BATCH 62 REMEMBRANCE DAY - 2022
Message from Mahendra “Speedy”
Gonsalkorale, actng Blog Admin
“Our dead are never dead to us, until
we have forgotten them” – George Eliot*
The 30th of May is the day we remember our dear departed friends from
our batch. This is now a special date in our Calendar. We have most aptly
called this our “Remembrance Day.”
I can hardly believe that yet another year has passed since we
commemorated Remembrance Day in 2021!
We are all very concerned and worried about the current sad situation prevailing
in our much-loved country of birth, It was gratifying to see the amazing
responses in so many ways by our colleagues
to provide help. Let us hope that Sri Lanka will emerge from this crisis. One thing is certain
- we have the expertise and the dedication required- it just has to be
harnessed.
We have contributions from Nihal (ND), Rohini and Srianee (Bunter) so far which I
am posting with the greatest pleasure in the next few days. Rohini has
contributed a poem and Nihal (ND) has written a beautiful and thoughtful essay
and Srianee has written in her unique appealing style.
*Footnote: The quotation above reflects how much progress we have made in gender equality. George Eliot is in
fact a female, Mary Anne Evans, an English
novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the
Victorian era and as so many females did in that era, chose a male nom-de-plume
to gain recognition.
Remembrance Day posts will appear daily for a few days as there are many
contributions. Please email me if you would like to send yours. Most welcome
Members of the 1962 Batch who have
passed away (Revised 02.02.2022)
1. S.R.
(Sunil) de Silva
2. A.R.K.
(Russel) Paul
3. Dawne
de Silva Paul
4. Bernard
Randeniya
5. Niriella
Chandrasiri
6. V.
Ganeson
7. L.G.D.K.
(Irwin) Herath
8. V.Kunasingham
9. B.L.
Perera
10. B.
Somasunderam
11. N.C.D.M.
Gunasekara
12. K.Sunderampillai
13. Tudor
Wickramarachchi
14. K.N.
(Kiththa) Wimalaratne
15. Anna
Ponnambalam Sathiagnanan
16. A.
Satchitananda
17. N.
Sivakumar
18. T.A.
Dayaratne
19. Sidath
Jayanetti
20. N.
Balakumar
21. Kamali
Nimalasuriya de Silva 14.4.2013
22. K. Sri
Kantha – 15.9.13
23. P. Lucien
Perera – 14.6.14
24. Priya
(Gunaratna) de Silva – 8.10.14
25. Arul
(Sivaguru) Balasubramaniam – 15.10.14
26. W. Punsiri
Fernando – 15.11.14
27. W. Rajasooriyar
– 6.1.15
28. M.P.C.
Jaimon – 26.3.15
29. S.
Vedavanam – 1.7.15
30. Farouk
Mahmoud – 27.11.16
31. Janaka
(JG) Wijetunga – 13.03.17
32. Manohari
Navaratnarajah Shanmuganathan – 22.03.17
33. D. B.
Mahendra Collure – 31.05.17
34. Suren Iyer
– 13.10.17
35. Sardha
Jayatilake Wijeratne (Passed away 3 years ago)
36. S.
Sarvananda – 26.05.18
37. Sue Ratnavel
Gunsegaram - 16.7.2018
38. Boyd
Tilak (Chula) Batuwitage - 10.12.2018
39. Ranjit
Kuruppu 9.4. 2019
40. C.D. (Desmond)
Gunatilake 2.6.2019
41. Razaque
Ahamat 7.7.2109
42. H.N.Wickremasinghe 8.11.2019
43. Kamini
Ferdinando (Goonewardena) 31.1.21
44. Lakshman Weerasooriya ( 15 Jan 2022)
Since our last Remembrance Day, one more colleague has joined the list and the following is from a post I did about him.
DR LAKSHMAN (LUCKY) P WEERASOORIYA MD
Lucky belongs to the famous and illustrious
Dodanduwe Weerasooriya clan. He was a General Practitioner based in Englewood
Florida, USA. He was married to his teenage sweetheart Ruvini and they have 3
sons. The first two, Romesh and Shanaka, are Dentists and the third Viraine is
a Paediatric Gastroenterologist. Lucky had a degenerative neurological
condition which made him dependent in his last years. He was well cared for by
his loving wife and children.
We all join in sending our deepest condolences to
his family.
Tomorrow I shall post Nihal’s article.
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for opening the Remembrance Day proceedings with a poignant reminder of our loss with that ever increasing list of names. Each one of them endured the toil with us and enjoyed the friendship and the camaraderie that was ever present throughout those happy years.
I gratefully remember and dedicate this Poem for the Fallen by Robert Lawrence Binyon to all our batchmates who have now departed this life.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Thanks, Nihal. I hope to receive many more contributions over the next few weeks. I shall also add some comments as they appear, to the main body of the post for easy access and visibility
ReplyDeleteMahen, Thank you for your efforts in launching this . It is sad to think nearly one third of our batch have left us. May they have eternal peace.
ReplyDeleteI visited Lucky in Englewood, Florida in 1988, when I was on holiday with my family. I drove from Orlando airport in a Hertz rented vehicle and saw many alligators on our way. His garden led to a creek which had his boat. One evening we went fishing in that boat. Later I caught some crabs from the creek and Ruvini prepared a delicious crab curry which all of us ate with string-hoppers. It was indeed a very memorable evening. When we left I made an entry in their visitor's book. The previous entry had been made by Alahendra, who died in a motor car accident on their way back from Lucky's house. His wife also died in the same accident.
ReplyDeleteSanath, thanks for your memories. It was sad to read the end bit though. Such is life.
DeleteMahen, sorry for the belated comment. Thank you for your efforts in keeping this tradition going. Yes, our most recent friend to leave us (Lucky W.) was a. very special guy.
ReplyDelete