1960 Medical batch, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Monday, November 4, 2013

An Albino Pea-cock - email from Kamalini Kanapathippillai

Every once in a while, just as a reminder, God will sign his name again.

ALBINO PEACOCK

THINK THIS IS JUST TOO BEAUTIFUL NOT TO SHARE.
THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN VERY OFTEN....
HE LOOKS LIKE A GIANT SNOWFLAKE!!!

What absolute beauty only God could create!!

May your troubles be less,
Your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness

Come through your door.
  

Reminescences of 1960 - Published in the Souvenir celebrating 100 years of the Anatomy 'Block', Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1960 – Anatomy days By Dr.Philip G Veerasingam, Retired Surgeon, NHSL, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

It was April 1960, the season when all the land was bright and sunny. I was in the new batch of admissions to the Medical Faculty, Colombo, the ONLY Medical Faculty in the WHOLE of Ceylon of those days. The University of Ceylon had its Science and Engineering Faculty at Reid Avenue, Colombo 7, and there was the Faculty of Arts at Peradeniya.

We had sat for our Higher School Certificate exam. and completed the practical exams in Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology at the University, Science Faculty in Colombo. Those who were successful were called for a ‘Viva Voce’ exam and the ones weeded out through the ‘Viva’ were admitted to the Medical Faculty. There was a one year Pre-University course in the Science Faculty at Reid Avenue, in earlier days. This had been whittled down to a six months course in each subject and three month courses in Organic Chemistry later. These periods of stay at the University Science Faculty, named the Pre-University year, were totally discontinued later.

We had as part of our Zoology studies in the HSC done dissections on the earthworm, the cockroach, the toad, the shark, and seen a dissection of a rabbit. We were thus not queasy about dissections on chloroformed specimens of animal life. Dissecting a dead, formalin preserved human body was another matter. That ordeal awaited us on entering the portals of the Department of Anatomy called ‘The Block’ at Francis road, Colombo 8. The fear and terror of an anticipated ‘rag’ by our ‘Block Seniors’ for the first fortnight mitigated the fear of contact of a corpse. The standard wear for a medical student was a white shirt and white longs. The ‘freshers’ were expected to wear in addition, black ties for the duration of the first two weeks of the ‘rag’. A stern exterior and verbal abuse by the seniors was part of the treatment given to ‘freshers’. Some of the male ‘freshers’ were sent on errands to go and propose marriage to individual female seniors. There was much laughter and fun but the ‘freshers’ were expected to keep a stern face. There was much ribbing and laughter but also help, given by the seniors to overcome our initial timidity. Bodies of humans prepared by injecting ‘red lead’ into the arterial system and by being immersed in ‘formalin baths’ for weeks were prepared for us for dissection. These ‘bodies’ were kept on individual tiled elevated concrete slabs. These awaited our attention.

After running the gauntlet of the scowling ‘Block Seniors’ at the entrance to the Anatomy building, each one of us got the name of the body partner assigned to him or her. Then we got the number of the ‘body’ on which one had to do the dissection. There were three dissecting halls namely ‘A, B and C’. My dissecting partner was Vasanthanathan from Ananda College, Maradana. He was a quiet person with a good sense of humor. We two were to dissect the right upper limb on a body placed in the dissecting room ‘C’ where there were six bodies on slabs. I took the scalpel and forceps and Vasanthanathan started to read loud from ‘Cunningham’s dissecting manual for the upper and lower limbs’. Our first lesson was to isolate and demonstrate the cutaneous nerves of the upper limb. The task was full of humor. One had to get an eye to identify a nerve from the surrounding subcutaneous fat. Quite a few students cut the nerve and then only realized that they had ruined the field.

It was at the end of the first week that one felt slightly relaxed but the tension was still there what with ‘rag’ and the dissections. This led to a ‘signature’ at the end of the fortnight. ‘Signatures’ called ‘sigs’ were verbal encounters with the ‘Demonstrators’ at which each student’s progress was assessed. This was done in groups of eight to ten where a ‘Demonstrator’ or lecturer fired questions at each one in turn seated on stools in a circle, on the area dissected. The result was graded as ‘repeat’, ‘unsatisfactory’, ‘ satisfactory’, ‘fair’ and ‘good’. The idea was not to get a ‘repeat or unsatisfactory’. Many fell by the wayside but picked up and carried on. End of the term had what was called a ‘revisal’ where the whole area dissected for the term say the upper limb, was covered.

It was during the end of the first week in the dissecting room ‘C’ that we had our first taste of humor. The seniors had gone for a lecture and we were silently doing our dissections. A group of girls from dissecting hall ‘A’ came visiting friends from the same school. A lean nattily dressed fresher promptly left his dissection and went to the entrance of the dissecting room. He bowed to the female ‘freshers’ bending low and said in a loud voice ‘Ladies, you are welcome to our humble adobe’. Every one burst into laughter and the ladies who were visiting turned red in the face wondering whether to beat a hasty retreat. It was then that we realized that the ‘welcomer’ was the younger of the ‘Jay Brothers’ of the famous recording of the song ‘Cherry blossom tree’. The popular ‘Jay Brothers’ were now ‘freshers’. They were Perrin and Geri Jayasekara. There was never a dull day in the dissecting room with Geri around.

