Graduation in transport. Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya

Graduation in transport

Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya

Introductory note by Speedy.

This should spark a lot of discussion and will resonate with many of us. I, for one, associate many of my life events (and those of others) with the mode of transport we used at the time. Thank you Sanath for posting this. I shall post my own memories of transport as a comment. Over to you now Sanath!

Sanath 1962 and now

When I was studying at Royal College, I sat for the 4th Form examination in December 1957. Out of 140 boys, I was placed first and was awarded the Form Prize, as well as the Gate Mudaliyar Tudor Rajapakse Memorial Prize, which consisted of a book voucher worth Rs 100.00. I went to the Caves Bookshop with my father and purchased several books. My father was so pleased with my performance that he offered me anything I wanted. I wanted a bicycle; my father took me to Hunters in the Pettah and requested me to choose what I wanted. I opted for a Raleigh bicycle with all the possible extras such as a dynamo, speedometer, milometer, bell, stand, etc. When I cycled to school, my friends were amazed by what they saw and lined up to have a ride!

I think the bike cost about Rs. 200.00. I used to cycle to school from my residence at Wellawatte, thereafter. I used the bike after entering the Colombo Medical Faculty as well, for a few more months.

I decided to write a long letter to my father that if I had better transportation, I could devote more time to my studies. My plan worked and I bought a Vespa scooter (4 Shri 955) for Rs 2050.00. In 1969. Petrol costs about Rs. 2.50 per gallon and I spent Rs . 5.00 per week on petrol. I continued to use it after joining the Colombo Medical Faculty as a lecturer. In 1971, I bought a Triumph Herald car after selling the Vespa scooter for Rs. 4000.00. The car cost me Rs. 10,000.00. When I went to London in December 1971 on postgraduate study leave, I sold the car to Basil Abeysekera, whom I had met during the six-month course at the Science Faculty in 1961. Basil entered the Peradeniya Faculty.

In London I bought a Ford Anglia car for STG (Sterling) 60.00. Later I purchased a Vanden Plas car with luxury fittings in the interior (wood panelling, picnic tables, snow tyres etc.).

When I returned home in December 1971, as car imports were restricted, I had to apply for a car permit from the Central Bank. I had to submit evidence of my earnings abroad as well as all the counterfoils of the cheques I had issued. It took one year for me to obtain the permit. I had included a bicycle in my sea baggage and after it arrived I used to cycle for work. As I used to arrive at the LRH in a bath of sweat and as there were no facilities for a shower, I had to quit cycling and travel by bus.

During Mrs B's regime, only two models of cars were available to choose from, a Toyota Corolla or a Nissan Datsun; I opted for the latter. The car cost me about Rs. 60,000.00. After using it for several years, I sold it for about Rs 80,000.00 and bought a Mitsubishi Lancer for about Rs. 100,000.00. When I went on sabbatical leave to Saudi Arabia in 1988, I sold it for a profit.

In Saudi Arabia, I purchased a Honda, which served me well. I drove from Al Khobar to Riyadh which was about 1000 km away, to visit the American Embassy to obtain visas to visit the US. After I returned to Galle in 1989, I bought a Mitsubishi Lancer Estate car. Later, after car permits were re-introduced, I purchased a Land Rover Freelander, which was the first SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) that I owned. Few years later I purchased a Honda CRV, which was a better vehicle. With the onset of the fuel crisis, I changed it to a Toyota CHR. As the queues for fuel became longer, I decided to buy an electric car, which was a Nissan Leaf. As I have installed solar panels at my residence in Gothami Lane Borella, the running costs are minimal. I travel to Ratnapura to teach students in the Toyota CHR and use the Nissan Leaf in Colombo. For the last several years I have had a resident chauffeur as I no longer enjoy driving at night.

Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya MBE

My woodworking Hobby: Subramanium Balachandran

My woodworking Hobby

From  S Balachandran (Photos from 1964 and 2022)

I was delighted when Bala commented on my "To Blog or Not to Blog Post". 

Hi Mahendra,
I am grateful for the presence of the Blog, and I take my hat off to Lucky for having initiated the Blog. I am like one of the comments mentioned about keenly following the blog, but seldom contributed. I think in the twilight hours of our life, we need to keep in touch through the blog, given that travel and face-to-face meetings are becoming ever more difficult. It would be interesting and appropriate to have photo recollection of colleagues. Needless to say Speedy, you are doing a wonderful job of promoting.

