Forever on-board Craft ‘62

     Forever on-board Craft ‘62

By Zita Perera Subasinghe

  A batch held together in strong bond
Stronger than the toughest steel
Members spread out the world around
The boat still rocks on an even keel
 
Love and loyalty to one and all
Never left this grounding ship
Even in a dream to port of call
Of each mate the boat would slip
 
Body is weak but mind still strong
A batch of mates brought together
By Fate’s design we still belong
In Ship sea worthy in any weather
 
Even those who were lost at sea
Are on board as part of its soul
With silent heart beat in eternity
Still in the craft, a part of the whole
 
When sickness puts one in quiet slumber
They’re still part of Sixty-Two
Each still holding his own number
With head held high under sky of blue

Where Have all the Flowers Gone?

 

Where Have all the Flowers Gone?

By Nihal D Amerasekera

 

For many years now since my retirement, Friday Night has been my Music Night. It is the time I listen to 1950’s and 60’s music and let my thoughts wander through the now hazy maze of time. The song that often strikes a chord is that one with the poignant lyrics and haunting melody composed by Pete Seeger. It took the whole world by storm and in 1962 the version by the Kingston Trio engulfed our little island like no other. Although attributed to the Vietnam War it reminds me of medical school and our time together. We had a large contingent of girls in our batch and I’ve often wondered where they are now.

With my Evangelical Christian upbringing, I spent my testosterone-charged teenage years in an all-boys school deprived of female company. Faculty life needed some getting used to. As I entered the portals of that temple of wisdom in Kynsey Road, I soon realised there was more to life than Botany, Zoology, Chemistry and Physics. The sexual attraction was compelling and generated a potent chemical reaction. Bedazzled by the ambience, I felt self-conscious in the new surroundings wanting to be in my best behaviour in the company of girls. It didn’t come easily to be gallant and courteous!! Although 1960’s was the era of Sex, Drugs and Rock’n Roll such pleasures hadn’t arrived in our little island, yet. Social distancing was built in, separating the boys from the girls. We then lived in a rigidly puritanical and austere society. On arrival at the Faculty, I found some of the lads were self-assured and poked fun at the world around them. I soon realised they were not radical extremists but just lived lives expected of bohemian medical students. So I had to adjust and seek the middle ground. I stopped blushing at their unbridled erotic humour. Then I discovered alcohol, learnt to think freely, argue, question and not bother too much about what the world thought of me.

The girls too were from all-girl institutions and were overwhelmed by parental pressures and existing norms fed by our own Sri Lankan culture. Many of the girls were reserved not wanting to be seen as ‘easy game’ in the patriarchal society of 50 years ago.  They all believed in the mantra WYSWYG. Girls from the Colombo schools were posh and pushy and showed off the flesh below the neck and flashed a bit above the knee, for good measure. They even pushed their chests forward-moving the centre of gravity, dangerously. The rest most modestly covered their wares with glamourous sarees with vibrant colours.  In this context, I must refer to that famous aphorism that had entered the folklore of our great institution, “My face is my dowry”. Although the expression has more than a hint of vanity and attributed to a girl in our batch its real origin and the context is lost in the fog of time. It would be unfair to hold it against anyone. With our strict puritanical tenets, the face was the only bit of female anatomy visible to the ‘naked eye’. Perhaps the phrase was a reference to Helen of Troy in Greek Mythology - the face that launched a thousand ships?

This was a time when the old caste and dowry system still prevailed and arranged marriages were still in vogue. But Cupid had his way in the Faculty and shot his golden arrows to change the status quo. Amor Vincit Omnia (love conquers everything), how very true. Despite the harsh environment of education, hard toil and the prevailing ethos, love did blossom for some. Sadly, for a few those blossoms faded before we left the hallowed precincts in 1967. The faculty was a hotbed of gossip. News swirled around its lecture rooms and corridors about couples, affairs and the breakdown of relationships. Perhaps it broke the monotony of the never-ending examinations and hard study, a welcome distraction from the daily toil we all endured.

In the first 2 years, girls were seen in groups chatting and giggling in their own world. Three of them who were always together were unkindly labelled - anorexia, nausea and vomiting.  Even now when I see them it is as if those names are tattooed on the foreheads. I do respect their wish to maintain their modesty and cultural values.  As the years passed the social climate improved. The icy chill gave way to a thaw. There was better understanding and friendships all round between the sexes. Personally, I was very fortunate to have girls in my group who mixed freely and appreciated our crass humour. There were a few girls in our batch who were sassy trailblazers keeping up with the boys with their racy jokes and mischievous fun. I do respect their boldness in not conforming to the futile cultural constraints in our adult seat of learning.

