Dinner at our Battaramulla home

A few of us met at our Battaramulla home last evening and had an enjoyable time. All except Pram and myself are based abroad. Bora and Harshi (UK), Indra and Rani (Staten Island, NY), Lareef Idroos (LA, California), Srianee (CT). Lareef's wife Nabila is on a pilgrimage in Mecca.

"Clouds" by Mahendra (Speedy) Gonsalkorale

I have been indulging in some creative activity. I have always been fascinated 

by clouds and here is my effort to communicate my feelings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8LEd21t4DA  

Speedy

Colombo Medical Congress 2020

Dear CoMSAA members, 

It is a pleasure to inform you that Colombo Medical Congress activities will commence from 10th Monday 2020. 

There will be eight pre congress workshops at the faculty premises on 10th to 12th of February, followed by Congress on 12th to 15th.

Please see the attached flyer for further details.

Thank you

Co secretaries.  

Colombo Medical School Alumni Association

Faculty of Medicine
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka

comsaa2011@gmail.com

www.comsaa.org

Click on the following link for full programme:

 https://colombomedicalcongress.org/

Ganga Addara by Mahendra (Speedy) Gonsalkorale

Speedy has done it again!

You may or may not remember the Sinhala movie called "Ganga Addara". In this particular scene, it was Vijaya Kumaratunga and Vasanthi Chaturani in one of her early roles.  Click on the following link and enjoy!

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

Around the World in 560 Days

When I read Ronald Perera's article, I was reminded of a visit to the Ratmalana airport long years ago. Although many viewers would have read the chapter "Around the World in 560 Days" in my Memoirs, a re-read is called for. The reasons why I am posting this as a new article are many. For one thing, my Memoirs ("From Hikkaduwa to the Carolinas") was published a decade ago and many would have forgotten its contents. It is also due for a reprint as I was compelled to omit certain items because it was written when I was resident in South Carolina where I had limited access to facts and figures. For example, I had failed to mention Speedy's father Edwin Gonsalkorale in the opening chapter "My Birthplace Revisited". This I think is unforgivable because I distinctly remember my mother talking about the Gonsalkorale family long before I met Speedy in 1962. Secondly, I wish to publish a photo from my book and it is easily done here.

 In this picture, I am in front on the left. It includes two domestic aides Jane and Jossie and of course my mother, two sisters and my brother.

Around the World in 560 Days

It is very seldom that someone travelling by air for the first time gets a chance to circle the globe on that very first trip, albeit in stages. When I set off from the Bandaranaike International Airport on March 13th, 1974 on a Swissair flight to Zurich, it was 560 days later on September 24th, 1975 that I returned to the same airport in Sri Lanka on an Indian Airlines flight from Madras. On one single air ticket that I never had to pay for, I was able to visit as many as thirteen major cities in eight different countries. My itinerary included Zurich, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Calcutta, New Delhi, and Madras. I had actually circled the Globe in 560 days, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and going over parts of the Indian Ocean and many continents.

However, that was not the first time that I had boarded an airplane. I remember how thrilled I was as a young boy on the day my father took us to see the inside of a plane at the Ratmalana airport. Air Ceylon’s tiny fleet of DC-3s was probably on display when not in use and open to visitors. They were all named after queens – Sita Devi, Viharamaha Devi and Sunethra Devi. As we boarded the last named “Sunethra Devi”, even as kids, we were old enough to know that she would not take off, and that we were only on a sightseeing visit!

The Benefactors

My first ever flight in March 1974 was the first leg in a long journey that would take me to the University of California in Berkeley where I was to get my post-graduate training in Public Health and Health Education. Thanks to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), I not only got an opportunity to do a tour around the world, but also obtained a Master’s degree from a prestigious US University at absolutely no cost to me. Such an extensive itinerary was possible because my academic programme, field assignment and study tour were all packed into one single Fellowship. The flexibility afforded by a full-fare ticket also helped me in getting a few stopovers and free hotel accommodation in some big cities. In terms of the agreement that I signed, I was to serve my country for 15 years on my return. I fulfilled this obligation to the letter by working in the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka until 1990 – a continuous period of 23 years of Government Service from 1967 to 1990. As if to show my gratitude to the United Nations, I also worked for two UN agencies (WHO and UNICEF) for a further period of eight years before opting for early retirement. Although I am presently serving another country that too has given me so much, no one in my homeland can make the accusation that I have not given back anything to the country that gave me a free education up to university level, and to the UN System that helped me with my post-graduate education.