I have not been following the blog regularly since losing my lifetime partner, Pat recently. While she was alive a year ago, I started making nearly 20 ‘Keepsake Boxes' for my family and close friends. This is one way to keep myself occupied during these difficult days. I still do some part-time ‘doctoring’. I would like to share some of my recent additions to my woodworking collection.

As we continue to lose many of our colleagues, it reminds me of the saying, ‘Dance before the music is over. Live before your life is over’. Speedy, please do not get discouraged. You are doing a great job, and keep it alive,  Bala

Bala followed this up with this email.

Hi Speedy, I try to keep myself active by devoting my spare time to woodworking, some gardening, and chasing the little white ball. My recent loss has certainly made it hard for these activities. But life must go on!

Here are some of my recent indulgences in woodworking. I do not have the luxury of my Old Shop. Now, I am confined to my garage, and it's quite a chore to manipulate some of the heavy machinery.

However, I enjoy dabbling in assorted exotic lumber... Cheers, Bala..

 Picture 1

Picture 2

Display cabinet - Made of Birdseye maple, Bloodwood, and cherry trim. By its side is a wine rack.

Picture 3

The third is cherry and curly maple. The arch handles are the difficult part of the trays.

Picture 4

Wooden Lamp Shade - The shade itself was made of maple, delicate and strenuous. The base is made of dark walnut.

Picture 5

Picture 6

I hope you enjoy looking at these works of art from Bala. I have added a "then and now" photo also  (which will delight Suri!)- Speedy

To Pumpkin Plant-by Rajalakshmi Ganeswaran

A lovely surprise! Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale

When I emailed batchmates regarding our Blog, I had a lovely surprise when Rajalakshmi Ganesvaran-née Chellappah emailed me with a beautiful poem written by her, which I am delighted to post. 

To Pumpkin Plant

by Rajalakshmi Ganeswaran

I planted you as a seedling in the front yard

Fed you with compost from the bin,

You soon took off,

crawling in all directions

Searching for the shining sun

Your lush green leaves mopped up

The carbon emitted by exhausts

helping to reduce global warming

Your golden yellow flowers attracted the

Perishing bees and butterflies

The bees hummed and butterflies

Danced on seeing the powdery pollen

They both got drunk on sucking

The sweetest honey

The plump fruits fed us during

The covid shutdown

Passers-by initially wondered

What this green cover was

Now, I realise you are a rewarding vine

The photos shows her as she appeared in the sig book with a current update.

I subsequently contacted her by email and learnt that after her internship in Jaffna, she worked in the Health Department for about fifteen years, followed by a few years in the UK. She then migrated to Australia in 1990 and worked as a GP for about twenty-five years.

Another "surprise" will follow soon, and this time after "Yankee"  Bala emailed me with some beautiful examples of his woodwork. I am so pleased with the rekindled interest in the Blog.

FAMILY NEWS FEATURE-2

FAMILY NEWS FEATURE: Contribution No 2:  From Dr. Chirasri. D. Jayaweera Bandara

I am pleased to inform you that my daughter, Anjali, has been appointed as a Consultant Eye Surgeon at Dambulla Hospital.

This photograph was taken after the convocation

She passed the MD ophthalmology finals in Sri Lanka and completed her one-year overseas training in Norwich, UK. She passed her FRCOph. UK examination during this period.

I went to the UK to attend her Convocation on September 4, 2024. 

Our time, it was FRCS Lond, conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons, London and the cloak had red panels in front. 

When the The Royal College of Ophthalomologists, UK was formed The FRCOph.UK Certificate was awarded to all those who had the FRCS Lond. Certificate. 

Our batch Bora organised a get-together on the 6th of September in London. Anjali met Mahendra, Nihal, Bora, Harshi, Bernadette and Husband Joe, Kariyawasam and wife Hemanthi, Sunil and wife Srima, Malkanthi and husband David. Some of you might remember Malkanthi from our Peradeniya batch who did the internship at the General Hospital, Colombo and was in the same quarters with Pramilla, Harshi and myself. Her husband, David Anthonise, was a classmate, batchmate and roommate of my brother’s in the Engineering Faculty, Peradeniya. They happen to be very good friends of Bora and Harshi. 

 I am very thankful to Bora for organising this get-together, as we had a lovely time, although Anjali couldn’t wait for the sumptuous meal. I felt embarrassed that I was considered a chief guest and was not allowed to pay for my lunch. 

