SPEEDY DIALOGUE SERIES- EPISODE 11. WITH RANJIT KARIYAWASAM

SPEEDY DIALOGUE SERIES- EPISODE 11. WITH RANJIT KARIYAWASAM

Speedy: Good morning, Ranjit. I have to get used to calling you Ranjit after years of calling you Kari!

Ranjit: No worries, Speedy! Do people still call you Speedy, or do they use your proper name, Mahendra?

Speedy: They use both! For this interview, I don’t mind if you call me Speedy.

Ranjit: As you wish, Speedy.

Speedy: Thanks, Ranjit. Let us get down to it. We met after a long lapse of time in London for a mini reunion gathering in Gants Hill on the 7^th of September 2024 to welcome Chira Jayaweera Bandara, congratulate her daughter Anjali on gaining her Fellowship in Ophthalmology, and wish them both well. The venue was the Mandarin Palace, a plush Chinese restaurant. Chira was in the UK to attend the award ceremony for the fellowship graduation.

(link for London meeting in blog:Reunion gathering-in-london-to-greet-chirasri.html#comment-form

Ranjit: Yes, I recall it very well. I came with my wife Hemanthi, and after the meal, we took Chira back to our house in Essex.

Speedy: And we met again on the 4th of July 2025 at the iconic Royal Society of Medicine in London at a mini-reunion organised by Pram.

Pram's RSM meeting with R and Hemanthi

Ranjith: Yes, Speedy. That was my first attendance of Pram’s London reunions.

Speedy: That’s right, and recently, Chira and I were chatting on WhatsApp, and she told me about your skills as a sculptor, and she sent me some photographs of your work. This was a total surprise, and I was amazed at your skill!

Ranjit: Thanks, Speedy. I am flattered that you thought they were good

Speedy: Good? More than that, I thought they were outstanding for an amateur! Chira suggested that I should post them on the blog and I got the idea that the best way to do this is through my “Speedy Dialogue” which I have done for many of our batchmates.

Ranjit: I have seen your interviews, and we must thank you for your efforts.  I am only too happy to consent to one if you think it will be appreciated.

Speedy: Great! We shall do it, and please send me more photographs of your work. Let us start by discussing some background material.

Ranjit: Fine by me.

Speedy: Good. We were in the same 1962 batch, and I always remember you as a rather shy person with spiky hair combed backwards, wearing specs, and riding a red Moto Guzzi bike! I hope you approve of my constructed image of you on your Moto Guzzi!

Ranjit: That virtual image is pretty good, Speedy! I don’t know about being shy! Yes, I was very fond of my motorbike. Many others had red Moto Guzzis, as you know, Speedy.

Speedy: Indeed. Nalin Nanayakkara, Ranjit Dambawinna, who else?

Ranjit: Yes, Ranjit Dambawinna did have one before he sold it and bought a Volkswagen Beetle.

Speedy: I can remember that Beetle car. My father and Ranjit D’s father were friends, and I knew Ranjit before he entered the Faculty.

Speedy: Let's move on Ranjit. As you know, I eventually came and settled down in England. What was your path? And, when did you get married to lovely Hemanthi?

Ranjit: We met at the Medical College in the Pharmacy Dept in my final year. She was a final-year pharmacy student then. We both got our first appointments at Badulla General Hospital (my internship). In May 1969, I got married to Hemanthi. Then we both got appointments at Mulleriyawa Hospital, and I did Psychiatry there for another two years. Then, Hemanthi started work at LRH.

Speedy: And then you came to England?

Ranjit:  Yes. I arrived in England in 1974 and started life as a senior house officer at Battle Hospital in Reading, UK. Then moved to Ramsgate Hospital. From there, Beaumont Hospital in Lancaster. When I obtained my MRCP. I moved back to the South of England, to Battle Hospital.

Speedy: I understand you worked with Ranjit Dambawinna. How did that happen?

Ranjit. After working in hospitals up to that time, I decided to join general practice, as I wanted a stable residence to give my two sons a better education. Following one year’s training, I joined Ranjith Dambawinna’s group Practice as a partner in Grays, Essex.

Speedy: What happened after that?

