S R de Silva - Kumar Gunawardane

Sunil Ranjan  de Silva (SR)  The first to go

By Kumar Gunawardane

The print is very small as it has 5 columns. If you click on the post, it will appear on a new tab showing it much more clearly. Try it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! - Speedy

J C Fernando passes away on the 18th of April 2023. Speedy

J C Fernando passes away on the 18^th of April 2023

Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale

(please read all the comments from his colleagues)

This is the 49^th Member of our Batch to depart, the last being Cecil Saverimuttu in January this year. Most of this article is derived from ND’s blog post of the 20^th of October 2020.

On my many visits to Sri Lanka, I always made it a point to drop in on JC and Sura, and we had so many memorable and enjoyable evenings. I spent a lot of time refusing his constant efforts to refill my glass of Gin and Tonic! Sadly, Covid stopped me from visiting him during his final illness. He shall remain etched in my memory as a sincere and loving friend.

As most of you know, JC suffered a disabling stroke which left him with significant right-sided weakness and dysphasia. He lost his independence and was totally reliant on carers but, most of all,  on his beloved wife Suranganie or Sura as we know her. Her courage and fortitude were legendary, and his loss will leave a big hole in her life. But knowing her and having communicated with her regularly, I know she will have the strength of character to overcome this tremendous loss. In this, she will have the support of their two daughters and their families.

“Janaka Chandana Fernando (J.C)– the name raises a smile on everyone’s face. He is a force of nature that brings happiness to everyone around him. Gregarious, sociable and flamboyant are all descriptions that come to mind to portray a person we have all come to know and love since our medical school days. He had that irrepressible bohemian flair which was associated with medical students of the 1960s. In our citadel in Kynsey Road, no one epitomised the era more than JC. He enjoyed its trappings abundantly. Being from that great institution, Royal College, he knew the large contingent from that school that filled our batch and almost filled the rest of the Faculty of Medicine. JC became a part of the Faculty sooner than most”. 

“Many will remember JC arriving at the Faculty cycle shed every morning in his Honda 50 motorcycle. The Canteen was his first port of call for the customary Tea-Punt. He was a popular guy in our batch, spoke with everyone, and was friendly. With his affable ways, JC made friends with the girls more easily. This made the rest of the boys envious. JC was never shy to speak his mind, and with his loud voice, he stood out in a crowd. Born to blush unseen, we always made fun of his jet-black skin, which he accepted with civility. For his regal demeanour, I often called him the ‘Dark Knight’. All through medical school, he wore white shirts and trousers. This enhanced the contrast no end”. Note by Speedy.  I used to call him Kalu Maththaya, and he in turn responded with “Oya Kaluma Kalu Mahaththaya!

JC was tenacious, competitive and single-minded. He knew what he wanted and did what was necessary to achieve his goals. Once he had an idea in his head, there was no letting go of it. He is often frank and candid, and this attracted controversy. In any argument, He was persuasive. JC was never a pushover and fought his corner to the very end. These are characteristics of competitive sportsmen, as indeed a sportsman he was, excelling in Athletics at Royal. Despite all this, he was charming, helpful, kind, and well-liked.

Gaining entrance to the Faculty of Medicine in the 1960s was a gargantuan task. The available spaces were limited. There were hordes of applicants, and the competition was fierce. To gain entrance to the Faculty of Medicine demanded much more than intelligence and the Midas touch. JC was one of several fine sportsmen and women in our batch who had the grit, determination and strength of character to be successful.

He had tremendous enthusiasm for social events in medical school. Being a fine musician, many of us got to know JC at social functions. We sang and danced at the memorable and raucous evening booze-ups in the Men’s Common Room. My abiding memory at these events is the lithe figure of the ‘Dark Knight’ strumming his guitar, singing in graphic detail the itchy tale of “the dance of the phthirus pubis”. His signature song was “Saima cut wela” a tragic tale of a beginner’s hangover and an effective home remedy. He sang “Suranganee-ta malu genawa”, tempting fate long before they became a pair!! He capped it all with an enduring contribution to the Final year trip making the days brighter and the nights merrier.

Both Sura and JC, after a stint in the UK, forged successful careers in Hong Kong. There his work in Orthopaedic Surgery flourished, and he was greatly valued and respected. The demanding concerns for their two daughters' education eventually curtailed those happy times.

