Speedy Dialogue ND

THE SPEEDY VIRTUAL INTERVIEW SERIES

Speedy Dialogues

Episode 2, January 2019

Speedy with Nihal D Amerasekera

On, “If we could turn the clock back Profession wise” and “what the Blog means to us”

I hope readers will warm towards my latest idea. I plan to discuss various topics with friends who volunteer. The topics are wide open. Please come up with suggestions.This is the second in the series with my great pal ND. The first was with Zita.

Speedy: Good morning ND (still used to calling you ND!)Thanks for agreeing to take part in the second of my dialogues series.

ND: My pleasure Mahen (as I call you now). It appears to me you've had a wonderful career in medicine with position, prestige and all the other trappings of a successful NHS consultant. Academically you have achieved your goals. If you were given one wish to improve your professional life what would it be? If given another chance to live your life would you choose a different path? Please explain

Speedy: A tough one. I know of course that this is entirely a hypothetical question and I shall do my best to answer it. I think you know my general view that I do not usually go back in time and reflect on what other path or paths I may have taken as the story is written and the drama enacted. But sticking to the point and moving on, you were fairly specific. You said “If you were given one wish to improve your professional life what would it be? Would you choose a different path?” The difficulty in tackling it in this manner is that it is hard to separate my professional life from my personal life. Accepting this caveat, I have two things in mind. Firstly, this nagging feeling somewhere in my subconscious that I had the ability and desire to continue to serve my country of birth professionally, but did not do so. Although I started on that journey and progressed well, I paused and chose a different direction for personal reasons most people are aware of. But I am not certain in my own mind whether my motives are genuinely “patriotic” or “personal”. I was only the second Neurologist in Sri Lanka and setup a Neurology Unit in Kandy and if I stayed behind, I know that I would have advanced that Unit and built it up to a Centre of Excellence. Whether it was that (service) or the knowledge that I would have become a well-known and hopefully well respected Professional in Sri Lanka (personal) is something I really don’t know, perhaps a bit of both.  Secondly, the pride and joy my parents would have experienced to see that happen, but denied to them, bugs me a bit. Pleasing my parents always pleased me too. I don’t dwell on it and it is truly well behind me. It was not a wrong path but a different one. I don’t like looking at the rear-window mirror.  The satisfaction I have with the knowledge that I have succeeded here in the UK as you observed, and my conscious view that I am just one actor in this vast Human stage and my strong secular belief in humanity sans labels, sustains me.

What about your own experience ND?

ND: I joined radiology at the beginning of its computer era and grew up with its rapid advances. The digital age transformed radiology as a profession. I love computers and learnt programming, building websites and image manipulation. I would have preferred to have done a degree in IT and being involved in designing the next generation of MRI and Computer Tomography. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed patient contact and my journey in the caring profession but my heart was elsewhere.

Speedy: I am glad you did and in fact I know you did!

ND: You know Mahen, if I’m given another life I probably would not study medicine. When the time came to select a profession I had little knowledge of what careers were available. There was very little advice from the school and those around me. As I have said before IT would be high on my list. I never knew journalism was a profession and that would be a consideration too. Perhaps financially I wouldn’t have been better off as an IT guy or a journalist. There are many pitfalls being a journalist in Sri Lanka as a few have disappeared into white vans!! Being a journalist in the developed world is tremendously competitive and is pretty hard work. IT is a well-established and well-remunerated profession nowadays.

Speedy: Most interesting. In my case, I never regretted doing Medicine and I suppose I am lucky to feel that way. I can however, share with you what other Profession I might have chosen, if I had a chance to press the rewind button. I would have liked to be an Architect or a Designer of some sort! Creative art, music, constructions in my imagination are so attractive to me. Also being a realist, being and Architect/designer would also have given me a reasonable basic income.

In your case ND, there is no doubt about your literary talents. You write beautifully and have an excellent command of the language. I have no doubt whatsoever that you would have succeeded as a Journalist.

