Kamali Nimalasuriya de Silva MBBS (Cey), MD, MRCP (London)

 

 

With profound sadness I record here the passing away of  Kamali Nimalasuriya De Silva.

 



I heard the sad news on receiving Shanthy's e-mail (already forwarded to you) and an SMS from Swyrie who is presently in Japan. While awaiting further news about the funeral arrangements, I am taking the liberty to post the e-mails received (and continue to receive) from members of the batch.

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7.45 am Tuesday April 16th.

I had an e-mail from Srian in response to my condolence message. He is still in BKK and had asked me to contact Kamali's cousin Manel at Vajira Road for funeral details. I spoke to her just now. I am told that the body will be brought to Colombo today and will be at Raymonds funeral parlour. Funeral will be on Saturday evening at Kanatte.

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UPDATE

Sura Fernando	7:30 PM (13 hours ago)

 

Dear friends,

I just heard the details of the funeral arrangements .

The remains of our dear friend Kamali has been brought to Srilanka. The body can be viewed on Saturday morning at A.F Raymonds funeral parlour.

 

The cremation is scheduled for 5pm at the Kanatta cemetry on Saturday the 20th April
.

Please notify all other batch mates who are in contact .

Many thanks

 

Sura

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20th April, 2013

Kamali's cremation took place at Kanatte this evening in the presence of a large gathering despite the fact that no obituary notice was published in any Sri Lankan newspapers. This was in accordance with Kamali's wishes for a low-key funeral. Our batch was well represented.

May she attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.

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Dr. S.A.P. Gnanissara	8:26 AM (9 hours ago)
to me

 

Dear Lucky,
Thank you very much for sharing the very sad news.
Hope we will know more details of the funeral arrangements
very soon.
Warm regards.
Gnaniss

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Sura Fernando	9:07 AM (9 hours ago)
to me

 

Dear Lucky,

I heard the news yesterday from mutual cousin of JC's , and I have just sat down to write to you.

Yes Srian and kamali were in Vietnam , Hanoi with a tour group when she had a heart attack and was taken to a French hospital there . after apparent recovery they had gone on to Bankok to a major center ,where she had progressed to an extension of the MI, an Angiogram , followed by cardiogenic shock where she succumbed . Body is being flown to SL where her family would be gathering . Funeral dates are as yet unknown, likely around Friday or so I was told .

JC and I visited Kamali and Srian in Sydney last November and I am glad that I was able to spend a lovely day with them .
Thank you for informing is promptly and I am sure you would notify rest of our batch mate s
Sura

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Sriani Basnayake	9:11 AM (8 hours ago)
to me

Thanks Lucky for sending me the sad news about Kamali.

Sriani

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Ranjith Dambawinna	4:20 PM (15 hours ago)
to me

Thanks Lucky!

I will be sending my feelings of sympathy to her husband Srian, who was in college with me. Kind regards.

from Dr. Ranjith Dambawinna

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McCormick, Malkanthie I	9:37 AM (8 hours ago)
to me

this is a terrible shock..I am thinking of the get together where we all enjoyed chatting and re connecting with Kamali. Our prayers are with the family. Life is ephemeral and we are here for just a short time.

thank you for letting us know
m

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Mahendra Gonsalkorale	1:01 PM (5 hours ago)
to me

Thanks for forwarding this very sad news Lucky. I am so glad that I met her at the Reunion last year after over 40 years. That will remain a precious memory.

 

Speedy
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Nihal Amerasekera	2:14 PM (3 hours ago)
to me

Lucky

It is with great sadness I received the news about Kamali. I still remember the pretty, vivacious girl who started with us in 1962, in the block. Then, happy and smiling she had all her life before her. Kamali sailed through with consummate ease all through the exams, trials and hardships of Medical College. In those difficult but enjoyable years her kindness and generosity shone through. I sincerely hope she has had a happy and rewarding life as a doctor. Sadly since we qualified our paths never crossed and I never saw her again.
At the present time our thoughts and condolences are for her immediate family.
The recurrent loss of our friends from the batch are a stark reminder of the grim reality of life. It brings home our own mortality.
We must be grateful to Lucky for keeping us informed to pay our tributes.
May she find the ultimate bliss of Nirvana.

Nihal D Amerasekera

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Lakshman Jayasinghe	It is very sad news indeed. We were in the same “body Group” in the 2nd MB. S...	2:32 PM (3 hours ago)
It is very sad news indeed. We were in the same “body Group” in the 2nd MB. S...