We all recognise our batch as a tribe, and the deep friendships are akin to a form of tribalism. Both JC and Sura are faithful to the tribe and their old friends. They have been enthusiastic, generous and hospitable entertainers to the multitude of winter visitors from our batch and our medical community in Colombo. They have had a fascinating life together, working in several countries and enjoying a good social life. Their two daughters have done them proud. 

JC has had a rewarding professional career. We have enjoyed his company, humanity and joie de vivre. Rarely boring or predictable, sometimes outrageous, JC was excellent company. Through his achievements, he has made his mark in the history of that great school. His was a good life well lived, and he has left fond memories which will always be treasured”.

Acknowledgements: I thank Nihal D Amarasekera (ND) for permission to use his blog article. ND was keen to express his appreciation to JC while he was still with us. I also know that JC was very touched by it.

Ref: https://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/search?q=J+C+Fernando

Dr Zhivago Remembered by Dr Nihal D Amerasekera

Dr Zhivago Remembered by Dr Nihal D Amerasekera

The Russian Revolution began during the First World War in February 1917 due to the inefficiency and corruption in the Tsarist government. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in the hope that the unrest would subside. Then the Russian aristocracy and nobility ran the country until the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, started the insurrection to overthrow the provisional government. Bolsheviks seized control of the government in Russia and later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 

The author Boris Pasternak was born in Moscow in 1890. His father was an illustrator for Leo Tolstoy, and his mother was a concert pianist.  Although he started his masterpiece soon after World War II, the epic story was completed in 1956. Dr Zhivago is one of the most enduring love affairs of the 20^th century. He dared to convey the truth about the disorder and unrest in the country, which enraged the Communist Party. He was denounced as a traitor and could not get the Soviet publishers to publish it. Pasternak took the risky step of smuggling the manuscript to Italy, where the book was first published in 1957. The book soon became an international bestseller. Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for literature in the following year. He was compelled to refuse the award. The book was not published in the USSR until 1987. Although the Communist regime allowed him to leave the country and live in exile, Pasternak wanted to remain in the Soviet Union. 

There is much debate and controversy about whether Dr Zhivago is a true story. Although considered a romantic novel, Pasternak has indeed admitted that Olga Ivinskaia is the enigmatic Lara in his book. His mistress Olga is the woman he loved until he died in May 1960.  A series of love letters, manuscripts and poems by Pasternak that were sold at Christie’s in London show their separation and imprisonments and their affection for each other all through Stalin’s purges and hardships. 

Dr Zhivago is a story of the most convulsive events of the 20^th Century and is one of the finest books of our time. I read this masterpiece as a young doctor in the late 1960s. The book records the Czarist oppression and also the horrors of the Bolshevik revolution. The descriptions of the people, the events and the breathtaking scenery brought those characters to life. This sweeping saga indeed changed the way I saw the world forever. It is a story of human passion and the love for his country then in such turmoil. The complex and continuously evolving social and cultural landscape make the love story a compelling read. Caught up in the cataclysmic events of the revolution, Yuri Zhivago’s life is truly tragic. The shuddering loss of innocence and the trials and tribulations of Lara’s life during this dark period is described in heart-rending detail. So little was known about life in Russia then. Pasternak gave us a peek into this mysterious country and its people in their darkest times. Like the great Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Pasternak had the ability to write a story with great passion, emotion and patriotism. 

Dr Zhivago, the film was directed by David Lean, a master of the sweeping historical epic and was produced by Carl Ponti. The long 3-hour film was released in 1965 and became one of the most successful films in movie history. The star-studded cast of Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chapman, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness and others made it one of the finest films ever made, winning 5 Oscars and becoming a box office hit. I was mesmerised by the beauty and charm of the scenery and the cinematography, along with the passionate and heartfelt performances. Julie Christie’s fine portrayal of Lara and Omar Sharif’s indelible performance as the young doctor brought the story together to make the film one of the finest I have watched. I felt the pain and the anguish when Yuri Zhivago deserted the partisans and walked back home, tired and bewildered, through a Siberian snowstorm.  Much of the film was made in Spain. Some of the scenes of the Siberian winter were done in Finland and Canada. The loneliness and the sweeping Siberian storms in the vast expanse of the inhospitable Varykino are so beautifully shown in the film. There are clips of the pre-revolution gaiety and the grandeur of the palaces of the rich and the hopelessness and the despair of the poor in Moscow. These extreme images of inequality help us to compare this with the harshness of what was to follow. This does grab the true spirit of the time so perfectly. Dr Zhivago is a masterful motion picture that captures the lives of a few families caught up in the revolution. It does so perfectly in such intimate and harrowing detail. 