ND: Thank you for your kind words.  In a way I am not surprised by your revelation as you undoubtedly have tremendous artistic talents. In modern parlance a multi talented polymath. With your musical talents you would have reached those dizzy heights.

Speedy: That is praise indeed and I know you well enough to know that you mean it.

ND: Indeed I do. Coming back to Medicine, I found the study of medicine a hard grind. From the GCE until the end of the postgraduate exams I was poring over books. Studying so much and spending so much time seated in a chair indoors is not the youth I wanted. We have just one life to lead. I spent my teenage years studying when I should have been enjoying nature, playing sports, chasing girls and just doodling. I am a born dreamer and would have loved to have spent more time meditating in monasteries, enjoying the freedom of the open spaces and living in a wilderness practicing yoga. Astrology and Palmistry have been in my family for generations. I appreciated its intricate logic and learnt the craft for some time until my medical studies had to take precedence. I loved the good life too and would have enjoyed spending evenings at Donovan Andree’s Coconut Grove jiving and gyrating to his live band. I would have loved to play a musical instrument and be a part of an orchestra or even be in a teenage boy band.

In the bruising 5 years in medical school I was treated like a kid and never enjoyed it. I am a sensitive chap and felt the heat more than most!! As I see it now, there are better ways to learn a trade and earn a living. The path to journalism and IT are much shorter and I could have easily accommodated my other interests, pursuits and fascinations. I don’t feel bitter about the past but now that I’m older and wiser, I realise the career path I chose didn’t suit my psyche. We are asked to choose our careers when we are so young and know basically nothing about them. That’s all in the past. Medicine has given me a decent income and an insight into human life in all its forms and an opportunity to help those in need. I look back a happy man and don’t wish to fan the fumes of discontent. One great advantage in studying medicine is that I now understand my body, how it works and how and why it goes wrong not being totally at the mercy of my GP. It is harder for doctors to fob me off.

Speedy: As you say, it is now all in the past and I am glad you don’t have any bitterness and you recognise and appreciate the plus factors of being a doctor.

ND: Mahen, it is now your turn for a topic.

Speedy: Ok ND, here goes. It is over 50 years since graduation. The "flock" has diverged and diversified and formed a whole new world of contacts and friends. Those with common interests or similar pathways, especially geographic, kept in touch with each other, but did lose contact with many. Our Medical Undergraduate time is in the dim distant past. Bearing this in mind, does the Blog serve a useful purpose?

ND: Indeed, it is hard to believe that 50 years have passed since our dispersal after the finals. The 5 years in the faculty were tough but we formed wonderful friendships. These bonds we made in our youth had a certain closeness which is hard to replicate in later life. This makes the blog invaluable to help bring friends together and also share our life’s experiences. Although we speak of the silent majority, many silently read the blog without commenting. Now the Blog is a part of my life I cannot imagine a world without it. As they say “You Don't Know What You Have Until It's Gone”. There are times I like to take a break from the Blog to return with fresh enthusiasm.

Speedy: It’s nice to hear that ND. I am so happy that I have done my bit to help Lucky maintain the Blog. As for Medical Faculty days, I regard that time as very special. I grew up from a “boy” to a “man” and learnt so much about life and people. I made many friends and keep in touch with a fair number. Although I haven’t kept in touch with some, whenever I meet them so many years later, I just pick up from where we left. That is the beauty of friendship. The Blog has also enabled me to rekindle so many old friendships and to reminisce on those days of a mixed bag of hardship and fun, gives me enormous pleasure. The Blog is now a central part of my life. I do wish more would contribute but then we all have wishes, don’t we!

ND: Mahen, you’ve been a great help to Lucky who has done a marvellous job to keep the batch together. The Blog is now a repository of memories and a wonderful collection of music, art and poetry. It is hard work maintaining a Blog. I manage a website for my old school and know the work involved. They need constant care and attention which is euphemistically called ‘housekeeping’.

