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Stories from the Galle Face Parliament

by Joe Segera
There are no barries to love and romance. Even the high and the mighty succumb to Cupid's arrows. This is no Bill Clinton or Monica Lewinsky story, but a story about a lofty personality, a handsome personality who many years ago was once Mr. Speaker of Parliament, then known as the House of Representatives. Except for some oldtimers, few would know that one of the Speakers of Parliament had in his previous years, not previous births, served a term of imprisonment in the Welikada Jail for an offence concerning the romantic side of life.

He just could not resist the overtures of one of the most beautiful women in the country. She was married, but still she could not resist the smart, handsome young man with that come-hither look who would walk slowly donwn her road at eventide. And so it happened this young Lochinvar ultimately won the race overtaking everybody with the woman of his dreams.

His lover's family wielding much influence, successfully got the man who dared to cross their way hauled up in courts for abduction. And in those colonial days when the law was no respecter of persons the accused was sentenced to a short prison term. And the accused who had a aristocratic, background with money and broad acres to boot was later heavily backed politically by his friends and relatives who ultimately saw to it that he won a seat in parliament. That was not all, he was elected Mr. Speaker. And he was one of the finest incumbents of that most prestigious seat.

Then there was another Mr. Speaker, one of the most courteous and reasonable of men, who when controversial points of order were raised by MPs used to adjourn the House to consult a close friend whom he respected for his wide knowledge of parliament and its Standing Orders. To this Mr. Speaker, his friend who was not even a Member of Parliament, was even greater than Erskine May. And to make a long story short he was a top-ranking journalist at Lake House who was no relation or kinsman of the proprietors, but wielded much influence because of his almost encyclopaedic background of Parliament and politics.

Some of the parliamentarians of those Galle Face days were people who really moved with the people who would even escort and accompany them to Parliament on sitting days. There was that immensely popular Dr. W. D. de Silva of Borella who after a hard day's work in of his dispensary would walk into Parliament with some his supporters just after sundown. His supporters had the habit of walking with him right round the House Lobbies which then had only a handful of policemen.

Security officers were unheard of and it so happened that one late evening Dr. de Silva entered the hallowed Chamber followed by one of his voters. It was when Dr. de Silva took his seat in the Chambers that the outsider was noticed by none other than Galle's Wijeyananda Dahanayake who drew the attention of Mr. Speaker to the presence of a Stranger in the House. Sir, he said, "there is a stranger in the House you must act fast.

The Sergeant - at - arms was summoned and the stranger was escorted out followed by Dr. de Silva who gave the man a good bit of his mind in the most understandable Sinhala.

One of the first acts of Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike after his record victory at the elections of 1956, was to close down the well-stocked Bar at Parliament's restaurant. One of the new MPs of that era was so enamoured with the dram that cheers, that he always carried a bottle in his national shirt pocket. It was a full bottle of arrack, but a soda bottle full of arrack. And whenever the bottle ran dry, he sent a friendly orderly for a re-fill. He was so generous with his tips that orderlies were virtually vying with each other to oblige him.

In that Parliament there was an official who held the almost Guinnessian record of not missing a single meeting of the House and also marking his presence every day of the year. He was its first Sergeant-at-arms, Mr. M. Ismail. His assistant, Ananda de Silva rarely or never got a chance to carry the mace and take the Sergeant-at-arms' seat in the chamber.

If a popularity rating of Sergeants-at-arms was taken, Ronnie Abeysinghe now enjoying his retirement would win by lengths. Always obliging and smiling he was the Toast of the Parliamentary Press Corps.

The only man who beat Mr. Wijeyananda Dahanayake at Galle and that at the height of his power as Prime Minister was that tough bus magnate of Galle., W. D. S. Abeyguna-wardena, better known as "Patty Mahatmaya".

He seldom or never wore coat and tie. His regular dress was bush shirt and slacks. And it so happened that at Parliament's first meeting after the elections, he came to the House in his usual bush shirt and slacks. Not realising that this attire was prohibited apparell, he walked into the Chamber. When a Member complained that Mr. Abeygunawardena was not properly attired, Mr. Speaker ordered him out. He was quickly followed out by Colombo North's Mr. V. A. Sugathadasa who quickly took him to his room and got him to wear one of his extra coats, shirts and ties.

Walking to the Chamber in his borrowed kit, he was heard saying in a very audible whisper, "if Dahanayake could come to Parliament in an "Amude" what's wrong in my wearing coat and bush shirt. Incidentally Mr. Sugathadasa had the reputation of Parliament's best-dressed MP.

If the Kotte Parliament's champion interrupter is Mr. A. H. M. Azwer, the Galle Face Parliament's Prince of interrupters was Roy Rajapakse who occupied more space in Hansard than those speeches he seldom made in the House. It was Roy Rajapakse who used to interrupt Mr. Dahanayake as "Rev. Father Dahanayake", Roy gave this nickname to him after the valiant defence made by Mr. Dahanayake of Christian schools in the course of his long speech against the Schools Takeover Bill.

Dr. Hector H. Fernando
The Marxist who conquered 'Little Rome'

by W. T. A. Leslie Fernando
The 22nd Death anniversary of Dr. Hector H. Fernando, a veteran in the leftist movement in Sri Lanka and a former MP former Negombo falls on October 21, 1998. The well known physician he devoted his entire career for the cause of the downtrodden and the underdog.

Hector Heronimus Fernando was born on September 30, 1903. He hailed from Katana, an area well known in the island for its riches. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and later went to U.K. for higher studies. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1931 as a qualified physician with a degree of medicine from the University of Edinburgh.

