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Appreciations

The Peter Pan whose life was a benediction to all
Earle Abayasekara
Earle was surely a man created in God’s own image.
Paul the apostle in his first epistle to the Corinthians, wrote of those who are “fools in the cause of Christ”. Earle was just that kind of fool.
Earle’s life was a benediction to all those whose lives were touched by him, however brief, however fleeting. Often he was Nicodemus, gently helping the fallen to their feet, tenderly wiping the blood and tears from their anguished faces, and adjusting the cross a trifle more comfortably on their shoulders bent with pain.

Earle played Nicodemus so superbly in the lives and times of our family. My father and mother, Bernard and Lilian were aboard the same boat with Earle and Anne, that conveyed them from Tilbury to Colombo around the ‘Cape of Good Hope’.

This was a point of departure in the history of our family, a singular occurrence of good hope. Earle created a job for my mother in the Secretariat of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon. Earle was friend, philosopher and guide and above all, a sobering influence, on the life and times of my somewhat erratic and impulsive father. Earle infused grace and refinement to our family home.

This he did by being himself, the gentle, tender, refined, gracious, soft-spoken and affectionate person. Earle’s Wellawatte home, which he shared with his gracious and vivacious wife Anne and seven children was the very embodiment of charm, and nobility. It is here, in my many visits to the Abayasekara home as a child, that I imbibed the finer refinements and the lofty ideals of life. My own education had its roots in the gracious Abayasekara home. Gatherings at the Abayasekara home were an intellectual adventure beyond measure.

The Abayasekara home was a contemporary ‘Algonquin Round Table’ around which the likes of Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Alexander Wolcott and Haywood Broun used to gather for an evening of wit, retort and repartee.
I listened with veneration and awe to the newspaper giants of the time who assembled at the Abayasekera home. Tarzie Vittachchi, Denzil Peiris, ‘Sooty Banda’, Mervyn de Silva and Ranji Handy held their own ‘Algonquin’ which fascinated and delighted me and made upon my impressionable life a lasting impact.

The misguided boy that I was, overawed by the Peradeniya school of Sinhala poetry, represented by Siri Gunasinghe and Gunadasa Amarasekera, I told of my poetic inclinations to ‘Sooty Banda’. He with his tongue in his cheek, put me firmly in my place: ‘Blank verse’ my son? And quote me anything written by T.S. Eliot that can top this;
“Percy poosy balalee
kos ata kapee”

I could still picture Earle laughing uproariously in his most engaging way at ‘Sooty Banda’ s ally. It was at Earle’s Wellawatte home that I was introduced to the majesty of English literature. This started when Anne gifted me with a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea”.

To me Earle would always remain Peter Pan, the boy with the impish grin upon his face and the twinkle in his eyes, who steadfastly refused to grow old to be a seedy, weighty, grumpy old man. Reading through Dilip’s tribute to his father I understood at once why Earle did not age.

He tramped the mountain tracks of Diyatalawa with his sons, studied the constellations of the night skies with his sons, walked the beach with his sons, shared in the dreams and hopes of his sons and lived his youth over and over again through the lives and times of his sons to remain eternally young.
As Samuel Ullman wrote “youth is not a time of life but a state of mind…a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease”.

Why is it that Wordsworth’s lines keep on nagging at me as I write this piece; is it for the reason that Earle’s life is capsuled there?
“My heart leaps up when I behold
a rainbow in the sky;
So was it when my life began;
So is it now when I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old or die”
Beneath this wide-eyed childlike simplicity and humanity of Earle, however, there lurked a tough and informed administrator.

He delivered the goods at Lake House, he kept the newsprint and ink in place; he kept the presses rolling; he had the newspapers on the breakfast table; by keeping the many thousands of workmen on line. Earle was the total man; the all embracing reach of his personality was amply demonstrated during the last years of his life when he acquainted himself with the finer points of the philosophy preached by Gautama, with the same commitment with which he embraced the teachings of the Church that Christ founded.
Earle was thus a man who was emancipated of all the shadowy divisions that the pettiness of man had created.

Nihal Perera

Venerated post for dignified man
Harris Leuke Ratwatte
“A venerated post, held by a man of character and dignity of a bygone era,” this is how I would describe my grandfather the late Harris Leuke Ratwatte Disawa who was the 11th Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa. His election to this high office was a tribute to his integrity, honesty and dignity. Hence his appointment to the post was uncontested, the first and the only time this has happened thus far. He held this most honorable post of the Buddhist world, with great dignity and veneration.

My childhood memories of this very busy but loving grandfather are vivid. I used to play outside the Maligawa office and watch the pilgrims coming in, till he finished his work. Then the regular drive to Cargills where I was treated to a bag of toffees.

