A Blast from the Past
Nihal D Amerasekera
1962 seems like a long time ago. My life changed forever as I entered the Faculty and much of what happened then remains a haze. There are a few memories that still remain. Life then was a dream. It was hard to handle the adulation and keep my feet on the ground. I developed a sinister arrogance and an assured sense of entitlement. I dreamed of living happily ever after. Life always has ways to bring us back to reality!! The rest, as they say, is history.
Those were our formative years and we were all in it together. The hard toil and the trauma of those five years brought us closer. Our batch of 150+ students showed tremendous unity and loyalty to the batch. Most of what I remember now are the good times. I still recall with nostalgia the booze, baila and the bawdy songs at those MSU parties in the Common Room.
As I snuggle up in my rocking chair by the heater, I can hear the wind howling outside. It’s a bitterly cold -1C. In the warmth of my chair, many memories of the past flash through my mind. One that stands out this foggy morning is our very first evening booze-up in the common room, perhaps to iron out, forgive and forget the indiscretions of the rag just completed. The Common room was common only to the men in those distant days. The booze flowed freely the singing became louder and the dancing became more vigorous as the evening wore on. We were then raw green freshers enjoying the event when a final year student R.L Tambyraja walked in through a dark corridor. He was smart, charismatic and eloquent. He ushered in a group of us into the corner by the billiard table and started to singing “Come and see the wild west show, Elephant and the kangaroo, never mind the weather as long as we are together, come and see the wild west show.” And he went on and on with his beautiful singing voice.
for him. Life was hectic with marriage and bringing up children and pandering to my new career in radiology. When finally I was relieved of my onerous duties, I managed to find out more about RL Tambyraja. He was a fine product of that school by the sea, St Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia. During an illustrious school career, he was appointed as the Head Prefect of the school. After a fine academic career at the Faculty of Medicine Colombo, he proceeded to the UK and qualified as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. After some years in Sri Lanka, he emigrated to Singapore, where he worked as a Consultant. He became a greatly respected Obstetrician who contributed enormously to the maternity services in Singapore. He made many erudite contributions to the academic journals. Dr R.L Tambyraja became Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Singapore. He was better known as Ranjithan Tambyraja. He passed away aged 70 years in 2008.
Thank you Nihal for this contribution. I knew he was from that "other" school but didn't know him personally. As you say, he achieved great heights in Singapore and sadly we lost him aged only 70 years. There are so many Sri Lankans who have distinguished themselves abroad and Ranjithan was certainly one of them
ReplyDeleteThank you Nihal for your reminisces about student days.
ReplyDeleteI remember the song you refer to but I seem to remember the words as reading Come and see the wild west zoo, The elephant and the kangaroo... Zoo rhymes better with Kangaroo! Perhaps my memory is wrong.
Yes the Boys common room was "no entry" to us girls.. The only time we were tolerated were the annual MSU parties , and of course the Table Tennis matches. I remember coming up to the finals in the mixed doubles with JC as my partner , only to be defeated by the Lucas brother and sister of national fame !
I also remember how a few of us penned a love letter to Harsha Samarajiva on the 28th of February and got Marker to pin it on the Common room notice board !
Yes Speedy there are many Sri Lankans who made their mark abroad. Prof Thambiraja is certainly one of them. Tony don Micheal is another that comes to mind
Suri
Thanks for your lovely comment Suri. The lyrics are wild west show, not zoo. Here is a link for you to watch on YouTube.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/bTWK9zmFDZ0?si=fSlS3lYaBx5GN8mq
Thank you Suri for commenting and your reminiscences which will no doubt raise a smile from the man himself, Harsha.
DeleteYou may be right about the lyrics of that song. It certainly rhymes better that way.
Ranjithan Tambyraja had a certain magnetism and was a phenomenon. He graced the faculty and the profession and was admired by many all through his life. His regal entry into the common room that fine evening showed his sheer class and charisma.
The other highlight was of course playing of the trumpet by Patrick Fernando. Patrick’s golden trumpet filled the night air with music. I remember him play “Suranganeeta malu genawa” with such verve and vigor that it lit up the common room. The music transported us to a different planet. Patrick lived in Tasmania and passed away a couple of years ago. My abiding memory of those parties is the music and the dancing in various stages of inebriation. Those diverse dance maneuvers defied gravity and some of the slithery gyrations were an anatomical marvel. JC Fernando and his guitar produced much of the captivating and gripping entertainment.