On looking back what amazes me was my inability to connect with many of the girls during the entire 5 years in medical school except perhaps to raise a cursory smile when passing them on the endless corridors of our domain. The powers that be in the Faculty of Medicine, in their wisdom, kept us apart giving us a Mens’ Common Room where girls never dared to visit. Much has changed and we are in a different era. Now when I meet the girls from our batch at gatherings and reunions it generates such a sense of warmth and accelerated intimacy. I do regret not having made contact at the faculty. They are such lovely and friendly people. Now we can talk and laugh openly about our younger-selves and how we behaved conforming to our austere world. Friendship is a two-way street and I do acknowledge that for some there were social and cultural barriers that were far too difficult to transgress.  Being shy is not a crime but it feels like that now.

I cannot think of many things that humanity has benefitted in this time of Covid-19. One that comes to mind easily is reuniting people via Zoom. It has been a great pleasure to see several from our batch both male and female and to speak with them. Amazingly they don’t look any older than when I saw them last in 1967. They all seem to have retained their wicked sense of humour. The girls haven’t lost their sense of style and good looks. The boys have lost much of their hair but not their heads.

Now in this age of easy communication, digital phones and social media, it is hard to believe men and women behaved in that manner in our highest seat of learning. Much has changed since for both men and women. For the women, they can nip and tuck, facelift or use Botox to look young and beautiful. Men have the pleasure of Sildenafil to raise the fallen. We all benefit from the 120-year evolution of womens’ suffrage and the preservation of womens’ rights.  They can mix freely, speak without fear and even lead a country. Just like the men, the ladies from our batch went on to enjoy prestigious careers in the profession and hold celebrated positions in society.

This is a reminiscent glimpse into an era now long gone. When I wander into those happy days as a medical student I still rancour about the separation of the sexes as an unwanted remnant of a prudish past.

Self portrai in acrylics

 

Self portrait in acrylics

 

Self portrait using Acrylics. I showed this to Nihal (ND) and he asked me to post it on the Blog. I hesitated but finally agreed. Hope it has some resemblance to me!

Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale                                                                August 2020.

The use of “filler words” 

by Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale

I have been fascinated by how most people use what I call “filler words and sounds” during speech. This appears to be a Universal practice and the words and sounds used would differ according to the language. This applies to a language broadly but the sounds used are surprisingly similar.

Let me deal with sound first. It is very common to hear people say “aaaah” or “mmm” or “errr” between and within sentences. For example a person describing a scene might say “As I sit here in relative comfort admiring the scenery, aaaah I can scarcely discern any sign of any impending disaster and aaaah, just as I uttered that lo and behold what do I see? Aaaah a whole herd of cattle”. Many newsreaders and many public speakers resort to this to gain time,.For example, a person might say, “There are three types of expressions aaaaah the first one is well known but aaaah  the second is more uncommon aaah  and it was aaaah Shakespeare who said aaaah the etc etc.”

Other sounds – ummm, ooh, errr

Coming to words and sentences, these can be the flavour of the month and somewhat ephemeral but others have come and stayed. The ones that come to mind are:-

You know, You know what I mean, at the end of the day, see what I mean, so on and so forth, You follow? Like, To be honest, you understand? To be sure, so!

In Sinhalese, we have “therunada?”, “dannawaney?”  “Eh kiyanney”, “habatama” “aththa wasayenma”, “ehwagema” , “nehda?” “shaaa” , “aniwarayen” and many more.

The following is quoted from  an article which appeared in the Independent on the 4^th of April 2017 by Olivia Blair. I found this most interesting. I used to associate overuse of filler words with lack of confidence or lack of a proper understanding of the subject matter or just a bad habit but this article made me think again and I thought of sharing it with you.

Professor Michael Handford, a professor of applied linguistics and English language at Cardiff University, says there are two main reasons people use these filler words. Often these are known as “discourse markers” (‘you know’, ‘so’) or “filled pauses”( ‘um’, ‘er’).

“The functions they fill are often interactional and cognitive,” he told The Independent. “The interactional function is to do with politeness. If you invite somebody to a party and they say no without any of those markers they will appeal rude probably. If you say ‘um, well, you know, sorry’ it makes it much more polite. They play a really important politeness function.”

