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South Asia and Regional Security The SAARC Charter precludes the discussion of bilateral matters. During the past ten years SAARC has perhaps survived on account of this. The Male summit of 1990, injected life into SAARC, when it decided to move into core areas and also bring in the second track, to promote a close people to people relations. Those decisions gave SAARC a new direction. At the next Heads of State Summit in Colombo in 1991, the leaders adopted five different initiatives. They called for a sustained effort to eradicate poverty and linked it to the achievement of Food Security. They called for a Preferential Trading Arrangement together with a Payments Union, (even though SAPTA has got off the ground, the Payments Union has not) and a South Asia Development Fund, which has also not materialised. On that occasion the Seven did not refer to the creation of a possible Free Trade Area or a Customs Union in the future, perhaps because of the Indo=Pakistan problem. The state of Indo Pakistan relations, decides the dynamic with regard to the progress of SAARC. Ambitious, as the ultimate goals may seem, they would have been realistic and achievable goals, had the security situation in the Sub Continent been different. We must therefore place the highest priority on the achievement of peace and stability in the region----instability and war, are the enemies of prosperity. War must never be considered a rational option. The Seven countries of SAARC must end any prospect of any war, conventional or nuclear, on our Sub-Continent. Madmen have in recent weeks taken us closer to disaster than we have ever been. We must, in a joint effort, pull back from the brink. Our countries share many values, including a history of over four thousand years and more. Today, we are all Democracies, however flawed. We all have open economies, enjoying various degrees of transparency. The Media in all our countries is relatively free, as is the all important judiciary. Further, the Rule of Law obtains in our countries. Last but not least there are no ideological differences between our countries. People to people relations in the region, are in fact more than excellent, particularly among the officials, intellectuals, the business communities and the media. Whether we like it or not globalisation is overtaking us. In these circumstances molding the political will, to work towards guaranteeing peace for our peoples, should not be beyond our leaders. Regional security must now top the agenda of the seven countries of South Asia. Peace can be achieved if we could carve out a comprehensive security policy for the region. The Nuclear tests have transformed the security situation of the region, the security situation can never be the same again. South Asia will now never be free of Nuclear weapons, and there is no question now of putting the genie back into the bottle. The high moral ground taken by those who stood for total nuclear disarmament, must now give way to more realistic policies of Arms Control. The leaders of the seven must ensure that India and Pakistan do not get sucked into the fateful vortex of a nuclear arms race and weaponise, to deploy thereafter. It is MAD or 'Mutually Assured Destruction', that awaits those who seek security through nuclear weapons. The higher the level of weaponisation, the higher would the insecurity. The Canberra Commission stated in its report that " The proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in perpetuity and never used accidentally or by decision defies credibility. The only complete defence, is the elimination of nuclear weapons, and the assurance that they will never be used again". The urgent task facing the political leaders and Diplomats in the region is to work out the modalities for Security Co-operation and a consensus for peace in the region. In another article of mine published on 11 July, I suggested that our President could, citing the decision at the last Male Summit, "invite the leaders to a separate informal meeting to discuss the most important issue of them all---political stability in South Asia", (with special reference to the emerging security situation). I have suggested therein that a Political Declaration be issued by the seven, if consensus could be reached. The merits of a South Asian dialogue on security issues, was also discussed at a recent Seminar organised by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. The matter of discussing security issues, whether informally or formally, should be considered by the seven countries of South Asia. There may be other forums, but security in South Asia is first and foremost a matter of concern for us in the region and is best discussed within the region. There are many models for us to follow in this regard. The most relevant appears to be the ASEAN Regional Forum, which was