I do remember Lucian Wijetunge (now in Australia) doing a fine baila which would have won any dance competition. His swift leg movements reminds me of the Irish River Dance. One of my enduring memory of this great event is Deva Iriyagolla from our junior batch singing that Mohideen Beig favourite “Tikiri menike ambula genalla” with such sensitivity and feeling. It saddens me to think he died so young while being the DMO at Padaviya in the North Central Province.
Mahendra Gonsalkorale stuck to his principles. Without taking even a sip of alcohol he had the exceptional ability to join in the fun. He was an audacious illusionist who could create this pretense of being drunk just holding a glass of ginger ale. This looked so much like the Arrack we drank.
As I pointed out in my comment. it is wild west show and not wild west zoo. Sorry Suri!
DeleteThank you Mahendra for your well researched correction
DeleteThat was me ND using my iPhone
DeleteThank you Speedy for the correction about the words of the song.
DeleteI remember Patrick Fernando and his Trumpet very well. My most vivid memory is how when we went on SCM Carolling every year, he would wake up every body playing "Christians awake , salute the happy morn " at 1-2 in the morning at full blast !
I have made an error in typing in my earlier comment it was on the 29 th of February we proposed to Harsha .
Suri
I miss Patrick terribly. He was such fun and a very good friend. I continued to keep in touch with him after he went to Tasmania and I last visited him only a few months before he passed away. He had that great ability to enthuse everybody, make people laugh and he was a great entertainer, blowing his own trumpet being his special skill! I owe my interest in Psychiatry to him and his boss Prof Channa Wijesinghe.
DeleteI remember dancing on the bridge table in the common room at one of those sing-songs at the chagrin of the bridge players. I lived in Nugegoda and it always fell on Lucky Abey to take me home in his Honda 50 motor cycle. Lucky was a sensible drinker and never to excess.
ReplyDeleteNihal
ReplyDeleteThanks for your 'Blast from the past'.
This brings back pleasant memories.
I remember the rag which we had to go through with fun. I remember wearing mismatching saree and blouse of green and blue with two different coloured slippers. The neckless was made of vertebrae. It was hi fun !
When I look back I feel sorry that some of our friends have left us and we miss them very much.
Anyway let us communicate with the rest of us who are remaining in our planet, till we finally take our leave.
Till such time let us enjoy life and be happy.
Chira
Yes Chira
ReplyDeleteI remember the mismatching green sari and blue blouse we were compelled to wear on the 3rd day of the rag.I felt such an idiot having to use public transport and I remember
getting some strange looks. maybe I was just self-conscious and embarrassed . The first two days we had to wear a school uniform without the tie or badge and tennis shoes without socks. The lumbar vertebra necklace was also compulsory.
The strange thing is that today green and blue together is considered fashionable particularly Vishnu Blue . There are beautiful silk saris with this combination.
What I remember vividly is the 2 nd rag our batch boys were subjected to after their visit to Castle Street Girls School on the day if the Law Medical Match.They were suspended for two weeks except 6 boys ( who were promptly christened cadavers) who did not own up as being guilty of the offence. All the rest stood up in solidarity in support of the really guilty!
I remember making copies of our Physiology notes for the suspended batch mates
Suri
Nihal
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the "Blast from the past".The only thing I can clearly remember of our maiden Boozy party in the common room, is one N.D.Amarasekera ,seated on a chair staring into space, oblivious of what was going on around him.I understand R.L.Thambirajah took care of you.
In 1953 I was a boarder in the STC Mount, Miller House junior dormitory and R.L Thambi three years my senior was in the Miller senior dorm.We played in the under sixteen inter house football competition, Thambi was centre forward and I along with my brother Ranjith were the full backs.Miller House won the Shield that year.Thambi was the only player in our team who wore proper football boots, the rest of us wore tennis shoes or played bare footed.The rival defenders had a bruising time attempting to tackle him.I believe Thambi got married to a pretty girl by the name of Bartlett from our immediate Junior batch.