Link: https://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/2024/09/gathering-in-london-to-greet-chirasri.html#comment-form

You might remember that Anjali sent a video on Phaco Cataract Surgery, when Mahendra did an interview with me on “ Ask the Expert “ regarding Cataract Surgery on 1.1. 2022. 

Link for “Ask the Expert”  https://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/2022/01/ask-expert-1-chirasri-jayaweera-bandara.html#comment-form

FAMILY NEWS FEATURE -1

FAMILY NEWS FEATURE: Contribution No 1: FROM SANATH LAMABADUSURIYA

Sanath Lamabadusuriya very kindly responded to my request to batch colleagues to send me news of family members' achievements. Sanath is justifiably proud of his son Harshan. This is his email to me.

Please send me any family news you would like to share.

Dear Mahendra and Nihal,

Thank you very much for the invitation to contribute to our blogspot

Our second son, Harshan Indrajith Lamabadusuriya is currently a Consultant Paediatrician in Swindon. He is an Oxbridge graduate, domiciled in the UK. He is married to Michelle Gunasekere, a Consultant in Nephrology, and has one son, Inesh. 

Before he left for the UK in 1996, when I went there on sabbatical leave with my family, he won many Scrabble tournaments and represented Sri Lanka as well. He became the British National Scrabble champion in 2003, defeating a British physicist 3-0 in the final.

This year he won the UK Open Scrabble Championship, which is more prestigious. because there were participants from all over the world, unlike the earlier tournament which was confined to British citizens.In 2017 he held the world record for the highest number of points for a single word, namely Kreuzers which scored 329 points.

In 2017 he was the runner-up in the World Scrabble Championship.

In the mid 1990s he won the Countdown tournament on Channel 4 of British TV.

He was featured in the London Times recently, the links of which I sent both of you via WhatsApp.

Kind regards,

Sanath

“ADOLESCENCE” - A REVIEW OF A TV SERIES -Srianee Dias

           “ADOLESCENCE” - A REVIEW OF AN EXCEPTIONAL TELEVISION SERIES

                                                  A Cautionary Tale.     By Srianee Dias.

Thanks to Srianee for this brief but most helpful review. If others want to bring a TV or a cinema series like this to our notice, please send them to me. I am sure our readership will love them.- Speedy

 

Several weeks ago, I sat down to watch the first episode of “Adolescence”, which had been recommended by a friend.  It was streaming on Netflix and was not too difficult to locate.  I knew that the subject matter was rather serious, so I had to be in the correct frame of mind to start watching it; a limited series consisting of 4 episodes.

The story is about a young boy who is accused of murdering a classmate.  It is not a “Whodunit” but more of a “Whydunit” as described in a review I read.  Once the first episode was over, I couldn’t stop.  I kept on going, watching all four episodes.  Luckily, I had started my ‘binge watching’ fairly early in the evening.

The story is heartbreakingly simple. 

The family consists of hardworking, normal parents, two teenagers, a daughter, and a son, Jamie.  Like most dads, the father tries to get the young boy involved in sports and other “masculine” activities, but the son prefers drawing and other artistic activities.  When Jamie was spending a lot of time on his computer alone in his room, the parents were not too concerned.  After all, that’s what teenagers do.  Their world turned upside down, however, when the police arrived one day and arrested the boy.  The police had indisputable evidence.

The story continues in the next three episodes, focusing on the questions arising from this event.  What pushed a young, normal boy to commit such a heinous crime?  How does a family cope with such a tragedy?  The creators/writers purposely presented the story from the perpetrator’s perspective, probing into his motives and reasons. 

I don’t want to divulge too many details of the story.  The acting is phenomenal and grips us with the intensity of their emotions. The director uses unusual camera techniques, such as a single take for each episode, which makes everything more real. It is a British production and it is generating a lot of discussion, on the BBC, in the newspapers, and among the general public. I believe the British Prime Minister suggested that it be shown in every middle school. 

I believe it is not the teenage population that needs to see it, but parents who are out of touch with what goes on in their kids’ lives.  We would like to believe our children and grandchildren are safe when they are home in their bedrooms, but are they, really?  There are predators and influencers cruising on the internet who mess with their young, still-developing brains and feed them all kinds of corrupting and harmful ideas.  Their own classmates sometimes gang up on them and bully them. In the show, there is a critical, interesting exchange between the police officer leading the investigation and his young son, where the son explains to his father the meanings of certain emojis and coded words that young people use.  I was certainly unaware of those phrases and terms, most of them derogatory.  (I suggest looking up “Glossary of Gen Z slang” on Wikipedia.)  One of the terms referred to in “Adolescence” is “Incel” which means “involuntary celibate.” 

