG, single-handedly compered the entire. evenings proceedings and did a great job of it. Salute!  

At one stage we had over Rs. 4 million plus in our 59 Group Endowment fund with the RCU. This is the highest collection made by any single RC Alumni Group. I think this has stood for many years, and probably still is, despite our refurbishing the Library recently under Sunil “Bakey” Wimaladharma’s astute stewardship. The recent hand holding with the RC ’93 Alumni Group, did a great job in coordinating the “sprucing up” of the facility and also introducing the electronic modernization of the main Library.

In the formative years we did call for inputs and comments from the 59 Group General Membership. It was Sydney “baba” Gunasekera who enlightened us with the somewhat dis-quieting news that one day there will be no ‘59 Group members left. It was, then, suggested that we should pass the Library project on to a younger alumni Group to continue the good work that we had started. This suggestion was unanimously accepted by the then committee, as both, Naizar and Sunil will confirm. The RC ‘93 Group has extended a hand to us, in the recent past, for restoring the library, under the good old, and able, Sunil. They have helped us to do an excellent job. If there may be any other similar younger alumni groups willing to join hands with us in this venture, we should pursue them with gusto. Younger groups will do fine and will be able to carry the legacy of maintaining the Library for another 25 years, a least, before passing the baton to other suitable groups to come.

Many humorous incidents took place whilst collecting funds for the Library Project. One interesting event that comes to my mind was a newspaper report from the Horana correspondent of the Ceylon Daily News, l think, who mentioned that the local traffic “Kossa’s” were stopping motorists and subtly offering them 59 Group Raffle Tickets to purchase in lieu of prosecution fines for traffic offenses. This was finally traced back to our grand old RSR I vividly recall cornering him and asking him about this. With his typical cherubic smile, he said, "machang, we have to sell tickets no?” That was RSR. who then switched back to his inscrutable poker face without actually denying the allegation.

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.

IN MEMORIUM – as at Jun 2021

“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. M 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. Robert Shanthikumar Daniel

25. Alvapillai Senthilkumaran

26. Ananda Dias Amarawardena
27. Prasantha Dias Abeygunawardena

28. Athula Senanayake

29. KPG Fernando

30. SW Athukorale

31. Bandu Kulathunga

32. Sydney K Goonesekere

33. Gamini de Silva

34. L Lathpandura

35. HP Kariyawasam

36. Asoka Waranasuriya

37. Ranjan Madanayake

38. Mahadeva Balakumaran

39. Vishva Vedage

40. Ananda Mallikarachchi

41. Nihal Abeyasena

42. DER Hapuarachchi

43. ST Aziez

0O0 

APPRECIATION

Mahadeva Balakumaran 

1947-2019

by Fazli Sameer

 

Professor Mahadeva Balakumaran, “Bala” to all who knew him closely, passed away in London on June 2, 2019.

 

We came to know him as schoolmates, since our very first days at Royal College in 1959. Prior to that year, he, together with his sisters, attended CMS Ladies College for his primary education. That was an era where, in the 50s/60s, when boys were allowed to hang around in girls’ schools till they were 10.

 

Bala was always that laid-back chap in school, taking life in a very easy-paced manner, as if tomorrow never comes. He was never rushing after anything, and took life so easily. His love for sports and music was exemplified, especially in his later years when he became a great contributor to the Radio Ceylon page on FB. Photography was also another great love he cherished very much. His FB wall is loaded with music and memories in pictures of people and events he encountered in his daily life.

 

Banking was Bala’s forte in Sri Lanka and in the UK, where he went to live in 2005, even though he still retained his Sri Lankan passport, maintaining his status as a dual citizen. His English winters were always spent in sunny Sri Lanka when he never failed to make it to the Royal-Thomian cricket match in March each year.

Professor Balakumaran was a Management Consultant and Trainer, and was also a former Assistant General Manager at the Seylan Bank, PLC in Sri Lanka. He was considered to be the most professionally qualified banker in the island at that time, having obtained his Ph.D from the University of Honolulu, USA.

He was also the first recipient from Sri Lanka to be awarded the Financial Studies Diploma (Dip. FS), the highest qualification of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London, as well as being one of the first four persons to obtain the Diploma in Bank Management from the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka.

He was also awarded Fellowships by the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London (FCIB) and the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka (FIB).

Among his many illustrious accolades, are an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, as well as Postgraduate Certificates in Human Resource Management in Banks, and Asset and Liability Management from the PIM. He is was also an Associate of the Institute of Credit Management in Sri Lanka.