New York by Night

Landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a clear starlit night, from my window-seat on the plane I was able to feast on the fabulous spectacle of the glittering lights of Manhattan. There to meet me was not my “Mama and Papa” as Tom Jones described in his popular song “Green Green Grass of Home”, but one of the many Tamil batch mate friends that I am proud and privileged to have even today. He is none other than Dr. Indra Anandasabapathy who is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist and now lives in Staten Island, NY. Despite unfortunate events such as the so-called Black July of 1983 and the protracted war that raged for years in one part of Sri Lanka, I still count them as some of my closest friends.

My scheduled appointment with the Fellowships Officer at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington DC was still a couple of days ahead. That gave me sufficient time to meet up with a host of other friends who were all doing their Internships and Residencies at that time having come over to the US on a permanent basis in the preceding years. Most of them were attached to the Coney Island Hospital in New York where Sri Lankans have left an indelible mark by winning the Intern of the Year Award so frequently. A few others were employed in other NY hospitals and in neighbouring states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts. Names like Indra Anandasabapathy, Desmond Gunatilake, Sunil (SR) de Silva, Adiel Anghie, Chandana Bopitiya, N. Visveshwara, Kandiah Wigneswaran, John Mahadeva and Lakshman Weerasuriya would show how race and ethnicity have never been an issue in the matter of choosing friends. I met them all during that brief stay in the North East of the US in 1974. One of them - my dear friend “Sunna” (Dr. S. R. de Silva) even came over to California to see me before I left the US in 1975. Thereafter, he never failed to visit me whenever he came to Sri Lanka, whether it be in Colombo or 100 miles away in Matara. But not any more, for Sunna’s tragic and most untimely death in a traffic accident in Florida saw to it that we never met again.

Helicopter Ride

After meeting the PAHO Fellowships Officer to whom I had to report on arrival in the US, and completing other formalities including the all-important arrangement to receive my monthly stipend through the Wells Fargo Bank, I then took another long-haul flight right across the country to San Francisco on the West Coast. Not only did this first ever overseas trip provide me with my first experience of flying in a commercial jetliner, but it also gave my first taste of a helicopter ride. From the San Francisco International Airport, I was ticketed to travel by helicopter to a helipad in Berkeley. From there, it was a very short taxi ride in a Yellow Cab to the “International House” (on-campus housing for international students) that was to be my home for the next three months.

Classmate in Berkeley

Having settled down in my 4th floor room at the “I House” (as it is popularly known) and enjoying for a brief moment the fantastic view of the San Francisco Bay Area from my room window, I lost no time in visiting fellow Sri Lankan and Health Department colleague Dr. Marcus Fernando whom I did not know very well at the time. Marcus had arrived in Berkeley ahead of me and had rented a private apartment on the fringe of the campus. Along with his older brother Dr. Joe Fernando who retired a few years ago as Secretary to the Health Ministry, Marcus had attended medical school in Ireland. That being the main reason and the fact that he was much senior in service I had not had the good fortune to get to know Marcus before. Back in Sri Lanka, I had met Marcus very briefly at the Fellowships interviews that were held in the Old Secretariat (behind the Parliament building) where the Health Ministry was then housed. When we got to know that he had not only been awarded the same Health Education Fellowship but also a placement to Berkeley, my wife Mangala and I made it a point to visit him at his Longden Place residence on the eve of his departure to the US a few days before I myself left the country. That was where I met his wife Sunila and brother Dr. Joe Fernando for the very first time at a personal level. Dr. Joe Fernando was not a total stranger because I had attended his lecture on Maternal and Child Health during my Public Health training at the Institute of Hygiene (present National Institute of Health Sciences) at Kalutara in 1971. In my humble opinion, he is easily the best Ministry Secretary that I served under, in my own period of service as a Health Ministry employee.

Move to Married Housing

After my temporary stay in “I House”, I moved to the married students’ housing complex in nearby Albany where my wife Mangala and son Shehan (who was just two years old at the time) joined me. Marcus was also fortunate to get an apartment in the same complex when Sunila joined him a few months later. We also had another Sri Lankan neighbour Chandana Wirasinghe who was doing his PhD in Transportation Engineering. Unlike the two of us who went back to Sri Lanka, Chandana proceeded to Canada on completing his PhD. He retired recently as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Calgary.