established some five years ago. They meet annually at Ministerial level, to discuss security issues in Asia and the Pacific. India incidentally is a dialogue partner. They seek to establish a constructive pattern of relations, focussing on 'confidence building measures' and on 'Preventive Diplomacy'. It has hitherto been a two track approach, with the officials working at their level and the NGOs and civil society groups on track two. There has been great synergy between the two tracks. Working on the basis of consensus, they have concerned themselves with the nuclear question, seeking to establish a nuclear free zone in South East Asia. They have been working on a Treaty of Amity and Co-operation, They have been discussing 'Peace Keeping', Maritime safety and security, disaster prevention and relief, Non Proliferation and Arms Control, They discuss sensitive matters, without constraints, in an informal and totally flexible environment. The ARF works closely with ASEAN. Our own South Asian Security Forum could work closely with SAARC. The suggested SASF is no substitute for a dialogue between India and Pakistan, to reduce the danger of a nuclear conflict in the region. The two countries have an obligation by the people of the whole Sub Continent to work for peace and stability in the region. I wish to take this opportunity to suggest that out leaders consider 'encouraging' and assisting with institutional support, the establishment of a new second track institution. They could facilitate the establishment of an independent SAARC Foundation/Think Tank, which would have representatives from all seven countries, to provide the much needed intellectual back-up. This seems to be significantly absent in SAARC. When we reflect on the record and achievements of SAARC, it does seem that the building of the SAARC 'superstructure' could have been better planned. In reality have we not merely 'ad-hoced', through the past ten years? Considering the importance of SAARC to us all, this is simply not good enough. A Foundation, or call it what you will, which could through networking, or by itself, provide the intellectual backup, should contribute greatly to planned progress in SAARC. Has Iraq abandoned its nuclear
programme? United Nations - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again warned the UN Security Council July 27 that while it has no evidence that Iraq has any nuclear weapons materials, the international community should assume that Iraq has kept documents, "specimens of important components," and has a cadre of experts which could re-start its program if monitoring slackens. In a report to the Security Council, IAEA said that it has not found any evidence that Iraq has officially abandoned its secret nuclear program. The report was requested by the United States and others after some Council members wanted to acknowledge Iraq's progress and have IAEA stop intrusive inspections. The IAEA is responsible for overseeing the destruction of Iraq's nuclear weapons capabilities while the Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq concentrates on Iraq's other programs that have been banned as part of the Persian Gulf War cease-fire agreement. The Security Council will not lift wide-ranging economic sanctions against Baghdad until it is certain that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction or ability to reacquire them. IAEA Director General Mohamed Elbaradei said in the written report that during talks with Iraqi officials in June and July, Iraq said it "had been unsuccessful in its endeavors to locate verifiable documentation of the abandonment of the clandestine nuclear program. (Iraq) reiterated its contention that since no government decree had been issued to establish the program, no complementary decree had been required to record its abandonment." The IAEA pointed out that Iraq had made significant progress in weaponization technologies before the Gulf War. "It is also clear there remains in Iraq a considerable intellectual resource in the form of a cadre of well-educated, highly experienced personnel who were employed in Iraq's clandestine nuclear program," Elbaradei said. IAEA said it had to assume "Iraq has the knowledge and the technical capability to exploit, for nuclear weapons purposes, any relevant materials or technology to which it may gain access in the future." IAEA said it "cannot ... provide absolute assurance of the absence of readily concealable items, such as components of centrifuge machines or copies of weapon-related documentation." And IAEA monitoring "cannot guarantee detection of readily concealable or disguiseable proscribed activities such as computer-based weaponization studies or small-scale centrifuge cascade development," the report said. "It should be recognized that Iraq's direct acquisition of weapon-usable nuclear material would present a severe technical challenge of ongoing