THE ANNUAL LONDON BATCH REUNION: 2026. Organised by Pram
Recollections by Mahendra and Nihal
This took place at the usual venue, The Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street, London, on Monday the 6th of July 2026.
We had a spacious private dining room to ourselves and enjoyed the meal we had chosen from the Menu Pram had previously circulated. (Click on the menu photo if you like a clearer text).
As many of you know, Pram visits London during the Wimbledon Tennis tournament and makes it a point to arrange a meeting of Batchmates and spouses at the RSM. Of course we enjoyed the meal and drinks, but what mattered most was the opportunity to meet and reminisce. It is hard to believe that we "passed out" (while remaining conscious- apart from 65 dear departed colleagues), 60 years ago. Pram gave us preliminary notice of a Grand 60th Anniversary Reunion (which I dubbed the "super-sixty-soiree") planned for the 23rd of January 2027 in Colombo. Details will follow.
It was great to circulate, chat, and finally sit down to enjoy the meal. We had 16 attendees and apologies from a few "usuals" who were sadly unable to attend.
MAHENDRA GONSALKORALE
SUNIL and SIRIMA ABEYSURIYA
NIHAL AMERASEKERA
JIMMY WICKREMASINGHE
PRAMILLA SENANAYAKE
SUSHEILA KANAGASABAI
DHUSHYANTHI VEDAVANAM
SAKUNTALA BALAKUMAR
NARADA WIJEYATILEKA (senior batch)
LORETTA BALACHANDRAN
ATTALE – SUSIL AND RUPA
HARSHI AND HARSHA BORALESSA
SHRIYANI GEETHA BATUWITAGE
Special mention must be made of loyal Batch spouses Sirima, Dhushy, Sakuntala, Loretta, Harshi, Rupa and Shriyani. They are regular attendees, and it is always a pleasure to meet them and catch up.
I am pleased to add Nihal's account of the event.
Thanks, Mahen, for the photos and the script. I wrote a short account of my recollections of the event.
In the 1960s, the Faculty of Medicine was the premier institution for the training of medical professionals since its inception in 1870. It started as the Colombo Medical College and is the second-oldest medical school in South Asia. It was an immense honour and privilege to be students in an institution with that long history and heritage. There has always been a certain loyalty, bond and allegiance to this institution hence our regular reunions both in Colombo and in London.
Naturally, we consider our batch of 1962 so very special. Since so many of us now live in countries other than Sri Lanka, the link to our previous life is through these reunions. Here, we meet people with whom we have had similar experiences, a shared pride in the Faculty. There is a tinge of sadness that the institution doesn’t exist as we knew it and many of our friends who shared our experience are no more. We proudly remember the spectacle of the Law Medical match the Block Night and the eccentricities the final year trip.
When I arrived at 12 midday, a group had already gathered in the plush bar area of the Royal Society of Medicine. It was the welcoming smiles of our organiser Pram that greeted me first. There were hugs, handshakes, smiles, questions and exclamations, "I haven't seen you since"...! Where....? How....? Do you remember...?" After the initial photos we moved to our special room for the lunch. It was a sumptuous lunch of our choice which we all enjoyed with the usual banter recalling our memories of those years learning our trade.
After the lunch there were more photos. The goodbyes took as long as the lunch itself. This was indeed a most enjoyable get-together and our thanks to Pram for planning and organising it so well.