He opened up a private dispensary in Negombo which in due course blossomed into the first private nursing home and maternity clinic in the area However Dr. Hector Fernando was soon drawn towards the unfortunate and the under privileged, he became concerned about the exploited fisherfolk in Negombo and in this field often clashed with the fish magnates in the area.

In 1935 , the first Marxist party in Sri Lanka, the Lanka Samasamaja party was formed. In 1936, Santiago Fernando, a teacher at St.Anthony's Catholic Boys school in Dalupotha, Negombo became a member of the LSSP, the first Catholic in Sri Lanka to join the L5SP he convinced many a Catholic to join this Marxist party.

The LSSP'ers in Negombo who wanted to form a branch of the party there now looked for a man of standing to be their leader. They approached Dr. Hector Fernando who by this time had earned a reputation as a fighter for the exploited fisherfolk. he agreed to join them.

In 1937 a branch of the LSSP was formed in, Negombo with Dr.Hector Fernando as the President, Mr. J. P. Payoe a lawyer as Vice-President, Santiago Fernando, the secretary, D. B. Waidyasekera an Ayurvedic physician as the Asst. secretary and Plihindukulasurisya John Fernando, a reputed tailor as treasurer. Since then for many decades politics in Negombo was a struggle between landowners, businessmen, bus magnates and fish magnates on one side and the LSSP on the other.

In Negombo called 'The Little Rome', the Marxists were looked down upon, degraded and treated as agents of Satan. In fact in 1938 when the LSSP leaders Dr. N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardene, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and Leslie Gunawardene went to the island of Duwa in Negombo to discuss thc problems of the fisherfolk and hold a public meeting they were stoned and chased away by the fisherfolk themselves at the instigation of fish magnates.

During the World War II, when the LSSP was proscribed by the British government, some of its leaders were arrested and imprisoned, Others went underground. The party cadres in Negombo threw all their efforts to maintain the continuity of the underground party organisation.

It was in Negombo that many of the party conferences were held. They considered it a safe place because, Negombo was so hostile to the leftists they knew that the authorities would never suspect party activities there. They were organised by Santiago Fernando and Dr. Hector Fernando. Santiago Fernando functioned as the secretary in these secret conferences.

In 1944 when the Free Education Bill was introduced the then Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, vehemently opposed the move and everything possible to sabotage the Free Education scheme. On this issue the LSSP due in Negombo openly rose against the Church. They organised meetings in predominantly Catholic areas, got down Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara and mobilised Catholics in favour of free education.

Dr. Hector Fernando and Santiago Fernando joined Dr.C. W. W. Kananangara went round the country and addressed meeting in favour of free education on behalf of the Catholics. This went a long way to create to strong public opinion for free education and get the Free Education Bill passed in the State Council.

In 1947 Parliamentary Elections Santiago Fernando contested Negombo as the candidate of the LSSP. Despite the hostility of the Church, many Catholics rallied round the LSSP, he lost the seat to a stalwart of the UNP only by a narrow margin of 956 votes. It was now evident that the LSSP had gained a strong foothold in Catholic Negombo.

In 1949, when China became a Communist country me Catholic Church got alarmed and passed many strictures against Marxists. It forbade Catholics joining or supporting Marxist parties. Marxists were denied Church recognition sacraments and burials. As a result many Catholics veered away from the LSSP.

In Catholic areas the Marxists were treated as outcasts ir~ their own country. In some predominately Catholic strongholds the campaign of the LSSP was sabotaged and their meetings were jeered, hooted and stoned. Some Catholics slammed their doors at the sight of Marxists. In 1952 Parliamentary Elections it was found that the LSSP has lost its support of many Catholics.

Dr. Hector Fernando was the LSSP candidate in 1952 for the Negombo seat. There he lost to the UNP candidate by over 13000 votes. But he was never disheartened and carried on his political activities with even more enthusiasm and vigour.

A striking feature of Dr.Hector Fernando's career was his patience. He entered the local politics as far back as 1935 and contested different wards in the Negombo U.C. at every election. But it was only in 1962 that he was elected to the Negombo Municipal Council. Dr. Hector Fernando always fought clean elections and at his defeat he could say 'I offered my services to you and if you do not want them it is your decision'.

In 1956 with the swing the strong UNP fortress fell and Dr. Hector Fernando a Marxist was elected as the UNP for Negombo called 'The Little Rome' In this election he polled over 20, 000 votes and defeated his UNP rival by 2800 votes.

The Delimitation Commission in 1959 divided Negombo into two seats and Katana was carved out of the In 1960 Parliamentary Elections Dr. Hector Fernando contested Katana seat and in. July 1960 he lost only by just 94 votes. In 1965 elections he lost Katana to UNP, by about 2500 votes. In1970 election to the surprise of many the LSSP exchanged Katana tor Balapittya and SLFP got Katana. As a result Dr. Hector Fernmado could not contest Katana and he missed a sure chance of being elected to the Pariliament.

Dr. Hector Fernando's political activities extended from Wattala upto Puttlam in the Sea Coast. He also organised a strong trade union movement in the plantation sector in the surroundings districts, Whenever a worker in the area was unjustly dismissed, victimised or harassed Hector Fernando was there to take up the case where called upon.

Dr. Hector Fernando was also a nationalist and patriot. He used to wear an immaculate white national costume which was a rare sight among the doctors in our country.

Dr. Hector Fernando who placed his entire career for the cause of the under privileged passed away on the October 27, 1976. At the time of his death, he was the Chairman of the Negombo South Fisheries Co-Operative which was the largest co-operative project in South-East Asia.

