Kumar Balachandra passes away
He is the 65th in our Batch to leave us forever. I shall post more information when I receive them.
I like to remember him for his great sense of humour and for his contributions to many Batch Activities.
He produced or helped in -
(1) The souvenir, and helped in the organisation of the International Convention of Sri Lankan Doctors in the UK, combined with our Silver Jubilee celebration in July 1992, held at the Windsor Holiday Inn, Berkshire, England.
(2) The Souvenir of 40th Anniversary Reunion of the Graduating Class of 1967, held at The Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana, Sri Lanka. This is hugely valued as it contains the Sig photos of the Batch.
That was done by the organising committee in SL, comprising Priya, Pram, Sriyani B, Punsiri, Ganesh, HN, Swyrie and me.
We are eternally indebted to Lama, who was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Colombo, who used his authority to release our signature photos for just 24 hours to enable us to get them scanned.
I still remember clearly how he readily agreed to do this when we met at Ganesh's daughter's wedding".
Thanks, Suri, for pointing this out.
But in the acknowledgements section of the souvenir, the following was stated.- "Con Bala" for masterminding the production of the souvenir.
He joined the Batch Zoom organised during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.
Lastly, but most importantly, he and his wife, Loretta, celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 2022. Loretta has attended many of our gatherings in the UK and in Sri Lanka.
He will be best remembered as a quiet, lovable and somewhat mischievous person who brightened the lives of many.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal"
May he Rest In Peace, and our sincere condolences go to his wife and family.
Although I knew he was unwell for several years the news of his demise came as a shock and brought great sadness to me. From the very outset in our early days in the Block he was known as Con Bala and that name never left him. He was softly spoken but had that amazing ability to attract attention by what he said. Bala always possessed a smiley face. He always had a story to tell about where he went and who he met. It was hard to say how much of it was his own make up as his smile was constant. He was indeed a great story-teller and had a wonderful sense of humour. I well remember those times in the Men’s Common room in the faculty when Bala could also be a formidable foe who relished an argument. But we were all young and forthright then.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he lived in the UK I never met him here as he lived far away in the lush green Southwest. His organisational skills came to the forefront in the UK and was involved with the SL Medical Association here. I have a vague recollection that he organised a batch trip from the UK to the USA some years ago.
I last met him just by chance in the plush lounge of the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo in 2012. We reminisced and laughed a lot about the many hilarious events of our faculty years and the interesting teachers and students who brought joy to our lives. He remained personable company and his wonderful skill of relating stories had never left him. Bala seemed happy and contented with his life.
The adjective ‘Con’ before his name is in no way derogatory. It is merely an acknowledgment of his immense skill in adding spice to a story to make it interesting. Bala will always remain a legend and an icon in our batch. We will miss him but we know he has just gone ahead on a road we must all take.
His was a life well lived. May he find Eternal Peace
Frrom Maheswary Nadarajah.
ReplyDeleteSad to know about Con Bala’s death .
When we were students at Medical College as group we used to meet at a bus stop in the evenings to get the bus home .
Bala will tell us some things to make us laugh .
He was a nice person .
My condolences to his wife Loretta and his family .
May his soul rest in peace
It's with sadness that I learned of
ReplyDelete" Con" Bala's demise. Though soft spoken, he was known for his infectious sense of humour and his gift as a born story teller.
Bala and his vivacious wife Loretta attended all the International Reunions we held in Sri Lanka and it was a great delight to get in touch again. He was very helpful in our task of preparing the Souvenirs by sending photos of the reunions held in the UK.
Bala leaves us with many fond memories. My deep and heart felt sympathies to Loretta and the family.
May Bala's Soul Rest in Peace
Above comment is from me Suri
ReplyDeleteSad and shocked to hear about the passing of Bala. Anton keeps me informed of Bala but no mention of his health. The last time I saw him was a few years ago when I spent a night in Southampton before boarding the ship for a cruise,. He and Loretta took us Queelan and me out for dinner, and at that time he seemed healthy and full of energy.
ReplyDeleteI well remember the reunions he had a hand in organizing , and also the lavish wedding he gave to his daughter ,incidentally she married Anton’s son. Loretta was a great right hand to Bala, and I am sure the family will miss him more than many of us who too will miss Bala, Gods blessing and comforts to Loretta and the family. Rajan
Kumar,
ReplyDeleteKanthi and I are deeply saddened by the passing away of our close friend. I was informed of this by ND as well as Bora.
I will write a more detailed appreciation later.
We are in the middle of a category 2 cyclone in addition to other privations. I was also in the middle of a response to Sanath’s interview,. That was a great start to 2026.
At our age multi tasking becomes difficult, but take comfort from the saying, count your age by friends not years.
Our heartfelt condolences go to Loretta, Shania and Manouri and other family members.
OM SHANTHI OM
Kumar and Kanthi.
I felt so sad to know about the demise of 'Con' Bala.
ReplyDeleteHe was full of fun and laughter. I met him and Loretta last, at one of our batch get togethers.
May he rest in peace. My condolences to Loretta and family.
We should be thankful that we have this forum to communicate with each other and know the demise of our batchmates. This is life. We are at the last stages of our lives. I am happy that we have our batch Blog to get news of our batchmates.
Thanks to Lucky for creating it and thanks to Mahendra for keeping it alive.
Chira
I am also saddened to learn of the passing of our friend "Con" Bala. He was rather shy and retiring while in Medical College (he looks so innocent in the early photo!). I got to know him a lot better when he showed up with Loretta to almost all the reunions. They both livened up the conversation wherever they were. He had a rather devilish sense of humor and always enjoyed a good laugh. No doubt he will be missed by his family and friends. I hope that his passing was peaceful and pain free. My heartfelt condolences to Loretta and the rest of the family. May he find Eternal Peace.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteVery sad to hear that Bala has passed away. I was aware that he had been unwell for some time. A very close friend of mine at medical college. I still vividly remember three memorable and eventful trips we took to Nuwara Eliya, Chilaw and Jaffna.
Bala along with Kumar Gunawardena used to visit me quite frequently at the Bambalapitiya Flats. During one of these visits I asked Bala whether he had done anything interesting over the weekend. He replied, “Machang I went to Kandy to see the Kandy Perera. It was wonderful.” He had mixed up Perehara with B.L.Perera!
Bala along with Pram, Rohini Abeyratne, Ranjith Dambawinna and myself, was part of the organizing committee for the first batch reunion held in Windsor, UK. This was in the early1990s. Bala played the leading role in producing the souvenir.
Bala was a very kind, generous and hospitable person. Our heartfelt condolences go to Loretta and family.
From Mangala (Lucky A's wife)
ReplyDeleteSo sad, just heard from Pram. I met him in SL last year
My deepest sympathies to Con Bala's family. I used to always "bracket" Con Bala with his close friend Srikantha; both of them were up to a lot of mischief during our student days.
ReplyDeleteMy sincere condolences to Bala’s family at this difficult time- May he rest in eternal Peace .
ReplyDelete