My Memories of the London Reunion 2019

By Nihal D Amerasekera

Medical School wasn’t a bed of roses. I still feel a flicker of nerves when I think about it. We said our goodbyes in the Faculty 52 years ago. That is indeed a veritable lifetime.Then we went our separate ways to face an uncertain future in a rapidly changing world. Now all of us are septuagenarians,forever uncertain of what tomorrow may bring.

The long awaited London Batch Reunion finally arrived on the 12^th of June 2019. Twenty three from our batch including spouses gathered in the splendid surroundings of Satay House in Sale Place, to reminisce and reconnect those great moments. After the hugs and the handshakes, we caught-upon the ‘lost years’.Those gruelling years spent while making a career and bringing up children. Old bonds were renewed despite the memory lapses and failure to recognise old friends. Some had arrived from far afield as Colombo, Manchester, Kent and Hertfordshire. The incessant rain held up the cricket World Cup but didn’t dampen the spirits of our friends.

The ladies in their glamour swept into the room with their youthful elegance.It was hard to believe many of them were grandmothers. The men in their dapper summer attire(grandfathers) looked only a day older than when we were bohemian medical students with stethoscopes round our necks and walking the long corridors of the GHC. The gradual crescendo of the noise level reached its peak a few minutes after we gathered. There was a second peak after the liquid refreshments.Anecdotes from the past flooded the hall with peals of laughter. We jogged each others memories and prompted the names that had disappeared into the fog of time. We did remember absent friends who are now scattered round the globe. As we were a small group there was huge enthusiasm to mix freely and meet everyone, and we all did.

It brought us immense pleasure to see the spouses of our batch friends. Sunil’s wife Sirima, NeelanganiDambawinna, Mr.Francis (Edwis’ husband), DhushyanthiVedavanam, Joe Subasinghe(Zita’s husband) and Sakuntala (Balakumar’s wife). They were welcomed to our midst with open arms of friendship and affection. We thank them for their presence.

We had a sumptuous Malaysian meal amidst the friendly gestures and reminiscences. The aromatic beef rendang and rice was a plateful of sensory overload.  It was topped up with some delicious ice cream. Wine and conversation continued to flow freely. We had amazingly sharp recollections of events of 50 years ago.As ’Koch and Bull’ stories and ‘tall tales’ filled the air they still seem enduring, ageless and timeless. Now more than ever there is a tendency for the topics of conversation to converge more on the present. We spokemore of our children, grandchildren and our own health and well-being. With the passage of time our youthful arrogance has given way to serenity andhumility. Ouraspirations, aims and ambitions too have evolved and changed significantly. Those pretentious and boastful comments on wealth, professional status and the letters after one’s name,now seem out of place.They are not mentioned even in jest. That is the good sense and sensibility that comes with growing older as we now revel in the freedom of retirement.

The master of ceremonies, MahendraGonsalkorale, proposed a vote of thanks to Pram. It was most appropriate that we stood for a minute in silence for the many who lost their lives in the most recent tragedy in Sri Lanka. In silence we also remembered all our friends who endured the agony and the ecstasy of Faculty life with us and have now departed this world. We took time to commend and salute Prof SanathLamabadusuriyafor the tremendous work done by him for Paediatrics and Medical Education in Sri Lanka.

After months of planning, everything came together beautifully. The feedback for the function has been excellent, and the expectation is that we must make this a regular event.The success of the reunion was due to the goodwill and support of all who attended. Whenever there was a reunion or a gathering, large or small wherever in the world, it wouldn’t happen without the energy, genuine warmth and passion of,PramillaKannangara. Her self-effacing modesty astounds me.Pram does all of this work in the background away from the limelight. The success of this event is a tribute to her hard work. I wish to thank Pram on behalf of everyone who attended this event.

The London Reunion 2019 was a fabulous event of friendship of our batch and all our friends who joined us.We will forever remember the happiness and the laughter that filled the dining-hall on that soggy afternoon. May we have the good fortune to meet again.

THOSE WHO ATTENDED THE REUNION NIHAL AMERASEKERA

MAHENDRA GONSALKORALE

ZITA and JOE SUBASINGHE

SUNIL and SIRIMA ABEYSURIYA

JIMMY WICKREMASINGHE

INDRANI ANTHONIPILLAI

DOUGLAS MULGIRIGAMA

SANATH LAMABADUSURIYA

SHANTHI NALLIAH ROHINI ABHAYARATNE PRAMILLA

RANJIT and NEELANGANI DAMBAWINNA

SUSHEILA KANAGASABAI

MAHES NADARAJAH

PULASTHI WICKREMASINGHE DHUSHYANTHI  VEDAVANAM SAKUNTALA (BALAKUMAR’S WIFE) EDWIS FRANCIS and husband SIVA SELVADURAI Edwis, LPJM and Siva Selvadurai (from the "Sig Book")