Bala, initially graduated from the University of Madras, after which he joined the Hatton National Bank, in Colombo, in 1974. Thereafter, he moved to The Union Bank of the Middle East Ltd in 1981 where he took up roles in Banking Operations, Customer Services.

Bala then joined Seylan Bank Ltd in Sri Lanka, in October 1989. He was installed as the youngest President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Colombo Centre in 1996. During his tenure of Presidency in 1996/1997 the Colombo Centre won the Best Local Centre of the Year award, and the first prize in the International group for 1996/1997.

He had the honor to receive the award from Sir Brian Pitman, the CIB President at that time, at the ceremony held in London.

Bala was in Colombo this year too and attended the group AGM in March where he was able to reconnect with many of us at a sumptuous hopper dinner at the Capri Club in Colombo. He even signed the propositions of the new office bearers for 2019/20, who were all elected unanimously.

 

I spent many a moment with Bala during his visit this year. We enjoyed many breakfasts and tea at kiosks in Wellawatte, visited our old English Literature master at Royal, Mr John Henry de Saram at his residence in Lauries Road, Bambalapitiya, and also trekked often to the GLO photo shop in Wellawatte to have his pictures on his camera and phone printed for his hard copy collection. I happened to bump into the two young sales ladies at GLO last week, at Wellawatte, and they almost wept when I broke the sad news to them. They even insisted I keep them informed about his funeral arrangements so they could pay their last respects. That was how much people related, and were attached, to him on account of his friendly demeanor and humble attitude.

 

It was Bala’s wish to stay behind in Colombo to be a part of the two Bradby Shield Rugby games in Kandy and Colombo, but the lure of the World Cup in London took him away in May. He never failed to offer me a glass of EGB whenever I visited his flat down Canal Lane in Wellawatte. We spent many long hours in conversations about old times, people, and events.

 

Many were the friends he had found on FB on account of his love for country music. He never missed a musical concert and his last picture on his FB wall shows him posing with Daniel O’Donnell at a recent concert which he attended.

 

Bala was also very much involved with the Hindu Temple administration and its management activities in Colombo. It was during our many memorable chats in Colombo that I discovered that he is a great-grandson of two of Sri Lanka's most illustrious patriots, the late Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Kt, CMG, KC, MLC, and the late Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Kt, MLC, CCS. He is the second son of the late S. Mahedeva, former Deputy Legal Draftsman.

 

One thing we all admire him is for his tremendous love for the school and the massive and colorful support he always displayed in attending school cricket and rugby matches, dressed up in blue and gold, wherever he lived.

 

Bala will be missed by us all. He now joins the 40+ other mates, from our Royal College Alumni ’59 Group of 218, who have moved on to the other side over the past decades. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his beautiful family.

 

May he Rest in Peace!

 

Vishwanath Vedage 1947-2019 by Fazli Sameer

Vishwanath Vedage, known to all his friends and family as “Vish”, was born on 29 Nov 1947 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the oldest of five siblings. He was initially educated at Greenlands College from 1953, and then joined Royal College, Colombo, in 1959 to continue his secondary schooling. He passed away in June 2019 in the UK.

While being a very quiet natured student at Royal, Vish was well known for dabbling in Einsteins’ Theory of relativity at a very early age. His thirst for knowledge in science was always a significant feature of his personality. His colleagues referred to him as “a quiet

guy with an abundance of Metta (unconditional love) & Karuna (compassion)”.

Vish joined the Port Commission in Colombo as an Apprentice in Marine Engineering and completed the first examination of the Institute of Engineers, London. He later took up the position of Chief Engineer of the “Diyakaawa” Dredger of the Port Commission in Colombo and then moved to settle down in the UK in the 70s.

Vish married Moh Nee in 1984, in the UK, and they have a son, Dave, born in July 1991.

He went on to work as a lecturer at Newham College and later, at Havering, both in the UK, until his retirement.

Post retirement, Vish continued his great passion for books and learning and was also heavily involved in many social and charitable projects for the deserving in Sri Lanka.

In 2013. Vish spoke of the importance of clean water and a possible solution through the installation of Rain Water Harvesting systems in the affected areas of Sri Lanka at the Hela Sarana Chronic Kidney Disease in Sri Lanka awareness workshop. He was a committee member of Hela Sarana, formed by a group of Sri Lankans in the UK in 1996. The charity has been actively involved in raising awareness and executing programs in fighting kidney disease in Sri Lanka and also in many other charitable activities.

In 2017 Vish and a few others, of the Royal College ‘59 Group he belonged to, contributed funds to help a needy Royalist to continue his higher studies.

Over the years and recently, Vish visited and worked tirelessly in supporting the poor children in a village in Sri Lanka, by way of donations of computer equipment and other much needed learning resources.