At his death it was the Catholic Church with which Dr. Hector Fernando often clashed during his life time that paid the greatest at honour for him. When his remains was interred at the non-Catholic section of the General cemetery in Negombo according to his wish, the Catholic clergy in the region offered a special Mass there for his soul and thereby consecrated the place.

Hector Fernando was born with a silver spoon in his South and he made large fortunes as a reputed physician in the area.

Mr. Amita Abeysekara, the inimitable humorist and cartoonist who wrote the regular column. 'This is my Island' has on the invitation of Upali Newspapers selected a series of his past contributions to be published as a book. The book will be published shortly by Upali Newspapers Ltd under the title: 'This is my Island - the Best of Amita'.

Picture shows Mr. Abeysekara presenting his selected pieces to Mrs. Lakmani Welgama, Chairperson of Upali Newspapers and Dr. Sivali Ratwatte, Chairman of the Upali Group. Others in the picture are Mr. Edmund Ranasinghe, Mr. S. K. Attygala, Directors; Mr. Gamini Weerakoon, Editor of the 'Island' and Mr. Narada Nissanka, President of the Upali Newspapers Employees Union.

Ven Piyadassi expounded Buddhism in simple words

by Kirthi Abeysekera
'With the passing away of yen. Piyadassi Nayake Thera, the world has lost one of lts foremost proponents of the Buddha Dhamma.'

This observation was made by the Chief Incumbent of the Toronto Maha Vihara, Ven. Ahangama Ratanasiri, at a 'Pinkama in memory of the late revered monk, at the Vihara. Tracing the late yen. Piyadassi's life from his early days

as a student of Nalanda Vidyalaya, Ven. Ratanasiri spoke of the 14th global Dhammadutha missions the late monk undertook in his lifetime - the last, in 195-5 at age 81.


Kirthi Abeysekera presents a copy of his book 'Piyadassi The Wandering Monk' to Ven. Ratanasiri at the Toronto 'Pinkama'		 Referring to the late monk's biography, 'The wandering Monk' authored by me, yen. Ratanasirl said the book has amply chronicled the Life and Times of a remarkable Buddhist monk who spread the Teaching in keeping with the Buddha's exhortation: 'Go now and wander for the welfare and happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the gain, welfare and happiness of gods and men.'

Ven. Ratanasiri said yen. Piyadassi always included Toronto in his global itineraries, making it a point to talk to expatriate Buddhist children growing up in a land of an alien culture.

'He expounded Buddhism in simple words, intelligible to even the smallest child. He spoke to them in a language they could understand. He related to them in equal terms.' Ven. Piyadassl had urged Sri Lankan expatriates to maintain traditional family values. He asked children to respect their parents, teachers and elders. He stressed that the family was the bedrock of society - society makes a nation, and the nation makes the world, he often observed. Ven. Ratanasiri said the demise of Ven. Piyadassi leaves a void hard to fill in the Buddhist world.

A visiting Nepalese monk from the Hantane Nepal Buddhist Centre, Ven. Nepalaye Pagnaloka, paid a glowing tribute to yen. Piyadassi who, he said made a significant contribution to the introduction of Theravada Buddhism to Nepal. Ven. Pagnaloka's reference was to the late '40s, when the Hindu Prime Minis of Nepal, Padma Samsher Rana, had expelled all the Buddhist monks from the country.

A five-man delegation from Ceylon went to Nepal to use its good offices with the Nepalese leader to reconsider his action. The delegation comprised Ven. Narada, Ven. Piyadassi, the Nepalese monk, yen. Amritananda, Professor Ratnasuriya and Dr. M. D. Ariyapala. They travelled under adverse conditions to Katmandu, the Nepalese capital, visiting remote villages, often on foot. At times, they were borne on palanquins, 'dolava,' across mountains, streams and rivers.

The delegation had been received cordially by the Prime Minister who agreed to admit one banished monk from India, thus gradually paving the way for others.

Ven. Pagnaloka observed that 'We can never forget the great contribution yen. Narada and Ven. Piyadassi made to Buddhism in Nepal.' Theravada Buddhism got a foothold in Nepal as a result of these two monks, yen. Pagnaloka observed. Due to their efforts, the thrice-blessed day of Vesak was declared a public holiday in Nepal.

All Buddhists in Nepal know the names of Narada and Piyadassi. They are loved by the people of Nepal. 'Ven. Pagnaloka added that the passing away of Ven Piyadassi was a great loss not only to Sri Lanka, but to Nepal.

From the book ‘The Palm of His Hand’ by E. T. C. Candappa
Power play between NM and Philip

Continuing from yesterday

And the next moment she was standing at the low-walled entrance, smiling the smile that was like the full moon on a Poya day, benign and blessed and so full of light.

He felt his heart skip a beat.

No fuss this time, she came right up to his bed, came round to his side and asked, "So how are you?"

There was no doubt this was no official call of duty. She had come to see him because she had needed to see him, and him alone, impulsively.

Good heavens, he cried within himself, is there any such thing called coincidence. This has been designed from heaven knew when, he thought.

"What brought you?" he asked.

"I came to see you," she said. Her eyes were very bright indeed.

"What about?" he asked, testing the water.

"Just" she said. The message was coming through loud and clear.

He wished the leering Indian were somewhere else. But what the hell, he thought. Let him be happy as well.

"I think you are a very nice person," he said, and galloped on, "you are gentle and kind hearted...and..." he groped for a while, then spat it out, "and quite loving. You are a very good nurse. You have chosen the right profession."

"Thank you, Mr Indra; you are a nice person also."

"Can I come and see you after I leave?"

"Yes, sure."

He longed to hold her hand but it was unthinkable to him. He had never held a girl’s hand before. She would think he was making a pass at her.

