When The Sunday Times asked whether I would write an article about Lasantha for its latest edition, I doubted I could muster the emotional strength to write even a sentence, let alone an article. I am broken-hearted, my mind is in a daze and I feel numb. I will, however, attempt to write a few words.
I will not elaborate on Lasantha the journalist because you, the public, are more than aware of his now legendary writings for which he finally paid the price. I will instead write about the man Lasantha, the funny guy, the doting dad…the man who, at the risk of being called biased, I will call in all sincerity, the man with the biggest heart.
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| Raine and Lasantha at the Sun office |
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To say Lasantha was a loving father would be an understatement. He adored his children. They were his world. Our firstborn, Avinash, now a young man, was still “his darling” at 19. I remember the time when Avinash was a baby, just learning to stand, when he toppled over the edge of the cot and came crashing down on to the floor. I don’t know who cried louder, Lasantha or the baby.
Ahimsa was his “darling only daughter”. Like the others, she got anything she asked him, especially after she came to live with him in Colombo.
Aadesh, our 10-year-old, was almost an obsession with his father. “Malli Boy” became the most kissed, hugged and loved child in the world. Whenever Lasantha came to Melbourne, father and son would have a ritual – the ritual of the 100 kisses. Dad had to have his 100 kisses before anything else.
Lasantha’s day in Sri Lanka wasn’t complete until he had spoken to the two boys in Melbourne. If one of the children wasn’t available to talk with him, he would call back without fail. I only had to tell him one of the kids had the sniffles or a graze on the knee, and he would be in a panic...
How our children will now cope without his love, I can’t begin to imagine.
Lasantha was the biggest hearted man I have ever known. Generous, loving and kind to strangers and friends alike. His generosity towards his family and extended family is beyond belief. Some would find his generosity bizarre; case in point.
About 10 years ago, we were returning home from a visit. While we were stationary, another car crashed in to the side of ours, damaging our car badly. Luckily no one was hurt and Lasantha got off to talk to the driver of the other vehicle.
When he came back to the car, everyone bombarded him with questions. “What’s happening? Do we go to the police? Is he paying for the damage?”
“Those people are from out-station,” Lasantha told us. “They had come for a wedding; the driver just got his licence.”
And then he took me aside and said, “I feel so sorry for the fellow; he’s so shaken up. I gave him 2,000 rupees.”
I was astounded; but then again, I wasn’t really. That was Lasantha.
His generosity wasn’t just in kind. When we were assaulted in 1995, and the men who did it were subsequently apprehended, Lasantha called me in Melbourne. “I don’t want to punish them, I told my lawyer to drop any charges. What do you think?”
I told him I thought the same. Then he called back and told me his lawyer had advised him against it because they would be setting a bad precedent.
Jolly, funny, hilarious, Lasantha was always the one-man comedy act. Whether prancing about in his towel doing a Schwarzenegger impression, pulling someone’s leg with a high-pitched female impression, or having the girls at the Leader screaming with laughter at his jokes, Lasantha always kept people entertained. The office colleagues, one and all, every department, loved him dearly.
And now Lasantha is dead, lying in a coffin with a bullet hole in his head. All the joy has gone out of me. How will I ever laugh again? I thought during that long trip back home. “How will I ever be happy again?”
Part of me has died and I have to now live with the pain and that of my three grieving children. I told Malli Boy that Thathi loved him so much, he was going to be by his side always.
“Will he come and sleep on my bed?” he asked. I told him he definitely would. “I am not scared Ammi, I want him to sleep on my bed everyday,” he said tears streaming down his little face. And then this morning he woke up smiling. “Thathi told me in my dream that he is here with us,” he said.
I know that’s true. The man who adored his children so much in life will be there by their side always.
Thank you Lasantha for all the memories. | 
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