I detested the Rag. I found it strange that ugly practices which would be legally punishable were "accepted" during rags. Rags were cruel, inhuman and demeaning. It was playing field for perverts and the deranged. I suffered it twice, the first at inception and the second after the infamous Castle Street raid. The second one caused a terrible diarrhoea as we were forced to swallow a laxative. I found it strange when our "seniors" told us that ragging was necessary to "build our character" and make all of use "equal" where many different cultural and schooling backgrounds existed. It was a bit of a compensation when the Seniors came and had friendly chats after the rag was over.
DeleteHi Bora
DeleteGlad you liked my memories of long ago. I do remember "Pachaya" watching us briefly from the sidelines with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face.
That was indeed a jolly good party but I wasn't a goner like you had described. I was there to the bitter end to enjoy the music only to be taken back home by Lucky Abey, my saviour.
I just wonder if they have those parties still and if the common room is common to the girls.
Nihal
DeleteApologies.What I described may have been at a different booze party in the common room.
Bora
DeleteNo need to apologise. I took it in the spirit it was written. Looking through the haze of 60 years, a mistaken identity. Being inebriated at a party in the common room is a common occurrence and for many is another feather in the cap!! There have been many occasions when that extra one for the road took me from being dizzy and delightful to being dead drunk. The mere thought of it gives me the hangover vulgaris.
Hi Bora, I think Thambyraja's wife may be Mano Bartlett, who was with me at LC for a few years. She joined us from Kandy HS perhaps. I lost touch with her completely after Medical College. Thamby was young when he passed away, just 70 years. I wonder where Mano is now? She was a lovely person.
DeleteSrianee
DeleteThamby married Mano Bartlett. I did not know her but she looked lovely.No idea where she is now.
Dear friends, I had to wear a white coat, one tennis shoe and direct traffic at the Carey College junction. During the inquisition by the Dean (Patchaya) regarding the Castle street incident, V P H Rajapakse mentioned that he was standing on the rear half of the lorry, which was outside the gate ! Patchaya threatened to use the electron microscope , so as to identify the students.
ReplyDeleteOn the Sunday morning when Bertram Nanayakkara came home on his BSA Bantam motorbike, I showed his photograph which appeared on the front page of the Sunday Times newspaper. Berty got very excited and hid his motorbike in our garage and went for the match on my Vespa.
Sanath, I stood up at Pachaya's inquisition and pleaded guilty of being there. He was confused and said my photo is not there but I told him that JC's Honda was there and I was his pillion rider!
DeleteOn the Castle street incident. When questioned by Pachaya there was one guy who raised his hands to say he was in the lorry but said he didnt go to the school. On cross examination he said only half the lorry went into the school and he was on the other half. This raised loud laughter despite the seriousness of the situation.
ReplyDeleteSanath
ReplyDeleteI remember the Dean's threat to use the Electron microscope.Clueless about its use ,at that time.
There is an article I wrote about alcohol which may wish to read. A personal story.
ReplyDeletehttps://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/search?q=bacchus
good to see the lovely exchange of recollections and I hope many more will contribute
ReplyDeleteHello friends, I apologize for joining in late. Nihal, thank you for writing this and stimulating the conversation. It is very interesting to read the recollections of different people. I remember having to wear the mismatched saree and blouse. I think tennis shoes were part of that outfit. I also remember wearing a hibiscus flower in my hair. (I don't think I wore it on the bus from Wellawatte!) Strangely, I don't remember the necklace of vertebrae!
ReplyDeleteAbout the Men's Common Room, I don't believe I ever set foot there during my time in Medical College. I hear it is coed now. During our time, the Women's Common Room was pitiful. Often there weren't enough seats if we wanted to sit down. There was a Carom board, but there wasn't enough space for a table tennis table.
Suri, I don't remember the women in the batch proposing to Harsha. His policy of "not speaking with females" was such a gimmick! Just to get attention! I've often accused him of that later and he just grins!
Mahen, I liked reading about you faking being drunk! I know a few other people who have done that.
Regarding the Castle Street Girls' School incident, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during Pachaya's "Inquisition." I remember Lucky Weerasooriya and U.V. A. de Silva coming over to my home in Mt. Lavinia at the time to borrow lecture notes. I think our batch had a rather checkered history, in comparison to other batches!
The reason for my delay in joining in is because I have been having some technical difficulties here in Colombo. I lost the internet connection for a couple of days while trying to install something on my computer. (My tech-support nephew was attempting to do so.) It was an interesting experience dealing with SLT Customer Service! Between the technical jargon and Sinhala being spoken at breakneck speed we had a major communication failure. I finally had my nephew intervene and all is well now. Phew!