"I must go now," she said, and in a moment she was gone.

"Adai! You’re a smart man, no?" said the Indian.

The schoolmaster on the left was also staring at him, agape. Jayawardene, on the other hand, was grinning widely. Mr Haniffa, covered up to his head, was wagging his feet quite vigorously.

Raj, far from being embarrassed, rather enjoyed the sensation of being considered a bit of a blade. It seemed to go with the "love ‘em and leave ‘em" image that people seemed to have of journalists and theatre folk.

The following morning, Patil, Ranasinghe,the clerk and Mr Haniffa left, in that order.

Patil left shortly after nine. His father came to fetch him, having settled the bills and obtaining the necessary drugs for post-surgical treatment. They were all due to return in a week for the sutures to be removed.

Patil went round the ward saying his goodbyes and although he was smiling, it was evident that the leave-taking was a sad one. To Raj he gave more assurances of regular meetings later. He was not aware of the attendants’ strike when he left.

Ranasinghe left an hour later. His mother and little sister came for him. The trio represented in appearance and manner all that was wholesome and dignified in the rural peasantry. He came round to Raj’s bed, and joined his hands in the traditional Oriental salutation. There were tears in his eyes.

"Ayubowan," he said simply.

His mother then came round. "Sir," she said, "we are very grateful to you. We heard how you saved my son’s life."

Raj exhaled his breath in short sharp snorts as he did when embarrassed. "What are you saying? I didn’t do any such thing."

"May the blessings of the Triple Gem be upon you," she said, before leaving, uttering the highest Buddhist blessing.

No one came for Haniffa.

He settled his bills and when he returned, he was surprised to find three nurses waiting by his bed.

The gentle, frail-looking one who hardly spoke, went up to him and said, "Will you recite one of your naughty verses before you go?"

Haniffa’s wizened jaw dropped. He knew they knew and he made no attempt to deny it.

"Daughter," he said, "can you kindly get grandfather a taxi?"

It was his foxy way of retrieving his dignity.

It also cut off their banter.

He then went round the beds and spoke to each patient and wished them a speedy recovery. He came up to Raj and said, "I will come and see you in a few days."

"Please don’t bother," Raj told him. "I’ll come and meet you when you start working again."

"No, no" he insisted, "I must come and do you some small service. I will never forget what you did for me on the night of my operation."

The nurses came back and helped to carry his bags. By now it was known that the attendants were on strike.

"I’ll go and come," he told them, in the customary manner of parting. It was meant to be a token of a safe journey.

In this case it was found to be inappropriate.

"No, don’t say you’ll come back," they said. "Go in health. We’ll meet again."

It was considered inauspicious to say you’ll return to a hospital. One left cured.

When he had also left, the triple departure left a vacuum.

It was strange, thought Raj, how a bond can be formed in a few days between strangers who had never met before and who would probably never meet again.

Where was all the tension, then, the hatred that the various communities were believed to have imbibed with their mothers’ milk, caught from the atmosphere, absorbed from childhood; the hatred which had erupted in such savage violence just a year ago?

Well, thought Raj, tempering his buoyancy with some realism. Tamils and Moslems get on well. Tamils and Indians also. usually. Though not Indians and Moslems who have had bloody encounters. Haniffa and Patil had not quarrelled, though they had not been too friendly either. So, perhaps, there was not much to rejoice over.

He still felt sad by their leaving. But soon the routine flattened the sadness.

Chapter 25

Then Bill created a sensation when he visited Raj. After 450 years of an unbroken white presence, the sight of a white person still caused people to stare.

It seemed they were staring at white people but they stared at any stranger. Anyone from out of the street, the village, the town, anyone who dressed differently, anyone who travelled by car instead of by bullock cart (in the villages) or wore shoes where the others were not shod, wore a hat. Townsfolk would gawk at the village elders clad sometimes in the clownish, pathetic attempt to display a class advantage; the men, wearing a cloth, as men in the village do, wrapped around the waist and held in place by a belt, or firmly tied. But the superiors had the cloth made of good English tweed. They also did not wear the simple white collarless garment with long flapping sleeves, but an imported western-style shirt; and they also wore a tie. If that were not incongruous enough, underneath the cloth they wore western-type trousers, usually also made with tweed, and then instead of strong leather thongs which all but peasants wore, the upper classes wore good English socks and shoes. To emphasise local rank, they wore a curved comb made of tortoise shell on top of their heads to hold back their long hair, sleeked with oil and tied in a small knot at the nape of the neck. To complete the effect, men of rank also carried an expensive umbrella. The latter-day foldable frivolities had not even been dreamt of.

In the village he would not have raised a head or an eyebrow, this walking caricature of a hapless marriage between two regimes, two utterly contrasting cultures.

Bill ceased to mind, or even notice, people staring at him. He grew to understand, with time, that he was like a grain of rice in a bag of coffee, as an Australian married to a Colombo Chetty girl once remarked to him. Bill realised that being different people stared at him in a natural way. He began to love these simple people.

The words of the native languages began to adhere to him like fluff and the rhythms of their manners became familiar to him like the rhythms of their speech.

"Ayubovan mahattaya," he said loud enough for the ward to hear. And when the common salutation inverted in this manner, from a person of the white, recently ruling gentry to a native person, thus addressed as sir, by a broad-shouldered broadly-grinning muscular man in his minced, accents fell upon the ears of the other patients, the spell was broken. Bill was learning that there was no smoother path to a people’s heart than to speak their own tongue or cause some laughter.

Raj walked out with Bill into the long open verandah and sat with him on the low, easy chairs.

The evening was humming with the desultory chatter of people, the shuffle of feet, the cries of vendors outside the hospital walls, and somehow the softly but quite definitely articulated hum of pain and dying.