The cognitive use of the words is when the person is trying to process information that might be more complex.

“This is important for the speaker and the listener as well,” Professor Handford says. “If you did speak how people write people wouldn’t be able to understand you as we can’t process that much information… As speakers, we are often aware, if we speak too complexly the listener might not understand. We use these items, pretty unconsciously, to help the person process what we are saying.”

This goes for ourselves as well, the reason we tend to over-fill these pauses is when we are not sure of what we are saying, think job interview or if a stranger stops you in the street to ask for directions to a place you are not too familiar with.

“If you don’t know what you’re talking about, if someone asks you a difficult question, then while you’re scratching your head for an answer you are probably going to be using more of them,” Professor Handford says.

Additionally, the words show the person, you are going to answer their question or contribute to the question – even if you are pausing for a moment.

“You might have had a bit of an interruption in planning what you are going to say next and you need a moment to plan,” Josef Fruehwald, a lecturer in linguistics and English Language at the University of Edinburgh says. “Rather than just do so in silence, you signal to the person you are talking to that you are planning to say something.”

Young people are believed to say discourse markers such as “like” more than older generations but the functions of the words and the reason why people use them doesn’t change between generations, Professor Handford says.

Both professors are united in believing there is no need to and maintain that, despite the widely held negative associations in society, there is actually nothing wrong with using them. The fact that you get these words in most other languages too shows they are commonplace.

Mr Fruehwald brands the associations of people who use the words a lot as having a lower level of intelligence are “unfounded and unfair”.

“There’s a way to learn to do anything. I don’t concern myself with that as I don’t think people should stop. It’s not my job as a linguist to tell anybody how they should talk. People should feel more confident about the way they talk whether that’s accent or umm-ing and arr-ing.

However, are there situations where it is best to swerve these words?

“If you are in a job interview or exams, in theory, you could use them too much because someone else is deciding what an acceptable amount is. So in those situations perhaps you might want to be careful but in general what would too much be?” Professor Handford says.

So, really, there is no need to worry about these pesky little words, the linguists say. If you are worried about saying them, improve the situation: make sure you are well prepared for the interview or meeting so the cognitive side of your brain does not fill these mind blanks, or, stop being so concerned about being so polite.

THE PATAS AND MAHEN SHOW

By Nihal D Amarasekera

Our grateful thanks to the duo for organising the Zoom and bringing us closer together despite the oceans and continents that separate us. Although more than half a century has passed since our last goodbye in the lobby of that iconic building at Kynsey road the desire to reach each other has not waned. As the clock struck at 5 pm in London I expected to see my friends but the vagaries of technology caused a delay. The PC got hot with emails crisscrossing the continents trying to figure out the real reason for this hold-up. This reminded me of the early days of Sinhala films when I was taken to the Metro cinema in Nugegoda. The film was to start at 6 pm but the inevitable technical problems delayed the start. The only difference now being the seat is more comfortable and the bugs didn’t bite me. 

It is wonderful to have that minute of glory to speak our mind while our friends listened with muted silence. We all joined the digital age rather late and some later than others, hence the umbilicus came before the face!! It was so lovely to see Lareef who didn’t look a day older than when I first saw him first as a 15-year-old bowl brilliantly on that breezy wicket at Mt Lavinia. Lucky, Rohini Abhay, Sunil and Anton from my end of the alphabet were never far away from me as we strove through the hustle and bustle of life in the faculty for five long years. It is such a great pleasure to see them again. Sumathy has found his Velona banyan for the current hot weather in the UK. I wish I owned one too to remind me of being a street kid in the wilds of Nugegoda in the 1950s. Jimmy is a dignified country gentleman saving lives in Dulwich, and it shows. It was so lovely to see Wickramasekeran for the first time since 1967. At every Zoom, Pramilla and Zita have used their allocated time to say something interesting to attract our attention. This indeed is a special gift and I’m certain there is a politician in them waiting to emerge!! Indra as always is smiling enjoying the luxuries and the life in Sri Lanka. The names Sunil Abeysuriya and Ravi Nadarajah appeared white on black as credits at the end of a film until Ravi made his appearance. There is something to be said for turning the cameras away from you allowing people to remember as we were. 

