Ananda - Pride of the Nation
Premasara EPASINGHE
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; it was the age
of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief; it
was the season of light; it was the season of darkness; it was the
spring of hope; it was the winter of despair; we had everything before
us; we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to heaven; we
were all going direct the other way - in short...
At that time, Ceylon was under the British rule. By late 1880s, our
culture, langauge and Buddhism dwindled. During this period, a military
genius himself, Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, an American led the battle
for the rights of the Buddhists. He had to fight against the colonial
Government, its indifferences and stubbornness.
The Buddhist Theosophical Society (BTS), became the headquarters of
his campaign. With the help of leading philanthropists and the general
public, a Buddhist English school was established at Pettah, known as
the Buddhist Academy on November 1, 1886 with 37 students and three
teachers.
On August 17, 1895, in a 3 1/2 acre land donated by Mudliyar Tudor
Rajapakse, this Buddhist school was shifted to Maradana. Later, this
school became the fountain of our nation's freedom movement and the
centre of our freedom struggle. To give a truly Buddhist identity, the
new school at Maradana was named after one of the ten great disciples of
the Buddha - Ananda. He was the Blessed One's favourite disciple. He was
famed for his excellent memory and also known as 'Dharmabhandagarika'
(Treasurer of the Dhamma) who recited the Sutra Pitaka sermon contained
in the 'Tripitaka'.
Ananda Vidyalaya is one of the crest jewels of Buddhist education in
this country. If any school could claim to be representative of the
spirit and aspiration of the nation of Sri Lanka, I presume, Ananda
could claim that distinction very proudly.
We must not forget the fact, that, all other Buddhist institutions
also played a very important and a lead role in the struggle for
emancipation. Ananda was the leader and always played a dominant part in
the Buddhist revival. It produced disciplined and productive citizens in
all fields.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an address to the nation recently
stated that now there are only two categories of people in Sri Lanka.
Those who love the country and those who do not love the country. Words
of wisdom.
Ananda always produced the first category. They produced patriots who
love their motherland. In all social, political, national struggles,
Anandians were in the forefront. Their philosophy was 'Country before
self'. This 'Punyaboomiya' revered land - Ananda College premises,
produced patriotic leaders. Who is a patriot? A person who loves his
country; one who defends against an enemy.
Whenever there is a threat in any form to the national identity of
the country, Anandians and the old boys of other Buddhist institutions
and patriotic people always rally round the national flag to save the
country. In the battle against bloody terrorism, Anandians were in the
lead with other old boys from various schools in the island to safeguard
the territorial integrity of the country.
Buddha uttered Mangala Sutta to explain the attainment of real
blessing. If you draw the attention to the second stanza of Mangala
Sutta it reads - 'Puja cha puja - niyanam - etam mangala muttaman' which
means Honour those who are worthy of honour.
This is one of the supreme blessings. On July 3, 2009, Ananda war
heros - 'Ranaviruwan' will be felicitated at the college auditorium and
will be honoured. A Great gesture of showing the gratitude to those who
deserves it.
We are all grateful and indebted to the gallant Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, General Sarath Fonseka, Rear Admiral Wasantha
Karannagoda, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, who planned and designed
the strategy to wipe out terrorism from Sri Lanka and prepared the
ground to save the territorial integrity of the beautiful island.
Major General Jagath Dias, Major General Kamal Gunaratne, Brigadier
Prasanna Silva, Brigadier Chagi Gallage and their troops fought a pitch
battle and saved the innocent Tamil civilians in an humanitarian
exercise. They are all proud sons of Ananda. Also we must remember all
others, who fought hard to liberate our Motherland under very trying
conditions.
We salute all those Armed Forces and defence personnel, 'Ranaviruwan'
who sacrificed their precious lives to save the motherland and sustained
injuries, to build a united Sri Lanka.
The success was due to the commitment, dedication, and intelligent
planning. Top ranking officers too lived with the soldiers. They looked
after their welfare and motivated them. Exemplary leader Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa, understood the ground realities.
He understood the pulse and the feelings of the officers and the
soldiers. Commander-in-Chief President Rajapaksa was always a tower of
inspiration to the Defence Forces. He personally visited the
battlefront. His presence motivated the war heros. Gotabhaya provided
the necessary facilities.
