J W Marasinghe; the Man for All Seasons at Gurutalawa

 

John William Marasinghe

The Hayman Era (1942–1963) is said to be the most prosperous period at S Thomas' College Gurutalawa. But tradition prevailed, thanks to a team of staff that took on the challenge of running the school in line with Dr Hayman’s ideals even after his retirement in 1963. The new Headmaster was Canon A J Foster. However, it was so unfortunate that he too passed away the following year bringing in a vacuum that raised concerns about the future of the school. The challenge now came upon a team of dedicated staff headed by Mr Kilto Chapman a pioneering old boy with other support staff; J de S Jayasinghe (Uncle J), M Chinnaiah, Selwyn Goonewardene, Oliver de Soyza, Lucian Amarasinghe all who devoted their life and time to the school.   Among them, there was one person, who was also an old boy who left college in 1954 and joined the administrative staff in 1957. as Dr Hayman’s secretary and did continue in the position as the Office/Headmaster’s Secretary.

Mr John W Marasinghe; was a chubby, curvy, and cherubic character. He was Billy Bunter at school. (The famous fictional chubby schoolboy character that appeared in a series of schoolboy novels, comic strips and a television serial then.) Mr Peter Weerakoon (brother of Bradman Weerakoon) reminisces about his contemporaries from 1947 to 1952 highlighting the train journey from Colombo to Nanuoya. 

“Those were the halcyon days of yore. The term would start with the boys from Colombo and beyond meeting on Platform 7 of the Colombo Fort Railway Station to take the Up Country Day Train. Besides the crying and the sad goodbyes to parents, there would also be a sense of joy and happiness of meeting up with old friends, whom I recall were L.M.Fernando, Majintha Perera, Nicky Rose, Micheal Silva, Bandu Wanigasekera, V V Vandersmaght, John (Billy Bunter) Marasinghe, Peter Ondaatjee, John de Vos and the two boxers, Joe “Louie” Somasunderam and D.G. Welaratne.”

Mr Marasinghe entered Gurutalawa in January 1948 as a student after completing his prep schooling at Kollupitiya (there had been students from Kollupitiya coming over even earlier). He left college in 1954 and later joined the staff in 1957, just as Mr Chapman and Mr Laffir did in their nominated positions fulfilling the wishes of Dr Hayman and Fr Foster. 

Mr Marasinghe was not on the tutorial staff but was very much the main administrator in running the school office for Dr Hayman. He managed the small office with Mr Benjamin Fernando as the Bursar Mr Patrick Phillips (Clerk), Mr Nadaraj (Bookkeeper/Pocket-money man) and Bernard the Peon. Together they managed the communications, linking the parents and the school while maintaining the required confidentiality and the safety of the academic activity in conducting term-end examinations etc. All the test papers were hand stencilled by subject teachers and the English paper was stencilled on the typewriter by Mr Marasinghe himself. Then the paper would be copied in the required number in a hand-operated Roneo Printer all by himself and packeted and security sealed for storage until the day of the examination when they would be handed to the relevant invigilating staff. This was done in such an efficient manner and never in the history of the school had had any record of an examination paper being leaked before the day or a repetition of a paper.

Though his main application and occupation were in the running of the college office he was multifaceted when it came to extracurricular activities and swimming. He was the Chief Scouter of the 3^rd Nuwara Eliya Troop, Master in Charge of Swimming in general which included coaching the college team. He continued the Birdwatching Club started by Rev Canon A J Foster. He continued the screening of the film shows which was Dr Hayman’s undertaking before. Further, he was the house master of the Keble Dormitory; a subsidiary facility where boys were offered accommodation when the selective Junior and Senior House dorms became full. Outside these activities, he was a different personality with a multitude of hobbies be it music, photography, drama, snipe shooting, stamp collecting and indoor games like scrabble and card playing.

Scouting

Scouting at Gurutalawa has always been special and unique from the early days. Conducted under the guidance of Dr Hayman who was the first Scout Master and later under Mr John Marasinghe and Rev Fr Harold Goodchild after Dr Hayman retired in 1963. Mr Marasinghe in his account about scouting at Gurutalawa from 1942 -1990 in the First 50 years records; … “Scouting started initially with the first Troop Meeting held on 20^th May 1942 a very few days after the Gurutalawa branch was started. Therefore, it would be correct to say that Scouting was the first organized extra-curricular activity at Gurutalawa.”

It is noted that Dr Hayman continued recording in the Troop Logbook of – 16^th (S Thomas’ College) Colombo which hints that he oversaw the Scout Troop at Mt Lavinia started in 1935 and retained the Logbook to continue with the 5^th Badulla Troop at S Thomas’ College Gurutalawa. It was a different type of scouting to which the Colombo-educated scouts had been accustomed when compared to outbound  Gurutalawa.

Scouting was very popular among the students from the early days and there were Mr Habaragoda and Mr Pillai who helped Dr Hayman with the troop and other activities. By 1950 there was a need to start a sub-junior troop as the numbers increased among the juniors. However, it is noted by the end of 1950 all the support staff had left and Dr Hayman was running all three troops. But this was resolved with the senior scouts assisting him with the juniors and sub juniors assisted by the juniors.  When camping came up staff members visited the camps for assistance.

