Sir Arthur C. Clarke:

The prophetic writer

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the universally acclaimed science fiction writer passed away on 19th March, 2008. He wished for the fulfilment of three desires of hopes that pervaded his brilliant mind. The first such wish was the adducing of proof that living-beings existed in other planets, the second was the discovery of a subsistence energy power to replace petroleum and coal. The third was the ushering of peace in Sri Lanka.

The last was proved a reality with the termination of terrorism by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sir Arthur Clarke was born in England on December 16, 1917. He attended a grammar school and thereafter found employment as an auditor in the Board of Education. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist. After the war, he earned a first class science degree in mathematics and physics from King's College, University of London.

Clarke became involved with the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) and served for a while as its chairman. His most important contribution may have been the idea that geostationary satellites would be the ideal telecommunications relay. Clarke was the first to prove this conception doing so in a paper circulated among the technical members of the BIS.

Clarke married a 22 year American girl. The marriage was not successful.

In the early 1950s Clarke met Mike Wilson, a famous film producer, and lover of the sea. Mike Wilson had once served in the Royal Navy. In 1955, they arrived in Sri Lanka, and became enchanted by the tropical scenery. Arthur and Mike made their permanent residence in Sri Lanka.

They met a local diver of repute Rodney Jonklass and the trio formed the Divers Club for sea-diving.

Sir Arthur Clarke displayed his talent as a science fiction writer, besides being an inventor and futurist. He became very famous for his novel "The Space Odyssey" which he compiled in 2001. It was made into a film and was adjudged one of the best films in the world.

Arthur C Clarke was interested in cinema. He invested money in the film Ranmuthu Duwa, which was produced by Mike Wilson.

The famous film 2001 - A Space Odyssey was based on the short story written by Arthur C Clarke titled "The Sentinel". Clarke's science fiction "2010" too was selected as one of the best films. In that film Clarke, played a minor role. In the local film "Baddegama" in Sinhala he played the role of the British Civil Servant, Police Magistrate cum District Judge.

Being the foremost science fiction Author, and futurist he prophesied that in the newspapers to be published in 2020, they will carry news items such as (1) 'Only 24 hours for a planet to strike the earth', (2) 'The end of our planet earth', (3) 'Man's conquest of Mars'. He foretold questions that may arise between communications with space men.

It was Clarke who predicted that the exploitation of coral reefs in the South area would result in the flooding of the sea.

In 1988, he became a victim of polio and moved about in a wheel-chair. He functioned as the first Chancellor of the International Space University and Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa. Sri Arthur C Clarke breathed his last on March 19, 2008 aged 91 years.

Stanley E. Abeynayake

Prematilleke Mapitigama:

A dedicated government servant

Prematilleke Mapitigama passed away a few days back after an illustrious career as a dedicated government servant. He hailed from a respectable Kandyan family, and I believe he was the eldest in the family.

After joining the General Clerical Services in the latter part of the 1940s Mapitigama entered the prestigious Ceylon Administrative Service in the early 1960s. He was appointed Additional Secretary, Lands and Land Development Ministry. Prior to this appointment he served as Secretary to President J.R. Jayawardena. After his retirement, he was appointed the J.R. Jayawardena Cultural Centre Secretary General.

I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with Mapitigama at the Fine Arts College, the smallest government department that was in existence at the time. Mapitigama entered wedded life the late 1950s and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding ceremony.

Mapitigama was a person of a sober disposition and simple in his ways. He had the rare quality of befriending a person with his simple and genial approach. He assisted all those who came to him for advice and counsel.

Mapitigama was a good administrator, author and social worker. With the knowledge he gained as Marriage and Divorce Commission Secretary, he wrote a book on various aspects of marriage and divorce prevalent in Sri Lanka in the past and the present.

Death is said to be a common phenomenon that cannot be avoided. One cannot avoid death even if he stays high up in the sky, in the mid ocean, or even hides inside a cave in a mountain.

According to Lord Buddha there is no place in the world where death could be overcome. I make this an opportunity to convey my sympathy and that of my family to his wife and children.

May he be born in the heavenly spheres, and thereafter end his sojourn in Sansara by attaining the supreme bliss of Nibbana!

R.M.L. Ratnayake

Deepal Wijayaratne:

He was always the live wire

It is at the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia library that I first saw Deepal.

However, no acquaintance resulted until much later. He had just finished his A/L studies and I was more than half way through my law studies.

In the mid eighties the universities were in turmoil and internal and external examinations were postponed indefinitely. For me that offered spare time for leisure, especially for watching rugby. I started meeting Deepal at those rugby matches and the second acquaintance resulted. He had been dabbling in STC cricket, and had chosen law for professional studies. So, law was the third common interest between us.

Deepal used to come to the Public Library because the Sri Lanka Law College library had closed for refurbishment.

So did many others from Law College. It was really amazing how this very large number of different types of people moved together, take the morning tea break, the lunch break and the afternoon tea break always together as one group, from the Law College. The secret? That of course was none other than Deepal.

Differences mattered to him in the least and he bonded with everybody equally so well he was the centre of the pull of gravity.

Deepal's knack for organization skills was well known. He was always the live wire of batch trips and the batch get-togethers for the organizing of which he devoted so much of his time and energy.

This was despite being a very busy professional first at the Attorney-General's Department and then at The Ceylon Employers' Federation. Needless to say that he spent his own finances too to achieve successful completion of those events.

Would not seeing Deepal, 'Deeps' for me for a very long time, still and lifeless be so unreal and shocking ? It still definitely is to think of or imagine that even after a month.

ARIA