"How are you going Raj?"

"It’s this waiting, Bill, it’s this waiting."

Bill understood everything behind that remark.

"What’s the news?"

"Look mate, you’re not supposed to be thinking about news. You’re supposed to be sick."

Raj turned and stared at him. His brown eyes began to burn brighter, and the pupils in them to dilate as though to receive the information visually.

"You know I’m not here because I’m sick. This is part of the trap that has been laid for me.

"If the bloody surgeon, and I use the word correctly," Raj said, lifting an eyebrow. "If he does not cut and patch me up soon, I’ll be caught in it. The only thing that will sustain me while I am here is news."

Bill’s face grew uncommonly grave. In turn he stared at Raj, his glance tempered with sadness.

"There’s some bad news and they’re keeping it from you. I thought it’s best you should know now than hear later. You know you can cope with it while you’re on your feet, as it were."

Raj’s mouth went dry. His eyes began to blaze like torches. Neither spoke for a few seconds.

"They haven’t made other arrangements to cover the PM’s visit, have they?" Raj knew it couldn’t be anything to do with his family. "Well, go on, Bill, tell me."

"Your mates will not like me yapping like this."

Raj put out his hand and touched Bill’s arm gently.

"Tell me," he pleaded.

"All right. Now take it real easy. It’s a death of a colleague."

"Who?"

"Auggie Gabriel died a few hours ago."

"Oh, my God..."

Raj stood and looked away. "Oh, my God," he repeated so softly Bill could hardly hear.

"It’s probably better this way," Bill told him gently. "He had a cerebral thrombosis. Too much damage had been done. He would not have been himself at all."

Raj nodded. He knew what it meant and what it could have done to Auggie. He would have preferred death to such an existence. Things began to fall into place.

Bill waited patiently in a kindly silence while Raj stared unseeingly through the trellis before him.

The past assailed him in a storm of images: Auggie walking into the news room at five o’clock, freshly showered with a dark-blue silk shirt and grey corduroy trousers, shod only in South Indian leather thongs. It fitted the mood. While everyone else had been languishing in government corridors waiting to meet Cabinet Ministers, secretaries or top rung Civil Servants or trying to tease news out of tardy phones, Auggie having lunched leisurely, and often luxuriously, returned just an hour before the deadline for the first edition with the next day’s lead story in a neatly folded paper in his pocket. It would have been whispered to him across the table not as a favour granted but as one solicited. Auggie did not obtain news from his friends but from contacts who were mutual enemies;

Auggie at the Press Club, always at the centre of a group, always with a glass in his hand, sitting in a sunny pool of laughter. The stories, the stories. Was there ever a raconteur like him? Could there ever be another to touch him? His first name was Walter. He hardly ever used it. Sometimes he signed reviews with his initials – W A G. It figured;

Auggie, the host at his home. There again the light and the banter and the laughter always emanated from him. His guests warmed their hands around him. The way he laughed, his head thrown back, his soft blue-black hair slightly tousled, his grey blue-fringed eyes brimming over with merriment;

Auggie at cocktail parties, black tie and all, sleek patent leather shoes, moving gracefully, the panther after the kill, stalking his quarry for the big scoop, often debonair with a young girl hanging on one arm.

"Oh yes," he said, coming out of the mist of recollection and tears, "he could not have borne to live in a wheelchair. Not for one moment."

To splinter the spell further, the bell tolled the end of the visiting hour.

Chapter 26

"Can I talk to you outside?"

Bill looked relaxed, but there was a slight edge to his voice.

"What is it?"

Raj had found a way of getting out of the hospital for a few minutes daily but he was unwilling to be seen leaving with someone else, and one so conspicuous.

Bill put a finger on his mouth for an instant and winked.

"All right. You leave in a couple of minutes. I’ll see you outside the gates."

Raj had to get out in his sarong and shirt to avoid attention. Bill was standing a hundred metres away.

"Well, what is it?"

"The hospital attendants are coming out on strike on Wednesday."

"That’s in two days?"

Bill nodded.

"How do you know?"

"A contact from here." He nodded towards the hospital.

"Reliable?"

"Union man."

Raj bought himself a pack of cigarettes. It was forbidden to leave the premises, but the watchers connived at patients visiting the vendors outside the wall.

"Are you going to make something of it?"

"Oh, come on, Bill. I’m on leave. Sick leave. Now push off. I don’t want to be seen with you outside."

He was sure the information was correct. The YCW had contacts everywhere. He looked at his watch. Ten to six. He rubbed the stubble on his face and pulled his lower lip pensively.

He could have a quick call to Ishak. It was just past the first edition deadline. Two hours before the next edition.

He checked his change. He had the money for a phone call. He took it from a phone booth near the Medical College.

"Mr Ishak?"

The news editor recognised his voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"The hospital attendants are coming out on Wednesday."

Ishak knew the background to the strike. It was part of the power play between the Trotskyite leader N M Perera and the Bolshevik leader Philip Gunawardene. It was often a bloody conflict.

"What’s your source?"

"A very good one."

"Who?"

Raj was prepared for that. He did not wish to divulge the names of either Fr Grutzner or Bill.

"I can’t tell you on the phone."

"This is a private line."

"But I can’t say it out here."

"All right. I’ll get it checked. When’s your op?"

"Next week."

"Good." And he hung up.

Raj got back five minutes before the bell.

The following morning only The Clarion ran the story. It was a double column box on the front page. It only quoted well informed sources, and did not give the date of the proposed strike. It merely said the strike was imminent. Ishak knew the form. If he gave the date they would defer it.