On the same theme, I recall more recently when we were on lockdown and all the hairdressers were shut and my hair was unmanageably long ready for a ponytail. I had facetime with my 7-year-old granddaughter. I had not combed my hair that day and she said instantly “Granddad you look terrible”. Children have the wonderful ability to say things with honesty without any gilding and embellishments.

That taught me to look presentable on Zoom although I haven’t achieved it yet. I last saw Ravi Nadarajah at the London Reunion when we sat at the same table. Sunil who spoke for all of 40 minutes previously remained invisible and silent. Trust all is well my friend. Amidst the tropical storms, tornados, power-cuts and Corona. It was so wonderful to see Srianee, lovely and smiling. 

I’m sure we will continue to get better with our Zooms when we get the hang of the technology and acquire the discipline needed to make the meeting a seamless chat, swapping banter and trading wisecracks. On our Zooms, we have somehow managed to create that atmosphere we have all enjoyed all those years ago

BATCH ZOOM BY RAJAN AND SPEEDY

On Friday 7th of August, we had our third Zoom organised by Rajan and Speedy. Once again it was a great opportunity to catch up verbally and see our colleagues on screen. I think we managed to identify people without the need for name tags! This has proved to be an effective and enjoyable way of keeping in touch and we intend repeating it at intervals and we hope even more will join.

We had a few technical hitches but this didn’t prevent us from enjoying the experience. You can see from the screenshots who were there. I think there were 17 in all. My apologies if I missed any.

Those present were. Rajan (the evergreen), Speedy (no longer the fastest mouse!), Srianee “Bunter” Dias (the artist), Rohini Abhayaratne (she was there, this is true, not a patchaya!), Indra Ana (distinguished), Appu Sumathi (looking cool in a banian- he assured us that he had other things on below the waist !), Anton Ambrose (smiling away and cheerful), Lucky Abey (quiet invisible observer), Zita (bubbly! and cheerful), Nihal (ND- the suave), Raveendra Nadarajah (hardly changed apart from the roof thatching), Sunil Abey (quiet and invisible), Lareef Idroos (this chap defies change, he finally appeared after showing us his "umbilical" ceiling for some time), Pram (bright and chirpy), Jimmy Wicks (polished, not just the dome!), Wickremasekaran (brave fighter -so nice that he came).

Pram brought us up to date with the just-completed Elections in Sri Lanka with a massive victory for the SLPP. We went around "the table" for updates.

Rohini Ana, Sushiela sent apologies and Manel Katugampola had difficulty joining (technical)

It is not easy to find a time suitable for all batch mates spread all over the globe and we may have to change the time if we have a lot of applications from “down under”.  

I keep saying and I shall say it again!  it but it is true – our batch is very special.

Speedy

Zita's inspiration - Her Mother Mrs Mildred Perera

Note by Acting Blog administrator

We are all proud of the achievements of our Batchmates not only in the field of Medicine but in so many other areas as well. We are indeed a special batch. We have all been influenced and inspired by our parents and it is a great pleasure to publish this article by Zita about her Mum. I would welcome others to contribute on how they have been inspired by their parents.

by Zita Perera Subasinghe

Zita says, "This story is about my amazing mother who had total faith in herself and pursued her dreams with undiminished intensity in the face of adversity. She set an example which I tried to emulate. I am ever so grateful to her and I hope that other Batch mates will come out with their own stories of parental inspiration.

Hank Snow and a fan from Ceylon         01 07 2020

   Hank Snow flanked by two of his fans Mrs Mildred Perera, and Zita (L)

The year was 1970 when I was building up my young career and, on the way, to starting a family in the country of my dreams when I invited my mother to spend time with us and have a holiday in England. She deserved it after having raised a large family, the last decade of which she was without the help of her husband who predeceased her. For a busy mother, she always had many hobbies and lately a home business operation that helped provide the finances. She was a qualified dressmaker, accomplished baker, decorator of cakes and teacher of these skills. She also learned the arts of batik and tie and dye fabric design, flower making to name a few, in her quest to acquire new skills and gain knowledge.

If you think her repertoire left no time for any other pastime, you’d better think again! For a lady whose husband was a multi-instrumentalist musician, she pursued her love for music.

Her love of music

This did not stop at just listening to music but actually promoting her musical idols Hank Snow, Jim Reeves and Ricky Nelson in her country and being the Vice President of the Fan Club there (Country and Western music fan club).

