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Professor
P.C.B. Fernando Lincoln, Chandra
(PCB) and Vajira, sons of Buddhist leader Professor P.B. Fernando
and Mrs Fernando, Founder-Principal of Anula Vidyalaya, were readily
welcomed by our Principal Metthananda of Dharmaraja. Chandra, as
we called him, joined my Form II class and it did not take long
for us to become good friends. The mere fact
that our fathers were acquainted and that we shared a familiarity
with Colombo only goes some of the way to explain our friendship.
It was, probably, kindred temperaments and, who knows, some 'karmic'
force that made us 'kalyana mitras'. A few weeks
ago, a window was opened into our shared boyhood sixty years ago
when Clodagh returned to me some letters I had written to Chandra,
in that distant era, and he had kept safe. I am consumed with regret
that I had never done the same. Reading them again I can recall
vignettes of our classroom life. Chandra and his brothers were boarders
and, naturally, always hungry. Even during the short interval they
bolted to the tuck-shop to gobble slices of bread, margarine and
sugar. Little did we realise how traumatic would have been their
evacuation to live in a cold dormitory eating dull meals after a
pampered childhood in Cinnamon Gardens. The only saving grace was
that the three brothers were in it together. While the rest
of us wrote with steel pens with inkwells from our desks, Chandra
stood out as the proud owner of a Faber fountain pen which he occasionally
lent us to try out. He was naturally excellent in maths, to which
I was notably allergic. It was probably for that reason that I sat
next to him in class, for his whispered help over yet another (to
me) incomprehensible sum. We also shared similar tastes in reading
when we were at the library - historical novels by Baroness Orczy
and Richmal Compton's William books among them. Mervyn de Silva's
last days in Dharmaraja briefly overlapped Chandra's arrival. In
one of my old letters I called Mervyn "a very talkative chap
….a ringleader of the mischief makers" ! By strange coincidence
all three of us ended our schooldays at Royal - where Chandra alone
achieved academic distinction. In 1943, the
Fernando brothers went back to base after the April holidays, when
it became clear that no Japanese invasion was likely. A few months
later, I too left Dharmaraja to go on to Anuruddha in Nawalapitiya
and Sivali in Ratnapura where my father became principal. And thus
began our correspondence where we spoke of many things. Having been
steeped in the nationalist ardour, characteristic of Buddhist schools
in colonial Ceylon, I recall writing early on to Chandra rebuking
him for returning to non-Buddhist Royal! Our letters, surprisingly
for teenagers, also touched on serious concerns off and on. I once
wrote: "As you
say the Sangha is going from bad to worse …parts of it are
excellent but unfortunately not the whole….They descend to
fisticuffs in May Day meetings where they have no right to be"(1946).
We shared information about old classmates, holidays, the bugbear
(for me) of exams - and I also recommended to him the humorous writings
of Stephen Leacock. I am sure his statement "no two meals at
a boarding house add up to one square meal" struck a chord.
However, Clodagh says that Chandra always claimed "Dharmaraja
made me a man." In 1946 I found
myself in Royal, having overcome my puritan prejudices, with Chandra
(and Mervyn) as schoolmates though not in the same class. Science
and Arts classes were in different wings and we only met in the
lunch interval (where else?) at the tuck shop where we stormed the
counter demanding "three breads and parippu" over which
we sat and chatted. We went on
to the University in Thurstan Road where Chandra excelled in studies
and tennis. I too was given to incompetent bashing of tennis balls
in the Siberia allocated to beginners, the Jungle Court. We shared
a wall with India House and, in those simpler days, we used to hail
the High Commissioner sauntering in his garden and ask him to throw
back a misdriven ball. The tuck-shop was where Chandra and I met
to chat over our eight cent milk teas. And it was here that he shyly
admitted his infatuation for Clodagh, a fresher from Visakha to
the Science Faculty. She was persuaded to begin tennis at the Jungle
Court where their romance flourished. Her family, inexplicably,
did not look favourably at her handsome and brilliant suitor. Chandra,
therefore, called on me as an old friend to call over at her home
with some coded message or other. But all went well, in the fullness
of time. Lotus eating
at Thurstan Road ended with my graduation and the commencement of
a career in district kachcheries for over two decades. Chandra went
on to gain endless academic distinctions. We had widened our horizons
and our ways had parted. I felt a twinge of pride whenever I read
of his achievements and his rise in academia. We went on to raise
our own families and met rarely, and only by chance. But that is
not the end of our story. In retirement we found ourselves living
not far from each other in Thimbirigasyaya. I met him, off and on,
quietly walking along leaning on a walking stick after his illness.