I would like to pick up on your thread about patriotism and working in Sri Lanka. We have covered this issue in the past. I belonged to the minority in our batch whose ambition was to be a DMO far from the madding crowd. But unforeseen events in my life changed all that. I don’t feel unpatriotic. Also I’ve done more than the 5 year requirement to work in SL. After I qualified in Radiology I returned to Sri Lanka to speak with the Senior Radiologist in Colombo to ask of the possibilities of joining the health service. He was frank with me and gave me the true picture which didn’t appeal to me. The political turmoil in the country at the time would have discouraged the boldest. I have served humanity in the best way I could. I’m happy the way life has panned out for me.

Speedy: Would you have been happy as a DMO?

ND: Who knows? I could have become an alcoholic like some did or become a famous Director of Health Services. But realistically and most probably I would have ended up somewhere in between. I like these hypothetical questions. It makes me happy about where I am in life now. After all it is happiness we are looking for at this stage of our lives.

I certainly do look back on my life, mostly with joy, as things could have gone horribly wrong but good fortune was on my side. I do miss my friends who grew up with me.There is also my inability to be with my parents in their hour of need. Reneging on my parental obligations bothered and bugged me for years. This too I have come to terms with, calling it the ‘awesome force of destiny’ for want of a better explanation. Destiny is a concept that many dislike. Away from science there are some things that don’t have proof which should not be cast aside as rubbish. We have finite minds and knowledge. Is this the arrogance of the so-called intelligentsia to take the moral high ground? I do respect those who cannot accept my point of view.  This is a general statement and not a personal dig at you, Mahen. I have enormous respect for you as I have said many times on this blog.

Speedy: No worries ND. As I have commented before on the subject of patriotism, I shall only say one thing about it. Do not be judgemental and try and appreciate that the journey of life is a very complex one and that variations in individual circumstances affect decisions we make on so many aspects of our life.

On destiny and fate, you know my views of course and in fact Zita and I had a stab at it in our dialogue. I personally find it very difficult to subscribe to the view that our life events are predetermined.  This implies some sort of extremely potent external Force. Belief in destiny can also stultify your drive and ambition but I would be the first to admit that we really don’t know how many things operate in this Universe and all we can do is to form a view after examining the evidence as we see it. As we mature, we begin to realise the truth of that famous Einstein statement, “The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don't know.”

ND: Very true, and I also noticed that with the passage of years my mind is less malleable than in my youth and I have learnt a lot about myself and about life. It is different in day to day life when we are constantly changing and accommodating.

Speedy: That was a good coffee table chat to be shared with our colleagues. My thanks for joining me ND and I say “long live the Blog”! Let us hope our colleagues enjoy reading this and come out with their own experiences. I am certain it would make fascinating reading.

ND: Thank you for accommodating my views which are rather Bohemian, nonconformist and unconventional. I admire your patience to accept my multiple requests to change and modify the text and image. I enjoyed the dialogue immensely and would recommend my mates to take the plunge without hesitation.

Annual Costarican Baruckan mask exhibit

A little color from the Annual Costarican Baruckan mask exhibit now on. The red tag denotes it has a buyer already. 

(Sent in by Indra Anandasabapathy)

Speedy Dialogues 1

THE SPEEDY VIRTUAL INTERVIEW SERIES

Introducing a New series: Speedy Dialogues

Episode 1, January 2019

Speedy with Zita Perera Subasinghe,

On Time, Global warming and Generational Responsibility

I hope readers will warm towards my latest idea. I hope to discuss various topics with friends who volunteer and the topics are wide open. Please do come up with suggestions. The inaugural one is with my close friend Zita.

Speedy: Good morning Zita. Another year passes and here we are in 2019 just as we were getting used to 2018! I love Andy Rooney’s quote on the subject -“I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.”

Zita: Hey, that is good! Speedy (you know, I am still not sure whether to call you Speedy or Mahendra!),the end of an year and the imminent dawn of a New Year always makes us pensive and thoughtful but also forward looking and hopeful. We think of visiting friends and relatives, going to and giving parties. But at the back of our minds that nagging feeling- ok we’ll make merry, sing songs and live it up but there’s disquiet too. We see and hear photos of bad news of a tsunami, there’s starvation and poverty and sickness and death. Even when we see this unexpected good weather we have the uncomfortable knowledge that it is Global Warming, Climate change, depletion of resources, suffering of animals and the collection of non-degradable plastic and other substances.  These spell out bad news for the planet and the life in it of the present and the future generations of man and animals.