monitoring and verification measures and great reliance must be placed on international controls," it said. "Effective ongoing monitoring and verification in Iraq ... must be comprehensive and rigorous and, as a result, is intrusive," the IAEA director said in the report. The IAEA report talked about the "laborious process" of getting information from Iraqi officials on their nuclear weapons program. Characterizing Iraq's cooperation as a "minimalistic approach," the report said that "it is clear that Iraq initially pursued a strategy of concealment" until high-level talks in 1993 and then two years later the 1995 defection of the late General Hussein Kamel who was in charge of Iraq's military weapons programs. Nevertheless, the report said, "the provision of information by Iraq has seldom, if ever, been voluntary and Iraq's cooperation in this regard has never approached full transparency." Nonetheless, the IAEA says it has been able to assemble "a technically coherent picture of Iraq's clandestine nuclear program" and has destroyed or rendered harmless the known components of that program. However, IAEA warned that "there is an inherent uncertainty in the completeness of that picture" compounded by Iraq's reluctance to supply information, questions about offers of assistance from an alleged unidentified foreign source, and missing drawings, documents and experimental test data. The report was similar to other IAEA reports to the Council in that it stated that "there are no indications of Iraq having retained any physical capability for the indigenous production of weapon-usable nuclear material in amounts of any practical significance." Although Iraq was at or close to producing highly enriched uranium, "there is no indication that Iraq has produced more than a few grams of weapons-usable nuclear material nor any indication that Iraq has otherwise acquired such material," the IAEA said. Science Time: Around 9
o'clock in the morning. An explosion! Flying glass, blood, fire, screams, twisting columns... chaos! The microphone wakes me up. A banner is on the wall: The Society of Structural Engineers Sri Lanka (SSE-SL). No chaos; everything is fine. From the pink colour table — clothes to spotless wall mirrors. Typical Hiltonian elegance. The welcome address by Dr. A. C. Visvalingam, President SSE-SL. A warm welcome to all to the seminar on concrete repair, strengthening, fire and blastproofing. Less glass and EXIT on the floor Structures in distress are assessed. Why? Two goals: to find a method to repair the structure, and to learn from the mishap. How can it be done? Two basic approaches: actually apply the relevant forces on the structure to see what would happen, determine the effects through calculations using material properties sampled from the structure. The former may not yield all the relvant information, so the latter is often adopted. Distress may be due to bomb explosions, fire, overloading, corrosion of steel embedded in concrete, or dimensional deviations. 1. Bomb explosions Lessons learnt from Colombo Fort bomb explosions in 1996 and 1997 include: (1) The buffer zone is important and it should not be populated. At World Trade Centre the buffer zone was a car park; many vehicles perished, but not many lives. However, at the Central Bank, it was the library; many died. (2) Flying glass was responsible for many deaths. Less glass, less fatalities. (3) Under normal loads, a slab would curve downwards and is designed accordingly. However, an explosion at the ground level would curve the lower floor slabs upwards. So they may fail, taking away the side-support given to the columns, which may as a result buckle. It's better if lower floor slabs are designed for upward loading as well. (4) Columns channel all loads down to the earth, and are therefore important. So, overdesign of columns may be useful. 2. Fire At the Central Bank the subsequent fire was worse than the blast itself. However, there are ways to increase the occupant safety during fire. (1) Prevention of spread of fire — sideways, upwards and downwards (2) Provision of fire-escape routes and holding regular fire drills. These precautions saved many lives at Ceylinco House. (3) Designing open-plan offices; partitions would confuse the fleeing occupants, and increase the egress distance. (4) Marking EXIT signs on the floor; those hung from the ceiling may not be visible in smoke. 3. Overloading 4. Corrosion of steel embedded
in concrete Concrete durability can be assessed by its transport properties, ie its sorptivity. It is a measure of penetration of water into concrete, and has yet to find widespread acceptance. When assessing a somewhat old structure (say 20-30 years or more), corrosion aspect is more important. Even when the alkaline protection is lost, corrosion can still be controlled by ensuring dryness, perhaps using a water-proofing compound. Against corrosion, precautions can be taken during the construction stage itself. Just four C's: Constituents (especially, a minimum amount of water), Compaction (to reduce porosity), Cover (to delay moisture access to steel) and Curing (especially for cover zone). 5. Dimensional deviations Time for tea, with short-eats. Guns and jackets of concrete Part (a): Repair and
Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Structures. Guniting: A mixture of cement, sand and crushed stone (of size less than one centimetre) is projected into position under air pressure by means of a gun. That's guniting. The density and strength of gunite is high, and it is durable too. Mainly employed to repair fire-damaged and marine structures, guniting requires good surface preparation before application. Besides the layer thickness should be limited to 5 cm, and proper curing is a must. Plate bonding: Strengthening of structural members by bonding steel plates to them using adhesives and bolts, is known as plate bonding. Again, surface preparation is vital and the bonded plates would require anti-corrosive protection, and sometimes a fire-resistant coat. This method is effective in controlling cracking and deflection of beams. Crack repair: The resin used to repair the crack should distribute itself uniformly in the crack. Also adherence throughout the crack is essential, even in damp conditions. Jacketing: Steel bars and crushed stone are placed around a weak structural member, and a special grout is pressurised into agrout-tight formwork. This is jacketing and is often used to repair marine structures. However, it involves a lot of hacking and drilling of the already-weak structure. Besides the enlarged member may look unpleasant. Yet again, surface preparation and curing matter a lot. The plus point of this method is its relative cheapness. Part (b): Assessment and Repair
of Fire-Damaged Structures. On heating, concrete would lose strength, crack itself and spall off; embedded steel would also lose strength, may buckle and deflect. On cooling, the cracks in the concrete would close but strength would fall until normal temperature is reached; further deformation and cracking is possible as concrete absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. The strength recovery of steel would depend on the maximum temperature it attained. The buckled bars, however, wouldn't straighten. To propose a repair method, tests should be done on concrete and embedded steel in order to determine how much strength is left. The results would relate only to the points tested, so the conclusions would heavily depend on engineering judgment. In 1997 the Ceylinco House Building suffered damage from a bomb blast and subsequent fire. The structural repairs are done by L & M Concrete Specialists Pte Ltd. The methods adopted include guniting, patch repair and steel plate bonding. Spying is over; let's build! The traditional construction materials such as steel and concrete have shown signs of problems in long term performance, and retrofitting such structures is costly as it requires skilled labour, heavy equipment, excessive energy and time. Therefore, researchers have turned to coposite materials for retrofitting and strengthening structures. Advanced Composite Materials, or ACMs, grew from 1950 to 1980; however, major technical efforts focused only on military and aerospace markets. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War pushed carbon and fiberglass manufacturers towards the construction industry. Extensive research produced a new strengthening system, using wraps of epoxy-saturated fiber glass. This type of ACM is classified as Fiber Reinforced Plastics (FRP). The individual constituents cannot attain the performance of the composite material. Another advantage is the facility of flexible design: the material can be tailor-made for optimum design. They also make strong but lightweight structures possible. FIBRWRAP is an advanced structural strengthening and retrofitting system, widely accepted in the USA today. It consists of high strength woven fiber fabric saturated with a special epoxy, and can increase the strength and ductility of a structural member. However, unlike steel, it would add neither stiffness nor dead load to the member in question. It is essential that the application of the material be done by a qualified person. The ongoing research would produce more innovative materials in future in the field of concrete strengthening and retrofitting. However, due to lack of relevant information, consultants would no wonder be reluctant to accept them. Anyway, some day, ACMs would have their rightful place in building codes. Time to discuss the papers presented. Questions from the audience; answers from the presenters. And then, time for lunch! The composite of spoon, fork and knife to be used. Quite a noisy battle with the plates. Bridge columns in California....
