Golden Memories & (Happy) Silver Tears

It was Jim Reeves who sang about a Brilliant Moon and Silver stars; of an old relationship that finished in agonizing recollections amid silver tears.

However, that was not the case on the eve of December 16, 2023, when a special group of guests flocked to Summerfields in Pannipitiya to reminisce about their school days. There wasn’t a brilliant moon nor the silver stars in a cloudy stormy sky. The banquet had many sparkling stars accumulated for the most extravagant Fellowship of the year, organized by the Gurutalawa Thomian fraternity

A thought that blossomed in the minds of Nimal Fernando in California was supported by the Dulip & Rajpal de Silva brothers from  Australia and ably assisted by Nage (Nagalingam) and Somasundaram near us. It was for the immediate Post-Hayman Era brotherhood that graced college from 1964 to 1974.

Gurutalawa the Siberia?

Even though wars cause pain and suffering, some of the decisions that are made as a result of war have turned out to be good and had the potential to be good.. S Thomas’ College in Gurutalawa was one such decision taken during WWII to locate a branch of S Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia in the Uva hills.

Gurutalawa in 1942 resembled the Siberia… it was in a very remote location not known to many in the city … access was by train until recent that took almost 12 hours to get to.  Parents kissed and bid goodbye to the children on the platforms of the Fort railway station where they were entrusted to the care of a teacher. Three months later they would reunite with their parents on the same platform at the Fort Railway Station. This practice would continue for five years until some would enter the school in Mt Lavinia, venture into other institutions or be absorbed into professions that were specially reserved and waiting for Guru pass-outs.

The period from, 1942 – 1963 was named the Hayman Era dedicated to the philanthropic founder Headmaster Dr Rollo Hayman and the immediate period from 1963 – 1974 was termed the Post-Hayman Era … continued with the staff recruited by Dr Hayman, abiding by the Hayman traditions adopted and honoured until the school had to change with the need for a junior school.

The call for a fellowship and an excursion to the schools in Gurutalawa and Bandarawela was a requirement before many of us would not be able to travel the globe. Most members of the Hayman Era are no longer with us, and many of us Post-Hayman Era members are now over 60.

The Count Down Begins

In April 23' the siblings Dulip and Rajpal were here and together we went to Gurutalawa on the 2nd of May for a preliminary investigation on the revamping of the Dr  Hayman memorial laboratory for Neil Horadagoda and on the uplifting of the facilities in the school kitchen for Dulip de Silva. On the way up we checked on possible lunch and breakfast stops for the planned event in December around Belihul-oya. The  Silver Ray at Lellopitiya was also a possible stop over.  Our night stay was at the Olympus Plaza Hotel Haputale owned by our own schoolmate Sumith. In the morning while at breakfast we met Sumith who had travelled the night before and the preliminaries of the trip to Gurutalawa and Bandarawela were discussed and lodging at Olympus was a possibility. 

By the end of May, the date for the fellowship was announced and all expatriate members were informed to make early reservations. A month later the location of Summerfields in Pannipitiya of MPDP fame was finalized and the ticket fee was announced with a pay-up period till end October was announced with banking details etc. The WhatsApp group STCG administered by my contemporary Nage was dedicated to announcements and the euphoria for the event was so high that strict guidelines on comments and posts had to be introduced.

Come August the Citrus Kalutara was booked for those who were to leave for Guru and Badarawela with concessions and special provisions arranged by another Guru boy ARH Fernando. The enthusiasm was so high by mid-September the list was over the 250 mark and by the end of October the numbers crossed the 300 limit. In November the late-commers were looking for tickets and Nage had a time reconciling those who were not going to attend and making way of their slots to others; finally came the 16^th of December and the Summerfields banquet was a hive of activity.

 MPDP of Summerfields

By now everybody knows of Summerfield and our senior colleague M P D Perera. We had had a few fellowships at this venue before and I was once with Bandula Vithanage discussing with MPD about hosting a lunch for Fr Goodchild’s 94^th birthday. However, this never materialized cos Farther opposed to the idea thinking we the old boys would only be partying on his account… finally, we organized a home service for him with the local parish. But at this discussion, MPD spelt out an interesting anecdote that he had to undergo at college. Those of us who were in college knew MPD well for his initials were symbolic on almost every tree, desk bench you name it. I still wonder how this habit of carving initials came about in those days. It was Mr Frank Jayasinghe's era and discipline was at its highest and punishments were harsh and painful. MPD says he was a terror and it so happens that Frank J thinks enough is enough with MPD’s pranks and decides to pack him off to his parents by train. Frank took him in his car personally to Haputale and stayed till the train pulled off. MPD knew of his fate if he went home so he quietly slid out of the moving train onto the siding track on the opposite side and went to a safe home as planned. Later the parents came over and the matter was settled with Frank and MPD continued in school possibly with conditions laid down known only to him. 

