MEDICAL BATCH62-67 LONDON MINI REUNION
Venue: Dammika’s Restaurant, Victoria London. Date: 27th July 2021. At 11.30 am.
Chief Organiser: Pram Senanayake.
Cast:
Pram
Senanayake
Nihal
(ND) Amarasekera
Mahendra
“Speedy” Gonsalkorale
Sunanda
“Jimmy” Wickremasinghe
Shanti
Nalliah
Sunil
Abeysuriya
Sirima
Abeysuriya
Shriyani
Batuwitage
Indrani
Anthonypillai
Rose,
(Indrani’s daughter who so kindly brought Indrani)
Mohanlal
Fernando
Narada
Wijetilleke
Loretta Balachandra
Apologies:
Harsha
and Harshi Boralessa, Maheswary Nadarajah, Susheila Thiagarajah,
Douglas
Mulgirigama, Edwis Samarakoon, Rohini Abhayaratne, Jeyaratnam
Zita
Perera Subasinghe, Sakunthala Balakumar,
Dhushyanthi Vedavanam
Susil Attale, Appu Sumathipala
The Covid pandemic did not deter our energetic and cheerful Pram from organising yet another London Mini reunion. It did limit the attendance though. Pram has limitless energy and patience and her organisational skills are legendary.
The venue she suggested and agreed by all was Dammika’s Sri Lankan restaurant in Victoria, London. It is ideally situated being just a 10-minute walk from Victoria Underground station, provided you do not get lost, which is easily done as some of us discovered! Pram arranged to have it open just for our group for lunch as she knows the owner well (is there anybody Pram doesn’t know!). It was great to have it all to ourselves on the day!
The weather was forgiving and public transport was largely unaffected. It was mandatory to wear masks in buses, trains and the underground although sadly, there were many selfish and/or misguided people who ignored it.
The whole event was very informal and no speeches were made. It was left to all to mingle and chat, moving around all the time. Joyous intermittent laughter was the order of the day. There were the usual fond recollections and reminiscences and plenty of catching up. As usual, there were many “you haven’t changed a bit!” and “just a few grey hairs”- or “a bit less hair”- euphemistically addressing the bald!
We
were honoured by the presence of two of our seniors: the ever-smiling Narada
Wijetilleke and the talented sportsman, Mohanlal Fernando.
The food was superb and very Sri Lankan- hoppers, string hoppers, rice and curry, Chinese rolls etc. The package Pram arranged was all-inclusive apart from the drinks. There were many generous people who insisted on sharing wine and other beverages. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and made even more so by the presence of some spouses. We sorely missed Zita and her husband Joe who always make it a point to come all the way from Shoreham-by-sea by taxi for these events. As all of you know, Zita is very unwell and couldn’t make it. Pram also received apologies from many she contacted by email and text messages and phone calls.
We spent about four enjoyable hours chatting, recalling and laughing, savouring every moment. We were quietly wondering for how long more we can continue these wonderful meetings as time catches up with us as it inevitably does. Make the most of whatever time we have left, reflect on the good times we had together and make every attempt to keep in touch: these were our sobering and constructive thoughts.
Thank
you Pram and thank you my friends for coming.
Speedy
Nice to see old faces again. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteVery sorry to have missed meeting you.It was very frustrating,we were parked a few hundred yards away from the restaurant,made several attempts to pay by phone for the parking but failed.
ReplyDeleteEveryone looked well,not much change. Pram thanks for organising the event.
We missed you Bora and Harshi. I know you tried hard but to no avail. Let us hope you will have better luck next time.
ReplyDeleteBy the way Indrani, I couldn't find a good photo of you in my series I took that day and I took the liberty of posting one of you I took at the last meeting at Dammika's. Hope you don't mind - you haven't changed!
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely photos and the legend of the 'legendary'!!!!
It was a wonderful occasion of nostalgia and friendship. Rajan Ratnesar's Facetime was a welcome addition. Would have loved to see Harsha and Harshi but may be next time. Our heartfelt thanks to our evergreen hostess Pramilla. You indeed did make our day despite the obstacles and Covid. We just hope, Pram, you will return again to London to keep this annual event going. Tempus fugit.
Meanwhile I wish everyone good health and happiness until we meet again.
COMMENT FROM PRAM
ReplyDeleteDear Speedy. Thank you for the account of the reunion on the blog. Indeed we all had a great time but not only because of my efforts but certainly due to the efforts of all of you who participated. On this occasion I managed to contact Primrose Jayasinghe Ranjit Kariyawasam Manil Hettiaratchi and Ranjit Dambawinna. While they were all enthusiastic some were hesitant due to the pandemic others due to grandparenting duties. Anyway all those who made the effort to
Come had a great time.