Speedy:Speedy, Mahendra, Mahen, Gonsal: all OK by me!

Throughout history, there are ups and downs, reasons to be joyous and reasons to be sad. That is life.We are of course much more aware of issues such as Global warming.

Zita:Quite true. There was a time when we were younger and we heard this message on global warming full of foreboding, we discarded it ‘Oh stop moaning’ and went on with whatever we were doing. But now we have children of our own, grandchildren and nephews and nieces. We see little ones taking their first, faltering steps and our hearts fill with love and hope for their future. Then suddenly, like a thunderbolt we see in our mind’s eye and in news everywhere words and pictures of climate change and possible extinction of birds; so there won’t be pictures of robins on greeting cards. There will be too many vehicles and road blocks. There’ll be the depletions of fuels. Robots will do all our work but there’ll be the slow and sure death of planet Earth!

Speedy:Global warming is fact but the change in attitude you refer to as we get older, don’t you think this is natural? I mean to be aware that there is a new generation and that we have a responsibility to ensure a safe future for them.After all, we only have this one planet.

Zita: Absolutely agree and we must all contribute in any way we can.I am saying, let’s start now, one person at a time, let’s stop using plastic bags, reuse an ‘up cycle’ those in use, reduce waste, recycle with care, reduce use of fossil fuels, stop making this world a dreary waste land and let’s do this one person at a time, let’ spread the message to at least one person each, every day and it will be a billion people getting it in no time. Let’s give people hope not despair, love not hate, compassion and not selfishness. Let’s share what we have with others and let’s each of us alleviate poverty in one person, so there’ll be billions of people helped along their way.

Speedy:What a beautiful goodwill message from you for the New Year 2019!

Zita:Yes! Yes! Happy New World to all to look forward to!

Speedy:Zita, this prompts me to start a discussion with you on how we look at time. These are my thoughts and I would welcome your own. The years, the months, the weeks, the days, the hours and the seconds are all humanity's way of making sense of the world. All there is, is time and space and matter. There is no real change from the 31st of December to the 1st of January compared to change from 30^th to 31^st of December, as the universe does not work like that. The concept of “time” and “event occurrence” is needed to organise our lives. What ultimately matters howeveris how we utilise the time we have till it ultimately and inevitably runs out for each and every one of us, periodically. The world, and us the Beings in it, will always face challenges and also be presented with opportunities. Let us make the best of these for us, and always think of the welfare of future generations as we have a duty which we cannot abrogate

Zita:You are so right about 'time'. I have read that time is an illusion and of course there was more but that line stuck with me.

Speedy:Time gives us “time” to fill our brains with memories that matter. So long as we look at the past to re-live pleasant experiences and not dwell on bad ones, we will be happy

Zita:I am sure you are right. You told me about the lovely period you've spent with your sons over Xmas you'll take that happiness with you and it will last a very long time. I do like you taking the time to spend with them. I know 'time' itself is not what matters but what you talked, sang, cooked, and the meals you enjoyed and visits you made with them that matter. The experience is saved in a corner of our brains as 'happy memories' to be recalled at will. Time is not like that, once gone it's gone.

Speedy:Very true. The worst thing is to look back and have regrets. You just cannot press the rewind button and change what is to follow (only in sci-fi movies!). I don’t know who said it, but it is probably true that “regret” is the saddest word in the English language.

Zita:I think that quote is attributed to American author Tonya Hurley, bestselling author of the book series ghostgirl,and is so true.

Speedy:There are so many intriguing things about time we can discuss. Does anything about time come to your mindat this moment in time?

