REMEMBRANCE DAY (7) Kumar Gunawardane

REMEMBRANCE DAY (7) Kumar Gunawardane

CAMELOT AND ELYSIUM

“Don’t let it be forgot,

That once there was a spot,

For one brief shining moment,

That was known as Camelot.”

To many, the years in our beloved Alma Mater was Camelot. To some like me, it was a prelude to the Elysium that lay by the sea in the hamlet of Mahamodera. Memories abound of both, which brighten my sunset years, waking up my dormant neurones, in a burst of joy.

I lament having limited myself to a select special group in those halcyon years. That gap, however, is now being filled by the recollections of our blog mates, Mahen, Nihal, Bora, Srianee, Suri, Sanath, Chira et al. I rejoice reading again and again the reminiscences and exploits of the Knights of our own Round Table in Kynsey Road, and also of the charming female Confreres (1) who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in good times and bad. They revive, even for a brief shining moment, the grandeur and the glory of those golden days.

Memories

The clinical appointments were boring, occasionally terrifying and are best forgotten. The one exception was the professorial gynaecology term. The dimly lit, forbidding ward became a sanctum, owing to the kindness and beauty of a nonpareil. I would look forward each day to the setting down of the sun, to venture forth, clean-shaven, sweet smelling, clad in a fresh white shirt and slacks for a couple of hours of bliss. Had I known the lyrics, I would have crooned endlessly, “Heaven, I’m in Heaven.”

Galle evokes many memories which jostle for primacy, but it is the journeys that stand out. The first was the drive, in Sunna’s Renault Dauphine on the day prior to taking up duties as interns. He was an accomplished driver, and we sped along the ancient highway, past sleepy villages and magnificent bays with golden beaches and foaming surf, chatting all the while. The ambience, the terrain and the conversation are still imprinted in my psyche. The return trip on my first weekend off with Rohini S, on a gently rolling train carriage, too, was equally memorable, and the conversation and company delightful. There were other trips; a hair-raising ride on a pitch-black night on Sunna’s motorbike to Matara and back, a wildlife safari in his jeep and a long excursion to Nuwara Eliya to see our dear friend Amitha.

The epic journey that began in Kynsey Road and traversed four continents now lingers in the Antipodes. I will forever remember the friendships that sweetened and enriched my way. 

As the poet Khalil Gibran says.

"In the sweetness of friendship,

Let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures, For in the dew of little things,

Does the heart find its morning and is refreshed".

Note from Speedy: 1. Confreres- Fellow members of a profession