Many of the readers of the blog are grandparents now, and I hope you will take the time to watch this series. All of us have to think of ways in which we can protect our children from these dangers lurking on the internet.  It is very common in the US for kids to bring their cell phones into the classrooms, and there is much discussion now on how that can be addressed.  I heard today that the UK is considering banning cell phones from classrooms.  Teachers in the US are finding it very difficult to teach distracted students.  My friends and family who have dealt with teaching young children in the US say that even second-grade kids come to school with cell phones.  The problem may be peer pressure and overindulgent parents.  I was amused when someone on BBC News said that parents need to tell their children, “I am not your friend; I am your parent!”  That was a line that I used frequently when my daughters were growing up!  I had no problem saying “No” to them now and then when it was appropriate. They were well aware of the lines they were not allowed to cross while they were in my care.

"To Blog or not to Blog"- by "Speedy" Mahendra Gonsalkorale

 "To Blog or not to Blog"- by Speedy

Keeping in touch- "To Blog or not to Blog, that is the question"

Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale

A version of this was posted in January 2016, and I felt it might be helpful to revisit it. Come on, my friends, release those thoughts lurking in the background and share them with us!

The Blog was born in 2011, that is 14 years ago! The proud Father was the late Lucky.

I have been wondering for some time why our Blog is not as popular as I was hoping it would be. If we consider how interactive it is, by looking at numbers who comment, then we do fall short by quite a margin. The total number of persons who have commented is below 20 and of these there are now less than 8 very active people.

The questions I am posing are these. 

• Why is the comment rate low? 
• How can we get more people involved? 
• How many of our Batch colleagues actually use it? 
• Does the Blog serve a purpose? Is the time and effort made by Lucky so unselfishly, worth it?
• Is it worth resending a questionnaire by email to get the answers? 

We did one in 2020. There were 30 responses from 74 sent out, a rate of 40.5%, which was bigger than I expected with only 3 in Category (a) Hardly ever visited the Blog. - I posted the findings in the Blog and here is the Link:- https://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/2020/11/speedygroup-interview-about-our-blog.html#comment-form ).  

Or is this a wider issue about how school friends or University friends keep in touch? We have moved in different directions and we have built up new friendships and we may feel a need to move on putting our past behind us, especially if that part of our past is something we want to forget. We have formed groupings within us based on where we live and our own interests. Our circles have widened and those who we consider worth keeping in touch, we still do but the criterion has to be much wider than “he/she was my batch colleague”. The bonds that we had then have to be very strong for them to survive the ravages of time. We are pleasant when we see each other, but life has taken us in different directions, and we have moved on. We may not feel the need to rekindle the relationship.

Then, there is the question of priorities. There is never enough time to do what we wish to do, and looking at the Blog may not be a priority. 

Like a good restaurant, if we enjoy the experience, we will come back!

There are other possible factors such as familiarity with computers and the Internet. I still have friends who get their children to set up their TV, check their email!

How much a person uses anything depends a lot on how useful (enjoyable) it is to that person. The Blog may be an avenue to display our talents (music/poetry with me  and writing/painting with ND and  painting with Chira). It may be a pleasant way to spend time reminiscing. It may rekindle old friendships. It gives us an opportunity to rejoice at the success of colleagues (e.g. Lama), it may be a medium to recall with pleasure a time we were together at a critical phase of our life, it can be a way to show our appreciation to our Teachers, it could be a medium to enlist help for a good cause connected with our Medical Faculty. It has also reminded us of our mortality with the growing number of obituary notices.

I have posed many questions and indicated why the Blog still has much to offer. I am a firm believer in putting the past behind and moving on. There is no time like the present moment but the present moment could be enriched by learning from the past; but avoid dwelling in the past pondering on the “what might have been”. That kind of reflection, the “what might have been”, is pointless, corrosive, and a recipe for discontent.

But to me, what is important in the final analysis is not how frequently we keep in touch but the ability to pick up and continue from where we left. I felt that very much at the last Batch Reunion when I met colleagues after so many years.

So come on my friends, pull out your fingers and start typing on your keyboards either as a comment, or as an email to one of us. As for me, I enjoy reading the Blog and contributing to it and shall continue to do so. 

Please send anything you like to post, to me by email if you are uncomfortable about writing a new post, send me a draft and  I am only too happy to edit and publish it, or publish it as it is if that is your wish.

In conclusion, I am proud of our Batch, a Batch of achievers and an example to emulate.