Sri Lankan Visitors

Berkeley was on the itinerary of many Sri Lankans coming on study and observation tours to the University. We therefore had the rare privilege of meeting and even entertaining quite a few VIPs and VVIPs whom we had never met before. We were delighted to host the then Deputy Minister of Justice Ratnasiri Wickramanayake to dinner at our humble two-roomed apartment in 1974. Had I known at that time, that this SLFP politician was later to become Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, I would have censored the lyrics in some of the songs I belted out that evening in the singsong where the future Prime Minister readily joined in! He was accompanied by another lawyer late Elliot Gunasekara who had LSSP leanings and who I believe was a relative of late Minister Leslie Goonewardene. Two other important visitors that we invited to our apartment (for which we were paying a heavily subsidised monthly rent of only $40) were Professor Herbert Aponso and late Professor Jasmine Nanayakkara – two distinguished paediatricians who also shone in the academic world. We also met two up and coming SLFP politicians at that time, at dinner at the Foster City home of my cousin Suri Gunatilake. Late Speaker of Parliament and one-time Opposition Leader and Minister Anura Bandaranaike and former Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte were staying at my cousin’s home during their visit to that part of California. Apart from them, we were also very happy to have my own boss at the Health Education Bureau Dr. Tilak Munasinghe stay with us when he was attending an International Health Education conference held in Berkeley in 1975. In an old photograph album, I still have pictures of our distinguished guests including one in which our Prime Minister as a young man is seen carrying our two year-old son Shehan!

Field Training and Study Tour

Although I could have done my field training that forms part of the MPH programme in the US itself, I opted to do it in a country where the culture is not too different from that of Sri Lanka. I was therefore fortunate to be attached to the Public Health Institute (PHI) of Malaysia’s Health Ministry to do my fieldwork. It is interesting to note here that Dr Siti Hasmah Mohammad was attached to the PHI at that time when her husband Dr. Mahathir Mohammad (later to become Prime Minister of Malaysia) was the Minister of Education. In 1974 she became the first woman to be appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer. The supervisor of my field training Dr. Jones Varughese (who later rose to be the Director General of Health Services in Malaysia’s Health Ministry) was the head of the Public Health Institute and himself a Berkeley Alumnus. This was Kuala Lumpur of 1975 when the city did not have a single expressway and the skyline was totally different with only a few skyscrapers in the city.

On completing the field training in Malaysia, I had the opportunity to observe health education programmes that were implemented by Singapore’s Health Ministry. The last leg of my study tour covered the Central Health Education Bureau in New Delhi, the All-India Institute of Hygiene in Calcutta and finally the Ghandigram Institute of Rural Health and Family Welfare in Tamil Nadu.

Bonds of Friendship

After 560 days of travel, I was happy and relieved to be back home in Sri Lanka. Just prior to my departure in March 1974, I had been attached to the Health Education Bureau on a temporary basis. My appointment as Medical Officer (Health Education) was made permanent on my return in September 1975. When I resumed work in the Health Education Bureau (HEB), I had a “reunion” with my Berkeley classmate Dr. Marcus Fernando who too had been appointed to the HEB. We had shared some happy times together in Berkeley where we were bonded together in friendship. I had thoroughly enjoyed that regular Sunday evening rice and curry meal (expertly turned out by Chef Marcus himself) preceded by a few beers in his cosy “Americana” studio apartment.

But it was a sad moment when one day we heard that his beloved father had passed away in Sri Lanka. He was inconsolable especially because he was unable to be there for the funeral. We were very close to each other at that time. But our friendship was further consolidated and we were drawn even closer, when we had the opportunity to work together in the same office for 15 more years. We parted company as office colleagues only when I retired from government service in June 1990 to join UNICEF. But we continued our friendship until the day he departed this world, parting company forever. It is with a heavy heart that I record here that Marcus passed away 10 years ago at the early age of 62. I recall how happy he sounded and how delighted I was for him on the day he called me to proudly announce the birth of his son Dinesh in 1976. I knew how much he longed to have one. I was elated when I heard the news that he had been appointed Director of the HEB in the early nineties. But the day I attended his funeral at the churchyard burial grounds in Marawila will always be one of my saddest days. The only consoling factor was that I was able to attend the funeral. I was due to leave for the US on a permanent basis a few days later. The opportunity to travel around the globe and the post-graduate degree that I collected on the way, were definite gains from the WHO Fellowship that I was fortunate to be awarded. But what I cherish most is that the Fellowship also enabled me to find another good friend in Rovino Marcus Fernando to whom I dedicate this chapter. 