Mr Marasinghe records his initial involvement with the school; thus, “I had left college as a student at the end of 1954 and in July 1957 I re-joined, but this time as a member of the staff. One of the first things I was asked to do was to organize the Senior Scout Camp. This was a new experience to me but thanks to the staff and the scouts alike it turned out to be a memorable one at Buttala in Monaragala.”

When I joined in 1967 the troop was under Fr Goodchild and Mr Marasinghe and scouting restarted for the juniors after a lapse when the few senior scouts functioned under Fr Goodchild. The senior troop however ceased by 1968 and the junior troop flourished under a new registration as the 3^rd Nuwara Eliya Group.

Both Fr Goodchild and Mr Marasinghe had achieved their Wood badge and the Bushman’s thong the highest awards for Scouters then. The camps in the outstations Batticaloa, Lahugala, and Yala were of very high standard. Many students turned out to be first-class scouts and a few went up to achieve the President’s scout badge by 1972.

I remember my 1^st Class hike with the late Senaka Ratnayake which Mr Marasinghe had mapped for us. We were to hike from College to Ohiya .. pitch camp for the night opposite the Ohiya railway station and on day two traverse the bridal path up on the hillside laid parallel to the railway line to Idalgashinna. From Idalgashinna we went direct to Rathkarawwa as given on the one-inch map all the way down passing Anura & Srinath Dissanayake’s home and Sarath Weerasekara’s home on to the Haputale Boralanda Welimada road leading to college. I now understand that this was the same route that Dr Hayman had once plotted for M Rajagopal and Akram Suby much earlier. However, I must confess that at age 14 this was quite a tough walk with a backpack full of provisions, cooking utensils, a canvas tent and ground sheet a hand axe; a weight of approximately  20 lbs. on your back. That was the toughness of scouting at Gurutalawa even by 1970. We were so tired walking to college in the last lap when the bus from Haputale to Welimada stopped for us and the conductor mistook us for service personnel and offered to take us wherever we intended to. We did not disappoint the bus crew but rode in it up to Boralanda and walked the balance distance to college. Yes…. this part was omitted in the Hike Report for obvious reasons.

The Scout troop has continued to maintain excellent standards all these years, and in 1983 the troops recorded the largest number of First Class Scouts. The legacy left behind by Dr Hayman did continue.

Scout camp in Palatupana Yala 1969

Scouting in the Hayman Era

Author with Ratnayake cousins (MBR, HR, author & late SR)

Author's 1st Class Investiture

Scout Troop with Dr Hayman,  (first visit  1970)

Swimming

Swimming again was under Dr Hayman at the beginning and it was to Mr Marasinghe that he entrusted to continue with after he left in 1963. However, Mr Marasinghe notes that he was also a member of the college swimming team up to 1957 and later oversaw swimming. He was a member of the first-ever swimming team that entered the Public Schools Championship in 1952. Seven swimmers comprised the team D D Wickramanayake, J W Marasinghe, D J Templeman Kluit, J Livery, T Mitchell, A J Robb and A W Senanayake. Competition in Colombo then was limited to St Josephs and S Thomas’ Mt Lavinia, and we were not up to the level of competing with these schools until 1962. In 1962 college had a super team that could compete with any Colombo school and Mr Marasinghe records the performance, “In early March 1963 we entered for Novices Meet and all those who were showing promise did well. We obtained 3-first places, 7-second places, and 2-third places and shortly after this meet Dr & Mrs Hayman left S.T.C.G. for England for their retirement. It could be said that it was the end of an Era.”

Again by 1969, we had a promising team that included me trained and coached under Mr Marasinghe on the U 14 and U 16 age groups. We had Alan Goodchild (nephew of Fr Goodchild), C.C Ching, M. I Rauf, E.M Jayawickrama, T U K Wijesena, and M Sritharan. The standards we rising again but not to the level in 1963/1964. In 1970 the U14 did well at the Novices Meet.

By 1975 with many of the Colombo schools being provided with the infrastructure for swimming the swimming meets were very challenging. With the school changing by 1977, the interest towards competitive swimming did fade off and is now reviving with the upgrading of the pool.

General swimming continued after school for two hours under the supervision and watchful eyes of Mr Marasinghe. Almost every boy entering Gurutalawa could not swim but was an able swimmer when he left. Mastering the art of swimming was not taught by a guide in the water unlike today but it was more of a self-learning process. We started kicking the water holding the side wall of the breadth of the pool. This way we managed to keep our lower body afloat parallel to the surface of the water. Once this was achieved, we were allowed to use our hands and explore the breadth of the pool, in a comfortable style be it Breaststroke or Free Style crawl.

Finally, one had to undergo a passing out test to venture into the deeper end of the pool. The test was to swim four (4) lengths, 100 yards nonstop alongside the long end of the pool. This was no easy task, and many did qualify only after three (3) attempts or more.

But there had been a few rescue missions performed by Mr Marasinghe on strugglers swimming the breadth of the pool. Some strayed into the mid-pool area where one couldn’t get a foothold.  I remember when M M Uvais (Bumpy) started his swimming trial across the breadth of the pool and strayed into the mid area and had had two mouthfuls; Mr Marasinghe went in lock stock and barrel clad in shoes and with pockets all full to rescue Bumpy …. However, Bumpy did end up a good swimmer and represented the college.