Dear friends, very happy to see your photos. I will try to make it next year hopefully, if there is one
ReplyDeleteLama, fingers crossed, I am sure there will be another meeting in 2022.I had a valid reason not to attend,this, time, Pram kindly accepaccepted.
ReplyDeletePram, kindly accepted.
ReplyDeleteI know Sumathi. you are one of our stalwarts and would have come if it was possible. wish you all the best. we missed you
ReplyDeleteI have missed a lot of friends in 1962 batch since our departure with the Finals, at the end of 5yrs.Most of them have decided to lead a quiet life.Only a handful of us are trying to keep the life long Tfriendship, active. I wish that will last, until we part from this world.
ReplyDeleteSpeedy, thank you for posting these pictures, and Pram it is fantastic that you were able to organize this event! And to everyone who jumped over the various hurdles in your lives to get there, well done! It is lovely to see your faces. When some of you first started talking about this get together I was toying with the idea of joining you, but travel restrictions and tales of last minute hassles at international airports made me hold back. We should continue to gather in small groups whenever possible. Perhaps the next time you do this I will "hop over the pond" and join you! I'm glad that Rajan joined you via Facetime. Fingers crossed, I hope I can get to Colombo in Jan '22 and see some of you. Look after yourselves, and keep smiling!
ReplyDeleteYou did say that if there was a way of making it, you would have been there. Rajan (Patas) said the same thing and we know you both meant it. Long live our friendship.
DeleteSrianne, are you going to have a short break in London in order to see some of us. Bob voyage in 2022.
ReplyDeleteBob voyage and not Bob voyage.
ReplyDeleteBon voyage, Srianne,in 2022.My smart phone had created ludicrous words. At times smart phones are beyond your control. I prefer the laptop for my comments, most of the time, in order to avoid unwelcome mistakes.
ReplyDeleteSumathi, my usual halfway stop on my way to Colombo is Hamburg, Germany, because half my family lives there now! This requires buying two separate tickets. I'm hoping I will be able to do this again in Jan, 2022, but who knows? I am taking the "wait and see" approach now.
ReplyDeleteAs for your smart phone making up words for you, it is the auto correct feature and you have to watch out for that. I try to read over what I have written before I hit "publish" or "send."
Thanks, Srianee, do not forget to enjoy hamburger 🍔 during your stay in Hamburg. Wish you a happy holiday in SriLanka and educate your friends and relatives to question Doctors with out any fear during consultations.
ReplyDeleteHi everybody.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to read the account and see photos of your mini reunion in UK. Thanks a lot Speedy for sharing and Pram for organizing it. Wish I could have joined you guys.
It's great to think that friendships forged in the Formalin reeking Block so long ago have stood the test of time . Our friendship is very special, and though we are naturally closer to some than to others I have fond memories of each and every one of you . Though I was. "K" I made good friends across the alphabet. from A to Y. Perhaps being a chatter box ( as I have been accused of being ) helped. Let's wow to keep in touch as long as we are able. My heartfelt thanks to Lucky and Speedy the Creators and Sustainers of our blog
Suri, you were and still is a breath of fresh air! Do keep in touch. As you rightly say, these friendships stretching now to am incredible 50+ years are very special.
DeleteSuri, I appreciate your comments about friendship. I find that the people I have known for a long time (like you) don't expect me to write, call or email them often to keep the friendship alive. (It works both ways!) I find that even when we meet after a long time we we pick up where we left off. I hope it will continue that way forever. About you being a "chatterbox" do you remember what my brother said? (I think it was Gihan.)
DeleteSuri,Lucky is compared with Lord Brahma and Speedy is Lord Krisna (Vishnu.
ReplyDeleteSumathi you are transferring sins to lucky and speedy by your comparisons
DeleteNithya,nice to see your comments. It is only a comparison and no sin will fall upon them from Heaven.Lord Brahma and Lord Krisna are benevolent.It Lord Siva who could behave as a malevolent God. YOU must have heard of Rudra another Manifestation of Lord Siva, who is the malevolent Manifestation.Sorry to have missed you, when you were a locum Consultant near Worksop.
ReplyDeletePram and Mahendra
ReplyDeleteJust saw your lovely mini reunion. I was able to recognise most of you in the photos. I am sure you had a great time and thankful to Pram for organising it.
We should be thankful to Lucky for creating our batch blog and Mahendra for producing these articles. This is bringing all our batch mates together and enjoying life in our old age. Chira