Wrapped! What damage can a bomb explosion cause to the perimeter columns of a typical reinforced concrete multi-storey building? What is the importance? Numerical analyses have shown that total collapse of a structure may start by failure of the perimeter columns of the ground floor. To strengthen them, round steel jackets can be used. This paper examines the effects of composites wrapped around columns. The study includes charge sizes of 1,500 and 3,000 pounds, and stand-offs of 10, 20 and 40 feet. A composite wrap around a column would confine the concrete, enhancing the column's strength and ductility. The wrap is most effective when itis circular, and the space between the circular wrap and the non-circular column would require a grout fill. Today, steel jackets and composite wraps are extensively applied in California for highway bridge columns: not against explosions, but against earthquakes. Again discussion, followed by the vote of thanks by Mr. S. A. Karunaratne, Vice-President, SSE-SL. He especially mentions the sponsors, including the principal sponsor L & M Concrete Specialists Pte Ltd., Singapore. Then tea, with cake. Yetanother seminar conducted by SSE-SL is over. The next, in November. Shelters for parents with a difference Since of late, much is written and spoken of elders homes, retirement units, luxory apartments for the old aged. There seems to be much enthusiasm, and many are interested, in talking, discussing, or trying to find out all about it, where and how to get safety and security at old age. With the advent of sudden change in social life, many a children are either not living with the parents, or the children are abroad for good, or even the children who are within the country, married, and having their own family life with problems of looking after wife, children, the education, trying to make ends meet with the quick buck, that will keep the home fires burning, has no time for parents. Still there are parents who cannot for many obvious reasons stay with the children, may be for some hidden episodes get thrown out to the street. The parents after having done their duty by the children, are left high and dry in their twilight days, may be due to the fault of rapid change in social life or selfishness of some one. Few years ago, we in Sri Lanka very seldom came across, such needy parents wanting to be cared for by some one in their old age and in the absence of children around them. When you are old, you can only go to your children or depend on, but close or immediate family members or relations can never look after them, forever, because they themselves have their own problems, specially because of the present economic uncertainty and cost of sky rocketing living problems. In society today, there are separate charitable homes for elders, memand women, and homes run by religious organisations for old people of their faith, and beliefs. Then comes the latest, luxury apartments for those who could pay couple of lakhs to own one. Can every one afford to do this? Well, these are the two groups in existence, but a middle group has surfaced since of late because of the exodus of children going for better pastures in or out of the country. In point of fact, there is absolutely no time for the children to look after their parents in today's rat race life. It has been discovered that many a parents cannot lead a good old aged life due to isolation, neglect, no one to bother cannot maintain without losing self respect. Even going to the market, cooking a meal for one or two is a big problem, not worth the trouble. It's at this age that they must be cared for, by some one. It must be mentioned that there are many old couples with no children at all. To whom can they go to, or look up to for help, care or security. The middle category are those pensioners, with reasonable means, and also with reasonable wealth, but cannot utilise for their own use, due to many known & unknown reasons. There is always the possibility of few such people getting together, establish their own roof above their heads, a reasonable life style with the set up of all infrastructure like living in a boarding house or hotel, but with a difference.. There could be dwellings like single or double rooms, cottages, annexses, apartments, with attached baths and all other facilities, the paid staff looking after the parents, the way children would have done. This proposed complex would not be owned by any body, but by the Institution itself. Inmates themselves will be the administrators run on a non profit basis, the whole scheme is classless, no investers, no mudalalis, no profit and loss, but lived within your means. From the time one becomes an inmate of the complex, he is part and parcel of it either in good health or until death do us apart. Virtually one becomes a free man or woman with nothing to bother, except one's own health. Factually it's retired life in a complex, where all such individuals living peacefully, fulfilling your part of the obligations. Time is running out for those elderly parents wanting to get into this scheme. It's a home away from home, you own it, yet you don't because when you say good buy to this world, you don't take with you. It's a place for people who could give up worldly pleasures. Yet have everything in life, the best of it, with your own means without a burden on others. What more do you want in life? The society we are living today is not what it was few years ago. The care, respect, obligations, duty to the elders, all a dream of the past, never to come again. So let us see a way out of it and adjust ourselves for the millennium. This idea was erupted few years back. When it was communicated to a few, one philanthropist even offered a land