Appreciations
View(s):Thank you for enriching our lives with your mentorship and guidance
Shyamala Senathirajah Varatharajah
A teacher knows the way, shows the way and leads the way!
Mrs. Shyamala Senathirajah Varatharajah was a living embodiment of this, in her years as a teacher. Even after leaving the profession following her eight years of service at Muslim Ladies College, Colombo 4, she inspired and moulded the lives of countless students.
When I first met Mrs. Shyamala, she was the ideal representation of a born teacher coupled with her enthusiastic approach towards teaching. Little did we realize that she would go on to become an important facet of our lives.
Shyamala Miss as I fondly addressed her, was a dedicated, devoted and a committed teacher serving the school tirelessly. She was a role model, mentor, friend and above all a wonderful human being, always caring for the well-being of her students. She was instrumental in many of her students becoming professionally independent women, which had not been the norm in the Muslim community back in the 90s.
Shyamala Miss belonged to a generation of teachers that is greatly dwindling. I am eternally blessed and grateful that she was an essential part of my life when I needed guidance the most.
Whenever she visited Sri Lanka, she always made it a point to visit her students. Her last visit to the island was in early January 2022 and little did I realize it would be our final meeting.
Words cannot describe how much you will be missed and the void you leave can never be filled. Thank you for enriching our lives with your mentorship and guidance. We will cherish all the memories we have shared.
This definitely is the most painful goodbye; we pray that you rest in peace under God’s grace.
“Learning from a good teacher is an experience that can sometimes be more profound than education itself….”-
Loving student
Remembering you on your 95th birthday
Dr. A.C.S. Hameed
(Born on April 10, 1928 at Kurugoda, Akurana)
Oh! Dearest brother we miss your thundering laughter on your birthday
How happily you received your friends, kith and kin
You entered national politics in 1960 – one of your ambitions fulfilled
Represented Harispattuwa without a break for 39 years
Harispattuwa predominantly a Buddhist electorate
Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims worked hard and always won
You built Seemamalakaya and Bauddha Mandalayas in the electorate
You improved Buddhist temples, Hindu temples and mosques
Late President J.R appointed you as Minister of Foreign Affairs for the country
This portfolio made you to travel to many foreign countries.
Meeting Presidents, Prime Ministers and officials of many countries
Though you were abroad in many other countries
You never neglected your voters from 173 villages of Harispattuwa
Met them at least once a month at your residence at Katugastota
From morning to midnight solving the voters’ problems and serving them refreshments
The 173 villages of Harispattuwa started blooming like cities from 1977
Connecting all the 173 villages with tarred roads, electricity, water supply, school buildings,
Thousands of employments locally and abroad
For males and females at their own choice
Today it is a pride to see our officers in commanding positions in our missions abroad
Reputed cartoonists Wijesoma, Yoonus, Gerreyn and Abeysekara published
Humorous cartoons about the Minister’s travel and meeting dignitaries abroad
Minister appreciated the cartoons and published into a book as souvenir
Which showed his appreciation to criticism when in public life
In public meetings he was happy to declare that he and his family
Eats and wears everything that is halal.
He didn’t want electorates for his sons and siblings
His charity to people in need was like the river that flows
In 1963, thousands of deeds of Muslims were not registered
As the officials wanted to prove Muslims’ citizenship.
In 1981, Dr Hameed solved this problem with the help of JR
He published the book ‘Thousand years of Muslims of Sri Lanka’ with the help of
Professor Lorna Devaraja of the University of Sri Lanka.
Oh! Allah we pray that all gates of heaven be kept open for him to enter Jennathul Firdouse. Aameen
Brother Ghafoor
A livewire in our church, she will be missed
Swinee Rodrigo
We knew Swinee from our church – Calvary Church Moratuwa. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother who looked after and cared for her family. Always with a smile, she was an easy going person, faithful, honest, kind-hearted, generous and willing to help others who were in need. She was good at organising the games quiz etc in our church, ladies meeting camps etc.
We were fortunate to know her personally. We really miss her – she was a priceless gem. May her soul rest in peace.
Farin Perera
He steered the country’s transport and tourism sectors to what they are today
EBERT SILVA
Every father is every daughter’s hero, who fills and occupies a very special place in her heart that no one else can ever substitute or replace. As we marked my father’s 11th death anniversary on March 28, I wish to pen a few paragraphs in appreciation of his legendary life of passion and commitment to Sri Lanka’s transport and tourism industry.
My late grandfather, Agampodi Nomis de Silva (1894 – 1953), a remarkable entrepreneur from the coastal village of Waskaduwa in the South arrived in Colombo and settled down in Dehiwala to realise his dream of starting a business in passenger transport. Later, in 1925, he was successful in operating his first bus from Colombo to Matara. My grandfather Nomis de Silva with my grandmother Magilin brought up their eight children in a conservative Sinhala Buddhist background instilling principles and values.