It was only a few days before his passing that Vish and his close friend in Sri Lanka, K A Dayaratne, became aware that 72 students of Dimbulagala Mahawewa Primary School in Sri Lanka could not afford footwear. This led to the footwear project donation program which they both initiated. Unfortunately, Vish was unable to fulfill his part to complete the project. Dayaratne donated the shoes with his own funds in memory of Vish to fulfil his final quest for helping the poor.

In appreciation of his support to the school, the library in the school was named “Vishwanth Vedage Memorial Library” at M/Roshan Mahanama Vidayalaya, Weheratanne, Bogaswewa, in the Vavuniya istrict, in Sri Lanka.

I had the good fortune of meeting up with Vish in London in 2011, after many decades after having left Royal College in 1967, where we caught up on many wonderful memories from our school days in the years gone by. The value of compassion, commitment and hard work were the driving force behind the much deserving charitable activities that Vish engaged in. May he Rest in Peace!

RC HOSTEL 1959

Row 1: (l-r) RG Hapuarachchi, ?, BN.Ranasinghe N. Chellappah, ,Zahir Mohamed,  M.Thassim , Somasunderam, ?, Pathirana, HA.Karunasekara.

Row 2: C.Abeywickrama , SY Samaraweera, Samaratunga, ?, C S Fernando, ?, JDM Kulatilleke, LAD Sirisena, Wimal Gunawardena,N.Mendis ,W.Solomans, ?, Dayaratna, Raheem, S.Canagasabey, ?, Garret.Fernando, ?, ?, SL de Silva, UC Jayasinghe, NR Kumarage, RL Wickramaratne, MAS Dawood

Row 3: N Kalupahana, R Sabapathypillai, ,Sunil Mendis, N P Nilaweera, ?,Cassim, Samararatna, ?, ?, NM DeRun,APL de Vas, Thambiraja, LJK Hettiarachchi, SD Atukorale,T.de Alwis, Lal Ratnayaka, T Sivanesarasa, N Ranasinghe, NG Patikirikorale, PNW Kannangara, P de Silva, Ismail, MD Illangage, ?, D Kalupahana

Row 4: Leon Belleth, , TBC Edirisinghe, SRKN Sabaratnam, ?, R Rudran, ?, Wijayanayagam, LAW Sirisena, LSP Rajendra, SG Gunaratne, ?, ?, ?, Hutang Hettiarachchi ?, ?, Mapa Gunaratne

Row 5: ?, RA Pothuhera, Mr. L Samararatne, Mrs. Belleth, Mr. CE Belleth, Mr. Dudley K G de Silva, Mr. B St. E de Bruin, Miss Ratnayake, Mr. W Devapriya, TV Wickramasuriya, Sivathondan

Row 6: OKP Gunasekera,N.Canagasabey, KI Mahmud, R Chandrasena, DR Pulleperuma, SW Atukorale, DER Hapuarachchi,N. Kumaranatunge, KK Amaradasa, PGWG Premaratne, KA Gunawardena, MH Subasinghe, W Mallawarachchi, SJW Ambepitiya, SN Jayasinghe, GSC Perera

We will learn of books and men, and learn to play the game

0O0

Ode to the '59ers

There once was a band of ‘59ers,

who came together as shiners;

They conjured up a brew,

and even cooked up a stew.

What a bundle of mischief miners?

Lower School was filled with fun,

running up the stairs, and down;

Classrooms with chairs,

they were more like lairs.

Life was good under the sun.

The West Wing Lobby was our ride,

with Achchi & Kadalay, beside;

Good old Achcharu & Gram,

will maketh the Man.

‘Twas also a good place to hide.

Bella, the man at the gate,

that’s where we often ate;

Popsicles and Ice Cream,

they were a great scream.

Exactly what was on our plate.

And then came the serious stuff,

with mentors of steel, ‘twas enough;

“A thousand lines”,

we’ve lived in those climes.

Such hard work and oh it was tough.

Form I was an exciting beginning,

with Canto, Conner and Justin;

They wielded the cane,

oh gosh it did pain.

Is this the only road to learning?

Cowpox was the head of them all,

he sure knew how to play ball;

With bamboo in hand,

he would strike up the band.

Six cuts would make us all fall.

Rupperty, the dreaded math man,

arithmetic, always filled up his pan;

Homework was tough,

we were all in the rough.

“Hey man, if you can, you can”

Form IV was a milestone to beat,

to move up and feel the heat;

Upper V or Lower,

the need of the Hour.

We still managed a good seat.

The hostel, a place of residence,

was used to get rid of pestilence;

From homes afar,

by train and by car.