and house for the centre. Another requested that his land be taken over legally and involve him as an inmate, possibly through desperation. But due to many reasons, may be the lethargic and slow moving attitude in us, we lost the opportunity, let by gones be by-gones. Let us give it a try. Appreciation The news of the passing away of Mr. Duncan White has been a rude shock to all lovers of sport in Sri Lanka. It was only early in March that he visited Sri Lanka with his wife Angela, daughter and grand child to participate in the annual Duncan White Award Ceremony. This was followed by his visit to receive the coveted National Award Deshamanya from Her Excellency the President. Many of us who methim then never for a moment thought he would not live to pay his next customary visit to his motherland. Generations to come will remember him for his achievements in the field of athletics, first as the first Asian to win a silver medal at the Olympics in a track event and the first Sri Lankan to win a Gold Medal at the Empire Games. With these achievements he not only won recognition in the country of his birth but his name went into golden books of records as a world renowned athlete. We as lecturers and students of Government Training College Maharagama, our first acquaintance with Duncan was when he was appointed as lecturer in physical education. The honour and recognition bestowed on the institution by his appointment was the pride of all at Govt. Training College. Fresh from his Olympic success he entered Langhborough College of Physical Education in U.K. It was as a student of this institution that he won the Empire Games Gold Medal. His name still adorns the Roll of Honour on display in the College. The training he received with his wide experience in sports greatly contributed to the success he attained as a lecturer in the then premier teacher training college in the island. The torch of learning kindled by him was carried by his students to all corners of the country. This contributed to a noticeable upsurge in sports activity in schools. Physical Education which was never taken as a serious subject now, became an important section of the school curriculum. It also led to the establishment of a separate branch for Physical Education under a Deputy Director in the Education Department. When the news of his appointment as lecturer at the Maharagama Teachers' College reached the college, many conjectured as to how he would fit into the environment obtained in the college. Quite contrary to the expectation they found him to be a simple and amiable person quite willing to adopt himself to the new environment. He opted to live in the college premises in a modest bungalow which was allocated to him, this facing the playing field. Thus, his services were made available to students at all times. The relationship he built up with the student body was appreciated to such a degree that he was appointed as Residential Lecturer when the new Men's hostel was established. He was at all times accessible to anyone who needed his advice. As a person he was a strong-willed man, always adhering to high priciples. He had the courage to take decisions when dealing with the students, the administration or colleagues. The decisions taken by him were always fair, impartial and accommodating. He spoke out frankly in all situations and never hesitated to call a "spade a spade" even if it caused heart-burning to some people. His leaving the Training College to take up greater responsibilities as National Coach was indeed a loss to the institution, though a gain to the country at large. The writer had the unique experience of closely associating Duncan, both being recipients of a grant from the U.S.A. on a Teacher Development Programme. On passage to the States we broke journey to visit Rome as guests of the Italian Olympic Committee. The host had prepared a busy schedule for us. In discussing the schedule one thing that he insisted was that the next day being a Sunday, he should attend Sunday Mass at the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. We accordingly participated in the Mass as desired. This was a surprise to me because I least thought that he had such a deeply rooted religious turn of mind. His love for his wife and children was unfailing. He had often said that his leaving the country to take an appointment abroad was prompted by his desire to provide a better future for his family. To illustrate this point, the writer will recall another incident. This time it happened to be in a hotel in Washington. We shared a room that night after a day of hard work. I was suddenly awakened to find the lights on and Duncan pacing the length and breadth of the large room. The time was nearly 2.00 a.m. He looked disturbed and worried. I asked him as to what caused him to be so disturbed. He said that he had a bad dream of his two sons. He was very worried about them as they were bundles of mischief and his absence endangered their safety. He sat up and wrote a long letter to his wife, Angela and told me that he was determined to cut short his stay and return home. He was really home-sick and left the States half completing his scholarship. His attachment to his family was deep and remarkable. The honours gained by him or bestowed on him never changed his life-style. The writer would recall another incident on the visit to U.S.A. Nearly 250 teachers had assembled in a hall to be addressed by the United States Secretary for Education. Prior to the lecture each participant had to introduce himself to the audience. When it came to Duncan's turn he half stood and answered his name. Instantly someone in the hall stood up and asked "Are you the famous Olympic Athlete?" All eyes turned on him; he