By Nalin Nanayakkara
I was consumed with great sadness when I heard that HN is no more.
We were batchmates from 1962-1967 although we burned the midnight oil doing joint studies togetherwe were a fun loving bunch but took turns at combined studies at someone's home
at times mine . I remember once , when we were studying the human brain , one of the guys had
left a human brain preserved in formalin under my bed. My mother had discovered this and was sure that our home was going to be possessed by this dead person. She promptly visited an exorcist for damage control. Needless to say she did not enter my bedroom for a very long time.
During the grueling first two years of medical school we crammed hard but let loose every two weeksafter a mini test that was called signatures. HN had befriended a florist across from the anatomy block who made his living selling flowers and wreaths and even coffins to the bereaved families ,although the owner was not aware that we were not in the wards yet he provided a bottle of the cheapest brew called Gal Arrack with the hope that we would refer families to him for his services. A bottle was Rs 8 then but as poor medicos we were lucky if we could afford 5 cents for a cheap cigarette.Armed
with this bottle we headed to the beach at Kinross after a sing-song
ended up inebriated or not at Mayfair restaurant on Galle Rd., for
hoppers and coffee after which we managed to crawl home in one piece at about 3 am but managed get up and attend physiology lecture the next day at 8 am.
We
studied together till we graduated in 1967. He went to Kurunegala for
his internship and I stayed behind in Colombo. I took off from the
motherland seeking greener pastures in 1968. We did keep in touch
during my visits to Sri lanka. I remember visiting hime once in Hanwella .
Sadly he was not present at our last reunion in 2017.
My recollection of HN was that he was a very sensitive and gentle soul who would stand up for a friend any time.
We all will miss him dearly.
It is lovely to see a comment from a good friend of HN, and hopefully more comments for other posts will also follow from Nana.HN was a very nice person and whenever we met, he was never judgemental on colleagues who left Mother Lanka "seeking greener pastures" as Nana puts it. It was sad to hear of the deterioration in his health and ultimate demise
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never, this is Zita to add her voice to express sadness at the loss of HN Wickremasinghe our dear batch mate. We have a strange fellowship with our batch mates, as we shared those memorable and sometimes gruelling five years together. That bond can never break. It's hard to repeat that in the life that follows.
ReplyDeleteHNW was a batch mate that we all remember and love. We have to be happy that we all shared those gruelling yet so significant and important years with one another. I join the rest of the batch in sending our sincere condolences to HN's dear family.
Zita
Dear Nana, thank you for writing this appreciation. We were all saddened by HN's passing and I did add some comments on a few earlier posts. It is difficult to lose close friends, and I know that you two were very close. I think HN had some very special qualities. He was fun loving, and not averse to pranks, but also a very gentle soul. I had the privilege of meeting him quite a few times after we graduated, and it was always a pleasure. May he Rest in Peace. He will be missed.
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