In any case they did.

It was a normal working day at the General Hospital.

That evening Jinasena, the leader of the attendants’ union, paid Raj a call.

"Sir," he said to Raj very softly, "you have enemies where you work."

The back of Raj’s neck began to tingle. He said nothing but looked steadily at Jinasena.

"I had a call from someone this afternoon who did not give his name. He said that the news about our strike was given by you. He warned me to be careful of you."

He was watching Raj. Raj kept looking at him but said nothing.

The man continued: "I couldn’t talk to him because he put the phone down. But I knew it was false because you could not have known. No one here would have told you." He kept looking steadily at Raj. "The other thing, you are on leave. Medical leave. And again, I know you are a regular gentleman (niyama mahatteyek). I can trust you. Just be careful of your friends."

He touched Raj’s hand and said loud: "I’ll get the garlic water. That’ll help your wind problem."

Raj felt no qualms about the matter. He had not betrayed a confidence. He was quite sure where his loyalties lay. He liked Jinasena personally and would do anything to help him where he could.

But this was big news. And political dynamite.

What troubled him was the phone call. There was only one person who could have done that.

"Watch that space," Raj told himself, "for further developments."

Things began to happen by mid-morning the following day. Raj had a visitor at 9.30 in the morning. Which was unusual to begin with. No one would be permitted outside visiting hours, and so blatantly, unless he had very good reason and had sufficient authority to do so. He was also conspicuously overdressed in a full cotton business suit. He was reekingly top-management or diplomat, redolent of hair cream and after-shave and cigarette smoke and laundry starch.

"You’re Mr Raj Indra?"

"Correct."

"Who’s the foreigner who comes to visit you?"

Raj began to bristle.

"Who are you? What’s your name?"

"Sorry. I’m Jayatilleke from the Foreign Ministry. I should also have re-phrased the question. We know your visitor is an Australian named Bill Wilberton and that he lives at the YCW headquarters, that he is here on a year’s tourist visa. What we really want to know is what your connection is with him."

Bugger you, thought Raj, that’s entirely my business. But he stayed calm, gave away nothing of his feelings.

"Why do you want to know? Surely anyone can visit me anytime, anywhere?"

"You’re not ‘anyone’ for the moment, Mr Indra. Not as long as you are part of the delegation going with the Prime Minister to New York. Until you return we want to know the company you keep." He smiled suavely, a nice, smooth diplomatic smile.

"So you already know all about him. What else do you want to know?"

"What’s he doing here? He’s been travelling about a bit, asking questions about living conditions of workers and that sort of thing. What’s his interest if he’s just a tourist?"

"Well, the YCW is an international movement interested in the welfare of workers and peasants."

"That sounds Communistic to me..."

"Mr Bandaranaike won’t like that. He’s very much into bettering conditions of workers and peasants, isn’t he?"

Mr Jayatilleke adjusted his glasses. Raj knew he had cornered him. He pursued the advantage.

"You’re also not properly briefed about the subject."

"If anything, the YCW is in a sense anti-Communist. The YCW sees the worker’s dignity rising out of his being part of God’s creation with a divine destiny. Because of this dignity, the YCW works towards ensuring that every person is employed gainfully, in a manner suited to his or her dignity, receiving wages that are in keeping with such dignity. The YCW works to eliminate contrasts between that ideal and the reality. The YCW..."

"That will do," Mr Jayatilleke said holding up his hand, "we merely want to ensure that you do not keep company with subversive elements. I need not tell you of the various forces ranged against the Prime Minister, the leftist led trade union movement not the least."

After he had left, Raj felt that while he had satisfied the man from the Foreign Ministry for the moment, the opposition to his visit to New York was still quite active. He did not know from where the next attack would come, or when.

Chapter 27

The attendants struck when the time was right. It was a test of strength. Unions often called out token strikes, sit-ins, walk-outs to flex their muscles. Because of the jumbled state of the unions the nurses could come to work without having to cross the picket lines and work not only in their area of duty but even that of the attendants even though the overlapping of their duties was one of the main areas of conflict.

Raj moodily let his mind roam around the trade union movement in Sri Lanka at this time was at its most chaotic and opportunistic.

Trade unionism itself was well,established and its beginnings were crowned with spectacular success.

Later the professionals and worse, the politicians, inveigled their way into unions and used the workers to advance their own political, and even personal, fortunes.

At that time, the principle of one union per trade was not being observed. There were several unions representing one interest, from the workers’ point of view, but many from the union bosses’ points of view. Each political party began to get into the trade union movement in order to mobilise and stabilise power bases among the white and blue collar workers. Some huge unions were splintered in this manner.

About the author

E.C.T. Candappa was one of Sri Lanka's been feature writers in the mid-fifties till the seventies. He was an outstanding journalist at Lake House and distinguished himself as a reporter and feature writer. He is now domiciled in Australia but still very much interested in his country of origin. He visited Sri Lanka last year and interviewed many of the personalities featured in this book.

Continued tomorrow

Trinity College Prepares for the Millenium with Professer W.R. Breckenridge at its head

By Ananda Pilimatalauwe
One hundred and twenty five years in the life of any institution is a long time. Trinity celebrated its 125th anniversary this year. Established by the missionaries of the early British period Trinity has over this century and quarter transformed itself from a colonial missionary school to an independent institution managed by a local Board of Governors. Today it is one of the leading educational institutions imparting a disciplined all round education to produce leaders the service of the nation.

Originally led by outstanding missionaries it gradually came under the guidance of eminent laymen both local and foreign, and the names of Simithraaratchy, Walter and Oorloff stand out. In the last three decades it was led by Ceylonese each completing a decade in guiding the school. Lt Col. Leonard de Alwis in turn completes his tenure of ten years at the end of this year. The Board of Governors has taken advantage of this situation to prepare the school to leap into the millenium with an academic of repute at its head.

