Seventy fifth Diamond Jubilee falls today:

Sri Palee reminiscences of a beautiful era

Chandrasiri Golden

It was a very fortunate turn of events which lead me to tread my path in common with many other equally fortunate children who chose to attend Sri Palee, the “abode of peace” during her golden era.

I was just twelve years old then, and I was attending the village school in Talagala, about five miles from Horana. At this time, I won an eighth standard science scholarship to attend the Taxila Central College. However, I got disqualified on the grounds of my parent’s income.

Indian President Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan paid a courtesy visit to Sri Palee College. He is seen with the distinguished visitors participating in the special Upasana (Assembly) to mark his visit. From left to right Sagara Palansuriya, poet and MP for Horana, Minister A.P. Jayasuriya, Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Wilmot A. Perera (Founder) and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, President of India. (He visited Sri Palee)

On hindsight this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, my parents decided to send me to Sri Palee, a private school then. This turned out to be the single most important step which paved my way to where I am now. Sri Palee was the brainchild of her patron Wilmot A. Perera. Wilmot A. Perera had the foresight which was light-years ahead of the thinking of the contemporary educationalists.

He had the money and also the vision to create an institution to prepare the young minds for a bright future through a uniquely balanced education process. His school was modeled along the lines of Shantiniketan, of the Nobel laureate bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore.

Wilmot A. Perera’s Sri Palee was not only a fine arts school emulating Shantiniketan, but more; it offered all the skills needed to advance in society including sciences and crafts. He had a personal interest in the well-being of this institution. Sri Palee nurtured the young minds through a curriculum of arts, crafts and sciences, promoted harmony among students and cultivated an appreciation of the fine arts within all its pupils.

Wilmot A. Perera was nationalistic and also had a clear vision to promote what is good. In contrast to the then populist thinking, he was not blindly attached to a Sinhala only education medium, but he supported a well balanced education in Arts and Sciences in which English played an important role. Sciences were taught in English, because English opened up many opportunities and a vast source of knowledge to the young mind.

At the end of each school term, report cards for the first three place winners in each class were given by Wilmot A. Perera, in a Upasana at the Arundhati hall. In the first such event I attended, I recall, he mentioned what science education meant. He said learning science meant learning the “scientific method”, the method of hypothesizing, experimenting, observing, inferring and confirming or refuting, and not just the book knowledge. This left an indelible mark in my young mind. It was inspirational and, his words were reminded me often in my later scientific career.

My early days at Sri Palee

I came from a village school, and I knew hardly any English. First I was put in the Arts stream class, 11th grade at an early age of 12, because I skipped many classes in my village school.

The kids there were much older than me. But I fared well there for a few days. Somehow, I had the feeling that I was in the wrong place. So I went to the Principal’s office and told the Principal that I wanted to do science, He was then experimenting with a new class called Lower-prep for those students who didn’t measure up to required English level for senior prep.

Upali M. Senanayake was our class teacher, he excelled in creating enthusiasm and excitement in the subjects he taught; chemistry and physics. He took the challenge of teaching a bunch of students who has very little knowledge of English and taught them in a comprehensible way. I think I am one testimony to how successful he was in this endeavour.

Lower Prep

Lower Prep was a fun class. If I remember right it was a small class of about twelve. I can recall some of the names L. K. Meegahawatte, B. J. Wijesinghe, Neil Chandraratne, Alexander de Silva, W. M. Chandradasa, Y. Somaratne, Chandrasiri Perera, L. P. K. P. Wilegoda and Ariyasena Dharmarathne. Some of them were hostellers and I was a day scholar. I used to carry a shoulder bag, with all the books and my packed lunch.

I had to walk a mile from my home to take the Maharagama - Horana bus to Horana, and then walk or take the Kalawellawa bus to Sri Palee from the Horana bus stand. I generally brought my lunch from home. Often on sunny days the students who brought lunch walked up the hill and go to Gurunewatte rock across a barbed wire fence (fences were no barriers for us!) and sat and have lunch with a view of Adams Peak. These are very pleasant memories of my Sri Palee life.

Although I was in a science class, we had to do fine arts subjects or crafts, normally art, music, pottery, or woodwork. I did art by default, and didn’t do very well.

Later on after joining the university, I learned that I was colour (red-green) blind, and this may have affected my artistic ability. I remember Sihil Sirisena and Harischandra doing magic with water colours, but for me they were skills beyond reach. Therefore, in the senior class, I dropped art and did applied mathematics.