They say it was a place of penance

Arasa, he sure raised the bar,

no way could we escape below par;

He ate x’s for breakfast,

and y’s for tea.

And, surely, took us all out of the jar.

Arul, drinking tea in a beaker,

holed up in his room, yet not weaker;

Gift of handwriting,

colored chalk, was so striking.

Man, he was no streaker.

Thosay, the lanky Physics guru,

the laws of motion he did stew;

Exhaustingly delivered,

with, no stones unturned.

If you can do it, you can do.

Kataya, a man of great stride,

was the epitome of our pride.

A thousand lines,

so many times.

Discipline was his fair bride.

The Library, a quiet place to read,

with Tenna, planting the seed;

Many a page we did swallow,

like greedy young fellows.

Evolving an illustrious breed.

Tuckshop was a veritable fray,

with Manel and good old Saranay;

Ten strings and beef curry,

you’d miss it if you don’t hurry.

And Lime juice to cool off the day.

Standing up to deliver into urinals,

in washrooms that only lacked barnacles;

Curious buggers peeping,

how straight we were shooting.

And flushing like crazy wild animals.

The Hall was a great place to be,

to gather for Assembly;

Pin drop silence you nerds,

not a whisper was heard.

While Dudda would say his Peace.

Cricket was the name of the game,

be it fame or even losing in shame;

We would hit the willow,

and Noor would bellow.

“Get off my turf”, he would blame.

And now that we have all reached seventy,

that’s ripe enough to have achieved plenty;

Through sunshine and rain, pleasure and pain. 

The Labs were an exciting pastime,

to mix soda with acid and get lime;

Dabare and Corps,

would show us the door.

If we didn’t get out in time.

The corridors of these halls of thunder,

will ring in our ears forever;

For if they could speak,

We would all be so meek.

To deny the mischief we rendered.

And then it was time to leave,

with heavy hearts we did heave.

A home, away from home,

a living monumental dome.

That’s how Royal will be perceived.

0O0

Ven. Kahaduwe Chandajothi - A wonderful human being

The first Buddhist monk who taught at Royal was the Ven. Kahaduwe Chandajothi. He taught Sinhalese Language, Sinhalese Literature, Sanskrit, Pali, and Buddhism and was a very kind and amiable person.

He passed away sometime in the late sixties. His body was brought to the College hall prior to the cremation. Many old boys paid their last respects there.

He was a committed teacher, scholar in Pail, Sanskrit and Buddhist civilization. Most of all he was a very kind and compassionate person.

Once, Sarath Ambepitiya, asked him whether it was a sin to keep two women in one house as wives. "Podi Hamuduruwo" as we called him said, "Oya lamaya karala ballanna, puluwanda kiyala", and, with that he left the class.

Later we mentioned this to our VP, Mr Bogoda Premaratna, who called the whole class in to his office and warned us severely for asking questions not pertaining to the class.

When he taught us literature from the Ummagga Jathaka, many were the boys who asked him so many embarrassing questions related to the “Maapata Angilla” episode of Mahoshada Pandithuma in the text. He took it in great stride and laughed with us and enjoyed the joke too without getting red in the face. I remember him saying "Oya lamayinta meka hara vena deyak hithanna baa, neda?"

His wonderful smile, which always shone about his face, his saffron robes which swished in and out of class, his valiant character which we all respected so very much in the midst of our own youth, “peraliness”, and frivolity, is something, that, I am sure, we will always remember, honor and respect.

May he be blessed to attain Nirvana!

ROLL CALL

Names in RED have moved on. BLUE are those who moved to College from RPS

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, S.W (d:09 Dec 2014)

AZIEZ, ST

BAHAR, Shah Jehan

BALAGANGEYAN, R

BALAKUMARAN, M

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, KP.G (d:23 Jul 2014)

FERNANDO, M Sarath

FERNANDO, N.M

GANEPOLA, NW

GEDDES, A. Russel

GNANAKARAN, P

GODAMUNNE, Vipula B

GOMES, PSJ

GOONASEKERA, NPR Dr

GOONERATNE, P. 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

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) [RPS 53-58]

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

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, Sivakumar

SKANDAKUMAR, S

SOLOMONS, William Boyd

SOYSA, HPN

SRI RAM, DS

SRIDHARAN, S

SURAWEERA, AUC

SURIYASINGHE, KSN

THAMBAPILLAI, R St E, Dr

THURAIRATNAM, I. R., Dr

TIRUCHELVAM, V., Dr

TOTAMUNE, KM

VANDERWALL, Rodney E

VEDAGE, Vishwa

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

0O0

RC 1881

Aerial View of College Facility