Today MPD is in the hospitality industry and many other businesses and still loves Gurutalawa and is available at its calls of need.  That is the calibre of personalities that Gurutalawa produced.

The programme commenced with gates opening at 6:00 P.M. with the registration of members, wrist tagged as when you are a full board guest and very wisely thought-out name tag pasted to your chest pocket for identification. We sure have changed very much of what we looked like 50 years ago. It sure was a WOW when someone read your name and held your hand and hugged.

Individual photographs were taken then came the time for the group photo. A single group photo was never possible with the total number so several groups were taken.

Everyone was called by tables for the photo. Our Old-Salt Capt. Dr Suresh Markandan was active as when he blasted orders from the top deck in his seafaring days. The staff members were given firm orders not to leave their seats until all the photos were taken and they had to obey him. From then on it was all reminiscing old-school times. Credit goes to Nage for coordinating the largest gathering of our Tamil brothers ever since the unfortunate recent past in this country.

Many had changed and grown during the 50 years. The lofty hefty Gihan Perera (elder brother of Channa Perera of White-water Rafting fame) was called “Gulliver” among us Lilliputians then at college; Gulliver had stopped growing since he left college, but we Lilliputians had caught up with him and were seen talking with him at eye level.

Naidu sees his name in the
 role of honour for All-round
Scholar 1970 for the first
time after 50 years 

There were but a few specials that we encountered only after 50 years. Charles Santosam of Luckyland Estate Udapussellawa was exceptional while Peter Jacotine who was in college with his elder brother Michael who with Mano Gnanaraj was our cops in the Hayman Dorm in 1967. We are sorry to miss Michael who left us very early in a tragic way…not forgetting the most brilliant and studious student ever to be produced by Gurutalawa Ram Naidu from Badulla now domiciled in Houston. 

There were also Kamal and Budhilal Nilaweera brothers, Towfeek and Rassak siblings, Broodie and Sri Kanakasabai duo and many others who were our seniors in 1967.

The staff of the era was represented by Mr Charles Seneviratne, Mr K Bandusena and the most loved personality Mr David Jeyasingh a long-standing English teacher. Past Head Masters Warden Billimoria, of STC Mt Lavinia, Fr Nihal Fernando now Headmaster of STPS Kollupitiya and the present Headmaster Gurutalawa Mr Laksiri Perera graced the occasion.

Song Dance & Wine

The spirits for the event were initially decided that one would carry his own as BYOB… but the enthusiasm of those that graced the occasion coming from overseas was generous enough to supplement the requirements through duty-free facilitation. There were ample and sufficient stocks to maintain a continuous flow. The finger food went round and had a great demand.

The chatter and the singsong went on with popular numbers of a bygone era being revived by those able singers who proved they could still keep the audience tapping their toes. There was no gender barrier on the dance floor that went on in at a nonstop beat.

They had to be reminded that there was dinner for all and the ladies were ushered to a sumptuous buffet followed by the gents and the event came to an end around midnight. But some find it difficult to compromise and I was told that the doors were closed only around 3:00 A.M.

Visit to Guru and Banda

Sunday was a resting day for those listed for the trip up to college at Citrus Kalutara. On Monday a bus took them to Gurutalawa for a boarding school lunch and walk through the campus. Unfortunately, it was the rainy season in the hills and I’m sure many would have remembered our cross-country running in the rain then. Some had commented of the carefree children going about in the rain just as we would have done 50 years ago. 

The overnight stay was at the Olympus Plaza Haputale and the following Tuesday they visited Prep School Bandarawela the comments were of mixed feelings about the improvements and the well-maintained infrastructure at Bandarawela to the sorry state of affairs at Gurutalawa.

Much ado has been discussed on the social media platforms of STCG since the visit to college, on how to bring back the glory that was to be at Gurutalawa.  One must understand that the school that we attended at Gurutalawa is no more and the current school is being run on a different standard and status. Today it is in line with any ordinary school that starts at  7:30 in the morning and closes at 1:30 in the afternoon. There aren’t any staff that live among the students unlike during our time just as us boarders. The limited staff living on the campus occupy the married quarters and seem to be independent after school hours.

There is much to be done including a big change in the social structure in the school linking sports and extra-curricular activities.

However,  in conclusion, it could be said that the event that was actually for a fellowship to gather the last of the Post-Hayman Era members before we turned out to be invalids restricted from long-distance travel has now turned out to be tasked with finding ways to bring back a school to acceptable standards both in academia and sports.

The school is gravely in need of you for its continuation.

Esto Perpetua

Some Photo Records Of The Event 

SWEET & SOUR CHINNA' OF GURUTALAWA

This concludes a series of memoirs about the staff in Gurutalawa that continued from Dr Hayman's time until around 1977 when the school became a junior high school instead of just a middle school. The outbound school that had been planned for Gurutalawa has evolved into a general education institution comparable to any other, but its specialty in continuing as a boarding school.