REMINISCENCES OF A PRIZED TRIP TO EGYPT

This is a sequel to the first instalment which appeared on the 2nd of December 2019.  It is not directly related to our batch (apart from Ronald being related to Batch mate Zita!). But the time of occurrence is of interest. When Ronald took off to Egypt from Ratmalana airport in December 1964, it was in its last years as Sri Lanka's premier airport with the opening of Katunayake International Airport in 1967. I think we can all recall how we waved goodbye as people left the airport building and we stood on the balcony. We would have been in our 3rd MBBS year, getting to grips with our subjects and forming new relationships. Ronald's experience of taking parcels abroad, shortage of foreign currency, personages such as Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike and President Gamal Abdel Nasser will resonate with our own. And of course Mignone and The Jetliners! Ronald has added a lot of personal touches which brings his account to life. I have added a few pictures to his script.

Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale

Zita Perera Subasinghe

By Ronald Perera (Second Installment) December 2019

It’s December 10, 2019. Come December, we all look forward to this magical time of the year. With the dust settling down after the Presidential Elections and the Schools already on vacation, the young and the not so young, are all agog with anticipation of peace and the festive season. Sounds of Sir Cliff’s (Richards) “Christmas Time, Mistletoe and Wine …..”.

 
Start of the journey
 

Today, I go down memory lane, exactly fifty-five years ago, when I, at 21 years of age, embarked on my adventure on a “Prized Trip to Egypt”. The Flight was on or around 14^th December 1964. My prize included a Jet Flight from Bombay (now Mumbai) on United Arab Airlines (UAA). As UAA Jets were not landing in Ceylon, I had to take the connecting Flight of Air Ceylon from Ratmalana Airport, where my Uncle Noel who was at that time the Signals Officer at the Airport, was there to

welcome me and see me off. An Executive of the Travel Agency handed over to me a parcel said to be a gift of cakes from the wife of one of the executives of the travel agency to be taken in my hand luggage and to be handed over to her daughter who was an important person at the Ceylon Embassy in Cairo. Accompanying me to the airport to say ‘farewell’ were my mum, Mildred and sister Zita both dressed in white as it was three months after the death of my father.

Soon after the plane took off, a travel official handed me a note which happened to be from my uncle Noel wishing me a safe flight. The travel agency handed me a parcel from the sister of an official in the Sri Lankan embassy in Egypt. It was a sign of the difficulty in sending things freely to friends and family abroad during that era. After opening and seeing it was a piece of cake, the official proceeded to break it make sure that’s all it was!

Stops in Madras and Bombay

The first touchdown was at Madras (now Chennai) Airport. Being the first port of call on this flight, I had to go through the Madras Customs, whose courtesy left something to be improved upon. Their attention focused on the gift parcel I was carrying. The Officer said, “I want to open this”. I was not worried and said, “This is a gift of cakes I am carrying. You can open this, but wrap it back as it is wrapped”

The next stop was at Santa Cruz airport in Bombay. It was busier and pretty young girls in Western attire were ‘hanging out’. No wonder MignoneRatnam with the Jetliners, in their hit of the 1960s, sang their praises -

“Ladies are nice; gents are full of spice

BomBomBomBom, Bom, BomBombay hurray!”.

I was checked in to a nice hotel in Bombay and the next day, a Sunday, found me going to church with an employee, one Mr Pereira who, when he found I wished to go to Church, admitted he was a Catholic from Madras and accompanied me to church and back.

From Bombay to the Emirates

The next morning, I had to take the flight from Santa Cruz airport in Bombay on United Arab Airlines to the Emirates. The flight stopped at Doha, a city I had not heard of at that time, and the airport was small and nothing compared to our Ratmalana airport. Middle Eastern Cities and Countries really took off and developed after the International fuel crisis in 1973. Cairo Airport was massive and hectic. At the airport, a man was waving a placard with my name. He welcomed me and cleared me from Immigration and Customs without any checking and I was the first to be out. Then he showed me a Bank Counter and said, “You can change your money here”, I told him “I have nothing to change”.