I tried to persuade him to join in the get-togethers of old university
alumni, but he declined with his gentle smile. He had withdrawn
into a life of quiet contemplation. Meanwhile,
Clodagh and Indrani, my wife, had become active in the All Ceylon
Women's Buddhist Congress. On this account Chandra and I renewed
our faded friendship. At last I was able to persuade him to keep
me company at an otherwise 'women only' lunch for Congress members.
We had a wonderfully relaxed afternoon reminiscing about old times
and ended the day promising to meet more often. But it was never
to be. Chandra breathed his last a few days later. The academic
world has paid him the tributes due to him for his outstanding achievements
as researcher and concerned teacher. I believe he had outgrown all
craving. His life with Clodagh, his sons and daughters had been
one of quiet happiness. I am thankful that, in his last days, this
old friend of sixty years was able to share some moments of joy
together with him. May Chandra
soon attain the peace of Nirvana and may his journey in Samsara
be short and sweet Enakshi
Panabokke The tragedy
had occurred when she was spending the last day of her vacation
and on the eve of taking up a promotion in her working career. Enakshi Shiranthi
Panabokke was born on March 17th 1957 to a distinguished family
from Weligalle in the Kandy District. She was educated at Bishop’s
College, Colombo where she had a rewarding academic career. Later
on she qualified as a Management Accountant and joined a private
firm in Colombo. After the demise
of her father, she moved to Kandy and while working at the Institute
of Fundamental Studies she managed the family estate. Towards the
latter stages of 1991, Enakshi took up an appointment with Central
Finance Company, Kandy as an accountant in the Deposits Department.
It was during these 12 years that we associated with her very closely.
She was a friend and mentor to all of us. The contribution she made
towards the company's affairs was invaluable. Enakshi was
a lover of nature and avid reader. She has travelled widely both
in Sri Lanka and overseas. She also loved animals and took many
a homeless pet under her wing. She cared for the less fortunate
and was conscious of their needs. Her good nature,
outgoing friendliness and all her good qualities made her the "wonderful
woman" that she was. Unfortunately the cruel ocean claimed
her life and deprived us of a friend. Senerath
Wije Goonewardene Sunny, born
in August 1916, was the fourth child of an illustrious and highly
respected family from Galle, where he received his Secondary Education
at Mahinda College. After successfully completing the London Matriculation,
"Sunny" qualified as an Attorney-at-Law in 1949, joined
Public Service and began his Local Government career in October
1949, as an Assistant Commissioner of Local Government. Within two
years he was in charge of the North Central Region, where he functioned
as Special Commissioner of the Anuradhapura Urban Council doing
yeoman service to the people of the area and was instrumental in
restructuring the concept of the New Town and the Sacred City. Sunny underwent
special training in local government administration at the University
of Birmingham for one year. On his return, he was appointed Commissioner
and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Local Government. He
also functioned as Chairman (Ex-Officio) of the Local Government
Service Commission. With his vast
experience and knowledge in Local Government and Rural Development,
he was appointed Government Agent, Hambantota in August 1970. Sunny
understood the difficulties of the poor farmers and the rural folk
in the District, where people looked up to him with great esteem
for guidance. He cut through bureaucratic red-tape with a deep sense
of honesty and integrity and helped the people. Even after his retirement,
whenever he passed the area on his visits to Kataragama, the people
who recognized him refer to him as 'Ape Deviya'. Sunny was appointed
as Director of Social Services and Commissioner of Workmen's Compensation
in April 1973. He also acted as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry
of Social Services on a number of occasions. President R.
Premasdasa, who himself was an authority on local government, felt
the need to revitalize the local government bodies and in September
1977, Sunny was appointed to the one-man presidential commission
to inquire into the administration of local government bodies. On retirement,
he was appointed a Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Magistrate
for the entire Island. He functioned as Chairman, Ratmalana Electorate
Development Foundation and was working Director at the Ceylon Tractor
Corporation. Sunny in his
retirement took an active part in Buddhist and social service activities.
It is not only in social service that he was involved but was also
a guiding force in Buddhist religious activities. He was the
President of the Galkissa Buddhist Association, the Galkissa Dharmayathanaya
and of the Vidyawardana Temple, Dehiwela. Sunny has contributed
in no small measure to the Sri Lanka Nepal Friendship Society to
bring it to the height it has reached today. Sunny's name will go
down in history as our Founder President, who was a "beacon"
to the society. At the inaugural
meeting to form the Society, which was presided by him, we had only
8 participants and those present were doubtful of its future, until
Sunny wound up by saying "Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Buddha
preached his first sermon to only five disciples, let us today not
be disappointed with the few numbers who have graced this occasion
but let us forge ahead to achieve our goals". It is befitting
to wind up this appreciation by quoting William Shakespeare. His life was
gentle and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand
up and say to all the world "this was a man".
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