Zita:Yes. Do you remember the `matrix' films? There was a lot in those on 'time, space, existence' and it was almost that we are pre-programmed to act as we do and that time itself and space itself is an illusion and we are programmed to think we are very hampered with our capabilities because of pre programming

Speedy:Pre-programming is interesting. Those who believe in Astrology must accept this indirectly. I personally find it very difficult to subscribe to the view, that we are born progress through a series of life events, and then die, and that all these eventsare pre-determined or planned. Some may like to use the term fate or “the awesome force of destiny” as ND puts it!

Zita: I have no problem with ‘pre-programming’. Anyway, it is a hyphenated word inferring a predetermination of our fate. I don’t think anyone can prove it but from our own exposure in growing up, including our religion, our parents’ influence and our education will instil into our minds these various beliefs and ‘dogmas’ but no one can prove or disprove it. Rationalists can only query how one can prove it. It cannot be ‘proved’

Speedy:  I do agree with you that cultural factors matter a lot in developing our belief systems. For example, the single most dominant factor that determines a person is what he/she was born into, and that has been confirmed over and over again.

Zita: I am not at all surprised by that. The “struggle” between belief (faith) and analytical thinking is common to us all.

Speedy:Indeed Zita. Although as I said, I have difficulty with the concept of a pre-determined destiny, I do accept that we are not in full control of our “destiny” all the time. From the moment of conception, we are prone to tendencies. For example, we are genetically conditioned, and that is a given. After births, environmental influences matter. For example, the son of a couple, one of whom is a drug addict and the other a prostitute, living in a deprived inner city area has very little chance of succeeding in life. When he makes a “free choice”, he is already conditioned by factors beyond his control which affects his “free choice”. A boy growing up in a loving family environment may make a different choice given the same situation.

Zita:I suppose it is a mixed bag, with some “pre-determined” influence and some entirely within our control.

Speedy:A nice way of putting it! Moving on, although I don’t really want to enter into areas of religious controversy, it is inescapable that one’s view of “time” is coloured by one’s religious background. Buddhists and Hindus believe in a cycle of births and deaths, Christians and Muslims also believe that death is not the end and “the next instalment will follow”

Zita: Yes. Without going into ‘Faith’ particularly if one is a non-believer in religion, then what I can say is that from the dawn of time (hey that word again!) humans have wanted this life to go on, in some form, so concepts of re-birth, a spiritual world after death, another life etc have given hope to individuals. No one has come back to tell us ‘it is so or not’. So, can you blame man for thinking in this way?

Speedy:The history of Mankind (or Humankind in these days of PC!), is replete with Man’s curiosity about life and death. As you rightly point out, there has always been a fascination about what happens after death.

Then there is the scientific view that there is “space-time” and not time or space alone.

Zita:  One has to admit that there are different forms of time. What you and I are now talking about is ‘time’ experienced by a human being on a day to day basis when he sets about living from sun up to sun down. He would meet his friend in 1 hour, or he will eat his lunch in two hours’ time. He will catch his return train in two hours 30 minutes. He needs to have a number for ‘time’ so he has devised seconds minutes and hours and later days and months so as to conduct his life in this world with ease. So, the clock and the calendar were devised. (They say the calendar as we have it now started with 1 A.D. now let’s leave that as I don’t want to bring religion as such into this discussion.)

Speedy:  That fits in with my proposition that a more mundane reflection on “time” is that time has meaning only through events that fill it. The sensation of time passing is also very subjective and what feels like “a long time” or a “short time” is so subjective.

Zita:You are quite right. Speedy!

Speedy:  One thing is clear. We all have only a relatively tiny amount of time to spend on this Planet. If you are born, you will die. We are an infinitesimally small part of the Universe. Let us not get big-headed and let us spend this time as fruitfully as we can, with our families, friends, associates and members of the Community of Human beings in Peace and Harmony. Divisions based on age, sex, ethnicity, religion, wealth, political views and “how clever you are” have no place. Let us tolerate variations in belief as we are learning all the time and very little is proven. If The “Truth” is proven, there won’t be room for other “Truths”.  Let us spend the moment we have (Live in the present), which is “now” as wisely as we can.

That is my final message Zita and how would you like to state yours?

