This blog (created in March 2011 by Lucky) is about new entrants to the Colombo Medical Faculty of the University of Ceylon (as it was then known) in June 1962. There were a total of 166 in the batch (included 11 from Peradeniya). Please address all communications to: colmedgrads1962@gmail.com.
Header image: Courtesy Prof. Rohan Jayasekara, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (2011 - 2014). Please use the search bar using a keyword to access what interests you
When I qualified as a doctor in 1967 all I wanted was an
easy life. I wanted to be free of the
stresses of examinations , to be far from the madding crowd and closer to
nature. My obvious choice was to be a
DMO. After 2 years as an MO/OPD in Kurunegala I applied to become a Medical
Officer of the Peripheral Unit in Bingiriya which had fallen vacant. Bingiriya was a small, serene and peaceful
town at the edge of the dry zone. Chilaw
with its bounty of fish. crabs and lobsters was just 10 miles away. The peripheral
unit had its own doctors quarters. It was a small quaint hospital with a garden
full of mango and jak trees. I waited with bated breath for my official
confirmation but when it arrived, I had the shock of my life. I’ve been transferred to the Central Blood Bank in
Colombo with immediate effect.
These movements of doctors often in a four yearly cycle were
euphemistically called transfers. In my recollection half a century ago, there
were many thousands of these transfers
arranged by the Head Office. The Director was unable to do it all by himself
and the work was delegated to a clerk who was quite knowledgeable and had done
it for many years before. Some of it was done like shuffling a pack of cards
and where you were posted depended on your luck. Occasionally what mattered was
whom you knew. It makes me humble to think my entire professional future
finally depended on a random selection at the Head Office.
The Central Blood Bank (CBB) was at the GHC site. It was on the left when you enter the hospital
from Kynsey Road. It had a modern façade but within it was an old house. Many
warned me this was a dead end job. I was
quite prepared to while away my time and enjoy life in the capital. The CBB was
an autocratic setup with Dr Percy Gunawardene as the boss. The doctors and
other staff were happy and the Blood Bank was run with precision and
efficiency. The doctors went on trips to collect Blood from all corners of Sri
Lanka except Jaffna and Trincomalee. I saw the country on government expense.
Being in Colombo had its pleasures. Many of my medical and
school friends were still around in town ready for a good social life. We frequented the bars
and eating houses. Health Department
Sports Club was a popular watering hole. After a couple of years I got tired of
this hazy, lazy, crazy life. For the first time they planned to hold the MRCP
Part I examination in Colombo in 1973. The faculty library was next door to the
CBB. I worked hard to pass the examination. This changed my life forever.
It was now the early 1970’s. The country has been through a
bloody insurrection in 1971. Our coffers were empty with constant government
reminders to tighten our belts. There were import restrictions and occasional
food shortages. It was then the dark
clouds of ethnic strife appeared on the horizon. It was rather ominous but these never bothered
me as much as my desire to complete my professional qualifications. I remember
the well oiled and endless circular discussions I’ve had with my doctor friends
whether to leave or stay.
I left Sri Lanka to
complete my MRCP which I did 18 months after arriving in London. The bright lights and the personal freedom was
a great distraction but commonsense prevailed. The rest including my desire to
follow a career in radiology is now history. As always, I will continue to call
this turn of events that lead me to leave the country, as the awesome force of
destiny.
In late 1971, few months before I left home for studies abroad, I decided to visit a palmist named Kingsley Goonethilaka who had an office in Ratmalana. I parked my car (Triumph Herald ) some distance away and walked into his office with long hair, a beard, unbuttoned shirt and in slippers (That was the year of the first JVP insurrection). I paid Rs.10.00 for the consultation. He applied Indian ink on my palm and got a palm print on to a paper .He asked me what my job was and I replied that I was a bank clerk. Then he told me that I have to be some one more than a bank clerk and if I wanted an accurate reading, I have to be honest. When I told him that I was a doctor, he told me that I have to be doing something more than treating patients, like teaching or research (I was a lecturer in paediatrics at that time). He told me some things about my past which were true, but off the mark by about an year. Then he told me that I would be travelling abroad very soon and that I would return home few years later as a single person. He told me that I would get married to a girl known to my family. I had no idea who Buddhika was at that time.
I returned home on the 1st of January 1975. In February 1976, I married Buddhika. It was an arranged marriage;(both our fathers were related to each other and were from the same village (Pahalagoda in Tangalle). He also told me that I would become a professor before my 40th birthday. At that time, it was most unlikely because both Priyani Soysa and Herbert Aponso were due to retire in the early 1990's after reaching their 65th birthday (I would have been in my late forties by then).
