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Tuesday, 14 August 2012

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Manel Manel R. Weerasooriya :

Her courage and valour kept her going

Manel R. Weerasooriya Imoto was the second daughter of late Proctor Hubert Weerasooriya and Rachel De Mel. Residing in Hikkaduwa and being born to a family where generations had been lawyers, she herself was privileged to continue the tradition. Her father served more than 50 years at the Galle Bar. She took pride in herself and always considered a privilege to be born as a Weerasooriya and always spoke highly of her heritage.

Manel’s Alma Mater was Southlands College, Galle where she excelled in sports and drama, and became the School Head Prefect with her prowess nature and captivating personality. After concluding her studies at the Law College and taking her oaths as a lawyer, she commenced her legal career at the Galle Bar alongside her father.

She was mostly noted to be involved in Company Law. Due to her delighting charm and attractiveness she was even adjudged the Law Medical Queen at one of the law medical dinner dances.

She was a well read and a diversified personality and her knowledge pool varied from World History, Economics and Politics to Architecture to Gardening, Cooking and even Fashion. She was a cultured person and appreciated aesthetics and also possessed every minute detail belonging to a Nobel lady.

Amidst many suitors she fell in love with her client Seizo Imoto, a Japanese National and a Clinical Psychologist whom she met while being involved with his legal matters.

She was diagnosed with cancer in the latter half of 2010, a massive predicament, never a habitual delinquent, I believe she never accepted and ever dreamt of falling ill in this manner and even up to her very last day, never did she disclose to her family the agony and the tormenting pain she underwent, neither did she ever anticipate that she would depart from this world due to this disease which befell her.

She always mentioned the fact that she would not give into death and her courage and valor kept her going for the last one and half years preceding the diagnosis of this destructive and fatal illness. Manel was blessed with four sisters and one brother namely Shanthini, Ranee, Nelun, Chrishanthi and Nissanaka. Manel had cherished moments with her much loved cousins Delini Peiris and to name a few Ruani Jayasooriya, Iris Kulasooriya and Delita Fernando.

Immensely fond of Tenny and Vinitha Rodrigo, Late Dr. Hudson and Irangani Silva (Aunty and Uncle), as well as late Terry Kerner (Uncle) and Late Dewa Suriyasena, her cousins and relations. She will dearly be missed by her friends and colleagues, juniors, maids and valleys who served her for a number of years and many others.

The family – her beloved husband, sisters and brother, in-laws, nieces and nephews are going to miss her vivacity, allurement, authoritative and demanding personality which was an inspiration to us all, her charisma, lively and witty commentary and most notably her earsplitting guffaw, which could not be elapsed until memory lasts.

It is three whole months since her demise and how time takes wing, makes us feel as if it was yesterday she was chatting to us. Life lingers on and we have to clutch on and gather up and continue to live with the unfilled sadness and the gap she had left behind with the nostalgic memories of the by gone days.


H.K. Dharmadasa :

He meant no harm to his worst enemy

It is almost one year since the passing away of this business magnate. A person who had lived his life to the fullest, knew what life is all about and understood the difficulties people undergo to make a living.

Acclaimed as a charity donor he in his life time had done community service surpassing those done by the Social Service Department or any other charitable organization in the country during the same period. His commitment to humanitarian service has been appreciated and he was honoured as a great social worker of the modern era. His services were no second to the likes of Col. Olcott, Anagarika Dharmapala and others who became famous for their humanitarian services.

I have associated him for over a period of three decades and have observed very good qualities and what I have learnt has helped me in shaping my life to a great extent too. He loved every one and every one who came to know him loved him in return. He believed that every child should be given an opportunity to have a decent education. He understood the hardships people faced in finding food and maintaining their families.

All his business ventures were started on a small scale and they were for the benefit of the nation. His employees were well looked after with all facilities provided and their good work recognized and rewarded. He also gave a helping hand to enterprising employees to get self employed and start businesses of their own. Gratitude is another good quality he had and at the same time humbleness to accept any mistakes. He took necessary steps to correct the situation. He meant no harm even to his worst enemy. He detested cruelty to animals and is one who believed that animal slaughter should be totally banned. When settling business disputes he was never in a hurry. He patiently studied the problem and got advice from experienced personnel and always took the correct decision which was one of the secrets of his success.

A man of few words, he was a good listener and had the ability to fathom a person accurately on his very first meeting. The only occasion I have seen him talk at length was when he visited the Hunupitiya, Gangaramaya Temple along with another friend, whilst having a cordial dialog with the High Priest ( Podihamuduruwo as he was known) of the Temple.

It happened when his friend commented on the temple being too sophisticated. He responded saying that he appreciated Podihamuduruwo’s concept of beautifying places of worship. The places of worship should have a serene environment and made attractive to people. There should be vocational training centres close to temples like what Podihamuduruwo had started. Podihamuduruwo is a brave person commanding respect which is one of the reasons we were able to put up the Nawaloka Hospital in Slave Island.

His charitable deeds were not confined to a particular area or community, but covered the entire island and people of all ages from little children attending Daham school to elders in elders homes. He constructed schools, playgrounds and assisted places of worship which you see as you travel the length and breadth of the island.

He was very particular about the welfare of his servants and never reprimanded or dismissed them just because his family wanted them punished for being rude or disobedient. He always said that they behave in that manner because of their ignorance. He had the marvelous ability of selecting the correct person for the correct job although sometimes it took us years to realize that he had made the correct decision.

I still remember what he said to me in front of other higher ups during the early stages of Nawaloka Hospitals. He told me “You cannot be a good businessman if you are not prepared to listen to your customers.”

