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by Prof.Sunanda Mahendra

'Do you know that Mr. H. M. Gunasekara is dead?' asked my youngest son Sachitra.

'No' I said.

'I got the news through the internet' he said.

At that moment I was engaged in some work, perhaps writing this column, from London, I was saddened by the news, and momentarily forced to stop my work and recalled the day I was received by H. M. and Kamal (now Prof Kamal Karunanayaka) at the Heathrow air port as far back as late 1960s. After clearing the baggage I came out to see them and three of us went to the BBC staff club, where I was introduced to fellow members. H. M. said as I remember his deep voice 'Sunanda will be taking over from me, our BBC Sandeshaya programme'.

For another week H. M. was on leave and getting ready to go home, and take up a senior staff position at the Broadcasting Corporation (then Radio Ceylon). As I remember well H. M. was loved by all at BBC Bush House member, where our Sandeshaya was broadcast from the 5th floor of the world service unit. Like Thevis Gururge, H. M. too was an all rounder in the field of broadcasting at home and abroad. Both of them started their career as announcers, and fixed onto program planning both in the capacity of practitioners and administrators.

The late senior administrator M. J. Perera gave them a liberal hand to do broadcasting planning. Guruge and H. M. were good planners of radio programs as it was the formative stages as far back as fifties and sixties.

Unlike today most program producers got the opportunity of obtaining at least a brief period of training at the BBC training school.

The late P. Welikala, the late Karunaratne Abeysekara, the late D. M. Colombage were among those who got the training. Right throughout his career H. M. was an inimitable broadcaster and a local trainer in broadcasting. To his credit he has translated one book from English to Sinhala on training in broadcasting and another written in English titled 'Media as a bridge maker'. These books brought in not only fame but also a prestigious position in the field of broadcasting and generally communication.

H. M. as a broadcaster in the field of talks and features had the rare opportunity of associating great scholars of the calibre of Prof. Gunapala Malalasekara, Prof. Senarath Paranavitana, Prof. Edirivira Sarachchandra, and Dr. E. W. Adikaram. He was the poetic narrator of the pioneer radio opera (Gita Nataka) written by Sri Chandraratna Manawasingha and produced by Thevis Guruge. With the advent of television in Sri Lanka, H. M. and most other broadcasters were needed as essential persons to spearhead to initial functions.

One of the most memorable episodes in the life of H. M. was the mode of expression in commentary presentations. He was ready with his 'home work' and be it a perahara commentary or the opening of the parliament, he made the listener gripped into the experience from moment to moment. So we miss another seasoned media man.

Then I was saddened on hearing the death of the musician Sena Weerasekara, whom I met for the first time in his ancestral house, I suppose situated in Weerasekara Mawatha (then Drieberg's Avenue) in Maradana.

Sena was a rare artiste who inherited the language skills from his learned Pundit father Jayantha Weerasekara (after whom the Road is named) the close associate of scholar Munidasa Cumaratunga.

One day Sena told me that he was influenced by his father and the scholar Cumaratunga to become a musician. I happen to associate him closely during my production of 'Socrates' the stage play for which he directed the music score, which bagged the best music award plus eight other awards.

Professor Ashley Halpe who was the adjudicator that year later told me that Sena's contribution was superb. During two occasions, I saw the utmost interact and devotion he takes for his part of the function.

In the first instance I saw for his latent talent in Ranjit Dharmakirthi's production of 'Cherry Orchard', and the second one happened to be my own production of 'Socrates'. While he was attached to as a member of the music orchestra of the broadcasting corporation, he got the opportunity of creating some of the finest melodies for light songs played today. He was one of the most sensitive musicians who had the rare gift to appreciate and promote works of his fellow professionals.

He had the inner urge to do something humane, but death came sooner than expected. I have often seen him a reading English classics and engaged in a devoted function without idling himself in nooks and corners. He was a very good conversationalist who knew musicology much more than his contemporaries.

As such I found a rare gift and a skill embedded in Sena Weerasekara.

So two of our dear ones belonging to the media field are no more. Let us try to learn from whatever they have left amidst us.

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