The melodic Lara’s theme that is played all through the film, on and off, was composed by Maurice Jarre. Due to time constraints, David Lean gave him 10 weeks to compose the music. Jarre spent a weekend in the mountains above Los Angeles, where he found the inspiration for the music. He included a Balalaika to give the melody an authentic Russian feel. The music of Lara’s theme has a certain timeless quality. It has something inherently powerful that draws me to it. The melody digs deep into my consciousness and becomes part of me. Hence the theme remains one of my special favourites. The music expresses so completely and brilliantly the vast romanticism of the story. Even now, when I hear the melody, It takes me back to the film and the desolate icy wilderness of Siberia, the beautiful snow-capped Ural Mountains and Yuri and Lara’s final moments in Varykino. 

 The sadness of the civil war in Russia was a hundred years ago, and the conflict and the suffering of the people is hopefully at an end. The film and the music together make for a motion picture that can truly class itself as epic and a classic. It is a film who’s like we will not see again. Incidentally, Paul Francis Webster wrote the lyrics to Lara’s theme in 1966 and has been popular ever since. 

Dr Zhivago is not a film made to evaluate Czarist Russia and Communism. It is merely a story of those caught up in the complexities of the colossal impact of the revolution. The film starts and ends with Alec Guinness as Yevgraf Zhivago, Yuri’s stepbrother. He wanted to seek out the daughter of Yuri and Lara. When questioned by Yevgraf, the girl, Tanya Komarova, refused to answer. But he discovered that she was a musician and played the Balalaika. It is then he makes the enigmatic final statement of the film. “It’s a gift”. Yuri’s mother was a fine musician and played the Balalaika. 

Boris Pasternak continued to write prose and poetry until the very end of his life. He died of lung cancer in May 1960. Although the regime kept the news low-key, many thousands who admired his work attended the funeral. He is revered like the great Russian writers Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. At his funeral, despite the presence of the KGB and officials, a young voice recited Boris Pasternak’s banned poem called “Hamlet”. The coffin was lowered amidst cheers and the tolling of church bells. To this day Pasternak’s grave remains a shrine for the Soviet dissident movement.

Singlish and its fascination. Mahendra Gonsalkorale

Singlish and its fascination

Mahendra “Speedy” Gonsalkorale

It is hard to believe that 60 years have passed with indecent hurry since we entered that seat of learning and education, the Faculty of Medicine, in what was then Ceylon, The change from Ceylon to Sri Lanka is an illustration of how language evolves. Everything evolves, and language is no exception. It is not just proper nouns but ordinary nouns, adjectives, and verbs as well. There are many ways in which new words are added to any language. They may be invented; or formed by joining existing words, but the commonest method is through the adoption of words from other languages. The English language is full of words derived from French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and the languages of the sub-continent. Singlish is used to describe the unique language used in Sri Lankan circles. It is the quite quaint and inventive introduction of words and expressions derived from Sinhalese and Tamil mainly, to the English spoken by Sri Lankans. Singlish is particularly engaging in the way English words are pronounced and in some instances, the formation of a new word with both English and Sinhalese roots. Language is more than the transmission of knowledge; it is deeply rooted in culture. 

I was tempted to write this article after I had an interesting exchange with Srianee (Bunter to most of you!) when we discussed Shehan Karunatilake’s Booker Prize-winning “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”. Shehan makes liberal use of Ceylonisms such as aiyo, aney, no, what to do, ponnaya, kolla, lokka ,suddha, yako, chik, nakath, preta, mara poet, and even “hutto”!(p163), talking cock, pittu, “I know” I know men”. Bloody nonsense men”.  Shehan’s book is well worth reading as a literary masterpiece. Still, it is even more appealing to us Sri Lankans for observations such as on page 4 when he says, “Sri Lankans can’t queue. Unless you define a queue as an amorphous curve with multiple entry points.” 

This rekindled my latent interest in this area and I began to read the book “Trials and Transition- in the Island in the Sun” by one of Sri Lanka’s greatest satirical humourists, the journalist Tarzie Vittachi, better known as Flybynight. We are old enough (and young enough!) to remember him. His articles were enhanced with brilliant comic illustrations by the famous Aubrey Collette. The book I refer to was published in 1962, coincidentally our year of entry! I am grateful to Sarath Perera who lent me his copy.