Ranjit: After a few years, I started my own Practice and carried on until my retirement in 2008.

Speedy: Moving on to your family, I met your wife Hemanthi at a Batch Reunion. I gather you have two sons. Are they doctors too?

Ranjit: No, they were wiser! My elder son is Adisha, a lecturer at BPP University (one of the UK's leading Law Schools) in Business and Project Management, and an Awards Leader.

My younger son is Rukshan, who works as Head of Housing Assets and Capital Management in Ealing Council. 

Speedy: You must be super proud of them! Thank you, and now, going back to your skills as a sculptor, could you tell us how it all started? How old were you when you did your first, and who and what influenced you?

Ranjit: I was really interested from my childhood.

Speedy: Did you have any training in sculpture?

Ranjit: No, I did not have any training or lessons. It was a natural talent

Speedy: Most interesting. I thought your father may have influenced you?

Ranjit: No, my father was not into sculpture.

Speedy: What material do you use, and do you have a workshop?

Ranjit: I use gypsum, concrete, cement, paper pulp, wires, glue, and sometimes ripped old cloth and ribbons. I haven't got a workshop as such but use the spare room (which is a converted Garage)

Speedy: With your busy life as a doctor, how did you manage to continue with your interest to this day?

Ranjit: After my retirement, I limited my work to a few locum sessions a week and had more free time. So I started doing sculpture work.  I was keen and enjoyed it. My main interest was in objects related to a Buddhist background. I am happily settled down in Grays, Essex and my wife supports me and encourages me.

Speedy: A supportive wife is an undoubted asset!

Ranjit: Absolutely! She helps in so many ways with my sculpture work, especially in cleaning and tidying!

Speedy: Let us discuss some of your work. Which is the sculpture you are most proud of?

Ranjit: My best sculpture is the Bo tree that I did at Thames Buddhist Vihara in Croydon in the year 2002. I am grateful to my wife, who made around 900 bo-shape leaves and painted them to give a natural look, and also to my son Adisha, who painted the tree and the background scene. 

Speedy: It looks beautiful, and I must visit it one day. Are you an artist too?

Ranjit: No, Speedy. I am not an artist, just a keen sculptor.

Speedy: I am showing some more examples of your sculptures. I have two pictures, each showing two sculptures. The first one shows a sister reading to a brother, and the second an elephant. The next one shows a magnificent statue in a garden, and the second shows a violinist and an accordionist.

Ranjit: Yes, they gave me immense pleasure and satisfaction.

The top left statue with a dress painted.

Speedy: I'd like to show readers a few more exquisite examples of your work. They truly are magnificent.

Ranjit: Thanks, Speedy. They are all small tabletop models.

Speedy: How important is your hobby to you, and do you have any advice for colleagues on the importance of having a hobby?

Ranjit: It keeps me from getting bored and also gives me immense pleasure when I look at the finished product. Not only me, but many others appreciate it too. It is indeed a very satisfying hobby. I too like music like you, but sculpture is my favourite. As we get older, it is so important to have creative hobbies. You, Speedy, have music and art among other things, and I have my sculpting. I would encourage all my colleagues to indulge in at least one hobby that they enjoy. Enjoy is the key word; good or not is by the way!

Speedy: I agree with you entirely Ranjit. As you said, I am fond of drawing and music, and these many interests have given me sanity and, fortunately, not vanity!.... I hope!

Ranjit: We admire your talents and do keep at it, and please share your work as you have done. The blog that Lucky started and that you maintain is a great way to share.

Speedy: Thank you, Ranjit. I am always pleased to share the talents of our Batchmates. Chira, Yankee Bala, Suri, Lucky Weerasooriya,Srianee(Bunter), Zita, Sujatha Maligaspe, Nihal (ND) are just a few who have contributed. Please continue your interest, and I am very grateful to you for agreeing to be interviewed.

Ranjit: My pleasure, Speedy, and thanks for inviting me.

Speedy: Any final words from you Ranjit?

Ranjit: Just to say thank you for giving me a chance to show my hard work that keeps me going at my age in reasonable health.

Speedy: And that concludes another Speedy Dialogue