Dr Hayman and staff member jumping off the high board

Junior Swimmers Hayman era

Inter-house swimming meet 1969

 

Mr Marasinghe in his comfortable Cat's Paw slippers and short trousers conducting the  Plunge Event. author with stick in hand to mark the Plunge limit. (Pix Curtsy Jayadeva)

Birdwatching

Gurutalawa most probably is the only school that had a unique campus with orchards and treelined boundaries with large leafy canopies that attracted birds. In this special location was this ideal bird enthusiast Canon A J Foster. Gurutalawa being the first ever outbound school in the country it was Fr Foster who started a Birdwatching club and inculcated the subject of Ornithology as a hobby for those interested.

Gurutalawa during the migratory season is abundant with all the migrants that inhabit the hill country. Again, it was Mr Marasinghe who took charge of the birdwatching club after the demise of Canon Foster in 1964. The club prospered in a small way with interested boys keeping records of birds seen and identified on an annual basis. Recording the same bird revisiting the same tree in the orchard in the same week as the previous years. Boys contributed with their writeups to Nature Magazines and especially to the Loris the journal of the WNPS… the photography of birds and behaviour was recorded by Mr Marasinghe, and the binoculars and bird guides were those of Mr Marasinghe which he allowed the boys to use at any time.

There was a prize dedicated to the best birdwatching student and the first recipient of this prize is said to be Sarath Wimala Bandara Kotagama… who later made Ornithology his Profession and is today an Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences. He wrote to the college magazine way back when he won the birdwatching prize about his Bird book;

My book about Birds

Most of us are interested in birds.  We like to hear their cheerful songs, to see them as they fly down beautifully through the air, to watch them walk proudly on the grass or slip about bushes in search of food.  But like most wild things, birds are shy and if we wish to learn about the wonders of their lives, we must watch them patiently and quietly.

Most bird lovers keep a bird book in which to note such things as, the day when a certain bird was seen, the food it ate, it's colour and shape, the way it flew, the way it walked, when it began nesting, its song and so forth.  By keeping a bird book and making regular notes in it and perhaps drawings as well we get the greatest enjoyment from our bird-watching study.

S.Kotagama: Upper 6th, St Thomas’ College, Guruthalawa – 1966

Sarath today is an authority on the birds of Sri Lanka, and it was Mr Rohan Pethiyagoda also another eminent Thomian scientist who said; talking about the Birds of Sri Lanka one needs to talk of the period before Kotagama and after Kotagama

During a birdwatching session (Pix Curtsy Jayadeva)

Film Shows

Film shows in boarding schools were quite a common feature then. I remember that even while at the Prep School Bandarawela we were entertained by a film show about once a month. These were 16mm films imported into the country by Ceylon Theaters Ltd and other such movie companies. The films were mainly Western movies with famous actors Jean Autry, and John Wayne to even classics like ‘Count of Montecristo’, and ‘It’s in the Air’ a comedy, which was some of the most famous films among us boys then. I remember we would have seen the same film five times during our stay in school. That’s once every year as there was a restriction on films imported into the country; they repeated the films.

The school had a 16 mm projector, again a personal gift from Dr Hayman who was a keen cinematographer shooting his own 8 mm films of all the college activities and scout camps in the outstations. He would then screen these at the OBA etc.

However, when Dr Hayman left in 1963, he entrusted the screening of films also to Mr Marasinghe, an after-dinner speciality that came up suddenly. The small windowpane above the office counter displayed a small note in Mr Marasinghe’s handwriting – “Tonight’s Show – It’s in the Air”.  Like Dr Hayman, Mr Marasinghe also loved photography and cinematography and many boys also showed a liking for these hobbies and assisted them during these shows in spooling the film to an empty spool to be returned to the agency.

A boy who assisted Dr Hayman then was Mr Chandran Ratnam who later made films his career in life. Gurutalawa, therefore, has moulded people outside of the curriculum who become authorities in their likings and hobbies.

House Master of Keble Dormitory

Keble Dormitory was the furthest located unit of the school away from all other facilities down in the far southeastern end of the campus. Today the junior school is in that area and is a different setup altogether. When all other dormitories were categorized under Senior and Junior Houses, De Saram, Garnier and Read so named after the Bishops, but Keble dorm was for all houses named after the founder Headmaster of the Prep school at Bandarawela. Generally, one would be going to the Senior dormitory from Keble when a vacancy was available. But many of us did continue our entire stay at Keble and I was one. It was an old house turned into a dormitory with bunk beds arranged within the rooms and the sitting areas, unlike the normal ward-type arrangement.

Mr Marasinghe too had a separate room in the house, and a door opened to the dormitory that he used as the entrance. A rear door provided access to the back garden. The two office assistants Mr Patrick Phillips and Mr Nagaraj (Yakadaya) also lived here with the Handyman and the Orderly named Jayasundara. Jayasundara was the man to watch out for… for he sneaked and carried all the mischief to the staff that ended up with a punishment.

Life was simple while we all were involved in any activity conducted by Mr Marasinghe and room time was spent listing to Holiday Choice over his large radio set or playing scrabble or 304 with him.

