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.
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| This photograph was taken after the convocation |
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.
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
Mahendra
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for publishing my 'Family news'. You are great in keeping our Blog alive. I hope others would contribute.
Long live our Blog !
Chira
Pramilla Senanayake
DeleteDear Speedy many thanks for keeping the Blog alive & well. i read it regularly but am guilty of not contributing to it regularly
i enjoyed reading Chira's family news. I knew Anjali as a little girl. She has blossomed into a beautiful young lady and as a fully qualified ophthalmic surgeon i wish her all the best in her chosen career. i cannot forgot aAnju Chira's son. He has been a pillar of strength to her. living down the lane from her he is always there for her. he when ever necessary drives her to our reunions the next one is tomorrow ( 26 th)
Chira & i were great buddies from Methodist College days & continued our close friendship into medical college days. & beyond
when i sustained a serious eye injury while playing badminton way back in 2012 it was Chira who came to my rescue. personally drove me to see Dr Charith Fonseka Got an appointment the same day( normally it takes 4/5 weeks to get an appointment with Dr Charith and the surgery was done within 48 hours. Thanks to Chira & Dr Charith & by the grace of God I am still able to play badminton Chira is a friend in a million
Pram
DeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment. I appreciate it greatly.
As you mentioned we have been classmates at Methodist College, in the next room in the hostel during College days , room mates during Internship at the General Hospital, Colombo. I have been visiting you in UK, when you were in Wimbledon and later St. John's wood several times.
I am glad I was able to help you when you had your eye injury. What are friends for if one cannot help one another at a time of need.
I must endorse your sentiment that Pram is friend in a million.
Wishing you all the best.
Chira
Hi Chira, congratulations to your lovely daughter Anjali on being appointed Consultant Opthalmic Surgeon. Dambulla. You must be so happy that she is following your footsteps.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely treat for you to have a mini ger together in London. You have mentioned " Kariyawansa" in your post. Do you mean Kariyawasam ? One of the few " K" s remaining. I would have loved to meet him. Have lost touch since we graduated.
Suri
Suri, if you click on the link for the Bora organised get-together, you will find all the photos with names of those in each photo. The K was indeed Kariyawasam (Red MotoGuzzi Mobike fame)!
DeleteSuri
DeleteThank you very much for your comment. Much appreciated.
I am sorry it is Ranjit Kariyawasam, I made a mistake. He and Hemanthi were so nice to looked after me in their house in UK for about a week. They are in Sri Lanka at the moment. They will be coming home to see me very soon. I will text his whatsapp number to you later.
Chira
Hello Chira
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to see an account of your daughter's rise and rise of her professional achievements and career. It was such a privilege to meet her at Gants Hill in London so very well arranged by Harsha and Harshi. The Boralessa's took great pains to make it a memorable occasion shuttling between the tube station and the restaurant making certain stragglers like myself were directed appropriately. It was wonderful to meet Chira who I havent seen since 1967 and also Ranjit Kariyawasam. Bernadette and Joe Samaranayake were there too. Berny and I worked in the Central Blood Bank in Colombo in the early 1970's. The CBB was then a well known hub for doctors to gather and exchange juicy gossip. I have such fond memories of the CBB which now doesn't exist at the old site.
When I worked in Kurunegala I often visited Dambulla when Tudor Wickramaratchi was the DMO. It was a small hospital then with just the one doctor and several apothecaries.
I wish Anjali my very best wishes for a happy, rewarding and enjoyable professional life.
Nihal
DeleteYou would be surprised to know that Dambulla hospital now is a big hospital with 15 consultants. The consultants meet quite often and have fun with music and food.
Dambulla Town has developed vastly with hotels and Resturants as quite a lot of tourists visit Dambulla.
Chira
Hi Chira, It is wonderful to hear of the great developments in Dambulla. I wish Tudor Wickramaratchi was around to hear of this. I still hope they preserve the pristine forests of the area that helped to maintain the serenity of the wonderful temple and the monastery. I still remember the simple rural folk of the area and their peaceful way of life.
DeleteNihal
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment and your wishes for Anjali.
I appreciate these greatly.
You would be surprised to know that I came with Anjali to Dambulla today.
Anjali will be dropping me in Matale on wednesday at my brother in law's place and picking me up on Friday.
Looking forward to seeing more of your paintings.
Chira
Indeed it was a joyous occassion when we met in London. You must be justifiably proud of your daughter's achievement. I bet you never imagined that Anjali would follow your footsteps when she was a little girl running round the house! My best wishes to you and your family Chira.
ReplyDeleteMahendra
DeleteThank you very much for your comment and wishes.
I am so proud of Anjali's achievements.
Thank you for initiating the get together in London which we all had a lovely time.
Chira
Chira
ReplyDeleteCongratulations; very pleased to hear of Anjali's appointment as a consultant.It was lovely to meet her even briefly at the restaurant in Gants Hill London last year.
No doubt you must be a very proud mum and give our best wishes to Anjali.
Bora
DeleteThank you very much for your comment and wishes.
Thank you very much for organizing the get together in London which we all enjoyed so much.
Shouldn't I be proud to see my daughter following my footsteps and achieving the highest goal in Ophthalmology. I am so proud.
Chira
Chira, Congratulations to your daughter Anjali, for specialising in Ophthalmology and following her illustrious mother's footsteps. I am sure that eventually she would end up at the National Eye Hospital in Colombo.