When I finished Lower prep, I was promoted to the senior prep and joined other students who bypassed the lowerprep, I can remember some names for ex. Gyan and Yamuna Ariyaratne, Marasinghe brothers, P. S. Karunaratne, Y. Kulasekera, P. M. Dharmasiri, Janaka Kumara, G. D. Dayarathne to name a few. Senior classes were blessed with an excellent group of teachers; Mr. A. W. Wijesinghe, Mr. Hubert Silva, Mr. Ransiri Malalasekera and later Ms. Ramani Fonseka.

These teachers were the shining stars in Sri Palee during that time and paved the way to many a student to go through the golden gates of higher education. Some of our teachers proceeded to do higher education and got their Doctor’s degree after leaving Sri Palee.

I think I remember Mr. Hubert Silva’s class very well. His classes were very lively. He had a commanding voice. He was very friendly but we all had a great respect for him. When Neil got a Distinction pass in Chemistry, he said “your name will shine in the history of Raigam Korale” in Sinhala with his deep commanding voice. During the class he mentioned anecdotes from science history and also from his daily life to make the class very lively.

I remember when we were studying the periodic table in Chemistry he mentioned how the element Tantalum got its name.

According to Greek mythology, Tantalus stole fire from heaven, as punishment he was bound to the only tree in a small island with water all around him. Every time he tried to reach the water, it receded. So was tantalum, it was always there, but very difficult to isolate. So they named this element “Tantalum”.

These anecdotes and jokes still bring up vivid memories of his class. For some misfortune, I didn’t pass well enough in GCE (A/L) the first attempt to enter the university. But the next time I decided to enroll in Geosciences, then a new curriculum at the university, and I got selected to enter the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya campus.

Values

In Sri Palee the prefects were the role models for other students, they were natural leaders. They followed the rules and made sure that others followed them too. The morning talk at Upasana gave them an opportunity to practice their communication skills. Dr. S. S. Jayarathne was the senior prefect at the time I entered Sri Palee.

I remember one incident very well. We had to wear the national dress on a designated day. It took more than a week for me to get my first national dress made. On the first week I got caught for non complianced. I had to wait one hour after school as a penalty. It was harsh for a day-scholars, because I had to go home very late, but thereafter I adhered to the dress code meticulously.

Upasana talks were focused on instilling the values which are useful for student life and the life-at-large, for example value of cleanliness, truthfulness, meaning of beauty, respect for others etc.

The respect for elder students was expressed by calling them ayya or akka and the younger ones malli or nangi, made us feel like one big happy family.

This closeness remained long after leaving the school. We always respected our teachers. I remember Ms Ramani telling me later how touched she felt when G. B. Keerthirathne offered her a pencil with both hands and with utmost respect on her first day at Sri Palee. When I came to America for my graduate studies, my auto-reflex to respect teachers became somewhat of a problem.

When my major professor Dr. Weed approached my desk, I jumped up just like a spring loaded robot. It often surprised and dismayed him, because in America students and teachers behave more like friends. It took a while for me to adjust to American way of life. Even now I find it hard to call my teachers by their first name.

I was fortunate to have been at Sri Palee during this sort but beautiful and exciting era. It is rather unfortunate that Sri Palee, our alma mater is not shining bright now. It was a visionary founder and a confluence of brilliant teachers and a principal with foresight that made all the difference. It is not the buildings and the campus but the people who made the difference. But the building and the pleasing campus did provide support for the cultivation of the minds.

Just like great civilizations, schools also go through cycles of rise and fall. I was extremely fortunate to be part of Sri Palee when it was at its brightest. I dedicate whatever I have achieved positive to those teachers, whether mentioned here or not, who selflessly gave us so much for so little in guiding us to be useful citizens of the world.

The writer (known among peers as DC) is currently a Principal scientist in the NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was born in Talagala, about five miles from Horana.

He had his primary education in the Talagala Government Mixed School, and joined Sri Palee College for the secondary education. He entered The University of Peradeniya in 1966 and earned a Chemistry Special (Honours) degree.

His current work involves supporting the Mars surface robotic missions MER2004 and just completed Mars Phoenix Scout mission. In addition he does simulation of Mars surface processes in a Mars-like laboratory environment.

He authored two NASA patents, and won eight space act awards from NASA for his work, and holds memberships in the American Geophysical Union, Mineralogical Society, and Geochemical Society and has chaired sessions and workshops in their annual meetings.