The rear part of his quarters became our kitchen at times when the stock of Ice cream and Pawkies from Elephant House came to the Coop Shop from Colombo. It was a novel way they transported the ice cream and the cold meat in a large wooden chest lined with aluminium sheets and packed with ice and salt transferred by the night train to Haputale. The ice was still hard when the chest arrived at school.

After the scout camps in the outstations, this rear part of the quarters became the darkroom when we all got together with him to develop the films and make contact prints. We learned our photography and film developing from him. He had two Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras that used 110 film rolls.

And then in 1970 when Dr Hayman came back for the first time after his retirement, he brought him his first Pentax SLR camera and to develop 35mm films it had to be given out to Millers in Colombo.

Contact printing after Yala Camping trips

There were times when our pranks played on other boys went too far and we were punished just as we enjoyed staying with him. I remember once when we fixed the bucket of water for Ravi Rajendran (Ganja) to spill over when he came into the dormitory, but Ravi was delayed at the bathroom, and it was Mr Marasinghe who happen to get ducked. Even though it was not meant for him punishment was customary as the recipient was a staffer and the nature of the prank was serious to be discussed later.

I remember another incident when he had gone snipe shooting at the paddy field behind the dormitory with Mr Nadaraj assisting him in flushing the snipe for him. He had cleaned the double barrel for storage and Anura Dissanayake and I pulled the triggers just for kicks. He noted that someone had meddled with the triggers, and we had to own up only to receive three of the best and the gravity of the situation explained had the barrels been loaded.

Gurutalawa flourished during the Hayman Era and the immediate post-Hayman Era. The secret being that few teachers were devoted to the school. Among them, three were very eligible bachelors…Uncle J, Kilto Chapman and John Marasinghe. The three did produce and act in dramas with the senior boys and Uncle J produced the famous Ralahami series dramas and staged them in college and Colombo.  However, this bachelor bond was broken when Mr Chapman married Betty Chapman in 1970 and later Mr Marasinghe wedded in 1973. Uncle J continued as a bachelor all his life.

Mr Marasinghe continued to live in the Keble dormitory premises while the junior school also came up in the vicinity. Later when their daughter Shamindri was to attend school she was enrolled in the junior school as the girls of the staff members were permitted up to grade 5. When she finished her 5^th year in school it was time for the family to move out of Gurutalawa. An exception was made by the board of governors permitting Shamindri to continue in college which she did from 1979 to 1989.

He was the Master in Charge of the Computer Science Society as well ..... he was ever ready to absorb new technology 

The family moved to Colombo the following year and Mr Marasinghe was now working for Douglas & Sons an enterprise of an old boy. I remember meeting him at this place once to get some photographs of Fr Foster to turn out a life-size cutout for an exhibition in Mt Lavinia. He was very helpful, and I remember him visiting the stall in Mt Lavinia.

It is so unfortunate that I did not meet him after this event as I was out of Colombo. When I took up an assignment at the BIA in Katunayake I met Mano Gnanaraj at Sri Lankan Catering, and it was he who recounted the tragic demise of this humble character in 2004. My heartfelt condolence to the family. But he for sure lives in our hearts and minds every day. 

Confession of a Prohibited Sea Swim?

This was the year 1972 … we had finished schooling at Gurutalawa and enrolled on the Senior School at Mt Lavinia. The country was in a bad economic state after a failed insurgency. An insecure food situation in the country had steered a campaign to grow more food. All available state and private land went under the harrow. The pristine lawns at Mt Lavinia nestled amongst those majestic buildings too were turned up to supplement the school boarding house. It was Warden Anandanayagam’s period, and the uncertainty in the country was reflected even in schools, unlike today where after-school activity was limited to a few sports the boys practiced on their own excepting for Cricket and Rugby that had masters in charge where non-boarders too participated.

All who came over from Gurutalawa did continue as boarders even at Mt Lavinia except the ones with homes in Colombo. Rajaram and I were in the Copleston senior dormitory with a few others, but it was we both that continued swimming as a competitive sport among them from Gurutalawa. The Public Schools Swimming Meet and the Inter-House Swimming Meets were coming up and we were in a hectic practice session after school in the college swimming pool under the direction of Manilal who was the Copleston House captain. Manilal, we knew from kindergarten at Bandarawela.

It was during a practice session one day in 1972 that Manilal said we are not practicing today in the pool, and he kept walking along the De Saram Road up to the Collage Avenue turn off passing the pool access. De Saram Road then, ran through the college unlike today. It separated the Junior school and the Big Club Grounds from the rest of the school.

We both just followed him partly through fear of leaving the school bounds but then were under the impression that he would have obtained permission from Mr Edirisinghe (EDO) the House Master to go out for practices just as we did go out on weekends then for a film show and lunch out.

We just followed him to the beach at the end of College Avenue and walked towards Dehiwala passing the Sri Lanka Life Saving and Surf Club, and were now standing in line with the famous reef outcrop about a quarter mile away in the sea. Manilal just said we are swimming out to the reef and back; we had no choice but to follow him. We dropped our towels on the beach and into the sea we went …. Rajaram and I got the taste of the Indian Ocean for the first time in our lives. To get past the breaking waves we imitated Manilal who swam the crawl style while we both were breaststrokers. 