She was also a member of the Hank Snow Fan Club which was run by a group of friends and (in which Zita was the secretary!). Mummy had her own collection of music on spool tapes which she played on her prized procession of a tape recorder from England, which was a rare item for a housewife to have. On the top lid of the machine was a photo of her musical favourite singer, Hank Snow, the Singing Ranger of the Grand Ole Opry from Nashville, Tennessee. She would correspond with her musical idols and the chief one was Hank Snow. I too belonged to that Fan Club because of my mother’s interest in it.

Mildred Perera’s old-style tape deck with Hank Snow picture with Zita near it.

During her holiday in England around the latter half of 1970 she heard that Hank was on tour and was to perform at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London and she was determined to attend the live performance. After having taken her for the show, which I too enjoyed as a younger fan of the mother’s favourite star, I was taken aback when she suggested that we go back stage during the Interval of 15 minutes, so that she could meet the Singing Ranger! She had her way and before I knew what was happening we were facing the legendary singer in the dressing room, like two teenaged girls! Our enthusiasm was not to be disappointed when the true gentlemen from Canadian descent greeted us with a great smile and inquired about what was happening in Ceylon where his fan club had many ardent followers.

For many years prior to that Clarence Eugene ‘Hank’ Snow would send a personal Christmas Message which he voiced for his annual Christmas program that was broadcast on Radio Ceylon for over two decades running and without a break. Coming back to the concert at the Palace Theatre, Hank had us take an applause during the second half of the show and he sang one of mummy’s favourites specially dedicating to Mrs Mildred Perera of Colombo, Ceylon. After the show, he offered us a photo opportunity at a reception given in his honour on the next Sunday for which he even sent us transport.  The photo which you see at the top of this article, and which I preserved, shows the singer flanked by the two beaming fans. What’s more, sensing the need to go out of the way to please the faithful fan cum promoter from the island nation, Hank promptly removed his tie and presented it to Mummy, with the tie knot intact, which she preserved and passed on to one of her sons.

A son named after Hank Snow

Talking about her sons and my many brothers, Mummy named the youngest after the great singer, picking one of his forenames, Eugene.  She also started a pre-teen music band with her three youngest children, which was the youngest band ever in the island. The drummer coincidentally had the other name (Clarence) coming from the famous country singer. Only the Snow was missing in more than one sense of the word!

The Junior Rhythmiers

This band, Junior Rhythmiers (see photo), became an instant hit and popular, island-wide due to their tender ages, not to mention the natural talent they showed. Incidentally, the three brothers aged 7 to 12 years started picking the strings of my own (Zita’s) box guitar when I was away at medical college, much to my frustration of having to use the instrument with a few strings out of tune or one snapped, with no one taking responsibility for having used it behind my back. The cat was out of the bag when I saw their growing ability in playing guitar.  By this time, I was away in England.  They had a weekly radio program on national radio for many years and a fan club based in Jaffna, which was a musically inclined town even in the 1960s. They were the “juniors” of the Rhythmiers which in fact, was the band formed by one of my younger brothers Lakshman, who was older than them.

Well the Junior Rhythmiers group was well on their way, playing at concerts, weddings up and down Ceylon in the early ‘70s, even up to Jaffna.

This is a photo of them taken in the Fort, Colombo when they were on their way to perform at a concert. They played at Galle Face Hotel to welcome the New Year a couple of times. Their vocalist was Mariazelle Goonetillake who continues her career to this day. Mariazelle always gives mummy the credit for having ‘discovered’ her!

One of the photos of the events they played at survived (shown below), shows them playing at a children’s party.

What happened to the Junior Rhythmiers? Unfortunately, my mum died of Multiple Myelomatosis in 1974 while visiting me for the second time in the UK. It is an event I do not even want to think of.

The country’s interest in Country music continued but the events which I talk about above gave a boost to the popularity of Country and Western music in the then Ceylon.

As for Hank Snow, he slowed down as he reached his old age but continued to play at the Grand Ole Opry from time to time. I heard about his death in 1999.

To us all who loved and knew him, it was the closure of a Grand Chapter.

With the loss of mummy and her children getting on with work and studies, music began to take a back seat. But the memories are forever alive in our minds and we look back with happiness but a tinge of sadness that mummy left all this so early at the age of 55 years.

Written by Zita Perera Subasinghe

With help and some details and photos supplied by Neil Perera, who is one of my brothers and the eldest of the Junior Rhythmiers.

Hank Snow on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/MUjOHf1WqM8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StcCH-QQyDU