During the latter stages of Sirima B's government, speeches were made in parliament by opposition MPs like Gamini Dissanayake that they would do away with standardisation at the "A"level examination if they come to power. With the landslide victory in 1977, they had to honour their pledges. When standardisation was abolished, it was discovered that a disproportionate number of Tamil students would have to be admitted. That would have been political dynamite. Therefore, they decided to admit a similar number of Sinhalese students. To accommodate the increased intake, two new faculties were created in Ruhuna and in Jaffna.
The professors post in Ruhuna was advertised in late 1978 and I applied for it. I was appointed in April 1980 and I assumed duties on the 1st of September 1980 when I was provided with two interns. (I was 37 years old at that time).
So my friends, two predictions made by a palm reader for a meagre fee of Rs.10.00 was proved to be accurate several years later!
A mythical Sri Lankan pianist (Srimath Vikara Pissoo) performing his own composition, a piano concerto, the 3rd Movement of Gonzos Piano Sonata, and compered by another mythical stiff Englishman (Boris Spofworth-Smythe OBE). Gonzo is Vikara Pissoo's stage name.
Please see the Review by Nihal D. Amerasekera after enjoying the clip.
Gonzo’s Piano Sonata by Srimath Vikara
Pissoo – A Review by Nihal D Amerasekera
Vikara
Pisso was the inspiration for this sold out concert of contemporary music. The
performance was introduced by Boris Sposworth - Smythe, a fumbling octogenarian
with a flawless aristocratic diction. His audible mutterings and the painful squirming
colicky look had the audience in stitches. Boris is a colourful personality of
the British Empire, once the envy of the world. His delusions of grandeur is a
remnant of his debauchery in the sin spots of the Far-East. His manhood bears
the scars of his wars with the spirochetes.
Hiding
behind the persona of the psychologically challenged, Vikara Pissoo is an
accomplished pianist. The erudite audience appreciated his musical sensitivity.
Despite his occasional Parkinsonic
rigidity during the performance he maintained a perfect tempo. The
scintillating keyboard skills of this mythical Sonata outshone the lunatic
antics of the presenter and the performer. The pins and needles from his Type 1
Diabetes brought on the occasional thump which enhanced the fluency of his
magical interpretation of this masterpiece.
The
evening sadly ended abruptly without the usual encore as the octogenarian’s
colic had reached its climax and needed to be relieved.
This
is a reminder of the lives of Schumann and Beethoven who both inconspicuously
shuffled between sanity and insanity. Their sublime music will continue to
thrill and intoxicate music lovers until the end of time.
The
whole performance brought joy and laughter to my life on a bleak winters day.
Mahen,
you are a huge talent and we have seen nothing yet but the tip of the
proverbial ice-berg. What amazes me is your inherent modesty despite your many
achievements.
In 1979, private consultation
practice was given to the University staff. There was a very interesting story
behind it. When Professor Rajasuriya
died, the logical successor should have been Dr. David Chanmugam. When
Professor D.A. Ranasinghe retired, he should have been succeeded by Professor
T.Visvanathan. However for reasons best known to the higher authorities
(probably communal) Professor Dharmadasa and
Professor D.E. Gunatilleke (Gunti) were appointed to the Chairs of
Medicine and Gynaecology &
Obstetrics respectively. Both were seconded from the Ministry of Health for two
years. During this period private consultation practice was restored to the
Ministry of Health Consultants. When the two years were over, both Professor Professor
Dharmadasa and Professor Gunatilleke threatened to revert back to the Ministry
of Health, if private practice was not given to them. To retain their services
(and prevent the 2 logical successors from assuming duties) private practice
was given to the University staff.
I was one of the first beneficiaries and I
did a little practice at the Sri Lanka Nursing Home, Wellawatte, Central
Hospital, Horton Place and Glass House before I went to Galle. The channel fee
was Rs.20.00/- only. Dr. Thavarasah used to refer newborns to me. I used to
visit MacCarthy Hospital and Frazer Nursing Home to see newborn babies.
MacCarthy Hospital was owned by my classmate Chandima de Silva’s family.
At that time Frazer Nursing Home
only admitted expatriate whites. As the patients were dwindling they decided to
admit other foreigners as well. When one of Mr. M. H. Mohamed’s (who was a
Cabinet Minister) relatives wanted to be admitted, he was asked whether it was a
“foreign” Mohamed or a “local” Mohamed and told that only foreigners are
admitted. When it was brought to the notice of Mr. J.R . Jayewardene, who was
the President of the country, he threatened to take over the Nursing Home
unless their policies were changed. Then they decided to open the doors to
all Sri Lankan patients.
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