Dinner hosted by Pram at Hyde Park Residencies on 31 August 2019

Bora, Harsha, Senerat, Pram, Indra, Lucky

Speedy Dialogues Series: Episode 7. SAP Gnanissara

Speedy Dialogues Series:

Episode 7. SAP Gnanissara

“Public Health and Faculty influence.”

Speedy: Good morning Gnaniss. I was delighted when you accepted my invitation to be my 7^th guest. Thanks a lot. We thought of touching on some aspects of Community Medicine in Sri Lanka" or "Public Health in Sri Lanka", and on some of your own recollections of our medical student days. Let us do it while enjoying a cup of tea!

Gnaniss:Thanks for inviting me Speedy. I do read our blog but

unfortunately not very frequently.

Speedy: Not a problem. We are all so busy with so many things to occupy our time. I am pleased that you do visit the blog from time to time.

Gnaniss: I do enjoy reading your comments and your various interesting contributions to the blog. Thank you for that.

Speedy: My pleasure. I am now transporting myself and you back in time and believe it or not, we are in the Physiology lecture theatre. You are seated on my left side, or is it the right side?

Gnaniss: I am not absolutely sure but I think I was on your right side. The other “G”s close to us were Ganesh, Kamini G, Padmini G, Desmond G.

Speedy: I can see Punsiri, Ganesh, you, me, Padmini, Gompa, Kamini, Priya and Devayani. Of course we sat in alphabetical order. I am looking down at the front row and I can see Rohini A, Sunil A, Sura A and Anton Ambrose. And now, the featureless babble dies down and they all become a bit quiet and who is that pale person with Bryl-creamed hair combed back, wearing a white suit and black rimmed spectacles? Prof Koch of course!

Gnaniss: Indeed it is! I don’t know why, but I can now see a different person, white hair big tummy and grey suit, also spectacled.

Speedy: That is Patchaya! Tins and cans, pots and pans! He was our first introduction to Public Health.

Gnaniss: That’s right. He was quite a character but as a teacher? What do you think Speedy?

Speedy: Put it this way Gnaniss, he never enthused me to even remotely think of pursuing a career in Public Health. What is your view?

Gnaniss: Firstly, without sounding too disrespectful, almost all Public Health lectures especially those by 'Patchaya', I thought were a bit of a 'joke'!  The Public Health field book was a disaster with all 'copied' stuff. We used to 'cut' some of the field trips. I know that in the present-day context, Community Medicine is serious stuff.

Speedy: Community medicine is certainly appreciated much more now. What about you? I know that you chose that field and, if I may so, you distinguished yourself in that field. Can you tell us why you chose this field.

Gnaniss: Thank you for your kind words. During my first appointment in Public Health, I realised that it was more interesting and satisfying to work with people and communities rather than being restricted to treating individual patients. I saw very well how individuals and families lived in different situations with their many problems and how they resolved those problems. Unlike seeing an individual patient may be once in the lifetime, I used to meet people in the community more often and establish a friendly dialogue with them. They highly appreciated my commitment to Public Health. The diverse nature of Public Health gave me more work satisfaction. Since I believe in close family relations, I realised that Public Health provided me more and better opportunities to be with them.

Speedy: Thank you. It is always fascinating to understand how people choose their career paths. Now, if you don’t mind, please take us through your career path briefly.

Gnaniss: I shall refer to my key postings in the State sector. District Medical Officer, District Hospital, Tissamaharama.MO/OPD, Colombo South Hospital, Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Weligama, Asst. Port Health Officer, Seaport Colombo,MOH, Polonnaruwa, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Kalutara, Dep. Director (Field Services), National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS), Kalutara, Director, NIHS, Kalutara, Dep. Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health

These are indicated in a chronological order but cannot remember the period of service at each place.

Speedy: I can see how you made your mark. Well done! As for Public Health as a subject in our time, it was one of those things in our training. There were subjects we did only because we had to in order to progress towards the Final MBBS. For most of us, Public Health belonged to that category. Looking back, I now realise how important Public Health is and I wish we had teachers who could have enthused us.

Gnaniss:Agree with you Speedy. Mind you, I never quite understood why we had to learn all that detailed Anatomy either!

Speedy: Very true. You know of course that the teaching of Anatomy has changed radically and is much more oriented towards the needs of a basic doctor. Does this also apply in Sri Lanka?

Gnaniss: It certainly does.

Speedy: That is good. Going back to our time as medical students, you and I got to know each other quite well and we were together as body partners for Anatomy and for ward classes as well. We always had a good laugh and used to tease Kamini Gunawardena, you remember her?

Gnaniss: Yes, Kamini was a very innocent girl and was completely puzzled by “kunu jokes”! We were all very fond of her but did pull her leg quite a bit!  I gather she is in Australia.

