My Memories of the Health Department Sports Club
Nihal D Amerasekera
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| self-portrait |
I have such fond and lasting memories of the Health Department Sports Club. It gave me shelter from the storms of life 1970-74. My earliest memory of this great institution is when I was a 3rd year medical student and saw the world in brilliant technicolour. There was a huge party for the medical fraternity at the Sports Club under the auspices of the Medical Students Union. Drinks flowed freely and there was a lot of it about. That was such a fun afternoon. When the alcohol levels rose so did the background noise. Prof HVJ Fernando and Dr WDL Fernando (JMO) warmed up to the occasion and sang with great forensic detail their signature tune of “Officer’s daughter who hanged and died”. It was sung with such intensity and passion, they received a rapturous ovation. I still keep a recording of the song sung by Eranga and Priyanga to recall those happy times of my youth.
After the finals in 1967 I sold all my medical books and wanted no more examinations. My ambition after internship was to be a DMO somewhere far away from the city. This rural idyll had great appeal for me. My father was a government servant who served in numerous locations in the upcountry and also in the deep south. With my parents moving on transfer every 4 years I had a wonderful nomadic childhood. I loved the solitude and the peaceful tranquillity living close to nature. The serenity of mountains, the silence of the lush green valleys and the ripples of the gurgling streams brought calmness to my soul. Although I applied for a post in Bingiriya just a short distance from Chilaw, by some quirk of destiny I received a posting to the Central Blood Bank in Colombo. I have always assumed this was a clerical error which later turned out to be a blessing.
At the CBB it was my duty and privilege to travel the length and breadth of the country collecting blood for transfusion. This took me to the remotest parts of the island and also gave me the opportunity to meet some of the DMO’s that propped up the health services in those inhospitable places. I stayed with Sanath de Tissera when he was DMO Rikillagaskada. The town was distant, lonely and isolated. I was simply mesmerised by the stunning beauty of the surrounding landscape. I also got at first hand a glimpse of the life of a DMO which was far removed from the utopia I had in mind.
When I was working at the Central Blood Blank I was a regular evening visitor to the Health Department Sports Club. I was then living with my parents in Battaramulla. By some good fortune the Club was on my way home. I can still remember the bar, the ambient lighting and the soft canned music that played continuously. There were times Vedavanam, Razaque, Lubber Wijeyekoon and sometime Revo Drahman joined me. We talked politics, philosophy and careers and a multitude of other fascinating subjects that were made compelling by the amber nectar. Cheap and cheerful, Arrack was our drink and this served us well.
This wasn’t a particularly happy time in my life. I soon began to enjoy the easy life in Colombo. The Central Blood Bank then became the centre of my universe. I accepted its quirks, idiosyncrasies and oddities as a part of working life. Although these posts were generally accepted as dead-end jobs, its attraction was the luxury of being in Colombo. From school through to Medical School, I’ve been a city slicker and loved it. I free wheeled endlessly enjoying the company of friends, visiting the cinema and being a pillar of the Health Department Sports Club. The Club was a magnet for health workers who loved a drink and a chat in the evenings. I was never short of company. Its membership was open to all Health Department workers and the presence of radiographers, physiotherapists and clerks made it an interesting eclectic mix. There is no better way to break barriers than alcohol. I must confess that during my visits to the Club I have never seen anyone drunk and disorderly. The members behaved impeccably and the barmen maintained discreetly the dignity and decorum of the Department of Health.
On an evening It gave me immense pleasure to walk through those familiar portals of the Club. One that stands out in my memory is the day when there was a small gathering around the bar as I entered. On that warm evening I sat with my drink over-looking the shimmering lights of the surrounding buildings. As the night wore on a young lad strummed his guitar and began to sing those well loved popular songs of CTF, Chitra and Somapala and Sunil Santha. What sticks in my mind is his beautiful rendition of that all time favourite “Tika venda nala, konde kadala”. Its cleverly parodied sensuous lyrics was an instant crowd puller. As I walked to my car that evening I could still hear the clapping and the slurred voices in the distance.
When my time in Sri Lanka was coming to an end on one of my visits I saw a large gathering at the Club. It was the farewell for M.P.C Jaimon who was emigrating to New Zealand. There were a few from our batch and I do remember H.N Wickramasinghe. HN and I did internship together at Kurunegala and we had much to reminisce. There was plenty of drink, a lot of chat and several warm hugs before we said our goodbyes. This was a sombre moment I will always cherish. Subsequently Jaimon qualified in anaesthesia and moved to Sydney, Australia. We never met again. Sadly our beloved ‘Jaima’ is no more.