ReplyDeleteBora, I remember David Anthonisz at the Royal Primary School. He was in a parallel class and moved to STC.
In 1972 when I was on PG study leave in London, I used to visit an aunt of mine, Sita Wickramasuriya at 91, Vicars Moor Lane, Winchmore Hill, North London. She was living with David's father. I used to visit her residence on Sundays, attend to her very beautiful garden and enjoy an excellent "Buth Curry" for lunch followed by a couple of whiskeys. Once, when I was driving back home in my Ford Anglia, I was stopped by a traffic policeman. It was a routine stop and not for any traffic offence. After scanning my documents he asked for my name and when I mentioned it, he said "If you can pronounce that name of yours, you should be OK, please carry on sir!"
Few months ago I met Malkanthi's brother who is domiciled in Australia. He joined us for few games of Gin Rummy, which I play very regularly during most evenings, with a group of friends.
Lama
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your congratulatory message.
I was very happy to meet Malkanthi and David along with our batchmates and spouses at the get together in London last September.
David is a very good friend of my brother's, who was in and out of our house those days. My brother met David at their batch get together recently in Peradeniya.
Malkanthi was in the same quarters at the General Hospital, Colombo with me, Pram and Harshi during our intership.
I met Malkanthi and David in UK several years ago at a function.
Chira
Sanath
DeleteYour aunt's garden is still immaculately maintained by David and Malkanthi, so much so that it was selected for public viewing a few years ago.
Chira
When I met David a few months ago he had good news for me; he
met your brother at an Engineers reunion in Peradeniya last year and spent a long time recalling the good old days.Continue to enjoy the happiness , fulfilment and satisfaction Anjali has brought you.
Bora
DeleteI know my brother met David at their batch reunion in Peradeniya recently.
I came to Dambulla on Monday with Anjali, she dropped me at Matale at my brother in law's place on Wednesday. She will be picking me up tonight from
Matale to go back to Nugegoda.
Pl convey my regards to Harshi, Malkanthi and David.
Wishing you all the best.
Chira
As someone who knew Chira for many years from my training days and then being involved with Anjali's progress in a small way makes me so proud of my connections with the Jayweera Bandara family .It gives me great pleasure in joining others in congratulating both mother and daughter for achieving such heights. May the ophthalmic dynasty grow from strength to strength and serve the needy.It was great to meet them both in Warwickshire recently.
ReplyDelete.PuvanaChandr family
Puvana
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment. It was great meeting you and your family in Colombo and visiting you with Anjali in Warwickshire recently.
I will never forget how you got an appointment in UK for Anjali and missed it as the Sri Lankan overstayed. Later your son and Niyadurupola's son, both Consultants in Ophthalmology, in Norwich got the appointment for Anjali for her overseas training.
Wishing you and your family all the best.
Chira
Puvanachandran, are you the person who later owned my blue coloured Triumph Herald car after I went abroad in the early 1970s? One Basil Abeysekera bought it from me. Basil was from my parallel batch in Peradeniya.
ReplyDeleteHi I did own a triuph herald which I bought from a Tamil business man from Wellawatte.It was red
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone painted the Triumph red. I love old cars.
DeleteThe 2022 car that I own now is constantly beeping at me and has a complicated "Entertainment System" which has nothing to do with the driving. It is fun to drive, though...
I would prefer a standard manual gear shift, without any of these automatic electronic "improvements." Who needs them?
Dear Chira, Congratulations to your daughter on her accomplishments and to you as well, as her proud mother. I am sure she will gain a great deal of experience at Dambulla Hospital. She probably has a lot more freedom there than working in a bigger hospital with many eye surgeons. (I'm only guessing!). My best wishes to her for a rewarding and successful career. It is great that you were able to celebrate with her in UK and later meet your friends.
ReplyDeleteLama, I loved your story about the traffic cop who stopped you!
"After scanning my documents he asked for my name and when I mentioned it, he said 'If you can pronounce that name of yours, you should be OK, please carry on sir!' "
They do these routine stops to see if someone has had "one too may." You obviously passed his test.
Thank you Srianee; I wonder whether that cop continued to use my name for testing motorists for drunken driving?!!
ReplyDeleteSrianee
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment and your wishes.
I came with Anjali to Dambulla on Monday. She is working very hard, she told me that she did 22 Phaco cataract extractions yesterday morning till 3pm.
She dropped me in Matale at my brother in law's house today. We will be getting back to Nugegoda on Friday.
You are coming to Sri Lanka in October to settle down, isn't it ? We will see you more often in Sri Lanka.
Wishing you all the best !
Chira
Congratulations to Chirastri and Anjali - Great news- Dambulla it shall be if I need my eyes checked when I visit SL ! My best wishes to Anjali for a brilliant future .
ReplyDeleteRohini
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment and wishes.
Where are you now ? Have you gone back ?
Wishing you all the best !
Chira
We extremely happy to hear chirakka about your daughter appointed as a consultant Eye surgeon at Dambulla Hospital. My son Dr. Rajesh is a orthopedic surgeon in the General Hopital. Ward No 75.
ReplyDeleteANil Goonasekara
ReplyDeleteAnil
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment.
My son is also working in the Orthpaedic ward ( No. 76 ), National hospital, Colombo.
Chira akka