Michael Roberts
PERADENIYA CAMPUS and UNIVERSITY is etched deeply into my soul: with diverse memories of places, events and personnel. Many of the friends I met within its spaces have, alas, passed away; but remain as alive as afresh in my mind.
I had been placed in Ramanathan Hall as a freshman in mid-year 1957 and shared a room with Ranjit Samaraweera. His conviviality aided my adjustments to the new ‘terrain’. So did my interest in sport. The skills in cricket, soccer and athletics that I had developed at St. Aloysius in Galle were now expanded to encompass rugger, while the indoor facilities at Peradeniya also encouraged my participation in basketball, table tennis and badminton on the odd occasion.
I had my sister’s kabal-bike aiding my trips to the lecture halls and the large indoor gymnasium that was such a godsend to so many of those sports-minded. My standard day involved (A) attending lectures and work in the library; (B) a ride down to the sports-fields at about 3.45 or 4.30; (C) tennis initially from say 3.30 to 4.45 with tea taken (illegally, as gajaya) at Arunachalam Hall; (D) then one of cricket, rugger or soccer practice depending on the day; and (E) thence to the gym at dusk for one of its sporting options; and (F) a ride back to hall for shower and dinner …. and then (G) studies of some sort till whenever.
JFK Labrooy … one of my key History Lecturers
Peradeniya Campus’s greatest asset was the geniality and conviviality of its undergrads: friendships blossomed and deepened; camaraderie was rampant, often cutting across ethnicity and class-upbringing. By way of example, let me stress the assiduous degree to which Ananda Wickremeratne and I shared notes and thoughts when both were pursuing a History Special Degree in our years two-to-four. We were blessed by a cluster of lecturers in the world class: Fr. Pinto, JFK Labrooy, S. Arasaratnam, KW Goonewardena, Lakshman Perera, et cetera.
Ananda, moreover, was a Trinitian from the town of Kandy next door and came from an upper-middle class family with a large house in the city. This home became one of my homes whenever I wished to visit the campus in the holidays; while the Dunstan Taylor household on the road to Kandy was yet another residence I dwelt in on occasions.
Apart from these dimensions, what Peradeniya Campus offered was girls; …. GIRLS. Some blokes were quickly efficient: they consolidated a çatch’ and had a partner to relax with before the night-curfew times intervened. Night was not a problem for these amorous adventurers; there was the weekend where organised hikes to the Hantana hills meant opportunities for deep attachments to develop.
For Roberts, alas, the hiking route was not an option: sporting contests in cricket, rugger, soccer and/or athletics absorbed his attention on most weekends. He represented PERA-Uni in all four of these realms. This interest also meant occasional weekend visits to Colombo for contests with the teams from Colombo University; or bus journeys within the Central Province for contests with plantation clubs. Sport, of course, nurtures camaraderie. Some of my deepest friendships beyond Ramanathan Hall were with guys who were my mates in rugger, cricket and soccer.
I also represented Peradeniya on one occasion in a swimming contest against Colombo campus held at St. Josephs college pool – where one of my opponents was my pal Johnny de Silva from St. Aloysius. Swimming!!! Yes: there is a large pond above Jayatilaka Hall that could be used …. and swimming was second nature to a lad bred in the fort of Galle.
Sports were not the only leisure activity. There were extra-curricular societies of all sorts at Peradeniya University. Talks from leading politicians cropped up every now and then. The dramatic societies in the different mediums presented plays. The campus had a captivating open-air theatre and, in my era, I was fortunate to see Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s presentation of “Maname” stun a huge audience …… with Benedict Sirimanne (an Aloysian teacher no less) in one of the lead roles.[i] THAT was truly a classic moment.
…. and last but least, there were girls …. a variety of girls: in frocks, skirts, sarees. The bold and smooth quickly found regular mates. The rest of us, well, we ogled, looked, sighed, ventured … withdrew. Do not get me wrong: I did secure good friends among the female ‘flock,’ especially via the Student Christian Movement, but my tentative overtures yielded no memorable hugs … only drawing warm friendships – several of which have lasted decades: Ranee Pathirana (became De Alwis), Ira Samarasundera (become Unambuwe), Noreen Fernando (became Cooray), Cynthia De Soysa (became Vandendriesen), Maureen Elhart (became Dhanapala), Anoma Peiris, Pat & Jean Spied, Ranee Saverimuttu, Myrtle Perera, Lilani Tambimuttu (became Ramanaden) and Vinitha Welagedera (became Green) to name a few.
A central ‘forum’ sponsoring these friendships across gender and class was the church for the Protestant denominations tucked away in one of the valleys of the campus with Fr Lakshman Wickremasinghe as dynamic leader and inspiration. The Sunday church outing when I was on campus and the occasional talks and functions organised by the Committees associated with the church provided many moments of camaraderie and inspiration. This line of interest was especially poignant and meaningful during the Christmas season because carol singing came to the fore.
And, …. yes, and …. there was “Father Lak” as leader, guide and shining star – a star that did not dominate or demand, but one that led: a person who marked the way. My bonds and friendship with Fr Lak ran deep: we continued to meet when I returned to Sri Lanka in 1966 as a lecturer in the Department of History after completing my D. Phil in Oxford. Father Lak and I discussed political issues in some ‘measure’ of communion. He was invited to be a key platform speaker in two conference settings organised by the Ceylon Studies Seminar in the 1970s.[ii] .
Thereafter, in 1981 when I was in the island for a year, Bishop Lakshman (as he was then) asked me to join a small coterie of Tamils and Sinhalese intellectuals at his precinct in Kurunegala to address the Sinhala Tamil confrontation in the island.[iii] Our discussions were earnest and well-intended.