Srianee
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to our Blog. You are absolutely right about Thambyraja's wife. She was Claire Manonmani (Nee Bartlett). I hasten to add this information is from the Daily News obituary and not from my phenomenal memory for trivia!!
About the infamous Law-Medical of our year I remember Tudor Wickramarachchi was enraged by those who didnt join the rest of the batch to own up for some of the misdeeds and hence avoided punishment. These happened over 60 years ago and best used as a bit of history of our batch and something to smile about.
I just considered the rag as something we had to endure to be part of that 'exclusive club'. I don't condone it now but didnt feel so strongly against it at the time. I didnt rag anyone although I was amused by the antics the freshers had to perform. I have heard of the excesses at Peradeniya and the sad loss of young lives. I do sincerely hope it has been abolished and outlawed.
These are some of the things I see on my retro-spectroscope although it is hard to emulate 'Pachaya' - God Bless Him.
Srianee, thank you for joining the fun! I hope your IT issues are now resolved and you are able to access stuff via VPN. It must be great to have a local tech expert and a nephew at that!
ReplyDeleteI have expressed my distaste for the rag concept. I am a firm believer in indivdual rights and the concept of consent and non-coercion. Having said that, I too can recall some funny things that happened during the rag. Here are a few. I remember playing table tennis in the mens common room with a colleague. So what's funny about that? Well, we had no racquets and no ball! We played this imaginary game in all seriousness. The boys also had to wear something out of the ordinary and I am not absolutely certain but we had to wear different right and left shoes and wear a tie loosely round the neck. At one stage we were asked to line up and stand on one leg only for some time. All the time, there was a strong sense of hierarachy- the honourable seniors (sir!) and us ordinary podians.
During the rag when it was our turn with the new batch of juniors, a batchmate of ours who shall remain nameless, went round the men collecting their trouser buttons (removable ones were easy but the sewn ones were cut off with scissors). He went round saying "trouser buttons! trouser buttons!".
About my pretending to be drunk, it was particularly useful in our "trips". A generous bartender would walk around filling or topping up glasses amongst the dancing fun lovers. If you refuse, you had it! VPH refused and the poor chap was placed against the wall. Some would hold down his arms and others would tilt his head back and pour arrack. VPH had the difficult choice of either drowning or swallowing and not surprsingly, he "chose" to swallow. A few hours later, a somewhat ataxic VPH with a silly grin on his rotund face was found outside counting ants emerging from an ant hill!
While on the subject of strange happenings, some (or most)of you may recall that Prof Vaas, our Anatomy professor later, was setback by one year (or maybe two) by a suspension. During this time, he worked as a Demonstrator in the Anatomy Dept. His crime? He dressed up a cadaver, dragged it into the common room, spilt tomato juice on the front of the white shirt (chest area) and called the Police for an apparent murder!
I think that would do for the moment!
It is my impression that we had more girls than boys in our batch. Much of the crude misdemeanour that occurred at the Law Medical and many of our other events including Block Concert and final year trip would have been cleaner and more enjoyable for the many if females were allowed to join. As for me I enjoyed as much as I could during those 5 years in the faculty. I do hope at present females are included in all events in the faculty.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rag I dont know if it still goes on and if so what form it takes. It is for the teaching staff to join in the initiation of freshers to show them the do's and don'ts and what is expected of them as medical students. Some of our teachers supported the rag or turned a blind eye to the goings on. Prof Lester Jayawardene and Prof Rajasuriya were the exceptions.
Nihal
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Manonmani Barlett Thiagarajah's wife, I like to mention that she was a classmate of mine and Pramillas at Methodist College, Colombo.
I think she was a cousin of Mahesen Richards. I had lost touch with her.
I am sad to know that she has passed away.
Chira
Hello Chira it’s me Nihal. I don’t know if Manonmani Bartlett is alive or not. She was married to Tambyraja and I saw her name in Tambyraja’s obituary.
ReplyDeleteNihal
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry, since you said about an obituary notice, I thought it was hers you mentioned.
Chira
No worries Chira. No one should feel offended as the fog of time has made it hard for us all to make any sense of the past and of the people who were in our lives.
Delete