He was very methodical in his ways and as a person who has travelled with him here and abroad I found that he was never in a hurry and he planned everything in advance and prepared himself according to the situation.

When I was returning with him from UK after going for a medical examination sometime back, at the Heathrow Airport I was trying to find where I had put the tickets in my hand luggage whilst he silently observed what I was doing. Finally when I fished out the tickets from the bag and he said “You have a lot of unwanted papers inside that bag and that is why you took such a long time to find the tickets”. From that day I put my dust bin to good use. He followed the ‘Five S’ principle to the letter and his office, cupboards, vehicles etc were always in meticulous condition.

Nawaloka Mudalali as he is popularly known and I were the pioneers of Nawaloka Hospital which was established in 1985. From 1985 I served as the General Manager of Nawaloka Hospital until I was asked to step down due to certain conflicts that arose in the management in 1995.

Although it did hurt me and caused a setback at that time, I now realize that it was really the turning point in my life and a blessing in disguise. The encouragement and support given to establish and develop the Gampaha Youth Development Centre by my father-in-law, Nawaloka Mudalali was remarkable. He even went to the extent of settling bank loans and helped strengthen and stabilize the institute in its fledgling stage.

When my close associates and those near and dear discouraged me at the beginning of this project the only encouraging words came from my father-in-law who saw the potential in the project in extending service to the community.

What we can learn from the great personality are numerous. The ultimate respect that we can give to him as I feel, is to be of meaningful service to our country and the younger generations through are business or professionalism.


Dr. Desmond Fernando:

His diagnostic skills were excellent

It was sad for me to learn of Dr. Desmond Fernando’s death a few weeks ago. I came to know him when I moved to Mt. Lavinia from Galle some years ago. My wife sustained an injury on her toe for which she took treatment from a doctor at Mt. Lavinia. The treatment did no good, in fact, worsened the condition. He finally said that the toe might have to be amputated. It was in this desperate situation that I talked to a pharmacist in Mt. Lavinia who told me to see Dr. Fernando.

It was a great relief to meet him. He was pleasant and reassuring, which itself was like a healing balm. He dispelled all fears and within a few days brought about a great relief - a load off our minds. No tribute to this doctor would be complete without a tribute to his diagnostic skills. I suddenly developed a condition where, if I stood up from a squatting position, I felt a severe pain on the right side of my chest just under my last rib. There was also a depression. This disappeared after standing up and rubbing it down but the pain lasted for a while.

Dr. Fernando was out of the island and a friend directed me to a doctor in Colombo. He told me it appeared to be a gravel or a stone in the gall bladder and directed me to a surgeon. He promptly told me it was a gall bladder problem and only wanted an X Ray to confirm his view.

I saw Dr. Fernando on his return and told him the story. He gave me one of his research papers and wanted me to come back with my own diagnosis. I returned in a few days and confidently told him that it is a condition called Rib Tip syndrome. He explained to me how this is caused and also said that almost always, the very fact that one knows that he has it, strangely prevents a return. And so it was - and now, for almost 30 years it has not appeared. He saved me from the tragedy of a mis-diagnosis.

Dr. Fernando was also a voracious reader. He was well informed on many matters unrelated to medicine and it was always a pleasant experience to discuss these. For him, it broke the monotony of the day’s work. His clinic would issue 40 numbers on his working days.

I usually collected number 40 so as not to leave patients waiting , one of whom once found fault with me for talking too much with the doctor.

He was a friendly, genial person who would lift a patient out of despondency and help him leave looking forward to recovery. I am glad that I came to know him. So were the others I directed to him.

May he attain the bliss of Nirvana!


Ransiri Fernando:

A remarkable friend

On that fateful day of March 31, 2012 on hearing Ransiri’s mishap, my wife and I rushed to the Lunawa Hospital. We were shocked, saddened and dumbfounded on seeing the body of our dear friend laid on a stretcher covered from head to toe with a cloth. Ransiri was dead. Million memories crossed my mind as I knew him from the time he was called Ransiri Baba.

Ransiri from his young days was devoted to God’s work. And was an active member of the Methodist Church in Koralawella. He was appointed as a leader of the church. Twenty three years back, when the church celebrated its centenary, Ransiri assisted me tirelessly as a joint secretary to make the event a great success, and thereby to bring glory to God. He started his career as a Teacher and then became a powerful Preacher and an ambassador for Christ.

His in-depth theologist knowledge of the Bible, which he gained through close associations with great and eminent Preachers and Theologians of the time, helped him in a big way to be an Advocate for Christ. He was ever ready to share his knowledge and experiences with anyone in need. He was a voracious reader, and the knowledge he gained made him a reliable Historian in Methodism in Sri Lanka. He used his pen as a sword in the battle. He wrote many articles to newspapers and journals and was the Contributing Editor of the Sri Lanka Methodist Church Record. All this was done with the intent of introducing Christ to others.

Ransiri represented in many decision making committees of the Methodist Church. He was the 41st Vice President (the highest post a layman could hold) of the Methodist Church. During his tenure of office as Vice President, he devotedly and ungrudgingly supported the then President of the Church, to successfully face the barrage of obstacles and problems and the disastrous challenges the Church had to face after the tsunami. His sudden death no doubt was a big blow to his dear wife Srima, his two sons Suranga, Ruwanga and their families, and also his relatives and friends. No doubt he will be dearly missed by the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka.

The death of Ransiri is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp. The time has come for him to be with Jesus. He was a remarkable friend and a gentleman par excellence.

Good bye dear friend till we meet again.

 

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