General Sarath Fonseka, rated by many international war experts as
the 'greatest strategist' planned out the successful strategy to wipe
out terrorism, which was going on for more than three decades. The
officers, the soldiers gave him their hundred percent support. Under
trying conditions they braved the weather, fought day and night and
liberated the country.
It reminds me a lecture delivered by Dr. Senarat Paranavitana where
in one of his lectures he discussed 'war strategy of Dutugemunu' to
eliminate Elara. He said "Army marches on its belly". President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, General Sarath Fonseka
supplied their basic needs - food to the men in the battlefield and also
looked after their welfare. They were determined lot; their main aim was
to annihilate the enemy and ultimately they liberated the country, and
brought the entire country under our proud Lion Flag. They beat the most
dangerous terrorist group in the world. Today, when Ananda felicitates
their war heros (Ranaviruvan) we must remember with gratitude some of
the principals and teachers who moulded them and their characters.
To begin with, Lokusathu Hewa Mettananda's name should be written in
gold in the Mahavamsa of Ananda Vidyalaya. L. H. Mettananda took up the
Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, the question of Anandians' position in
relation to the Armed Services.
He pointed out that his students are kept out, although they are
qualified. He wanted Anandians to be considered on their merits. The
Prime Minister considered his request to a certain extent, and there
followed some intake of Anandians into Police and Armed Forces. Due to
Mettananda's effort the doors were opened to Anandians in Armed Forces.
This great Principal and national leader formed a national movement,
with some leading personalities, who loved their country called 'Bauddha
Jatika Balawegaya'. This national movement fought for the rights of the
educated qualified Buddhists who were deprived of gaining job
opportunities in Armed Services and Police, and also in the mercantile
sector.
Mettananda was a born fighter. He always stood for fair play and
justice. I presume, fighting was in the blood. Probably, his name 'Hewa'
denotes that his ancestors were a clan of soldiers.
My memory goes back to 1961, my university days. At that time, I was
working part-time basis as a reporter attached to the Lake House group.
One day I was assigned to cover a public rally organised by the BJB at
Kirillapone grounds. The ground was filled to capacity. Majestic
Mettananda, in his speech gave several statistics and proved beyond
doubt the gross injustice done to the educated Buddhists in the field of
employment.
His aquiline nose, steely complexion, towering and commanding
personality reminded me so much a Greek statue. I approached him,
worshipped him, introduced myself as a Nalandian.
With a smile he said, "Epasinghe you are not the Maths man, but, I
can faintly remember you as a Nalanda cricketer." In our friendly chat,
he told me a secret. One day, a principal of a leading Catholic school
made this sarcastic remark to me. Mr. Mettananda, you give the soldiers
from your school. I will provide the officers from my school."
This statement was a mouthful. How true it was. The best example I
can think is the coup of 1962, levelled against the democratically
elected late Sirimavo Bandaranaike's government. The majority of them
involved in this coup were the officers.
Cadeting at Ananda
Cadeting in schools can be considered as the cradle of basic Army
training. Royal College was the first to start cadeting in 1881 in
Ceylon. It was introduced to Ananda Vidyalaya in 1922. The Herman Loos
Cup is considered as the plum of cadeting. This cup is awarded to the
best all round cadet platoon annually.
The most efficient platoon in the Ceylon Cadet Battalion 1949 was
awarded to Ananda Platoon.
The Sgt of this platoon was D. J. Wickramanayake and Contingent
Commander was Lieut. G. W. Rajapakse, who held the reins of Ananda from
1969 to 1981.
Anandians won the Dominion shoot 1950-1951. The team consisted of Cpl
Gamini Jayatilleke, Cpl N. K. Dissanayake, Cdt Asoka Jayawardane, Cpl
Hamilton Wanasinghe (former Army Commander) and L/Cpl A. P.
Madurapperuma.
So far Ananda have produced army commanders namely Hamilton
Wanasinghe, Rohan Daluwatta, Lionel Balagalla, Sarath Fonseka and Navy
Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and Civil Defence Force Chief Rear
Admiral Sarath Weerasekera.