After the first fortnight the ragging came to an end. The ‘out of bounds’ common room could now be entered, to enjoy a cup of tea or listen to music. The black ties came off and white shirt and white satin drill trousers became the standard ware for the males. One final item of the ‘rag’ remained. This was the ‘body feed’ where the ‘freshers’ dissecting a body gave a ‘booze and dinner’ outing to the seniors dissecting on the same body. We had our ‘body feed’ dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Bristol Street, Fort. It was a place where there was much caramederie and helpful advice given by the seniors.

One incident caused quite an uproar and laughter among our batch during dissecting hours. Viji Ponnambalam was a tall well built student. She had as a ‘body partner’ Piyasena, a lean gangly youth. While dissecting there had been an argument and Viji took the nearest long bone at hand, the human femur and hit Piyasena over the head with it. Piyasena fell down in a dead feint. Everyone gathered round and a sprinkling of water on the face brought Piyasena ‘back to life’. Viji got the jitters and in her fright she was imagining her father, Mr G.G. Ponnambalam, whose forte was ‘criminal law’ defending her at a murder trial. Viji and Piyasena became good friends subsequently. About ten years ago they had met each other at an international airport while on transit. Viji recalled the incident to Piyasena at this airport and these two children of Mother Lanka, now resident in the USA, had a hearty laugh with their respective partners in life who happened to be present there.

Dr.Lester Jayawardena was a senior lecturer in Anatomy during our Block Days in 1960/61. In one of our signatures I remember him quizzing us on the anatomy of the middle ear. He told a student ’Imagine that you are seated on the floor of the middle ear facing anteriorly. Tell me what structures you would see on the wall on your left hand side?’ This was too much imagination to the student who had crammed up ‘Cunningham’. I ran into Lester when he conducted my Anatomy Viva for the Primary FRCS held in Colombo. I answered all his questions on the dissected human body, identifying all of the structures he pointed at. He was proud to hear that I was one of his students. I later met Lester at Batticaloa in 1972, when I was Resident Surgeon at the General Hospital, Batticaloa. Lester had taken his Sabbatical leave to work at the Manthivu Leprosy Hospital. His quarters were on the mainland and he was taken by boat every day, to the Manthivu Island where the Leprosy hospital was situated. He invited me to come and see the various deformities caused by damage to the peripheral nerves by leprosy. He subsequently became the Professor of Anatomy in the Peradeniya Medical Faculty.

Dr. Navaratnam was another lecturer in anatomy, who gave us a series of lectures on the anatomy of the posterior abdominal wall. He started by drawing the skeleton of the posterior abdominal wall. Then layer by layer he put on the various structures in the abdomen, till he reached the anterior wall of the peritoneum. This lesson was a landmark in my study of anatomy and stood the test of time during my years as a surgeon. Dr. Navaratnam later authored a popular text book on human anatomy while working in the UK.

Prof Chanmugam had retired by the time we entered the ‘Block’ but the stories relating to him lingered. It was claimed that he was kind to the students. At an exam he would hand over a LEFT femur with his LEFT hand to the student and start the questioning by asking ‘Which side femur’ is this?’ It was also said that when he found that a student was performing very well he had a special test, to give the student distinction marks. He would already have a few carpal bones of the wrist in his trouser pocket. The student’s hand would be guided into the Professor’s trouser pocket. The student would be asked to identify say the ‘scaphoid’ bone by the feel of its shape and pick it out and show it.

The best story of Prof. Chanmugam was with a student named ‘J’ who failed anatomy repeatedly in the 2^nd MB Finals. On the day of the repeat 2^nd MB exam, student ’J’ accompanied by his ‘booze and poker’ student pals appeared in white coat and tie for the exam. Prof. Chanmugam called ‘J’ in and a pregnant 20 minutes passed. At the end of this time a flustered ‘J’ came out red in the face and told his friends ‘ Machan this fellow ‘Chanmu’ knew that I was weak in anatomy. He gave me the toughest bone to identify and describe, the SPHENOID. I will not be able to pass this exam. Come let us go for a beer’ and departed with a few commiserating friends. A few minutes later Prof. Chanmugam arrived and asked ‘J’s remaining friends ‘Where is this fellow ‘J’? I gave him the easiest bone to describe – the MANDIBLE – and he identifies it as the SPHENOID. How can I pass him?’

The tales could go on and on but the most striking thing was that the ‘bodies’ on which we dissected, knitted us very close to each other. Even now in our reunions the mention of the word ‘body partner’ carries a special relationship. The word ‘Block’ brings back very emotional memories of our first days at the Medical College.

"My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are grey faces that peer over my shoulder." - William Golding