But, needless to say, they led nowhere. We had no clout. The island peoples’ problems and rifts were far too deep for little coteries at the margins to make a difference. That Bishop Lakshman passed away on the 23rd October 1983 aged 56 meant that he did not live to see the shattering of his desire for ethnic reconciliation in the mighty godless manner that occurred between 1983 and the year 2009.
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END NOTES
[i] See (A) https://sarachchandra.org/index.php/original/ and (B) https://bensirimanne.com/
[ii] One seminar gathering was held in the Senate building of Peradeniya Campus in the year 1972 (date forgotten) and included Prof AJ Wilson as one keynote speaker. The other conference was held at the Bishop of Colombo’s Seminar Hall off Buller’s Rd in Colombo and involved morning and afternoon sessions. Speakers included V Karalasingham, Bishop Wickemasinghe, Dr CR Silva and myself; while Dr Mark Cooray (a good friend from my Peradeniya days who was a Lecturer at Law College) served as Chairman.
[iii] The small cluster included Karthigesu Indrapala and Luther Jeyasingham from Jaffna University and Gerald Peiris & SWR de Samarasinghe from Peradeniya University.
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An EMAIL COMMENT from Sydney Fernando, world-migrant & traveller,….West Indies, Lanka & Canada, 17 August 2024:
“Michael,… Just to let you know that I too was in that batch but did not attend as I decided to do Accounting direct from A Levels.
I can vouch for what the writer says. In the previous year I sat but failed the Viva. I was working at Bank of Ceylon and had a secure job and It was a difficult decision not to accept a coveted offer. In some ways it is an experience I regret not having.
I am back in Canada. ……………….. Regards,
S dney
We all who roamed around at that beautiful mesmerizing place in different periods share the same sentiments
It was interesting Michael to read your blog on the Peradeniya campus of the then University of Ceylon. Dr Attygalle, with his official residence in Peradeniya, was the Vice-Chancellor of both campuses ( Peradeniya and Colombo). I consider my undergraduate period at the Peradeniya campus in 1955/59 as one of the more enjoyable and satisfying period of my life. I took to sports with some success , captaining the Peradeniya campus tennis team and winning colours in Tennis, Athletics and Soccer.
In my first year , I noticed that a few academics playing tennis at their faculty club were very enthusiastic and of a good standard. in my second year, when I became vice-captain of tennis, I conceived the idea and executed a tournament involving the academics and the students, bringing the two to a” level playing field”. The enthusiasm exhibited by the relevant academics was astounding and most satisfying. It also had a positive effect on my student life bringing me into contact with academics outside my department of Economics. Prof. Hettiaratchi (Head of Sinhalese Department) and Prof. Passe ( Head of English Department) and his wife were enthusiastic participants. The Vice-chancellor, Dr. Attygalle also evinced his support as he cancelled an appointment in Colombo to distribute the awards at the conclusion of the tournament. The tournament was repeated in the following year when I captained the Tennis Team. This tournament was entirely my “brain child”)
Captains and Vice Captains of the various sporting teams formed the Sports Council. I was honoured to be elected Treasurer and in the following year as the General Secretary. Our friendly and ebullient Sports Director, Dr. Brant Little guided the affairs of the Sports Council and often injected additional sponsorship funds through his contacts with the commercial world in Sri Lanka. Hence it was not very difficult to carry out the functions of the Treasurer!
In my final and fourth year I was able to concentrate on Soccer and athletics, winning the 1500 and 5000 metres track events at the University athletics meet.
My academic achievements were not outstanding. In school, I consistently won the History Prize and thought I would do a special degree in History. However, at the end of first year examinations, I secured only an ordinary pass in History but a higher level in Geography and Economics ( placed second in the latter). The heads of both subjects encouraged me to do a special degree and finally opted for Economics, with Accountancy as the special subject . With all the distractions caused by sports , sports administration and general social life in the Campus (with no regrets), I secured only an ordinary pass. Through the University , I applied for a scholarship to pursue a course in Chartered Accountancy and was successful in becoming an ” “” Articled-Clerk”, and fortunate to be selected by the leading firm of Chartered Accountants, Ford Rhodes Thornton & Co. ( now known as KPMG). Although very competitive , I was able to qualify as a Chartered Accountant within the minimum period and subsequently , while working as the Chief Accountant of Bartleet & Co. (firm of Siock and Produce Brokers), obtained an additional English Accountancy qualification (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of England ). I am a Fellow of both institutes. This helped me to obtain the CPA qualification in Australia without facing any examinations. My tenure as Finance Director of Singer Sewing Machine Company of Sri Lanka for five years( the biggest Commercial enterprise in the country) prior to emigrating to Australia also assisted me in obtaining the Australian qualification.
It was interesting to read a comment from Sidney Fernando. We were both “articled clerks” at Ford , Rhodes, Thornton & Co. during the same period. I am aware of his travels including his spell in the West Indies. Glad to note that he has settled down in Canada.
I remember your prowess in the Road Race held annually and, of course we were in the soccer team together (I had photos but they seem to have gone walkabout). Lionel Madugalle was one of the admin/staff members who played Tennis with us.
Michael , this is my second response as I missed commenting on our wonderful Chaplain, Revd. Lakshman Wickremasinghe at the University during my period ( later Bishop of Kurunegala). I will never forget an incident. During the final exams, I was struggling with stress and anxiety, unable to sleep at night etc. When he became aware of this situation, he came on his Vespa and took me to his quarters in the chaplaincy. He counselled and prayed for me. He brought me down on his Vespa for the subsequent examination papers.