At times, I realised to my horror, I was there at the Health Department Sports Club for a drink on my own. This wasn’t a good sign. Living with my parents I was never short of good advice although much of it went unheeded. It is easy for alcoholism to take hold. What hounded and heckled me often was a short verse in our pharmacology textbook by D.R Laurence. In his brilliant description of the treatment of alcoholism was the sombre lament of an alcoholic who had accepted the inevitable “Doctor, goodbye, my sails unfurled I'm off to try the other world”. My life seemed to drag on endlessly. What finally saved me from seeing pink elephants was the constant nagging of my parents and the news of the MRCP Part 1 to be held in Colombo for the first time. The latter gave me an opportunity to focus on a worthwhile ambitious project. I had to buckle down to some hard work and also to move away from the tight grip drink had on me. Giving up the carefree life I loved was not an easy task. The energy, enthusiasm and the sheer determination of my ambitious friends at the General Hospital Colombo steered me in the right direction. My success at the examination was a defining moment in my life. I had finally left my troubles behind and celebrated with my friends, where else but at my beloved Health Department Sports Club.
Living in the UK it is nigh impossible to get access to information about the origins of the Club. Although none is available on the internet the institution must have a long history of the people and the events associated with its existence. I’m told the Club at Castle Street does not exist anymore. The beautiful grounds and the surrounding marsh have been converted to luxury flats. It is sad to lose green space in Colombo where people go for relaxation and exercise. I wonder what outcry and protests there were from the many who used it for recreation, relaxation and pleasure. The Club was my refuge and brought me happiness and friendship at a crucial time in my life. The elegant spread of the single-storey building painted a drab yellow will always remain in a secure corner of my memory.
After 30 years in green and pleasant rural Hertfordshire I have once again become a city slicker, more by destiny than design. I’m a great lover of London for what it has to offer in the way of sports, music, opera, ballet, museums and galleries. Living in the shadow of Lords Cricket grounds has its many advantages but not when Covid is around. I have often thought of my paradise lost by not being a DMO. Then again I’m eminently aware of the loneliness that goes with the job. Lord Bacchus with his cunning and devious ways would have finally got me. Such was the fate of several of my friends who were medics in the ‘periphery’. I am proud of having worked myself up to the top of my profession amidst fierce competition in the UK. As for turning my life around and for the paradise regained, I call it the awesome force of destiny.
I am the beneficiary of hard work
in my youth and have had a life well and fully lived. Despite some
disappointments along the way, much to my surprise, I am happy, and often
sublimely so. Well actually, I do have just the one despairing regret - not
being with my parents in their hour of need at the end of their lives. I am
confident they will forgive me that huge dereliction of duty.
The only reference I have of the glorious past of the Health Dept Sports Club is from an article written by Dr Lucien Jayasuriya in the CMJ at the turn of this century when he wrote about Dr W.A.Karunaratne who was the Director of Health Services 1959-63. As the President of the Health Dept Sports Club in 1975 he revived its fortunes. The Auditorium of the Club was named after him for his services and donations to the Club.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope the Club will be resurrected to its former glory as a mark of respect for the many who contributed and helped the Club to be a social hub for all those who served the Health Dept over so many decades.
I had no connections with the HS Sports Club at all but the brother of one of my sisters-in-law Kamal Ratnapala did. Kamal was a superb rugby player who played for Royal and CR&FC and his father played Tennis regularly at the HS Sports Club.
ReplyDeleteND,it is a pity that historical buidings are sacrificed inorder to accomodate ever increasing population.There is no room for wild life as virgin jungles are either defrorested legally or illegally.When we were very young the population weas about 8 millions and now it is over 20 millions and is densely populated.I can not understand what the Department of Family Health is doing about it.
ReplyDeleteSpeedy,you must be talking about Ratnapalas,a family of doctors.During our time there were two Ratnapalas,a male and a female.Male was in UK and I was told that he died of a massive Heafrt attack,while running to catch a bus.You may have full story about his death.
Sumathy
ReplyDeleteI agree Sumathy the population increase is colossal. Travelling from Puttalam to Anuradhapura there are houses on either side of the road all the way when it was virgin jungle when we were young.
Hi Nihal
ReplyDeleteYou have described some interesting events and activities at the HDSC,I would have loved to have been there when the Fernando Duo sang "Opisarage Duwa",Is it true that WDL did the P.M on the officers daughter?. Priyanga was a classmate of ours;Kumar,Lareef and myself at STC.
I would have also enjoyed the C T golden oldies very much.I remember "Tika Venda Nala" and never forget the happy facial expressions in people after drinks, when singing "mamma bohoma aresie premi samaga diya matha peenanne".Elvis sang a similar sexy song "Lets go on a moonlight swim".
Fabulous post, you have done well.