Speedy: Yes she is in Australia.  I once had a telephone conversation with her just before our 50^th anniversary get together and I tried to persuade her to attend. Unfortunately, she was not able to come. As for you and I, we lost contact inevitably after I left Sri Lanka but had the good fortune to meet you many times at Reunions and of course at Pram’s “poolside parties”.

Gnaniss: Yes Speedy, it is very difficult to maintain contact. Our batch mates were fairly close to each other and knew each other quite well. Of course, there were a few of us who were very much together and studied together. Unfortunately, some of them have left this world.

I feel that one of the main reasons for this closeness was the homogeneity of the batch. Unlike the present day medical students who come from diverse family backgrounds, we were from somewhat similar social backgrounds. I am fully aware that the present day students have many issues and worries to consider while undergoing training. We were fortunate to have had the freedom to concentrate mainly on our studies because we were generally well looked after by our parents and families without having other problems to worry about. Our main concern was learning well. In comparison to present day undergraduates, there was no competition to 'out do' one another other than to succeed in our own studies. Our perceptions, attitudes and expectations were generally common. These are purely my personal views and I don’t know whether you agree with me Speedy.

Speedy: I do to a large extent Gnaniss. That was very thoughtful and illuminating. These factors certainly applied to me and like you said, I had no worries caused by such extraneous factors and had all the encouragement and support of my parents to whom I am eternally grateful. There was a bit of a “class” divide in that some, fortunately only a minority, from Colombo schools who had this superiority complex which had absolutely no place in my thinking.

Gnaniss: May be you are right somewhat, but I feel that it didn’t affect our relationships.

Speedy: Very true, especially after we got to know each other. We had a common aim.

Gnaniss, we are both retired now but you told me you are still fairly busy.

Gnaniss: That is absolutely true.You must believe me when I say that I am busy even after so many years of retirement from active service. I still work for a pharmaceutical company though not on a permanent basis and I am also involved in many activities in the two Colleges of Medical Administrators and Community Physicians. I am also a member of the Medical Committee of the Sri Lanka Family Planning Association and the Vice President of the Independent Medical Practitioners Association. These involvements keep me rather active which I think is quite good

Speedy: That is a lot! You must enjoy what you do for otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it.

Gnaniss: Absolutely! I enjoy it and consider myself lucky to have this opportunity.

Speedy: I think it would be fun to recall any amusing incidents while you were a medical student. Anything comes to mind Gnaniss? Involving our batch mates or our teachers?

Gnaniss: Speedy, I just want to share a few recollections of the seniors' rags we were subjected to. I can remember I had great difficulty in getting into my father's car after rolling over in sand with soaking wet clothes during the initial rag. The rag we had after the Law-Medical is also one to remember. It took place in the ground floor lobby of the Pathology Block. After a severe 'workout' we had to find our correct pair of shoes from a well-mixed up heap of all students' shoes. It was a difficult task and some went away without their shoes. Since I had to bus home that day I was keen to find my pair. I waited for things to settle down and thinking that the seniors had left, I went back to fetch my pair.I was taken by surprise when two seniors jumped at me, applied grease on my hair and cut off a considerable portion of my hair. Fortunately, I was able to find my pair of shoes. The first thing I did was to buy a 'cap' from a Borella shop and after going home got a full shave of my scalp hair. Fortunately, it was the beginning of the long vacation. Even with all those harsh experiences we still tolerated those 'rags'.I am sure you went through them, yourself.

Speedy: The rag is a sore topic with me! I absolutely hated it and was indignant and angry that such things were allowed to happen and that the authorities turned a blind eye towards this illegal and inhuman harassment. There is absolutely no justification for rags.

Gnaniss: I agree with you but in many of the Faculties other than the Medical, things are much worse now. Several of the undergraduates have left university unable to go through this tragic experience. 

Speedy: That is so sad to hear. I know that some resorted to suicide. It is just beyond belief that these things still happen. Coming back to us, I remember you very well as you were seated next to me.

Gnaniss:.Speedy, I can still remember you as an excellent caricature artist, sketching figures of our teachers and friends. I use to enjoy seeing them.

Some of us had lunch and tea at the Faculty canteen. We had great chats (mainly gossip) during that time. The common room was another meeting place. I can remember playing carrom and also participating at the carrom tournament. Lucky was another keen carrom player.

Speedy: It is amazing that you remember my caricature drawing after all these years! I still enjoy doing them. I wish I kept some of those you referred to. Too late now! 

When it came to studying, did you mostly study on your own or did you indulge in group work?

Gnaniss: A few of us did combined studies in a room of one of our batch mates residing in the

newly built multi-storied Faculty hostel down Norris Canal Road. Sad to realise that some of them are no more. In the midst of serious studies we also had time to loiter, gossip and joke.