Zita: I want to say, Hear! Hear! To that Speedy! How wise you are! That is what really matters! I.e. how we spend this ‘time’. How productive we are, how happy we are, how fruitful and how resourceful. You have already said the same thing. And so, let us end this very ‘timely’ and fruitful discussion saying ‘it does not matter what ‘time’ means but it is how we spend this undefinable ‘time’ that matters. Let us do good to ourselves and our neighbour. Let us be happy, helpful, fruitful, and successful and let us educate ourselves in things we do not yet know.

Speedy:  Once again Zita, my much valued friend and “batch mate”, thank you for taking part in this inaugural “Speedy Dialogue”. I hope to do several more with my colleagues.

BA writes: 

As a general comment, I am adding this almost as an afterthought. Having read Speedy's comment below, I wish to add that we do have a "Generational responsibility" (to use Speedy's own words) to keep the blog going even if we face an unexpected catastrophe.

Rather than writing anything new, I wish to repeat what I have already written as a comment, so that it gets more prominence here.

I sincerely wish more members of the batch would make comments to maintain a lively discussion, whatever the subject is. Speedy being a live wire of the blog is striving hard to maintain the enthusiasm at an optimal level.

Speedy and I have agreed that the blog, even with the participation of a handful, is an invaluable resource. We have a superb collection of material that have accumulated since 2011 and it would be a pity to simply let it go. Speedy and I have privately discussed the need to have a backup in case of a catastrophe.

The Sunset - Nature's Art with a Message

From today's Island newspaper. Published on the blog earlier, but what appears below is a modified version.

January 5, 2019, 6:17 pm

By Dr. Nihal D. Amerasekera 

"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them." — John Ruskin

I have often wondered why sunsets being a natural phenomenon occurring everyday evoke such intense passion and emotion. Is it the crimson glow that mesmerise us?  But we never pine for the day that’s gone! The combination of the sun, the clouds and their reflection on the water gives the sunset a magical status.  Light reflecting from the setting sun behind a city skyline or a distant mountain, with bright orange hues are a magnificent spectacle of mystical charm. I am reminded of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem "Stray Birds"

"Clouds come floating into my life,

no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

but to add colour to my sunset sky."

There is something very soothing for the soul in looking at the sky. When darkness overcomes us we tend to look to the skies. Tagore’s message is something to remember when we behold those enchanting sunsets in the midst of tough times.

Sunsets mirror our lives in many ways. They are transient. Although unfailingly regular it’s never the same in appearance even at the same venue. So much like our own lives changing from day to day and from year to year, sometimes the ‘clouds’ hiding the beauty within.

Sunset ushers in the end of the day and the conclusion of our toils. It brings on the silence of the night and the peace that comes with it.  During my sojourn in Arabia I found the Muhsin’s melodious evening call for prayer from his minaret, hypnotic, as the sunset across the ever-changing sand dunes. I grew up living opposite a church in Nugegoda. Every evening at 6 pm the church bells rang rhythmically and gave us kids a clue it is time to wind down and find refuge in our homes. This reminds me of Gray’s Elegy written in a Country Churchyard.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

By Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

Despite its beauty Sunset ushers in the dusk, darkness and drawbacks. It is true people don’t fear the darkness of the night as they used to. In the tropics, the night energisers hordes of mosquitoes to torment us in waves! Worldwide it is a busy time for thieves and burglars to earn their living, leaving behind a catalogue of grief.

Sunsets we have stored in our memories are linked to places and people. In 1962 my parents lived in Weligama. It was a daily ritual to visit the Rest House to see the setting sun and watch the fishing boats with their flickering lamps disappear into the horizon. This also brings back the joys of my youth when I had all my life before me. It is a reminder of the time spent with my parents and their infinite love and care. When my best friend was a doctor in Hingurakgoda in 1971, I spent a weekend with him. One evening we sat on the bund of the Minneriya Tank watching the sun go down. The sky was orange with a dazzlingly beautiful cloud formation. There were flocks of geese flying in V- formation while a multitude of bats were taking to the skies. I remember with such clarity hearing a lone bamboo flute playing the haunting melody of "Ranwan Karalin Pasila" made famous by Susil Premaratne. It was a sublime experience. Sadly, my friend and his wife are no more and my parents too have now crossed the vale. But I will cherish these effusive memories forever.