Some of the outstanding principals at Ananda who did yeomen service
to the Cadet Corp were Col. G. W. Rajapakse, Col. E. A. Perusinghe, Col.
V. S. Kudaligama. They motivated and guided many Anandians, in this
discipline for many Anandians, the breeding ground to join the police,
army, navy, air force was the training they gained at Ananda.
Tracing the history of cadeting in the first hundred years, Ananda
annexed the Hermon Loos, nine (9) times under a number of platoon
commanders.
From the beginning of late 1980s, Ananda won this prestigious cup in
1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 - nine (9) times
under One Platoon Commander Major Palitha Wijesinghe. It is undoubtedly
a unique record in the history of cadeting in Sri Lanka.
What is Ananda's secret of success?
To begin with, they believed in 'One Sri Lanka'. There was no class,
colour or creed at Ananda. They all lived like one family. The
principals and teachers were dedicated, committed and they moulded
disciplined productive citizens who loved the country. From Mr. C. W.
Leadbeater (1886-1890) to the present acting principal Lal Dissanayake
(2009) there were 26 in their cherished history.
Out of them the most outstanding educationists were A. E. Bultjens
(1890-1898), Sir D. B. Jayatileke (1898-1908) and (1909-1910), Fritz
Kunz (1914-1917), P. de S. Kularatne (1918-1923) and (1923-1932), Dr.
Gunapala Malalasekera (actg. principal 1923), L. H. Mettananda (acting
principal (1932-1936) and (1945-1954) S. A. Wijetileke (1955-1961), Lt.
Col. E. A. Perusinghe (1964-1969), Col. G. W. Rajapakse (1969-1981),
Col. V. S. Kudaligama (1982-1986), A. P. Gunaratne (1987-1995) to name a
few. Among those dedicated pedagogues were: Ven. Balangoda Ananda
Maitriya, Heenatiyana Dhammaloka, Paravahera Vajiragnana, Tibetan monk
poet S. Mahinda, Dr. Kotagama Wachissara, Ambanwelle Pannasekera Theras.
Then there were many scholars in their chosen disciplines, in the staff.
Some of them were Prof. C. Sunderalingam and C. M. Weeraratne
(Mathematics), Lakshman Devasena (Pali, Sanskrit, Sinhala), Sagara
Palansuriya-Keyas (Sinhala), S. Thanabalasingham (English) are some of
the names that come to my mind out of many. To respect the elders and
teachers was a virtue that was ingrained to the students of Ananda by
great set of teachers. They inspired them to become the fighters of
freedom, justice and fairplay.
Sports
In the field of sports, Ananda's achievements are outstanding. In
cricket they produced more than two dozens of Sri Lankan cricketers.
Arjuna Ranatunga had the proud distinction of winning the World Cup in
1996. I pay a glowing tribute to my close friend, who was my rival
Prefect of Games at Ananda late Mr. A. D. Karunananda and coaches Old
Anandian Deputy Principal co-curricular Mr. Kulasiri de Zoysa, P. W.
Perera and evergreen Anuruddha Polonnowita, who captained Ananda the
year I played for Nalanda.
Ananda excelled in all sports. They produced Olympic boxers and one
of them was Sumith Liyanage, a retired Deputy Inspector General of
Police who was my classmate and team mate at Nalanda, who learned his
basics at Ananda. C.P., H.P., S.P. Jayasuriya brothers were some of the
outstanding boxers who wore the maroon and gold blazer.
The heedfulness leads to immortality
This has been instrumental in motivating the lives of generation of
Anandians. I dedicate this article to all those brave men and women, who
sacrificed their lives and to all who sustained injuries, in their
dedicated effort to liberate this country. One day, your names will be
written in gold in our cherished history - Mahavamsa.
The writer is a former student and a teacher at Nalanda Vidyalaya
*********
The motto of Ananda - Appamado - Amatapadam is from a Dhammapada (The
Treasury of Truth) stanza in Appamada Vagga (Heedfulness) (Verse number
21)
Appamado amatapadam -
pamado maccuno padam -
Appamatta na miyanthi -
ye pamatta yatha mata -
Heedfulness leads to immortality -
The heedful are immortal -
The heedless, though living,
are like dead -
*********
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