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Tuesday, 19 February 2013

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From PC to VC - THE RISE AND RISE  - [Prof. Sirimal Ranawella]

“From PC to VC.” This is the telling phrase that Prof. Sirimal Ranawella used, though with a sense of humour, to describe the meteoric rise in his career. He started his working life as a Police Constable and ended up as the Vice Chancellor, University of Ruhuna. Well known as a historian and an epigraphist, he is still pre-occupied with his research even at the age of 92. Reminiscences of Gold met with this remarkable man at his residence in Ratmalana to take a glimpse at his past.


Prof. Sirimal Ranawella

 

Professor Ranawella is best known in Sri Lanka for his research in the fields of History, Archeology and Epigraphy. He has published over 245 articles and 15 books. What is important is not merely the quantity of his publications but also their quality as well as the areas he has covered

“I was born in Koggala in October 1921. I was adopted by an aunt at the age of one because my family was undergoing severe economic hardships. I grew up with seven cousins and it was a tremendous learning experience. I had my primary and secondary education at Unawatuna Buddhist Mixed School. Soon after I finished my secondary education, I started looking for a job, because I had to provide for my cousins’ education and family needs. For a short period I worked as a clerk in my uncle’s business establishment in Balangoda and then I joined the Police Department where I worked as a policeman for almost ten years from 1944-1953.”

Police service

“I worked for some time in the Cinnamon Gardens Police Communications Division as a telephone operator. Even after joining the Police service, it was always in the back of my mind that I should go for higher education. One of my classmates was Edwin Ariyadasa and at that time he was studying at the Colombo University. I used to walk down Thurstan Road to the Officers’ Mess.

Very often I met Edwin and I thought to myself : ‘if he could pursue higher education, why can’t I? While working in the Police Department, I joined Harvard College, Bagatalle Road, and passed my Senior School Certificate examination. At the HSC Examination I obtained passes in all four subjects. If I remember correctly, out of 3,000 students who sat for the university entrance exam at that time, only about 53 students were able to obtain passes in all four subjects,” explained Ranawella.

His dream came true when he gained admission to the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1953 at the age of 32. “I entered the university as a mature student. I belonged to the first batch of Arts students at Peradeniya. There they called me Ralahami but I didn’t take offence.

It was good fun and I was happy at the University. While most of my batch mates in the Arts Faculty preferred to follow Western History courses, I decided to do Ceylon History and allied courses in Indian history. We had great teachers such as Professor Hemachandra Rai. I knew that a good knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit would be useful for the study of Ceylon History and I learnt those languages. You have to understand that when I joined the Police service I knew only Sinhala. I gradually learnt my English and at the time university education was in the English medium. It was my sheer determination and sense of purpose that enabled me to overcome language barriers which stood in my way.”

Academic career

After his graduation from the Peradeniya University, he taught at the Dharmaraja College in Kandy for two years. Subsequently he worked as an Assistant Editor at the Sinhala Encyclopaedia project of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Finally the breakthrough came when he got an opportunity in 1959 to join the Department of History at the Kelaniya University as an Assistant Lecturer.

His academic career was eventful. He proceeded to the University of London for his postgraduate studies. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the theme: “A Political History of Ruhuna.” After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1966, he returned to the Kelaniya University and continued teaching there for the next ten years.

He joined the University of Ruhuna in 1977 and two years later he was appointed to the Chair of History. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities for eight years.

Sri Lanka experienced a political crisis during the latter part of the 1980s due to the second JVP insurrection. It was during this period that Professor Ranawella was requested to serve as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna. “I had to make a difficult decision. My family was very concerned about my security and I was concerned about their safety during these troubled times.

I was shocked and very sad when I heard about the killing of Professor Patuwathavithana, Vice Chancellor of the Moratuwa University.

I knew him very closely in London when I was doing my Ph.D. Since others were not willing to take a risk at a place like Matara I had no choice.

Versatile people

I was due to retire but even without any request on my part, the university decided to extend my term. I did not have a political agenda. Students and others may have respected me as a person who wanted to do a job of work for the university. I was able to save the lives of many students who were arrested by the Security Forces.

I worked as the Acting Vice-Chancellor for two years from 1987- 1989 and I was lucky that I survived the crisis.”

Professor Ranawella is best known in Sri Lanka for his research in the fields of History, Archeology and Epigraphy. He has published over 245 articles and 15 books. What is important is not merely the quantity of his publications but also their quality as well as the areas he has covered.

He is not only a self-made man but also a self-taught man. “Archeology was not a subject I studied during my undergraduate days but I developed my interest in this field later. I was interested in the study of inscriptions even during my university days but I mastered this art after passing out from the university. I was self-taught when it came to inscriptions. I took over from Senarath Paranavithana. I re-edited and re-interpreted some of the inscriptions already studied by Paranavithana. In addition, I have edited a large number of new inscriptions.”

He is not a traditionalist who is averse to modern technology. It is interesting to note that he is quite familiar with computer technology. “I am thankful to my son-in-law, Guy Halpe, for introducing me to computer technology in the early 1980s. I soon learnt the art of using a computer for preparing my manuscripts for publication. It became a handy tool in the study of archeological inscriptions. He helped me immensely in computer scanning and image processing of estampages. After I started using computer technology, my publication output increased tremendously.”

His book titled: Dictionary of Sinhala Inscriptional Words, which was published in the year 2000 provides not only the Sinhala words found in inscriptions but also their definitions and etymological explanations.

It is only a person who is conversant in languages such as Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit with a vast knowledge of History and Archeology who can embark on such a venture.

The question is whether we have such versatile people to continue this tradition in the future.

In recognition of his achievements, Prof. Ranawella has been awarded many honours: the degree of D.Lit. by the University of Kelaniya (2000); Sir S.C. Obesekere Memorial Medal awarded by the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (2010); Uruma Prasada Pranama awarded by the Ministry of National Heritage (2012).

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