The staff members who continued to work at Gurutalawa after the Hayman administration made an effort to uphold and maintain the customs and functions that Dr Hayman installed at Gurutalawa. They were mostly old boys, but there were a few others who devoted their entire lives to Gurutalawa, serving for more than two decades before retiring. Among them; Mr A K Chapman, J W Marasinghe, A C M Laffir, Oliver De Soyza, Benjamin Fernando and R T Kularatne were significant old boys of the school, while Mr J de S Jayasinghe, F L Amerasinghe and C M Chinnaiah were some exceptional selections of Dr Hayman to assist him in running the school.

Mr Chinnaiah was a contemporary of Mr J de S Jayasinghe in school while J De S was the authority in the Sinhala section and Chinna was the charge de affairs in the Tamil component. They both joined STCG around the same time under Dr Hayman and remained in charge of the senior school as long-standing bachelors devoted to the school. However,  Chinna did wed after a long spell as a bachelor.  Though Chinna was not a House Master nor a  Dorm Master he was the custodian of the Senior Library.

It is noted that Mr Chinnaiah had been a very active personality in his early days among the bachelor staff members attending social activities. He had even conducted a school hockey tour in Sothern India when the Gurutalawa team played with many South Indian Schools.

Chinna in his bachelor days (between J De S & Laffir)

However, when we attended school during the post-Hayman Era his involvement in sports had ended with Mr Laffir shouldering almost all sports activities. When we knew him he was confined to his senior library premises mainly due to health conditions that required attention and it was a norm that all Tamil Students had to come down to the senior library for his classes. 

I remember he would come in riding his Vespa scooter and always carried a  spare scooter tube with him to sit on. This air tube did cushion his chair giving comfort to his otherwise painful hemorrhoids. This ailment caused him to be stressed very much as a person who got agitated by the slightest disturbance in the class. As a result, most of the Tamil boys were at the receiving end for mischief and misbehaving. In return, there was revenge on him from students who got punished. In return for these retaliatory actions from students, he had developed some habits that were unique to him. I remember we waited till he came after lunch to open the Senior Library; he would walk in with the key in hand that would go directly into the padlock that he never touched for any reason. It is said that someone had once spat on the padlock in vengeance for reprimanding and ever since he does not touch the padlock.

I am quite sure many of my Tamil brothers have very memorable incidents and encounters with him in his classes. One such brave and hilarious incident was narrated to me by Nallainathan now domiciled Downunder. This was again a class in the Senior Library where Bala was daydreaming staring out of the window. On a tree was a bird that seemed to have attracted Bala. Cninna had tried to get Bala’s attention and the whole class burst into laughter when Chinna in his colloquial Tamil inquired if the Bird raised its tail and displayed its posterior for you …to which Bala had responded ‘YES Sir’…. Bala could not get his bearings right before Chinna’s palms smothered both his ears and the whole class fell silent. But he never took things for granted and Bala too took it up as a surprise amusement says Nallai….

My Good friend Nage says what his friend Vithi (Vaithyanathan) wrote of his admiration and appreciation towards feminity that the Tamil social fabric is inspired by.  The lesson learnt that day Nage says lingers in his friend's mindset that he practices to this day. Chinna was now married and was living in a new bungalow that was built for him opposite Mr Laffir’s residence.

On this particular day, his wife had come to meet him in the library while he was taking a class. She had excused herself and walked into the class met Chinna and left the class…. Chinna was now furious and blew his head off with the boys who forgot to respect the lady. Normally, one stands up for a lady and these boys were ignorant of such good social manners. A harangue lecture on good practices had followed with the whole class getting three of the best on their buttocks says Nage…  and Vaithy to this day stands up for a lady walking into his room and gets complimented on his manners, thanka to Chinna.

Picture curtsy J Jayaprakash

We had left College in the early 70s and not much of Chinna is known of his stay in Gurutalawa into the 80. Presumably, he too left Guru around the time we left and the last I got to know of him was from Wathhewa and Nallainathan who had met him in Colombo when Chinna was working at CH&FC and Wathu had been advised to join CH&FC and continued with his Hockey career. Nallai had met him working as the Office Manager at The CIMA institution when he was attending class at the institute then. Staff in Gurutalawa that continued from the Hayman Era was definitively of a unique type. There was never a linguistic divide and posts and positions were always as it came to you. It was these qualities that settled in us for having taken them as our role models in life. Guru was always a secular school that accommodated students of all religions.

It must be mentioned that other exemplary characters joined during the post-Hayman Era and yes it will be a challenge if one is to write about all of them. Many are no more but our love and affection for them is immense….

Esto Perpetua