Having swum about a mile and a half every day in the pool we had the confidence to swim along but it was the fear of the sea, the sharks below, and the drifting currents into the open sea, toxic floating jellies. What if we get drifted into the open sea? Nobody was informed of us going to the sea and if our towels would still be there on the beach when we came back was a concern in our minds.

After about twenty minutes of swimming, we were at the reef outcrop and Manilal was on it but we both had problems getting on. As instructed by Manilal waited for the wave to swell around the surf when we were lifted and there we were on the reef. Looking back at the shore we could see the patch where we left the towels but standing on the barnacles was not easy with our soles scraping giving extreme pain.

We dived back into the swelling wave for the return swim which was easier as the drift was towards land. However, once back closer to the beach we both had problems being first timers. You don’t see the wave breaking point when in the sea and only the experienced could judge the crest point and wait for the break and surf the wave towards shore.

Both Rajaram and I knew nothing of this, guess Manilal had taken for granted that we knew how to maneuver ourselves. We both went somersaulting with the wave breaking on us dashing into a sand cloud not knowing what happened and waited with closed eyes until we surfaced to take our bearings. We were lucky not to get drifted back to the sea but were now racing with the surf towards land. Two more waves were mastered while on our feet we were on the beach with piles of sand in our hairs and all other creases, folds, and vents. Manilal had a hearty laugh when we both said it was the first time we ever swam in the sea.

Now it was the walk back to college and Manilal took the lead as before and we just walked into the common boarding house showers and washed ourselves of sand and salts and back in as if nothing took place. Rajaram and I never discussed this until we met after leaving college but never did this again except for general sea baths at the Mt Lavinia Hotel beach.

To this day I don’t know why we did not fear leaving the premises for a sea swim. It could be that the two-mile sea swim was an annual event which many college boys took part, and it was normal that boys did practice in the sea then. Later I had my chance to stand for the two-mile sea swim as part of the University team but did not complete. General weekend sea bathing we continued with after many of us had quit the college boarding and joined Mrs Silva’s private hostel down De Soyza Avenue. However, sea bathing was a prohibited ground rule at her boarding, but beach walks were allowed. But even this sea bathing enthusiasm did come to end when one day we all lost our clothes to some beach urchins, and it was a time to get back indoors after much scouting to check on Mrs Silva’s whereabouts.

Mr. J de S Jayasinghe was ‘Uncle J’ to Everyone at Gurutalawa?

Mr. J de S Jayasinghe (1924-1991)

S Thomas’ College Gurutalawa is unique in many ways. It came up in a remote location in the Uva Province under a contingency plan when the school at Mt Lavinia was taken over by the military during WWII. It was the only component that did not go back to Mt Lavinia after the war. There were many instances when Warden De Saram called up Dr. Hayman to restart the college in Mt Lavinia in his capacity as sub-Warden but desisted from hurting Dr Hayman’s feelings and eventually Dr. Hayman got back to Gurutalawa to his preferred job as Headmaster in 1948. 

The greatest challenge that Dr Hayman had to face in running the school was to retain a dedicated staff in this remote location where basic amenities were limited and very informal in the early days. 

Dr Hayman persuaded many of the pioneering students to assist him with teaching at school in the aftermath of the war. Mr. Bradman Weerakoon, Mr. A.K. Chapman, and Mr. Oliver de Soyza of the pioneers were the first to join the staff, and of the later batches; Mr. Selvin Gunawardena, Mr. A. C. M. Laffir and Mr. J W Marasinghe joined the non-academic staff. These old boys were a committed lot and gave their whole life and time to the school. 

Further to these old boys, there were a few other persons that Dr. Hayman did select to serve in the tutorial staff, and they too embraced the boarding life under trying conditions. Among them, two persons are worth mentioning: Mr. J de S Jayasinghe and Mr. M. Chinniah. (This article is limited to the teachers in the Hayman Era) 

J de S and staff at leisure - Mr. Chinniah, Mr. Selvin Gunawardena, Mr. Oliver de Soyza, Mr. Laffir. 

Most staff in the Hayman Era were in their early twenties and lived single. Therefore, many did leave when it was time to start a family. However, some were married to the school… of them, J de S, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Marasinghe have been noted bachelors. Later Mr. Chapman and Mr. Marasinghe married and left the school, leaving J de S, the most eligible bachelor at Gurutalawa. 

Mr. Oliver de Soyza remembers J de S to be a senior staff member when he too joined the staff in 1954… “A Senior Master in whom Dr. Hayman and Cannon Foster placed a lot of trust, teaching Biology and General Science in the upper school in English and later in both English and Sinhala when the education medium changed to ‘Swabasha’ in 1963. This was at a time when the staff worked as a team under the leadership of Dr. Hayman.

Mr. Jayasinghe was a Southerner from Ahangama in the Galle district; a product of one of the great Buddhist schools in the South, Mahinda College, Galle, which speaks volumes of the Buddhist tradition of tolerance. He was one of its best products but spent forty years of his life in the service of S. Thomas’ College Gurutalawa, an Anglican Christian School. 