Very surprised he asked, “You didn’t bring anything?” Of course, I had brought the Sun with me, (a Reggie Michael pun) but it was like carrying coal to Newcastle!

Arrival at Cairo

He took me to the Lobby and asked me to wait there till the others are cleared and then a bus would take us to the City. It was a long wait and I felt ‘insolitude among a multitude’. For the first time, I felt a little homesick. In the City of Cairo, I was put up at ‘Hotel Continental’ as a Guest of the Egyptian Government. A representative of the Information Department, who happened to be the Brother-in-Law of the Press Attaché of the Egyptian Embassy in Colombo, met me and apprised me of the itinerary. The next day was spent in getting money from the bank, as I had arranged it with the Press attaché’. The next port of call was the Ceylon Embassy in Cairo to meet a lady for whom I was carrying a parcel from her brother in Ceylon(then)! She was very nice, just as I expected. They say, “A Diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to ‘hell’ in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip”. Wherever I went, when the Egyptians heard that I was from Ceylon, the first thing they used to say was “Oh! Sailon, we like Sailon Tea and Mrs Ban-da-ra-na-ka”. For the first time I learnt that our own First Woman Prime Minister was so popular in this part of the world.

My time in Cairo

My itinerary and the logistics had been meticulously prepared by the Information Department. The Brother-in-Law of their Press Attaché in Colombo, let’s called him Mr Mohamed, was my chaperon on the tour. He took me to all the places of interest in Cairo and around Cairo, including the Great Pyramid, the Great Sphinx of Giza, the Museum, the Palace of King Farouk, Temple of Karnak, Nile Hilton Hotel, etc. The Pyramids considered the oldest of the Ancient Wonders of the World, were a wonder in every sense of the word. Constructed between 2,500 to 3,500 years ago, from granite stones brought from Aswan about 600km away through boats along the river Nile. They used slaves for the construction and we can guess how ‘enslaved’ they were. The Great Sphinx (like the head of a man on a lion) is said to be constructed over 4,500 years ago. The most important items in the Museum are the Mummies as old as the Pyramids. The bodies of King Ramses II, Tutankhamen, Queen Nefertiti, etc. that we have learnt in history are all there still intact. The opulence of King Farook’s Palace with all the glittering gold (even the frame-work of beds are in gold) explains the overthrow of the monarchy around 1952 by Nasser, more than any book.

My Chaperon wanted me to visit the Great Pyramid area for a popular show styled ‘Son et Lumiere’ (sound and light in French) which was on a Sunday. I declined to go as it was a Sunday and I had to go to Church. He told me, “You can go to Church any day. If you do not go for this show today, you may not see it forever”. I could not refuse the offer and glad that I took it. It was an impressive representation of ancient Egyptian history through a combination of sound and light with the narrative in the voice of Gregory Peck, the well-known Hollywood Actor of the 1950s and 60s. This spectacle was a must for the tourists.

Later, I used to think why Sri Lanka cannot have shows like this at locations with Sagas of Great historical importance such as the Sigiriya Rock Fortress (a UN Heritage Site), Ruwanweliseya Chaitya, etc. I learnt later that the three famous Chaityas in Sri Lanka namely, Ruwanweliseya, Mirisawetiya and Abeyagiri have all been constructed with exactly the same angles and gradients of the Pyramids! Our ancestors used high tech in their constructions and irrigation works.

A key item in my itinerary was a visit to the Aswan High Dam about 600km away from Cairo, the largest Dam in the world at that time and under construction. I went alone by train, which was an overnight trip. I stopped at Luxor and was told that the Director of the Tourist Bureau would me meet at the Railway Station.If I miss him, I was advised to book into the Hotel Winter Palace. As no one met me at the Railway Station, I took a cab by way of a horse carriage to the Hotel. The Receptionist at the Hotel received me warmly and said, “I am pleased to meet you. I am one of your neighbours”. When I asked him from where he was, he said, Pakistan! As I went up to my room, the telephone rang and I was informed to come down to meet a visitor, who was at the Reception. When I came down I found it was the Director of the Tourist Bureau in Luxor.

In Luxor, I was taken with a group of tourists to the valley of the Kings,Valley of the Queens and valley of the Nobles where the famous Tombs are still there. They are very deep and long and how they were constructed at that time shows their high technology.