Lakshman Jayasinghe	2:32 PM (3 hours ago)
Loading...

Lakshman Jayasinghe	2:32 PM (3 hours ago)
to me

 

It is very sad news indeed. We were in the same “body Group” in the 2nd MB. She was a very gentle kind lady.l

Had milk shakes in the milk bar.

Had lunch with Sriyan and Kamali on our way to Sydney. That was a long time ago.

Just shows. We all must keep in touch frequently and regularly.

Rgds

Lakshman J 

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Rohini Anandaraja	2:50 PM (3 hours ago)
to me

Thankyou Lucky for keeping us informed- May her soul rest in Peace -

My Best wishes to you and yours 

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Dr.Pramilla Senanayake	4:54 PM (1 hour ago)
to me

Soooo sad. If you get information re funeral please let me know

pram

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Kumar Gunawardane	6:10 PM (18 minutes ago)
to me

So sad to hear this.She was an outstanding student and a wonderful person in our year.
Pl convey my deepest sympathies and condolences to Sriyan.
Kindest Regards
Kumar
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doczita@aol.com	9:22 PM (10 hours ago)
to me

This is shocking news. We met her at the Reunion and she looked so well. It is hard get ones head round this. May she rest in peace. I wonder if you will kindly include my condolences if you are sending one to the family. We just have to appreciate one other's friendship while we can.

 

Thanks again!

Zita
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Thil Yoganathan	5:50 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

One of the first person from our class, I met when I arrived in Colombo for the 50 th reunion was kamali. I straight away recognized her by her genuine smiley face. After graduation we all went about our own chosen path and missed out a lot about our friends we made at Kinsey Road since 1962.

I am so happy that I spent some time reminiscing the past and pondering the future with kamali and Srian.

My heart goes out to Srian and the rest of the family.

yoga
Sent from my iPad
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Revo Drahaman	7:33 AM (27 minutes ago)
to me

Hi lucky,

Thanks for informing me.

You are doing the batch a great service.

Regards

revo

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Antony Ernest via yahoo.com	11:00 AM (45 minutes ago)
to me

Hi Lucky,

Thanks for informing me of the untimely death of our classmate Kamali Nimalasuriya. I am indeed glad that I met her at our recent reunion in Hikkaduwa and reminisce about the Med school days.Please convey our condolences to her family.

Cyril and Indranie Ernest.

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Dawala Ruberu	11:59 AM (16 minutes ago)
to me

thanks lucky,

it was a good thing that she arrended our reunion.

it is reaally sad to hear about batch mates passing away

we should try ans meettogether as a day outing more frequently.

regards,

kusuma

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Chula de Silva	4:35 PM (28 minutes ago)
to me

 

Dear Lucky,
Such sad news! I feel devastated.
Kamali and I had an association dating back to a time when we were both 4 years old at the Baby Class at Visakha and we were together right throughout the Primary and Senior schools a period of 14 years which continued through the five years at Medical College. Others with us in the Baby Class who remained life long friends of us were Preethi de Silva who became Professor of Music at Scripps College, California and Mangala Gunawardena nee Cooray, daughter of Professor Gerry Cooray. There was a boy with us in those early days at VV who happened to be Gamini Ranasinghe, Professor Ranasinghe's son, who bullied all us girls no end.
Kamali carried away the class prizes throughout the tenure at VV and consistently spoke of becoming a "Doctor" like her father. We attended each other's birthday parties since childhood days and I still treasure "Peppy's Diary" and "Ibsen's' Short Plays" hard cover copies which still adorn my book shelf. In our last year at Visakha she was the Head Girl whilst I was the Games Captain.
I cannot but use the much derided cliche "sweet" to describe her. She was never seen or known to get angry or moody. A smile seemed to always to be playing at the corners of her mouth. She was "equanimity" personified as would be vouched by you all at Medical College. She was not onto sports, drama or singing. In fact she could not sing a note although always laughingly singing along with the rest of us.
Kamali married Professor Cooray's nephew & her class mate Mangala's cousin Sriyan de Silva.
It was wonderful to pick up the the threads at our reunion at Hikkaduwa last year. The two of us compared the progression and the treatment of our respective diseases. We both sported hair styles affected by the treatments undergone. She offered me a book on Buddhist meditation which I had with me and hence turned down. How I wish I had taken it none the less, as a memento of our friendship!
I shall always, always treasure the memory of a dear friend, Kamali.
Thanks Lucky for letting us know of this loss. I would have been at the funeral if not the fact that I am here in Melbourne, Australia on a short holiday.
Warm regards,
Priya
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rratnesar@aol.com	9:35 AM (54 minutes ago)
to me

 

Hi Lucky,

Thanks for letting me know of the death of Kamali.