He was an outstanding sportsman at Mahinda College. The eldest of four brothers, all of whom attended Mahinda College and excelled in cricket, football, and athletics. He captained the Mahinda cricket team in the years 1944 and 1945, where he ably led Mahinda against Richmond in 1944 and bowled extremely well to return a bag of 13 for 53. 

At Gurutalawa he was the cricket coach and took charge of athletics organizing the annual sports meet regularly. As the athletic coach he took a lot of interest in the latest developments and attended a professional training course in India at his own expense says Mr. Oliver de Soyza. 

Gurutalawa in the 50s had been famous for drama and Mr. Jayasinghe is noted to have taken a leading role in producing the Ralahamy series of plays. “A versatile actor, he was mainly responsible to produce two of J de Lanerolle’s plays, ‘Ralahamy Rides Again’ and ‘The Return of Ralahamy’. They were superbly produced and performed both in Colombo and Gurutalawa. He played the role of Ralahamy and if I recall correctly, ‘Haddjiar’ was played by another member of the staff, John Marasinghe. It was a combined cast comprising students and members of the Staff with J de S as usual, leading from the front,” says Harish Nilaweera (1958) appreciating J de S.

When I joined Gurutalawa in 1967 Dr. Hayman had left and Fr Foster was no more, but the school was still run to its glorious standards by Mr. Chapman and J de S, under the Headmaster Mr. Frank Jayasinghe. 

He was the Master in Charge of De Saram House and was always accessible to everyone, boys, staff, and others. Many were those who went to him for advice, and none was ever turned away. I recall meeting him to discuss the De Saram house swimming team for the Interhouse Swimming meets when I was leading the house team after Alan Goodchild.

Book cupboard corner - now bare

J de S was always a teacher to the Upper Forms teaching Biology, General Science and Buddhism to the GCE Ordinary Level Classes. However, he did interact with all the students in the issuing of exercise books and school stationery to all classes from his large book cupboard located in the passageway to the dining hall from the Junior dormitories. 

Though he interacted with the senior boys his living quarters were in the junior dormitory block adjoining the Garnier Junior dormitory. Its main door opened to the beautifully laid Swimming Pool Garden while the rear door accessed the Garnier Junior dorm. Though he was the house master of De Saram it was mostly the Garnier junior boys who got punished by him for mischief-making and misbehaving, disturbing him in his quarters. 

He was a person who took extra time with his toiletry and dressed immaculately in white or beige, wearing crease ironed trousers and long-sleeved shirts, and always left a trail of ‘Old Spice’ fragrance where ever he went. 

His living quarters

I studied in the mathematics stream and therefore missed him in the classroom but was in his Buddhism class in the GCE Ordinary levels, and remember an incident where we had to sit a withdrawal examination before the OLs then. The Buddhism paper then had a standard format with six questions where one had to answer five questions and the last question on the ‘Dhammapada’ was mandatory. His advice to all was to byheart the twenty verses in the textbook and you were sure of a simple pass. There was this most disruptive element in the class who had passed the withdrawal paper and J de S was suspicious that he had copied and was about to interrogate the fellow when he burst out loudly narrating the twenty verses to everybody’s amusement. I do remember him organising a Sil Programme on a Esala Poya day in a temple close by and I’m sure that this was the first time many of us observed Sil in our life. 

An ardent supporter of the United National Party he loved the Senanayake. This was very well depicted by the only picture that hung in his living quarters that of Hon Dudley Senanayake in the college swimming pool when he visited the college during a campaign tour. 

Born in 1924 and joining STCG at the age of 25 in 1949 he devoted his life and time to teaching at Gurutalawa and never went Southbound until he retired in May 1989 at age 65. Though a product of Mahinda College he lived a Thomian to the highest traditions. He passed away in 1991 barely a year after his retirement, still a bachelor. Both Mahinda College and St Thomas’ Gurutalawa can be proud of this humble man. 

How did he become “Uncle J” to everyone? 

Ahangama was quite famous in Gurutalawa owing to two families: the Gunawardanes' (Boothayas) of Piyadigama  and the Gamamampilas' of Dikkumbura. 

When I hung my boots from an active engineering carrier and came back to my home in Galle during the Covid in 2020, my classmate Anil Gammampila, now domiciled in Australia inquired if I could assist him with the development work on his ancestral property in Dickumbura. 

During a visit to his home, I found this ancient wedding photograph of his parents which was still of remarkable quality and noticed a familiar figure standing alongside the couple as the best man. On close examination, I noticed it was none other than Mr. J de S Jayasinghe in his early 20 s. 

Anil's parents wedding photograph...J de S in dark suit on the right

Anil was here recently and he confirmed to me that it was J de S who was his father’s best friend at Mahinda College and had selected him as his best man for the wedding. 

Anil was yet to be born but his paternal uncle “Lokuthaththa” was already raising a family and the cousins Lionel, Nanada, Walter and later Sarath of our age group who were schooling at Richmond College Galle did affectionately call him ‘Uncle J’ the lovable family friend. 

Anil’s father had business interests in the hill-country and he happened to know of the school coming up under Dr. Hayman and Cannon Foster and suggests J de S join Gurutalawa under Dr. Hayman. Dr Hayman reading young J de S with his outstanding sporting achievements at Mahinda picks him as a prospective teacher that did go a long way as envisioned in their first meeting. 

