Michael Roberts
Gerald H. Peiris and I go back a long way. When I entered Peradeniya University in 1957 …. [://thuppahis.com/2023/08/10/study-fellowship-sport-at-peradeniya-campus-1956-60/], Gerry was in the same hall, namely Ramanathan Hall; and we happened to be seated at the same dining room-table to which I was assigned as a Fresher …. With Mano Ranjan, Mohan G and as sharp-witted and lively bunch of seniors as one could dream of.
After we became junior lecturers, Gerry in Geography and myself in History, events saw Gerry pursuing his postgraduate degree under the supervision of BH Farmer in Cambridge while I was at Oxford University seeking a Doctorate in History. As my research was in British land administration and the expansion of coffee planting, the work of both Farmer and Edmund Leach, who was also attached to Cambridge was relevant to my research. This meant quite a few visits to Cambridge where both Mark Cooray and Gerry were both ready and willing to ensure free boarding room and guidance.
When I returned to my teaching job at Peradeniya University in 1966, Gerry was teaching in Geography and we would meet in the Senior Common Room every now and then. When a few of us in the Arts Faculty launched the Ceylon Studies Seminar in 1968, Gerry was part of the inner circle, while Professor Gananath Obeyesekere [also, alas, deceased now] offered the building housing the Dept of Sociology – a spot away from the main campus buildings – and the services of the peon Sathiah as supporting ‘pillars’ for the preparation of cyclostyled papers circulated beforehand ,,,,, thereby maximising discussion time.
Gerry was a regular participant in CSS discussions when he was in Peradeniya during the late 1 960s and 1970s [allow here for his spells abroad]. He also presented articles for the journal MODERN CEYLON STUDIES…. Articles that had to navigate a refereeing process.
Glancing at this journal I notice that two of his articles stray into arenas that can be considered atypical or intensely intensive for an economic geographer: namely, essays entitled “Kalapura: The Colony of Craftsmen in Patha Dumbara” [in MCS, vol2/1, 1971] and his “Agricultural Growth…. A Survey of the DDC Farm Project in Kandy District, 1971-1973” [in MCS, 3/1, 1972].
THAT was GERRY: combining grounded fieldwork of an anthropological and geographical nature that placed the ethnography within broad overviews and assessments.
When I left Peradeniya for a job in Adelaide from 1978 Both os us continued our fruitful collaboration. This work was deepened by the spells I spent on sabbatical research in Sri Lanka in 1980 and 1989. Though Colombo was my base, I visited Kandy/Peradeniya often. One of my homes-from-home in that arena was the house where Gerry and his wife resided off Peradeniya Road. In brief, my research findings and pu
blication output were consistently nourished by chats with Gerry.
Dear Comrade Gerry ….. I miss THEE.