I am born a dreamer. Once it nearly cost me my life. I was living at the Jeewaka Medical Hostel in 1966 and was preparing for the "finals". It was a comfortable but humble dwelling on Turret Road. After a long afternoon of study, I walked to the Colpetty beach with a friend, to sit on a rock and watch the sunset. We often talked about things spiritual to relax and unwind. As darkness fell we started to walk back, deep in thought. When I was about to cross the railway line, my friend pulled me back with great force - and I saw the train go whizzing past me. I could feel the heat of the steam and coal and was just inches away from a certain death.

It must be the diurnal variations caused by our hormones which make us more serene and emotional past sunset and a lot more amorous and sensual too. With all its beauty, sunset ushers in a seedy aspect to life and none more graphic than the wartime music of Marlene Dietrich, then a symbol of sophistication and titillation. These were popular when WWII was raging. The song ‘Lili Marlene’ conjures up images of a young lady waiting under a gas street lamp for her Army lover to return.

Underneath the lantern

By the barrack gate

Darling I remember

The way you used to wait

‘Twas there that you whispered tenderly

That you loved me

You’d always be ………

My Lili of the lamplight

My own Lili Marlene

Everything that has a beginning also has an end. For the light of the day, sunset is its end. It is a reminder for us all of our own mortality and also a memory of those who have gone before us. It enlightens us to use our time wisely and to keep our thoughts calm and peaceful. For us older folk, these are our sunset years. The simple thought that we leave this earth as we came, with nothing, appeals to our generosity and altruism.

In my retirement I made a special attempt to see the places I’ve always wanted to see. I recall with much nostalgia the sunset at Angkor Wat seen from the top of the thousand year old temple. It is now being restored by the Cambodian government. The southern hemisphere has its own beguiling sunsets. Gordon’s Bay sheltered by the Helderberg mountains in Cape town provides a wonderful vantage point to watch the sunset knowing well there is no land beyond its horizon before the South Pole. South America is unlike anywhere else on earth for its climate, mood and scenery. Sunsets across the breath-taking landscape of the Atacama Desert showing the reflections of the sky on the sand dunes is stunning. The kaleidoscope of vivid colours at sunset seen across the Magellan straits in Punta Arenas in Chile is an awesome spectacle that will remain with me forever.

I have kept the best for the last. A visit to Agra is a unique experience as it unravels its enigmatic mysteries of the Mughal Empire. The sad story of the Taj Mahal has resonated through history and its magical beauty fails to hide its grief and torment. The sunset beyond the Yamuna river with the shiny white marble of the Taj Mahal as a back drop is a sight fit for the Gods.

My grateful thanks go to my parents for taking me to watch this nature’s beauty as a child. My life was enriched by the sunsets I saw from the historical elegance of the Ramparts in Galle, the splendour of the Galle Face Green and by the weathered rocks near the New Rest House in Negombo. Although I preferred to suck Aleric’s Ice Cream and chase frolicking brown crabs in the sand, the sunsets have left a lasting impression on my psyche to bring peace to my soul

.I dedicate this note to my parents as they lie in the Churchyard of St Mary and St John in Nugegoda listening to the tolling of Church Bells, in calm silence. May their Souls Rest in Peace.

Meanwhile the sun will continue to rise and set until the end of time.

Danno Budunge

I remember the time in the late forties when we had a gramophone at home. One of the 78 rpm records we had was Hubert Rajapaksa's original version of "Danno Budunge". One of the newer versions is by Nelu Adhikari and Kapila Pugalarachchi. The accompanying visuals are beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNscsV2SRTo

Happy New Year!

I wish all readers of this blog, a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year - 2019.

Lucky (Blog Administrator)

Batuwitage's funeral