tried to hide his face in modesty but with little success. He was forced to come on the stage and show himself, at which he received a thunderous overture from the crowd. It was with difficulty that the writer had to coax him to rise up to the occasion. His thinking was to, quote "Fame is the food dead men eat, I have no stomach for it". Duncan was the embodiment of simplicity, and as known to his close friends he accepted the "Deshamanya" award with much reserve. On his last visit to Sri Lanka the writer visited him in his Hotel in the company of Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, the Sarvodaya leader and Dharma Gunasinghe (past students of Govt. Training College). We chatted for a long time. Before we departed he embraced each of us with great affection. When I asked him when he will come again "God willing I will come, only look after yourselves" he said patting my back. Those were his last words before we departed. Much had been said about Duncan as a sportsman of outstanding ability. Not only was he a sportsman, but a person endowed with an abundance of humane qualities. His country, school and a very large assortment of friends from all walks of life will no doubt remember him as a true friend and gentleman. He was born to an age which knew no caste, creed or religious differences. To this end he lived in the true spirit of the mould to which he was cast. He was carved for himself a permanent nitch in the annals of the history of our land. May his soul rest in peace. C. R. Ekanayake It is now nearly two months since Dilshan met with his untimely death and we are still trying to come to terms with the fact that he is no more. Dilshan was such a lively person and had an exuberant personality that infected anybody who came in contact with him that it is hard to imagine he is gone. He had a great zest for life and lived life to the fullest. When he died in the prime of his life at the age of thirty one (31), he had achieved what would have taken most people at least sixty years. He was a handsome man with a charming and strong personality that won him a wide circle of friends. This was evident in the vast number of people that came to pay their last respects, and the gathering at his funeral was perhaps one of the largest seen at a non-political funeral. All these people came to bid a final farewell to a dear and loved friend. Those who were close to Dilshan and knew him well, knew that he had a heart of gold. Beneath his demanding exterior was a man moved easily by the pain and distress of others. Many were the times he has come to the aid of friends, relatives and colleagues. Little known stories about Dilshan's generosity were recounted by those who attended his funeral. To him nothing was impossible and he was an inspiration to those around him. He believed that anything worth doing well and therefore whatever task he undertook was carried out with great enthusiasm. Dilshan successfully built a business from scratch in a very short time, which bears testimony to his brilliance, astute business acumen and charming personality. He would jokingly refer to his sister and two brothers as the 'powerful team' because they were professionals, but they all agree that 'Dilly had the brains in the family'. He was a very loyal old boy of St. Joseph's College and served on the Old Boys Committee and the Council of Management. It was therefore a fitting farewell that was accorded to him by his alma mater, when the Rector of St. Joseph's College officiated at his funeral service with the college flag draped over his coffin and the prefects gave him a guard of honour. He was happily married and blessed with a two year old replica of himself when tragedy struck. Dilshan died in the prime of his life after a kidney transplant that was done in Sri Lanka on February 25th of this year. He was assured by the doctors that there would be no risk to life, the worst scenario being that the transplanted kidney could be rejected in which case it would be removed and dialysis resumed until a compatible donor was identified for a re-transplant. He was also assured that Sri Lanka compared very well with other countries in carrying out kidney transplants and post-operative care. His Father readily agreed to donate the kidney at a great risk to himself and Dilshan went into the transplant with much hopes of resuming a normal life and thoughts of mortality furthest from his mind. Alas, it was not to be. Things went wrong for Dilshan from the very beginning. The surgery was not successful. He was re-operated for a second time, but by then infection had set in, which the subsequent management of his case failed to overcome and eventually resulted in his death. Dilshan's faith in his doctor was complete and unshakeable. Despite visiting UK twice and Sweden, he firmly decided that the transplant should be carried out in Sri Lanka. We can now pontificate, argue, debate and discuss on what went wrong but the damage is done and a valuable life lost. Dilshan's young wife is left to carry on and be both a mother and a father to their two year old son amidst dashed hopes and dreams; his parents are left to mourn a beloved son on whom they depended very much: his sister and two brothers have lost not only a brother but a close ally and loyal friend. What consolation can we offer them in their grief? They say the good die young. Dilshan lived life to the fullest. He finished his earthly mission and the time came for him to go to a better place. There is a plan for us all, which is beyond our control and this was perhaps the plan for Dilshan. Farewell Dilly. May your soul rest in peace until we meet again... Harry and Paulette David |
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