The Mummies which were laid there and later discovered were transferred to the Cairo Museum. Space does not permit me to go into detail of what I learnt about these great historical monuments.

The National Day of Egypt came up during my stay there. It was celebrated in Port Said, with Chief Guest being, of course, the well-loved President Nasser. To enable me to get into the thick of the business, I was given a badge as a Journalist from Ceylon. I travelled with other Journalists to Port Said. When I said that I was from Ceylon, one of them asked me, “Where is Ceylon?” I explained that it was right below India. He was not satisfied. I added, “If you show me a World Map, I will show you Ceylon”. One Journalist produced a World Map and I looked and to my utter dismay found that, there was no Ceylon. I quickly recovered and said, “When I left Ceylon one week ago, it was right under India. Now it looks as if it is right under the Indian Ocean!” we all laughed.

One Journalist introduced himself as from Rumania. I asked him, “From which principality, Moldavia or Wallachia?” “From Moldavia” he replied surprised and asked, “Have you been to Rumania?” “Not yet” I answered (I still haven’t) “But I know a bit about Rumania”.

 Another Journalist was from Chili. When I asked him for his name, he quipped “There is no point telling my name because you will never remember it”. “Never mind,” I said, “I have a fairly good memory”. He replied, “Ferdinand Fernando”. I remarked “I am Perera, we have enough Ferdinands, Fernandos and Pereras in Ceylon”. “How come” he inquired? “A relic of the same Portuguese influence” I responded.

At Port Said, the National Day celebrations were done on a grand scale. Along with the Journalists  

I was introduced to President Nasser. The popularity of President Nasser had to be seen to be believed. Whenever he passes by the crowed keep chanting hysterically -“Ab-dulga-mal  Nasser,   Ab-dulga-mal  Nasser”. He was Egypt’s “cometh the hour, cometh the man”. His popularity and hero worship can be gauged by the following incident.When I asked a fellow Egyptian traveller“What would happen to Egypt when President Nasser dies?” What I really meant was who will succeed President Nasser? He gave me a stern look and remarked, “I wish that I die, you die and everyone else dies, and President Nasser lives on forever”! However, “Man proposes and God disposes”. Less than two years later Israel in the “six-day war” vanquished Egypt and its allies. President Nasser claimed responsibility for the defeat on himself and resigned or offered to resign; as they say in military parlance “a strategic withdrawal”. He knew that no one would take it up and the people asked him to stay on, which he did. But he was no longer the same power he was. He died in September 1970. Our Madam Prime Minister lost her office less than one year after my Egyptian visit but came back to power in 1970.

At the end of my visit, I thanked my Chaperon, Mr Mohamed, who was so helpful during my travels. He told me that he would like to visit Ceylon. I asked him “When are you planning?” He replied, “I want to marry an Air Hostess so that I can travel free.” As Mr Mohamed was in his early 30s, I inquired “Are you not married?” He responded, “You see, we can marry four wives!”

I must say that I was delighted to have won this wonderful trip to exotic Egypt, of which I had learnt a bit from history books, not forgetting the Bible. The near VIP treatment, they extended to me reflected the regard and respect they had for Ceylon and particularly for Mrs Bandaranaike. My heartfelt thanks to the Egyptian Government and Ceylon Daily Mirror for this prized opportunity which one may not get even once in your lifetime! Lastly, I must not forget Cricket, lover-ly Cricket, for taking me free of any cost to as far as Egypt, even before Ceylon had not even dreamt of being a Member of the International Cricket Arena. “The glorious uncertainties of cricket”.

CoMSAA Membership Drive

Dear All CoMSAA Members

 

We wish to thank you for being a member of the prestigious Alumni Association of the Colombo Medical Faculty. Your membership contribution has been used for ComSAA activities such as book and stethoscope donations  and other welfare activities for medical students 

 

As you are aware the Colombo Medical Faculty is celebrating its 150th Anniversary and will be holding a Medical Congress from February 12-15, 2020 at the Colombo Medical Faculty premises. CoMSAA will be having a membership drive at the Congress. 

 

The Council is requesting the membership to help the membership drive by sharing the attached membership poster amongst your fellow batch mates and other Faculty alumni. 

We value your support very much.

 

Yours sincerely

Jt. Secretaries

Colombo Medical School Alumni Association

Faculty of Medicine
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka

comsaa2011@gmail.com

www.comsaa.org