Home to me was that beautiful house he built in Mahayaya which still stands in all its grandeur. A house full of laughter and warmth and elephants, his great passion. The famous Raja and Skandha of the Maligawa herd were also cared for and pampered along with his own Raja, Kadira and Esala.

I vividly remember the sounds of a happy and loving family held together by a gentle, soft-spoken and pious lady my grandmother, Mallika Katugaha Ratwatte. There the family has met once a year in August for the last 41 years for a religious ceremony in memory of the two of them.

Beginning his political life under the leadership of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake as a member of the State Council from 1936 to 1947, he was a member of the Municipal Council in 1940-1942 and then during the final years of his political life he represented the Mawanella seat in the House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952 and was later elected a Senator in 1955.
In1933 he was elected Basnayake Nilame of the Kataragama Devale and also the Maha Vishnu Devale of Kandy. In 1961 he was elected to the highest post in the Buddhist world - the office of Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa until his death in1964.

He was then 64 years old. Subsequently his sons, my mother’s brothers, Dennis Ratwatte Basnayake Nilame of the Mahavishnu Devale, and General Anuruddha Ratwatte, as Basnayake Nilame of Natha Devale and Minister, carried on his religious traditions with the help of the other members of the family.

Manique

Let everyone succeed was his brief life’s motto
Lasith Elmo Fernando
Our only son and precious child, Lasith Elmo Fernando was gifted to us by God on September 1, 1984. After pre-school, he entered Maris Stella College at Negombo in 1990, where he received his primary and secondary education. As a young lad he had an inquiring, intelligent mind. He never felt shy to speak out and that won the hearts of several teachers.

He showed great respect to us his parents, teachers, elders and also demonstrated a willingness to help anyone in need. During his adolescence Lasith developed skills in languages, and was able to deliver a speech at short notice. He was the unanimous choice as an announcer in many a school programme. Adjudged as an all-island winner several times, Lasith won awards for recitation and drama in competitive festivals held by several institutions.

Lasith was a member of the English drama team which won the ‘best outstation school’ award in a Shakespearean Drama competition. He had also contributed to the improvement of the Science Students’ Union of the college in many ways. Exceptional leadership qualities were demonstrated by him when he led his fellow members in organizing a swimming meet for the Leo Club of Negombo Orient for which an award was given in recognition of his achievement. As a young lad he took a keen interest in the activities of the Leo Club and was popular among its members.

He was a student of Maris Stella College, in Year 13 (Maths Section) preparing for the Advanced Level Examination, when he met an untimely end on March 3, 2003.

Losing a precious son at the tender age of 18 years as a result of a motor car accident was unacceptable. As he was the only child in the family he was given all the love, protection and care and it was a traumatic experience for us his parents. A friendly person, loved by all, he faded away overnight, at a moment, least expected by the doctors who treated him. It was the saddest and most heart-breaking day for everyone who knew Lasith. This was a turning point in our lives. With nothing to look forward to in the future, engulfed in sadness we groped in the dark trying to understand the meaning of existence. It was hard to accept and moreover to fill the vacuum that was created by Lasith’s sudden departure from this world. All we could do was to talk about his good deeds, the kindness and the exceptional qualities that he possessed as a young lad.

His ambition was to help every one whom he knew, specially when someone was left behind or was not noticed by the others around. Lasith would sacrifice his time or spend his pocket money on someone to make him happy if he thought that the person was in need of it. He was never selfish even when it came to sharing his knowledge just before competitive examinations.

peaking of his own achievements was rare when compared to the appreciation he gave to his friends on their success. “Let everyone succeed” was basically the motto he believed in. This was the inspiration that prompted us to start a foundation to help young people.

The “Lasith Elmo Memorial Foundation” was inaugurated on September 1, 2003. This coincided with Lasith’s 19th b’day. His friends and close associates formed the initial membership of this Foundation. A bank account in the name of the Foundation was opened with the savings that were put aside for Lasith’s education. Generous donations from well-wishers and friends helped to initiate a Scholarship Fund.

An undergraduate along with four other Advanced Level students were granted the “Lasith Elmo Memorial Scholarship” on the inaugural day.
Within one year, 15 exceptionally talented students from less affluent families received scholarships from the Foundation. Free distribution of schoolbooks and accessories to the needy was an annual event at the beginning of the school year. This year it was carried out in the tsunami affected areas. A major fund raiser was organized by the members last year by staging a musical show titled “Golden Memories” featuring artistes of yesteryear, which was a great success.

A proposal has been formulated to establish a “Library and Information Centre” in Negombo, in memory of Lasith. It would fulfil a great need of the area and help a lot of students in their pursuit of knowledge. His vision would come true and many youngsters would benefit by it.
Though physically not present, his memories linger with all of us. We miss our darling son very much until we meet him again in the garden of our Lord.

Lester Fernando

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