On 1st January 1999 the mantle passes on to Professor W.R.Breckenridge the academic of repute, an old boy of the school, who sacrifices his career at the University to answer the call from his alma mater. The family association of the Breckenridges with TCK goes back to the time of his father the late R.R.Breckenridge who sacrificed his entire life to the school, first as an outstanding student and then as a respected and popularly accepted member of the senior staff. Professor Breckenridge too left his mark at Trinity as an outstanding student walking away with numerous class prizes and the Senior Biology, Chemistry,Geography and the Gaster memorial prizes.

Professor Breckenridge entered the University of Peradeniya in 1957 and graduated with a BSc (Hons.) degree in Zoology. He later proceeded to Mc Gill University in Montreal Canada in 1968 on a Commonwealth scholarship and obtained his PhD. He is currently Senior Professor of Zoology at the University of Peradeniya, a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka, Fellow of the Institute of Biology Sri Lanka, former President of the Institute of Biology and served on several committees involved in revision of curricula both at University and School level. He has also held office in many University bodies and Teachers Associations.

Married to Chandra Abeyratne a devout Buddhist, a graduate of Peradeniya Uiversity and the holder of a Masters Degree from Mc Gill University. She was formerly the Food Technologist at the Department of Agriculture and currently the Science Co ordinator at the IFS. They have two daughters both working abroad in Canada and the United States.

Trinity which has over three decades bowed to pressures to accommodate the needs of the times in numbers is currently almost bursting at its seams with over three thousand students and the resultant problems and its effects on standards. The Board of Governors, old boys, well wishers, and Staff are happy they have Professor Breckenridge to give that enlightened leadership in planning, motivation, and train ing to the overwhelming numbers of non Christian students and a good Christian education to the Christian students who pass through the portals of this institution and guide them into the 21 century to be good citizens and leaders in this country.

Mad dogs on the prowl

Aryadasa Ratnasinghe
Among pets the dog is the closest companion of man from very ancient times. Canine remains, more than 4000 years old, have been found along with those of human beings in the Dutch 'Kjokkenmoddings' (pre-historic rubbish dumps), when man took his first step to the domestication of animals. More people love dogs than any other domestic animal in view of the close affinity that exists between the two. The early Egyptians held the dog with the greatest affection and almost veneration, based on the worship of totemic animals, such as the bull, the cat, the jackal, the hawk, the ibis, etc.

Rabies is a disease common among dogs, and transferable to man when bitten by a rabid dog. The saliva of the sick animal carries the lethal virus which is so small that it can even pass through a bacterial filter. Unless treated in time, before the onset of the disease, the victim will die after a painful illness, marked by spasms of the throat brought on by drinking water or the mere sight of water. Hence it is known as hydrophobia (fear of water). It is a horrifying and deadly disease, always looked upon with terror, since it is one of the worst diseases afflicting humans for which there is hardly any cure, if neglected.

The best medical advice is that when a person is bitten by a dog, suspected of rabies or not, the wound must be thoroughly washed at once with soap and water to prevent possible risk of infection. If the animal is suspected of rabies, its head must be severed and taken to the Medical Research Institute (MRI) at Borella in Colombo, within 12 hours of the bite, in order to ascertain whether the case is a positive one or not. The MRI is the only institution in Sri Lanka that tests specimens for rabies. On average, about 875 decapitated heads are tested annually.

Treatment
Prophylactic treatment is available in hospitals, in the form of anti-rabies serum, either as Human Rabies Immunoglobulin (HRIG) or Equine Rabies Immuno-globulin (ERIC) which inactivates the potential danger. The serum is administered according to a schedule and depending on the type of the regimen required. In the old days, injections were given around the navel for 21 days causing much pain. But, now the regimen has been reduced to about six shots at varying intervals.

The infectious part of the virus is said to be Ribonucleic acid (RNA), opposed to Deoxy- ribonucleic acid (DNA). The seriousness of the bite depends on the portal entry of the virus into the body. The position is said to be worse when bitten on the face than the leg which, ipso facto, increases the risk involved. Including man, all warm-blood animals are susceptible to the disease, but since its generally communicated to man from lower animals, it is known as zoonosis.

In the case of rabies, the incubation period (the interval between infection and the onset of the disease), varies from 11 days to 12 months, or from 4 to 9 weeks being the usual range. The difference in time depends on the portal entry of the virus belonging to the Rhabdouiridae group.

When we speak of rabies, we must be grateful to Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), the French chemist and Professor of Chemistry at the Sorbonne University in Paris, for having invented the rabies vaccine in 1881, to save mankind from the lethal disease that took a heavy toll of lives when stray dogs infected with the virus roamed freely transmitting the disease to their own kind as well as man.

However, it was in 1804 that man became aware that the saliva of a rabied dog carried the virus, but there was no vaccine available then to fight against the horrible disease. The first successful vaccination was done in 1885, and since then a new era dawned upon mankind to save themselves from untimely death.

Symtoms
The early clinical symptoms of rabies in man are general malaise, anorexia, headache, nausea, vomiting, sore-throat and fever. The victim usually becomes nervous and apprehensive when he experiences difficulty in swallowing caused by a painful spasm of the throat muscle. Death frequently results from respiratory paralysis after a severe pain.

The virus is said to be resistant to disinfectants, exceptions being formalin, cresol, nitric acid, ether and chloroform. Virucidals, with a high percentage of alcohol, are said to be very effective in destroying the virus. Exposure to sunlight also kills the virus.

