M.A. Bakeer Markar :

When your life touched mine !

M.A. Bakeer Markar, portrayed an elaborate title but the man was a simple, sincere, giving human being; such was the measure of his worth. Bakeer Markar judged a man as a man, regardless of his birth. He did not stop to ask what was his church or what was his creed, his life was concentrated only in helping those in need.

Though he hailed from a prominent family of physicians, he remained humble and sincere right to the end. He was in illustrious lawyer and the Kalutara District Branch of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka held him in high esteem as its President. Bakeer Markar was a man I was proud to call 'friend.' He hailed from my village in Beruwela and knew all the Catholic feasts that were celebrated. He graciously extended assistance wherever and whenever it was needed and was such a humane human being that he would always stop and talk to people. He knew most of them by name and the people were also equally mesmerized by this politician who was truly a man of the people, a quality so rarely seen in the politicians of today.

As a Lawyer, a Member of Parliament, Speaker and a Leader, Marhoom Bakeer Markar was an individual par excellence.

He strode the international arena like a colossus and in his capacity as Speaker, he was the only Speaker who acted for the Head of State when both President Jayawardene and Prime Minister Premadasa were attending the Royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. He maintained very close ties with the media because he was of the firm belief that a free press made the Voice of the State.

Here indeed was a man who could walk with Kings yet keep the common touch.

Creating a most unusual and unique moment in the history of our Parliament, Bakeer Markar's son, Imtiaz sat and listened as the Vote of Condolence was passed and tributes paid to his beloved father.

In true gentlemanly fashion, before the Speaker directed Parliament to convey the message of condolence to the bereaved family, the son stood to humbly acknowledge the glowing tributes to his revered father.

Though time has passed and the years have taken their toll I will always remember how we walked and talked; how we spent moments in time. You passed through my life and left your mark – not for an hour, not for a day but for a lifetime. So, as I honor you today, I want so say thank you for the impressions you left and to tell you how blessed I was the day your life touched mine!

Ivan Kevitiyagala

Lakshmi Abeygunasekara:

The world knew her as a piano teacher

September 8 marks the first death anniversary of our dear grandmother Lakshmi Abeygunasekera. While the world knew her as a renowned piano teacher, to us she was much more than that. She was one of those you would not find anywhere else. Achchi as we called her, encouraged us always to achieve the best and was always very interested to know about our achievements in school and celebrated them as if they were their own. Some of our fondest memories of Aachchi are when we used to go out on a Saturday afternoon and spend time together and also the lovely food and deserts she used to make for us.

Aachchi encouraged us to play the piano and taught us many songs. Every time we play the piano now, Achchi will always be listening and clapping we believe, wherever she may be.

There isn't a day that goes by when we do not talk about our grandmother and reminisce about the good times we have had together.

Dhiraj Samarasinghe and Anish Abeygunasekera

W G Lakshman Rodrigo:

A true friend

W G Lakshman Rodrigo was born on January 20 1958 at Kuliyapitiya. Lakshman had his education at Saranath Maha Vidyalaya, Kuliyapitiya. His friends called him Luckie, but he was not that lucky when he was young. He had to give up his higher education, because of his father's untimely death and the need to help his younger brother and sisters in their education. Luckie followed a printing course a the NAB and got a job at Sastrodaya Printers, Kuliyapitiya. Luckie won the hearts of his superiors and colleagues at the press.

He was appointed the Printing Machine Operator of the Coconut Research Institute Lunuwila and I was lucky to be one of his colleagues at the CRI. He lost his younger sister to leukemia. He made a valiant effort to save her life.

Many of his friends including myself donated blood to save her life. Lucky was very grateful to us and mentioned about our meritorious act, whenever he met us.

Although I left CRI our true friendship never perished. Whenever he came to Colombo, he never failed to come and meet me at my office in Kollupitiya.

When Luckie joined the CRI, its library was functioning as the International Coconut Information Centre (CIC). Newsletters and other publications of the CIC had to be printed at international level. Luckie was very capable to learn on his own all printing techniques and handled the printing assignments of the CIC and the CRI.

He saved a considerable amount of money for CRI, since all printing work of CRI publications including Advisory Leaflets were outsourced prior to Luckie's appointment. He won the hearts of all his superiors at CRI.

Although Luckie was very busy with his office work, he never failed to attend to social services in the Kuliyapitiya area. He was the founder of the Kuliyapitiya Sanasa Society Limited and was the Chairman of this society from 1994 to 2000.

In honour of his great service to society, Lakshman Rodrigo was appointed as an all island Justice of Peace.

He spent his own money on social service work and earned good friends. The large gathering at his funeral was evidence of his faithfulness to all his friends.

Luckie's luck challenged him again when he fell seriously ill. He was compelled to retire on July 15, 2011. His wife and only daughter did all they could to help him recover from his illness.

Since Luckie was an intelligent follower of Lord Buddha's noble teachings, he was never frightened of death. When I met him last he told me that he had fulfilled all his duties to his wife and daughter and was ready for death.

He passed away on July 01, 2012. I was exceedingly sorry to lose a good friend in the caliber of Luckie. May Luckie attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana!

K K G Wijeweera