Au Revoir and not Goodbye to Pramilla Senanayake

It is Au Revoir and not Goodbye to Pramilla Senanayake

Nihal D Amarasekera

The days in the faculty was a slice of our common past. The institution moulded a part of our character. We flew out into the wider world to carve up a career and care for our families. We have now closed the chapter on our professional lives. Calmness prevails as we embark on the final laps of our journey. 

Pramilla arrived on a flight to London at the height of the Covid pandemic when air travel was seriously hazardous. Nothing at all can keep her away from her son, the cricket and her many friends over here. While being ‘imprisoned’ by the tight quarantine regulations, Pram called the batch to organise a reunion. We met at Dhammika’s on a bright sunny day, in the posh part of London, near Buckingham Palace. As Pram extended her stay in London another reunion was arranged at our usual venue ‘The Satay House’. 

The London Reunion has now acquired a legendary status and has entered the batch folklore. It is the brainchild of Pramilla Senanayake. Every year for the past 4 years she has used her exceptional organising skills to gather the troops living in England for a summer meeting. Pram has the wonderful gift to collar, cajole or even twist the arm, if need be, to attend our gatherings.  The Satay House has been our favourite venue, a restaurant close to the Paddington Station in a quiet street away from the noise and grime of heavy London traffic. 

This all began in March 2017 when Pramilla was on a visit to London. She wanted to rekindle a Mini London-Reunion from the dying embers of the great batch reunion in Negombo. Pramilla brought with her a spark and a bit of magic to gather together a few friends in London and fire up our memories for a trip down memory lane. During her short stay, she executed her idea with a series of emails, Viber, phone calls and text messages. Pramilla was the architect, the organiser and the treasurer. We have no words to thank her enough for her efforts, patience and wisdom to bring us all together. At this stage of our lives, time is of the essence and every day is a bonus. 

 We always had a large room for ourselves. The gradual crescendo of the noise level reached its peak a few minutes after we gathered. There was a second peak after the liquid refreshments were served. We jogged each other's memories and prompted the names that had disappeared into the fog of time. The ladies in their glamour swept into the room with their youthful elegance. It was hard to believe many of them were grandmothers. The men in their dapper summer attire (grandfathers). We looked only a day older than when we were bohemian medical students with stethoscopes round our necks and walking the long corridors of the GHC. At all our Mini-London Reunions there was a wonderful buzz of excitement as we shared reminiscences and riotous exchange of jokes. Anecdotes from the past flooded the hall with peals of laughter. Despite the passage of time the closeness was palpable. As we were a small group there was huge enthusiasm to mix freely and meet everyone, and we did just that. The years seemed to slip away as we exchanged memories. 

As our time was coming to an end, then came the ever-popular photo call. Many pulled out their shiny smartphones. There was the all important group photograph. As so many photos were taken it was hard to maintain a natural smile for so long. Risus sardonicus comes to mind!! As gravity has taken over our lives, standing still for any length of time is a tough ask. Despite our infirmities and creaking joints, we managed to please the paparazzi. 

Time passed too quickly as we enjoyed ourselves and soon it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes making fervent vows to meet again.  We thank Pramilla for being such a fine hostess and organising such wonderful reunions at such short notice. Despite the confusion of nostalgia we never forgot our teachers, lecturers and professors who taught us beyond the call of duty and helped us to become useful citizens of this wonderful world. 

On this current visit, I had the enormous privilege of meeting Pramilla at lunch twice at the Royal Society of Medicine and once at the plush dining at the Wallace Collection. It was so lovely to have an unhurried chat about old times and mutual friends. She is ever so diplomatic with never a harsh word about anyone. Pram was ever so kind to visit Zita and family twice to give them love and support. 

Pramilla has been the initiator and prime-mover of the London Mini-Reunion. Although she was the chief organiser, Pramilla had the wonderful ability to maintain a low profile all through the proceedings. We all owe her a great debt of gratitude. These gatherings have been fabulous events of friendship of our batch and all our friends who joined us. We will forever remember the happiness and the laughter that filled the dining hall at our gatherings. Now we know nothing can keep Pramilla away from London. May we have the good fortune to see her again. 

As Pramilla leaves London to her home in Colombo we wish her a safe journey