Speedy: Well Gnaniss, that was a lovely walk through memory lane and we could go on for longer but for the time being, let us finish that tea before it gets too cold and rejoice in our reminiscences. Thanks again for being my 7^th Subject

Gnaniss: Speedy, it was an absolute pleasure to have a chat and recall our happy times. The tea was excellent by the way! When you next come to Sri Lanka, you must contact me.

Speedy: Of course I will, and that is a promise.

Meeting Pram in London

By Nihal D Amerasekera

After the mass dispersal in 1967 meeting batch-mates have mostly been confined to infrequent reunions and occasional get-togethers. For those of us who are separated by the oceans or the vast expanse of land or both, these meetings are rare occurrences. Despite the passage of years, there exists within us a desire to meet and reconnect those years spent together in the Medical Faculty at Kynsey Road. So much has changed in the half a century that has passed since those heady days of our youth. Social media and smartphones have brought us closer together and it is so wonderful to be in contact with friends at the click of a button. But they can never replace that intimacy and the warmth of a face to face chat.

I must refer the reader to the wonderful and searching dialogue on the blog, over a coffee, between Mahen and Pram. This with the follow-up comments will help one create an accurate profile of one of the great achievers in our batch who has given so much in return to the world both professionally and as an individual.

Pram who lived in the posh end of London for many decades is now a summer migrant to this great city from her plush pad in Colombo. Wherever she is, Pram loves to meet and greet people. On her visits she has made the annual batch reunion ‘a must attend’ in London.The very first London reunion was held on the 13^th of March 2017 and was at ‘The Richoux’  an iconic French eatery, in a leafy part of London in the shadow of the Lords Cricket Grounds. Since then, the venue has changed to Satay House near Paddington Station for travel convenience. The reunion for 2019 was well attended and a great success.The London Reunion is a wonderful tribute to Pram and her perseverance and tenacity.

I was delighted to accept the offer to meet Pram before her departure from London. We decided to meet at midday opposite Boots store next to Bond Street underground station. Sharp on time, I saw the slim figure standing on Oxford Street. She is a sprightly lady, fit as a fiddle. As always, Pram was very well dressed in a fine Tom Ford jacket, the cynosure of elegance and style. After the hugs and pleasantries we decided to have lunch at the iconic seat of medical education in London, the Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street. This venue of such prestige, repute and status was opened in 1910 by King George V and Queen Mary. The elegance and grandeur of its many lounges, restaurants and bars are breath-taking. We would have been hard pushed to find a better setting for a meal in this locale.

At this stage of our lives none of us are big-eaters. I wish I had these opportunities when I was a hungry boarder in my old school. We went for a lavish 2 course meal as we chatted about life and our times. All through our conversation what struck me was her simplicity and humility. In the 50 years that have elapsed, without exception, we have all been through the rapids. We have all matured immeasurably. As for the past and present, Pram speaks no evil, sees no evil and hears no evil and has a remarkably positive attitude to life. Pram is confident and self-assured and certainly no push-over.  It is a great gift to be able to stand-up for what one believes while remaining calm. She speaks very frankly, modestly and briefly about her many charities and helpful service to humanity but never of the glitz and the glamour of her peripatetic existence travelling the world for her work. We spoke about her generous hospitality at her lavish parties, music and dancing at her home at the Hyde Park residencies and her delight in seeing the guests enjoy themselves. We spoke of our mutual friends, JC and Sura, RSJ, Sanath Lama, Asoka Wijeyekoon, Rohini Abhay, Lucky Abey and many more too numerous to mention as some of them were in batches senior. It is so lovely to receive news of friends. Indeed it is a small world and we realised we had many mutual friends who were not in the medical profession. Pram is a committed Christian and leads a good life quite unlike me, a prodigal son. She is a cheerful person and seamlessly articulate which makes a chat most entertaining. A conversation is never complete without touching on cricket which is built into our Sri Lankan psyche. It was a stimulating conversation of the rise and fall of our national team.

The 2 hours flew past and it was time for us to say goodbye. Pram had a full program lined up for the rest of the day. We bade goodbye with a hug and a thank you promising to stay in contact until me meet again. We were so engrossed in our chat we completely forgot to take a photo for the blog.

The World Cup in England brought many lovers of the game to the home of cricket. Lareef Idroos was here and the customary get-together was hurriedly arranged by Pram. Summer is a busy time for all and many of us including Mahen G and myself couldn’t make it. I am told it was a great success and a wonderful reunion. Rohini Abhayaratna, Manel Hettiaratchi, Haris (better known as Bora) and Harshi Boralessa and Indrani Subramanium attended the function with Pram.