I was saddened to hear this news. I have fond memories of Kamali, Sriyan and the childrens visit to San Fran a couple of years ago. I met her again in Sydney when she with my cousin Ranji Benjamin came fro New castle to have lunch and ofcourse the 2 ladies for shopping in Sydney. I spent quite sometime chatting with her and Sriyan whom I knew from our days in St. Thomas. We have lost another good friend.

If you have any contact information of Sriyan , could you please forward it to me.

With kind regards

Rajan

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Chira Jayaweera Bandara	11:29 AM (1 hour ago)
to me

 

Dear Lucky,

It is with great sadness I read this E mail. Thank you very much for forwarding it. What about the funeral ?

My children,daughter in law and grandson were at our place and it was hectic and I could not check E mails.

with kind regards,

Chira

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loretta balachandra	10:11 PM (46 minutes ago)
to me

 

Dear Lucky
Please convey our heartfelt condolences to the family of Kamala Nimalasuriya on her untimely demise . I was a close friend of hers and therefore so sad to hear the news though a little belated as we were on holiday.
Thanks
Bala

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Medical Students' Union Committee 1965-1966

Our batch is well represented here with Ranjith Dambawinne (KDPR), Nihal Goonetileke, Virginia Swan (De Vos), Mahesan Richards, V. Kunasingham and myself.

Click on the picture for a better view.

CoMSAA News

Since I last published the list of 1962 entrants who are also Founder Members of the Colombo Medical School Alumni Association (CoMSAA), a few more have beaten the December 31st, 2012 deadline to join as Founder Members.

The complete list of CoMSAA Founder Members from our 1962 batch as at 31st December, 2012 is as follows:

Suriyakanthi Amarasekara

Anton Ambrose

Swyrie Balendra

S.A.P. Gnanissara

V.A. Hettiarachchi

Ranjan Hulugalle

Lareef Idroos

Bandula Jayasekara

Sanath Lamabadusuriya

M.Z. Lameer

Douglas Mulgirigama

Lucian Perera

Lalini Rajapaksa

Rajan Ratnesar

Mahesan Richards

Kusuma Ruberu

Harsha Samarajiwa

Pramilla Senanayake

Chandra Silva

H.N. Wickramasinghe

S.S. (Jimmy) Wickramasinghe

L.N.D. Abeyagunawardene
Mahendra Gonsalkorala
Kamali de Silva
Farouk Mahmoud
Razaque Ahamat
Indra Anandasabapathy

Congratulations to you all!

 

Please don't forget to keep September 8th, 2013 free to attend the 2nd CoMSAA Reunion. Please see below.

Inviting All Alumni Of Colombo Medical School and Colombo Medical Faculty To the Second CoMSAA Reunion and International Scientific Congress and Reunion On 08th September 2013 Please keep this date free and inform all alumni you know Further details will be available soon

 

DNA 60 years on Date: 23 March 2013

Sent in by Zita. Guidance on formatting from Speedy is gratefully acknowledged.

DNA 60 years on     Date: 23 March 2013

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A transcript (or as close as possible) of a programme on BBC Radio 4 by Prof. Robert Winston on the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson in Cambridge, England. (This was intended for a general audience)

60 years ago no one had hardly heard the 3 letters DNA but it’s now everywhere; finding of Richard III in a car park, rogue horse meat in food, identifying a murderer and in medicine, the promise of new treatments for disease. From health to crime, from disease to unique fingerprint for each person, the story of DNA gathers momentum.

On February 21st 1953 Crick and Watson worked out the structure of DNA and it was published as a single page article in the scientific journal, Nature on April 25th 1953.