Hi Bora
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the post on this cold and snowy day in London. Anecdotal evidence suggests "Officer's daughter" is a true story about the daughter of a High Ranking British Officer during the days of the British Raj who committed suicide. Perhaps a bit before the WDL era.
"mamma bohoma aresie premi samaga diya bassa peenanne" does create visions of a jolly good time.
It must have been interesting to have Priyanga in the same class. Did he do any singing for fun in class? Were there any signs he would be famous? He has the charisma and the stage presence of a person from that great school by the sea.
Hi Nihal
ReplyDeletePriyanga was a class mate from 1954 to 1957,he left school early probably to go to England,he was from an affluent family.When he was with us he did not show any musical talent.He was our class monitor in 1956,captained the under 14 cricket team and was a member of the school under 16 cricket team.He was a promising left arm opening bowler.His wife Eranga is the sister of vocalist Sohan weerasinghe.
Hi Bora
DeleteI read a very interesting piece about Eranga and Priyanga in the New York Times which I though to share with you. They live in New York and still sing together and entertain audiences. Here's the link to copy and paste into your browser:
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/03/nyregion/about-new-york-carrying-tunes-all-the-way-from-sri-lanka.html
It is often most interesting to see how life has panned out for those who shared our childhood together.
There was a time when we were all bachelors and my daily routine was to come to the GHC quarters, pick up Gompa aka Nihal Goonetilleke in my old Ford Prefect and go to the Heath Department Sports Club at Castle Street for a game of Billiards. I was MO/OPD at Colombo South Hospital and Gompa was SHO to Dr. Darrel Weinman in the NSU and he was occupying Dr. Weinman's house at Longden Place. This must have been in 1969/1970. Come to think of it, this would have been just before ND got transferred to the Blood Bank from wherever he was in the periphery. So we missed each other. I left for the US on a WHO Fellowship for the first time in March 1974. From 1970 October till I left, I was in Matara after I got married.
ReplyDeleteWhen ND sent me an e-mail about the HDSC, I knew that he was collecting material for an article. I told him what I knew, that the Club is no more and that the new Health Ministry building is coming up on the site. Former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne was very keen to open the new building once it was complete, but construction work was held up many times due to various reasons.
Hi Lucky
DeleteI knew you were a regular too at the HDSC but just before my time. I now recall the Billiards table there, a popular pastime for many. Billiards was a sort of addiction for some in the faculty. The 'Marker' kept the "potha" which gave the batting order. I too played occasionally but was never good at it. I remember Lucky and Sanath Lama were pretty good players. The tournaments were interesting events that ended in a booze-up in the Common Room. Smoking was fashionable in those days and I recall Cyril Silva and Sivathondan playing the entire game balancing the cigarette between their lips, without removing it.
I do remember meeting 'Marker' when I visited the Common Room when I worked in the Central Blood Bank in the early 1970's.
The other billiards fan was Tudor.
DeleteMahen
DeleteI do recall Tudor and his billiards. He was a good at it. Tudor and I worked in surgery together at Kurunegela. That was an interesting time. When I met him again in London in the 1970's and 80's he was much subdued. When he refused a drink I nearly fell off my chair. He became a pathologist and lived in Bristol enjoying his golf. Sad he left us so early.
Kumar
ReplyDeleteMy thanks to Kumar G for sending me a wonderful write up about Eranga and Priyanga Peiris. Although I loved their brand of music I never knew the extent of their success as international entertainers. Being from our era they have aged gracefully. They well deserve their fame for being such great ambassadors for Sri Lanka. I thank them for their altruism and generosity in helping their country of birth in a multitude of ways. Here is the article you can visit by cutting and pasting into your browser.
https://www.srilankafoundation.org/walloffame/erangaand-prianga-pieris/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhen I reflect on my days in the faculty I always return to the Men’s Common Room as the place of fun. That is where we celebrated our success and also drowned our sorrows. For me what stands out are wonderful evenings organised and sponsored by the MSU. In those days I had little money and had to be frugal. The booze was free and there was no rationing. I had more than my fill. I have mentioned these before but still love to ruminate on those happy days. My earliest recollection is of R.L.Thambirajah who was a final year student when I was in the Block singing “Come and see the wild west show, elephant and the kangaroo” He sang it beautifully with all the variations. He sadly passed away in Singapore after a successful career as Professor of Obs and Gynae. I will never forget J.C Fernando’s rendition of “Saima cut wela” strumming his guitar. I’m certain many will remember IMRA Iriyagolla’s son who was a year junior to us. I recall so distinctly when he once appeared from out of the blue and sang that ever popular Mohideen Beig song “Tikiri menike ambula genalla”. He sang it so well he got a rapturous ovation. I am reliably informed he died young when he was DMO Padaviya. Somehow Patrick Fernando always seemed to appear towards the end of the proceedings to play his trumpet which seemed to light up the evening with its warm and rich sounds. His signature tune was “Suranganie ta malu genawa”. After a successful career in Psychiatry in Tasmania he passed away some years ago.