My grandfather later incorporated his bus company after his eldest son as ‘Ebert Silva Omni Bus Company’. Being a devout Buddhist, my father was a vegetarian by choice from the age of seven and a teetotaler. Educated at St. Peter’s College, it had been evident from a very young age that my father’s passion lay not between the pages of his school books but among the vehicles in his father’s garages and workshops.
In 1953, my father as a young 21-year-old was compelled to take over the company owing to the untimely death of his father. As one of the youngest entrepreneurs of the bus company era that spanned about three decades, he was successful in facing numerous challenges and expanding and operating a model transport service. His sheer determination, resilience and commitment made the ‘Ebert Silva’ brand the only survivor of post nationalisation of the 36 bus companies in 1958.
Enduring the pain of losing the Omni Bus Company almost overnight, he nurtured Ebert Silva Touring Company which he incorporated as a young 22-year-old to cater to tourism. His astute and visionary leadership was a success story that withstood the test of time giving rise to a national brand that made lasting contributions in pioneering Sri Lanka’s travel and tourism.
As a young entrepreneur my father initiated many tour packages to less seen and travelled places in the island and was among the first to introduce ‘package tours’ in Sri Lanka.
As a pioneer in Sri Lanka’s tourism his contribution was appreciated and he also served as the President of the Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka. In recognition of a lifetime of committed contribution to Sri Lanka’s travel industry he was honoured with the Presidential Award as a ‘Legend’ in Sri Lanka’s Travel and Tourism in 2009. He was also felicitated at Sri Lanka Tourism’s Golden Jubilee celebrations for his outstanding contribution to the development and growth of the tourism industry through the years.
The commitment and vision of legendary pioneers such as my father enabled Sri Lanka’s travel and tourism industries to play a pivotal role in the advancement of the Sri Lankan economy.
A sage quote from a philosopher is a testament to the life he led, “The true measure of the greatness and legacy of a person is the length his shadow casts on the future.”
May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana!
Rajini de Silva Mendis
Aloha to my friend with a big heart and big smile
Nigel Forbes
Nigel and I began our friendship when we reached grade nine at St. Peter’s College and became classmates. It began when he and I were invited to spend a holiday by our dear departed friend Adrian Anandappa at his dad’s tea estate in Hatton.
Nigel struck me as an easygoing, calm, considerate and generous person. Both of us residing in the Pamankada area, I enjoyed spending time with him after school. He would offer me a ride home on his bicycle from school, so my journey home would be shorter and I could save my bus fare. Doubling on Nigie’s bike to Pamankada especially after rugby practices became a standard practice for me. He was never too tired to give me a ride, no matter what the weather and how hard the rugby training session had been.
At that time, pocket money was rare for me and Nigie would share his bottle of cream soda at Bobby’s next to school before we set off on the bike ride home after training. I remember the time when Nigie was rewarded by his parents with money to buy his very own rugby ball from Chand’s sports shop in Fort.
He asked me to join him after school, paid my bus fare and after the purchase, he took me to Pagoda on Chatham Street, for a treat of Chinese rolls. We were so thrilled with our new acquisition (yes, Nigel purchased it but it was ‘our’ ball) so we hurried back to his place before it got dark and practised passing on the street outside his house.
Nigel offered friendship and expected nothing in return. That is what I remember the most about him. We moved into different classes after we finished our O Levels, yet stayed connected as we trained and played rugby for college until we left school and Nigel went overseas to attend university.
We lost touch with each other for a few years and came into contact again briefly, after he returned to Sri Lanka. I then moved to New Zealand and contact with Nigel and the rest of my friends in Sri Lanka was limited. However, I would occasionally visit Sri Lanka every couple of years and Nigie was never too busy for a catch up.
He was a live wire on our WhatsAp group with positive contributions and many ‘Alohas’ no matter what the mood. There’s so much more I would like to share about this wonderful person, but I know that everyone who knew Nigie has felt and experienced in many ways his big smile and big heart.
Thanks Nigie for being a great friend. You are sorely missed.
Many Alohas my friend until we meet again!
From your dear friend,
Collin
A dear friend and colleague
UDAYA KADURUGAMUWA
Udaya Kadurugamuwa, a dear friend and colleague passed away last year. Fondly called ‘UK’ by his friends, he hailed from an aristocratic family in Wellawaya. He qualified as a lawyer almost at the same time as I qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
He had an illustrious career at F.J. de Sarams, ending up as the senior partner of that prestigious firm for many years.
Even though we were not the auditors of his firm I came to know ‘UK’ as my firm gave advice to them as Management Consultants.
Once I retired from public practice and acquired a majority stake in Kapila Heavy Equipment PLC which was the owning company of Walker Sons and Company (UK Ltd) and all their subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, he joined me on the board as a director of KHEL. After a brief stint on the Board he resigned due to failing health even though he stayed on as a Director of Taj Lanka Hotels and a few other quoted public companies.
I wanted to see him over the past few years as his health deteriorated and will regret forever that I did not do so.
H. Gamini Fonseka
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