Tarzie Vitattachi has written many other books, including Emergency 58 Ceylon, which won him the Magsaysay Prize in 1959, The Brown Sahib and The Fall of Sukarno. His newspaper columns included  "Bouquets and Brickbats" and "Fly by Night" in the Ceylon Daily News. He was the youngest Editor (32 yrs.) of the oldest Newspaper in Asia, The Ceylon Observer. He was only 72 years when he died in 1993. If you like to know more about his illustrious career, please access Wikipedia. His prose is full of humour, satire, metaphors, and clever manipulation of words. His style reminds me so much of P.G. Wodehouse, and I strongly suspect that he was influenced by him. 

I like to quote directly from his book, and I hope I can tempt you to read his books and give some thought to any medical words that have crept into Singlish. 

Mothers have for generations prayed for “Ruva athi duwek ho kata athi puthek”. 

Sir John arrived at a funeral with only one bodyguard. “As the ancient Sinhalese philosophers put it: What to do child, napuru kalata”. 

“Myeee, child, I was at St Bridget’s with Sirima”. “Sirima who?”  She did not know anyone with that sort of godayatik name. “Sirima child, Sirima Bandaranaike”. “Anney yes, why didn’t you say so”. “She had some nice qualities about her, no?”. “Ye-e-s child”. 

The Yeighty Club and the As-As-Cee.

A conversation goes like this- “Banda is a brilliant speaker, both in English and Sinhalese”

“Yes, he is ambidextrous”. 

Doctors who had found no good in Banda’s administration of the Health Ministry, and said so volubly at meetings of the GMOA, were now tripping over their own stethoscopes in their efforts to assure him of their everlasting loyalty and confidence in him as Prime Minister. 

Tarzie Vittachi on the assimilation of Sinhalese words into English. 

“There are several Sinhalese words that have become an integral part of the English Idiom used in Ceylon. There are also English words and phrases which are given a distinct Sinhalese flavour and used most effectively in conversation. There are also English words pronounced in such a distinctly Sinhalese way that they acquire a new force and meaning when used by Ceylonese. 

In my opinion Ceylonisms in English have reinvigorated and reinforced the English language used in Ceylon in much the same way and with much the same effect as Americanisms have enriched the English language used in America. 

It is useless trying to teach Ceylonese to talk English English; remember the schoolboy who had been taught that the past participle of put was not putten. One day he took a peep into his neighbour’s exercise book and exclaimed, “Sir, Sir, Sir, here this boy has put putten where he should have putten put!” 

The fly by night investigation bureau has combined a glossary of Ceylonisms. 

patas means without delay

putting parts means playing up.

Pul (rhymes with Gull)  means poor, uninteresting.

Hoo-ha  means trouble noise fuss.

Koloppan means big trouble

Thoopi (hat) means hat but it means also disaster.

Gori is a catastrophe

Gundu is a fast one a trick

jus’ be means mind your own business

putting a break is the same as putting a tuck , meal break.

Prada means low grade dull.

Galtic means a hard nut to crack type. 

Catch a proctor is mean that in Ceylon, you never retain a proctor but you always catch a proctor and put a case . (Put is used so much in Sri Lanka – put a party, put a word etc)

Suskala means at once

Abbott is a singlish gem of recent manufacture. Derived from Ayah, became ayah-bit (or piece of Ayah) which became a-bit which has now become abbot.

Godayatick means a person who is unfashionable not westernised, rural

Gintu means verve, spirit, guts; strength; rollicking. 

Shape a delightful Singlish word meaning adjust or arrange. For example the bus conductors tells the lady who was occupying a seat in which he wants to pack another passenger “Nona tikak shape vela vaadi wenna”-  lady can you change your shape to accommodate another on that seat. (Note: These days “shape” also means to arrange or get something – mama eka shape karranang) usually as a favour.

Bandaka speed means very fast and smooth. 

Tarzie Vittachi is a great fan of Shakespeare (and English literature in general). If you read the book, you will be amused by his contention that William Shakespeare is really a Ceylonese by the name of Villiong Shakesper-r-ra from Galle. “Of course, our brothers in the North said that he is actually Shakesperiyanayagam and the Muslims swore that he was in fact Vilcassim Sheikh Sufeer! 

This is just a sample and I look forward to more from you, the Readers.