Francis Crick had started his career 25 years prior to that as a biologist while he reminisced in a cowshed about how a calf is produced. He realised that one sperm out of several millions fertilized one egg to form a one celled zygote which repeatedly divided into 2 and 4 and so on and each cell that resulted must have a carbon copy of the genetic material in the sperm. Where is this material stored in the minute sperm head? And how is it copied? Answers to these two questions seemed to him to be key. He knew that it had to be written in a chemical language.  Crick was in University of Cambridge’s prestigious laboratory in 1951 when he was joined by 23 years old James Watson, an American Biologist.  Crick was much older, in his early 30s. Crick was now interested in molecular biology, and tissue culture, Watson in Biology and Xray crystallography, the latter subject being vital to the study of the structure of DNA. Watson and his father had been bird watchers interested in evolution but this did not give help in coming to grips with what a living human cell was.

In King’s College, London, Maurice Wilkins was working on the structure of DNA. He had made a wartime contribution to America’s nuclear project and was discouraged by the immense destruction it caused and now keen to work with living things and contribute to a biological field. His policy was to go on fiddling with a subject long after others had given up. Roslyn Franklin joined the department in 1950. She had expertise in X-ray crystallography.

Between Cambridge and London there was both a competitive race as well as friendly collaboration. Linus Pauling, later a Nobel prize winner, was also working on the same project in California Institute of Technology in America. There was no collaboration between him and the teams in England. At one moment a rumour that Pauling had worked out the matter and was about to publish, put the cat among the Cambridge ‘pigeons’ and but Cambridge was aware that Pauling was rather short on X-ray crystallography evidence. The Cambridge team too lacked this but their break came when Roslyn left the project at King’s to work on another subject. Crick visited King’s College and was shown the crystallography picture worked out by Roslyn. Later Crick admitted that it hit him like a bombshell, as he suddenly understood a crucial point. DNA molecule had a helical structure!

He later acknowledged Roslyn Franklin’s contribution to the unravelling of DNA structure.  Roslyn died of cancer five years after the discovery. But time has returned her to the rightful place in DNA history. Half a dozen books have been written about her and a University just outside Chicago renamed after her.

So all the research had come together. It went back to Mendel in the 19th century. He postulated that a particle was responsible for inherited characteristics. Other great scientists in the 20th Century like Frederick Griffiths and Owen Shargarth had noted the repetition of 4 bases in DNA i.e. Adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine.  Watson and Crick had to work out how these bases fitted together.  They ‘moulded’ these bases to form the structure. The mood was ‘we can see the Port but we have not docked in the harbour yet’. A lot of hard work followed- continuous work for 4 days and suddenly the Eureka moment arrived! Everything fitted.  Suddenly the answer was there and it was beautiful. They were able to answer the problem of how genes replicate- very simple and you couldn’t miss it! The alternative team at Kings was satisfied that the model was right. When Maurice Wilkins of King’s entered the lab in Cambridge he saw a double helix model of DNA extending from the floor to ceiling. The news caused a hubbub in their favourite pub in Cambridge when they met their colleagues but when the article appeared in ‘Nature’ on the 15th April 1953 it didn’t cause a stir.

In 1962 Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the molecular structure of the DNA molecule and its manner of transmitting information (Wilkins was the head of DNA project at King’s). A scientific revolution was set in motion. This was going to change radically the way we think about ourselves, was Crick’s surmise. There had been a revolution in physics since 1925 and now this was going to be a revolution in molecular biology.

In 1966 the genetic code of DNA was cracked. In 1972 the first recombinant DNA molecule was created. Suddenly there were ethical questions because of the possibilities this technology opened up. One could predict occurrence of diseases, and the big brother effect was obvious. BBC TV had a Panorama programme addressing all these issues. Do we have the right to choose the characters of unborn children? It was discussed that a body of responsible people should decide, analyse these questions and regulate application of knowledge. Should we close the Pandora’s box before things got out of hand?

But things didn’t go that bad. In 1990 the Human Genome Project was born. The task? To frequence the 3 billion bases in the human DNA molecule. This was a jigsaw puzzle of immense complexity. A working draft of the human genome was made in the year 2000. A parallel research was going on with DNA finger printing which brought its own eureka moment. This was down to Sri Alec Jeffries. This opened up the possibilities of pinning down the identity of people dead or alive. Mum, dad and child could be told apart and in the smudgy mess they identified the signs of tobacco, a mouse, a baboon and a Lima by accident.