J de S fell in love with the setting at Gurutalawa and suggests Anil’s uncle or ‘Lokuthaththa’ in enrolling the children at Gurutalawa; they were day scholars at Richmond College. This being accepted the two elder boys Lionel and Nanda Gammampila (S.C) entered Gurutalawa in the year 1954. When Lionel left in 1958 his younger brother Walter entered Gurutalawa. Finally, Sarath and Anil also entered Gurutalawa in 1966 leaving their friends at Mahinda College. 

Thus, it is these Gammampila siblings who did continue to call their father’s special friend, who was now their teacher at Gurutalawa “Uncle J” keeping to family habits. This humble human being Mr. J. de. S. Jayasinghe did not oppose the siblings continuing to call him Uncle J in school and so did the whole school. And it did continue so until his retirement. This was very unique at Gurutalawa and I’m sure there was no other teacher who carried such a lovable nickname throughout his time at Gurutalawa. 

A true gentleman with an exemplary existence of Buddhistic values who rendered his life and time to Gurutalawa never expecting anything in return.

A Trophy in Memorial to Mr. A C M Laffir.....?

Dulip & Rajpal de Silva brothers... both belong to the Post Hayman Era at Gurutalawa.... they have been very generous to host an annual fellowship for the collogues during their time in Gurutalawa....

This year the fellowship was held at Panadura their hometown and the night was dedicated to felicitate Mr. A C M Laffir the games Prefect in Gurutalawa.

The below speech was delivered by Bandula Vithanage reminiscing the boarding life and of Mr. Laffir ....the event was a success and attended by many ...

Ladies & Gentlemen

Guru days

We have gathered here today at the invitation of Dulip and Rajpal brothers… their second fellowship to a group of Gurutalawa Thomians…. who share the same interests in being students of the immediate post-Hayman Era.  Dr Hayman left Gurutalawa in 1963 all of us here today belong to the 1964 -1974 era. The school continued to run on the guidelines and traditions laid down by its founders Dr Hayman and Fr Foster during this period.

Gurutalawa was a special school being the first-ever outbound school in the country. We were all in this school when there was ample time for activities that worked like clockwork, unlike today’s child who is fighting for time to get himself organized for a day’s work.

There was time to roam about the countryside on weekends…. Go hiking to Horton Plains, climb Thotupola Kanda and Kirigal Poththa. Go camping to Yala and Lahugala during the Holidays. We were a set of students that grew up with nature. We saw how the trees in the orchard blossomed with the seasonal fruits. We knew of the months the mandarins in the orchard could be raided. We knew almost all the migrant birds that came into the orchard during a particular period.

There was time for mischief-making and there was even time for punishment when caught …. We had time to write 100/ 200 lines for the prefects. There was time set aside for detention at 11:00 in the classrooms on Sunday when even the duty master was also punished indirectly having to supervise our punishment.

It was a time when we only had to act to the timetable laid down from the time, we woke up to Bell Simons wake up bell until lights out when we retired for the night again when Bell Simon would lock us up in the dormitories.

Our soiled linen was taken care of by the school, Timely haircuts were organized by the school, Mending our footwear was also the responsibility of the school while filling our ever-hungry tummies was the primary task of Mrs. Jayawickrama.   

The school took a complete change by 1977 when it had to introduce a primary section when the Post Hayman Era to which we belonged came to an end. Therefore, we happen to be the last generation brought up in the traditions of the Hayman Era.

Gurutalawa in the Post Hayman Era continued with its unique traditions thanks to a dedicated staff who also resided with the students being boarders in the same school partaking of the same meals enjoying the same limited resources and going through the hardships during the cold monsoon rains when we all got ducked coming to the dining hall from nightly prep in the classrooms. But then it was all fun and that was the way in this outbound boarding school in the Uva hills.

Dedication to Mr. Laffir

The school had a committed set of old boys who took to teaching as a profession and as administrators in running the school. Among them, Mr. A K Chapman was an authority in the English medium section while he was also the caretaker Headmaster. Mr. O. E. J. de Soyza also a pioneer student taught English. Mr. Benjamin Fernando and Mr. John Marasinghe took up the administrative duties of the school being the Bursar and the Headmaster’s Secretary. Mr. A C M Laffir a distinguished old boy was the Games Prefect. Mr. Kadurugamuwa too later joined the Sinhala medium teachers.

Further to these old boys who continued from the Hayman Era. There were Mr. J. de S. Jayasinghe, Mr. Chinnaiah, Mr. Kularatne, and Mr. Amarasinghe, who were not-old boys but dedicated their whole life to the school continuing their service from the Hayman Era.