According to medical opinion, there are two types of rabies. One is known as 'dumb or 'paralytic' rabies, where the diseased dog remains dormant, does not eat, prefers to live in seclusion in a dark place, and will succumb to the disease probably within a week. Under such a condition, it is risky to disturb the animal, and children should not be allowed to go near, or try to play with it, because it might suddenly under provocation change its mood, and bite responding to uncontrolled reflexes.

The most dreaded type is 'ferocious' rabies, because the diseased dog will attack anyone and anything on sight, governed by its reflex action, and even its beloved master. Therefore, when a dog is found restless and moody, it is always advisable to have the animal chained properly. If the signs are positive, the matter should be reported to the nearest Police Station as provided for by law.

There is the belief that when a dog feels a raving sensation, it tries to escape from home, being true to its nature before the onset of the biting mania, which deprives the power to distinguish between its master and another. That may, perhaps, be the reason why we hear of dogs leaving their homes before getting mad.

A dog suffering from ferocious rabies can be identified from its behaviour pattern. They generally appear restless, move fast, have drooping ears, reddened eyes, and with their tails hanging down without rigidity. Very often their tongues hang from the side of their mouths full of froth. Even a humble street dog, when afflicted with rabies, becomes a threat to man on the road.

Stray dogs
Sir Arthur Havelock (1890-1895), Governor of Sri Lanka, took action to prevent the spread of rabies by seizing all stray dogs and destroying them. The Rabies Ordinance No. 7 of 1893, became operative from January 2, 1894. Section 4 of the principal enactment empowers every local authority to seize all stray dogs and deal with them thus: "If the dog is not diseased or suspected of rabies, it shall be detained in some proper place, and delivered to the owner of the animal upon receiving payment of a sum as claimed by the local authority. If the dog is not claimed by any person, or there being no owner, the local authority can cause the dog to be destroyed, or otherwise disposed of, within three days of the seizure."

If any person who knowingly suffers a dog to make such a person's house its ordinary place of resort, he is deemed to be the owner of such dog, for the purpose of the Rabies Ordinance. "He shall be liable civilly and criminally for all the mischief done, and all acts of nuisance committed by such dog" (Sec. 6). It shall be lawful for any person to kill on the spot, any dog which attacks him, and to pursue and kill any dog suspected to be rabid, provided there is reasonable ground to believe that the dog is diseased.

The law permits and requires any person, whose dog is diseased, or suspected of rabies, to inform the nearest Police Station, and to have the animal securely tied, or otherwise confined, to prevent it biting any person who comes upon it. It shall be the duty of the police officer to kill every dog which is rabied and, in the case of suspected animals, to make frequent visits to ascertain the condition of the dog so suspected. The existence of rabies in any locality must be made known to the public living in the area, as a warning against a possible attack.

Any contravention of the provisions of the Rabies Ordinance, or regulations made there under, is a punishable offence. Any person who knowingly keeps a rabid dog, or a dog suspected of rabies, and fails to inform the Police, is dealt with under the law. Any police officer who fails or neglects his duty, to kill a rabied dog, or to visit any suspected case, as the law requires, is liable to be punished under the law.

To allow any rabid dog, or dog suspected of rabies, to go at large and roam about, is an offence. Any person who knowing or suspecting that the dog is suffering from rabies, or it has been bitten by another dog so diseased or suspected, and allows the animal to have its freedom,, violates public safety regulations. The removal of a dog lawfully seized, or in any way molests, obstructs or prevents another from lawfully seizing, detaining or destroying a dog, is also punishable under the law.

In 1980, there was an outbreak of the deadly disease within the city of Colombo, and as a preventive measure domiciled dogs were vaccinated against rabies and stray dogs were seized and destroyed. It is important to vaccinate dogs in every two years. A single dose (1 ml.) of the rabies vaccine Rabguard TC (killed virus) is recommended by veterinary surgeons in order to immunise dogs before they are six months old. People who rear dogs in their homes must take serious notice of it without procrastination.

In addition to rabies, dogs also suffer from, distemper, parvovirosis, hepatitis, leptoppirosis etc., which are not transferable to man. The vaccines used to immunise dogs from these diseases are Rabiffa-Rabisin, Leptorab, Pentadog, Leptodog, Bivirovax, Caniffa, Virovax, etc., and the advice of a veterinary surgeon is important before they are administered.

Priority
In 1976, the Ministry of Health launched the first five-year Rabies Control Programme, assisted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 1981, rabies control activities were given priority in the National Health Programme when the second WHO assisted Accelerated Intensive Rabies Control Project was launched.

The proper vaccination of domiciled dogs and the elimination of all stray dogs were recommended as the best strategy for the control of rabies. But, the problem lies with the public who do not extend a helping hand for the seizure of dogs since Buddhists are averse to killing or aiding and abetting in the act. In Sri Lanka, on average, about 220 people die annually having contacted the disease.

In keeping with the law, in the old days, dogs on the street were killed by shooting, and the people nicknamed him 'balu-abaran'. With the single-barrelled gun over his shoulder, he hunts for stray dogs, shoots them and produces the tails to collect his income. Today, dogs are destroyed either by muzzling, drowning or gassing. The last method is to destroy the captured dogs by exposing them to the toxic carbon monoxide gas released from exhaust fumes of motor vehicles. However, the stray dog menace still exists and dogs are often found near meat stalls and garbage dumps.

From where do these dogs come from? When a bitch litters at home, the inmates keep the pups for about a month and, thereafter, carry them to be dropped at distant places to go astray. These pups, as they grow up, go from place to place in search of food and water, and become prone to the deadly disease.

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