Since 1987 DNA has been used in crime scene investigation, to convict criminals and save innocent victims. In one case a rapist was convicted because the victim left a lock of hair in the car and spat on the carpet. She had watched the popular CSI program on TV. DNA traces bones to it’s owner, a lady who claimed she was the escaped daughter of the Russian Czar was disproved by DNA, and the butcher of Auschwitz did indeed escape to USA and died there as his remains proved. DNA print has allowed scientists to travel back in time and find traces of people and animals in bones 1000s of years old. Tutan Karman’s early death was hastened by malaria. DNA helps in immigration cases and helps trace ancestry of persons. A well-known radio presenter always thought to be Scottish had a DNA check and was proved that he was Anglo Saxon with links to Denmark and King Macbeth and later was probably transported from Southern Scotland to Murray Firth!  Another was traced to have roots in the Middle East. It is known that the Jewish and Muslim share the same DNA and cannot be told apart but the person in question was thought to be Jewish as over 2000 years ago the Jewish emigration started with Diaspora widely spread over European countries.

The odds that a match is wrong are less than one in a billion!

A moral argument arises. Should the state hold on to a database of innocent people i.e. suspected of crime but cleared by DNA testing?

Should we all end up on it? It’s creepy and has gone too far. Higher percentage of black people’s DNA ending up on a database when it has no proportion to the population, is this discrimination? In England the National database has now been taken over by the Home Office. In the next 40 years many cancers will be prevented. Genetic research too depends on DNA database. Many are enthusiastic while some have concerns. Opportunity to opt out should be the way forward.

Copyright note:

The material above belongs to BBC radio 4.  Zita took the liberty to transcribe it.

Post script: Francis Crick died in San Diego California in 2004 aged 88. James Watson lives in Long Island now aged 85. He is reported as saying the following: I think people are born curious but they have it pounded out of them.

Zita writes.........

Dear Lucky,

 

I have just finished a task which I set myself, when you started our batch blog and especially after I read your memoirs in. I wrote the following tribute to you as you have taken immense trouble to bring our '62 batch together through the medium of the blog, your book of memoirs plus all the activities you and few other active, hardworking and faithful batch-mates have organised for us. All of these have gone a long way towards keeping us in touch with one another. So, as you are the leader I send you my offering which I would like to call Lucky Story for inclusion in the blog if it meets with your approval. To all my other batch mates I would like to say, please read Lucky's memoirs ( details given at the end). You'll laugh and cry and it will remind you of special landmarks in your own journey and special people you met.

 

With best wishes,

 

Zita (Perera) Subasinghe

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Lucky Story
 

Here begins the story of Lucky

Born in Hikkaduwa in ‘41

It’s the start of a memorable Journey

For two loving parents’ son

Family moved to Manning Town

That Colombo’s prestigious pad

Dad never ever let him down

In his ambitions for this young lad

 

Early education in Ananda College

Was in him, to impart and nurture
Life’s skills and valued knowledge
Learning became his second nature

Soon this young man enterprising

Found in Talatu Oya a venue
To start working life in teaching
Prior, to adult life, making his début

Medical College beckoned in ‘62

Where he excelled in his quiet way
Work was hard and challenging too
But learning medicine was his DNA

With aim never to leave his motherland
He found doctors’ exodus strange
But one’s resolve however grand
Force of circumstances can change

But finally back in Sri Lanka

Is this country’s worthy son
For now ensconced in Battaramulla
Lucky’s here, after a job well done 

The interim period is a long story

From Hikkaduwa to Carolinas, USA
Life was not all hunky dory
Some grim events in memory stay

In a ’78 plane crash this lad plucky

On an Indian trip educational
To live to tell the tale was Lucky
As the escape was indeed phenomenal

There were many other highlights

Which needed good survival instinct
Like avoiding eating dog-meat bites
Although hospitality was distinct

This happened in West Timor

Where Lucky was then posted
On a project by W H O
One of many, it gallantly hosted

Lucky amassed a constellation

Of qualifications post-graduate
Also held jobs in health education
These, one can highly rate

On the family front, proudly stand

Mangala, a wonderful wife
A son, daughter and children grand
What more Blessings one needs in life?

With lucid memory of past dates

Lucky excels more than any
He never forgets names and traits
Of those he met on life’s journey

Now in retirement he spends

Some quiet time in well earned leisure
But his help he readily lends
To the needy, in good measure

It’s sad indeed to bring to an end

This account of a real nice guy
Who to all, is a batch mate and friend
So it’s ‘See you again’ not Good Bye!

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Sent by Zita

Reference: From Hikkaduwa to the Carolinas, Memoirs of a reluctant expatriate by  Lakshman Abeygunawardena. Printed by

Kaurnaratne and sons 2009