There were other noteworthy staff who joined the school during the post-Hayman Era who did devote their life and time to Gurutalawa. We cannot forget Mr. S.K. Gananamuththu, Mr. Lekamge, Mr. Pathiratne, Mr. Nirodhiwardane, Mr. Cyril Perera, Mr. Bandusena, Mr. Chanmugam, Mr. Dhanaraj, Mr. Fassy, Mr. Geethal Mendis, Mr. Jayaraj, Mr. O N Peris, Mr. Gray, Mr. Sunil Premathilake, Mr. Hubert, Mr. Tulin Ratnam, Mr. Dharmasiri, Mr. Punchi Banda, Mr. David, Mr. S. P. Dharmawardane, Mr. S. S. Selvendran, Mr. Thayagaraja and Mr. Ratnasingham are fondly remembered. The only lady teacher then was Mrs. Loreta Jayasinghe. Headmaster Mr. Frank Jayasinghe’s wife who substituted to Mr. O E J de Soyza who left college.

However tonight we are here to commemorate the services of one staff member who was absent in the classroom but was most actively present on the playing field. He is non-other than the only Games Perfect the school has ever produced... Mr. A C M Laffir.

A. C. M. Laffir was born on the 28th of October 1932 in Nawalapitiya. He had his primary and middle school education in Jaffna and later joined S Thomas’ Gurutalawa in the year 1945.

While at school he was an average student in academia but an exceptional one on the playing field. A star-class football player; an "Ambipedal", one who could use both his legs equally good in kicking and passing. Hockey was his other favourite game and he played in a leading position in both these field games and obtained College Colours. His other favoured games were Squash and Badminton.

Mr. Laffir too fancied for a carrier in planting just as most Gurutalawa boys did after their S.S.C Examination. But fate acted differently for him. His coach and mentor Rev. Father Canon A J Foster requested him to join the school and take charge of the sports at Gurutalawa. It was difficult for him to turn down Father Foster’s request and he had to take the hard decision to take charge of sport at Gurutalawa.

This short-statured gentleman in an open collar sport shirt with a whistle cord round his neck would herd everyone to the playing field after tea. Those preferring the racket games took up position at the respective courts while the rest ended up on the grounds and took part in Hockey practices and football practices until it was time to get back for a wash and evening prep.

Rainy days when no field games were possible… it was cross-country running…  barefooted drenched in rain and mud splashed from the dirt roads.

Mr. Laffir had the vision to produce the best hockey team in the Uva Province. The initial preparation of his ambition with Sarth Serasinghe leading the team had to be delayed for Sarath joined Ananada College and later captained Sri Lanka. However, he did achieve his ambition by producing that super undebatable team in the Uva Province in 1972.

Mr. Laffir continued to serve the school even after many of his contemporaries had left the institution by 1989. However, he too could not continue long, when he had to make allowances for his failing health. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had to call an end to all his commitments at Gurutalawa and come back home to Nawalapitiya. He passed away peacefully and was laid to rest on the 26th of October 1994 in Nawalapitiya with a solemn Janasa attended by the close family.

It was an early call, and he was only 62 years of age.

Today as a mark of respect and gratitude to this humble gentleman who always sported a genuine smile and was loved by all…. Dulip and Rajpal de Silva brothers would dedicate a trophy in memorial to be presented to the Best Hockey Player of the year at the Annual Prize Giving.

(Call upon Dulip & Rajpal to hand over the trophy)

Esto Perpetua 

The Habit of Saying Grace...?

Having been a boarding scholar all my childhood in an Anglican environment... we were introduced to certain sacred habits practiced with a Christian upbringing.

Grace saying before a meal was one such practice. A form of offering thanksgiving to remember that it was God, that provided our meal. We as kids rushed to the dining hall at the meal bell hungry as ever and stood still at the table until grace was recited by a master or the chaplain who also had the same meal. Then followed the clatter of cutlery against crockery... we were still novices with the fork and spoon.

My vivid memory goes to S Thomas’ College Gurutalawa then in the 1960s where meal settings were different to those at STPS Bandarawela where grace saying was first experienced. At Gurutalawa the breakfast was always laid at the table while dinner and lunch were of a semi-buffet style where we queued up with our plate and cutlery at the pantry to be served our portion.

So unlike at breakfast where we all sat for the meal at the same time and grace was recited before the meal, lunch and dinner had a practical issue with the grace? Everyone could not wait until the last boy was served to commence the meal. So, this issue was addressed by saying grace after the meal, still giving time for the last boy to have his meal.

My memory runs back to Suresh Markandan  who would ring the small dinner gong requesting silence before breakfast for grace recital; “For the food we are about to have may the Lord’s name be praised”; and the issue with lunch and dinner was adjusted linguistically by saying “For the food we've already had may the Lord’s name be praised”. 

We then as children did not see any amusement in these different formats of grace saying. However today as adults we appreciate the good practices introduced to us Christians or non-Christians to have gratitude and respect to those who toil to provide our food to the table.

Most faiths have adopted good practices that had prevailed even before their leaders came on the earth. The five precepts in Buddhism and thanksgiving for food has been practiced even before Christ and Gautama.

The word “thanks” in modern English has a rich history, while the word “grace” is most often tied to divine assistance given to humans and it is historically connected to “giving thanks” to God before or after a meal. In a certain sense, this is not surprising as the food we eat is often given to us through no effort of our own but of many others who toil on our behalf. Therefore, food is a great gift that sustains us keeps us alive and is biblically linked to God who created the earth on which it is grown.

However, I wonder if these habits of saying grace before meals are still performed in these institutions today? Most habits and traditions that we continued with are less in use or done away with completely.