ReplyDeleteAs the evening wore on, I like many others was barely standing up. On a recent phone call to Anton Ambrose he reminded me of the time I danced on the bridge table much to the chagrin of the bridge players. I am amazed he had remembered it .
At the end of the evenings entertainment it was often left to Lucky Abey to take me home to Nugegoda in his Honda 50 Motor bike. Sometimes it was Tilak Dayaratne in his Moto Guzzi who took me home in a hair-raising flash. I quietly slipped into my grandparent’s house to sober up.
My heartfelt thanks to the MSU for such magical memories and the many friends who made them so special.
Nihal, Whenever I read your articles I enjoy equally, your language, the easy flow of thoughts, and how you hold the reader's attention so that it never strays! I really enjoyed your account of life around Health Department Sports Club. You covered a lot of ground and took us on a journey, some events which resonate well with what we've experienced during our student training and soon after as those were key years in our lives. This account is thoroughly enjoyable and it looks like you have fulfilled both your life choices of a career in Medicine and in now in Journalism in your retirement. Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable account of fond memories, the likes of which many of us have but only a few would have the talent of sharing them with equal panache. I look forward to your sharing more of your experiences with us. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is Zita again to say that your self portrait stands out as a very good likeness and this seems to be another of your talents that were hidden from us.
ReplyDeleteHi Zita
DeleteThank you for the kind comment. Glad you like my self portrait. You have been a great supporter of the blog over many years. Whatever the content and whoever is the author you have given encouragement and showed appreciation. We owe you much gratitude.
Nihal, enjoyed reading your article about the HDSC.I was a regular visitor there during the latter half of my internship with PRA,during my preliminary grade period at CH Welisara and after I joined the Faculty on the 1st of April 1969.
ReplyDeleteDuring our final year,I used to arrive very early on my Vespa scooter and eagerly await Marker's arrival. I used to book three games, 7.30am game as SPL, 12.00 noon game as Lama and another as Sanath. My regular partner was Senarath J.I was the runner-up to Kiththa W.during our final year. The next year I won the billiards title at the annual tournament of the HDSC. I beat RS Thiyagarah (husband of Sushila K.who was one of our batchmates) in the semi-final and one Perera in the final. RST was a former champion at the medical college. After that I represeted the HDSC in many tournaments together with Halim Sheriffdeen, Narendra Wijemanne and A nother.
I sat for the MRCP Part 1 examination in 1971, when it was conducted for the first time in Ceylon. There were about 70 of us and someone from the British Council arrived with a bundle, looked at his watch and sharp at 2.30 pm, opened the bundle, as the identical paper was being released in other centres abroad. The paper consisted of 60 MCQs with five responses in each and was for three hours.The first person to walk out after about 90 minutes was a candidate who wore a full suit (the only person other than the Britisher to wear a suit).I was the second person to walk out after about another 15 minutes or so and others were staring at me! The next day I recollected all the 300 questions and gave it to others who sat for the exam in 1972.It was like gold dust because there were no question banks at that time. Later the Marker cyclostyled my paper and minted a lot of money!I passed the exam and left for London on a Colombo Plan scholarship at the end of December 1971.
Another incident I remember about the HDSC is a party we had there after a medical exhibition. After drinks, during a sing-song, our Dean, OERA was lifted by some of us and Bertram Nana "bunched him"!That was Berty's way of taking revenge on him for suspending him after the Law-Medical incidents!
Sanath
ReplyDeleteThank you for those great memories and also the kind comments. I do recall you walking our of the exam hall so early while I was struggling through. I do remember the billiard tournament final but cant remember much details. You and Senarath J were regulars at billiards. I was there at the HDSC post exhibition party when the great and the good from the faculty joined in. Several Professors and tutors were present.
Nihal, I am sorry that I am so late in writing a comment on your skillful and vivid description of the goings on at the HDSC. I kept meaning to do it, but somehow it kept getting pushed to the back burner. I have never set foot in that club and didn't even know it existed until you occasionally referred to the place in your comments. Nevertheless it was interesting to read about your memories of that place. I hope you continue to enjoy your life as a "city slicker" and keep us entertained with more of your writing and art work. (Just curious, was it like an extension of the Men's Common Room?).
ReplyDeleteSrianee
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. When we were in the faculty many of us couldnt afford to drink at the HDSC. As a doctor working in the GHC the club was nearby and was like the Mens Common Room. It is a good memory of my time in Colombo.