Some of us have repeatedly highlighted the importance of having another ReUnion before we lose more of our batch mates and who may very likely lose some of our mental and physical faculties as well.

2. Philip in response to our previous appeal, very kindly volunteered to organise a batch Get Together this year

in Avissawella but no positive response was forthcoming. ( in fairness, we do need reasonable advance notice especially for those who are domiciled overseas).

3. It is likely that any planned future ReUnion may be sadly be the last & the final one ( others may disagree)

4. Let's reflect on the past ReUnions:

a. Most of us agreed that these ReUnions were a wonderful Forum for us to meet & greet. These would ideally be held in Sri Lanka mostly for the benefit of our colleagues who reside in Sri Lanka (even though not many 'locals' have actively participated for variety of reasons)

b. The last few ReUnions held in Sri Lanka were very successful thanks to the dedication and combined efforts of the Organisers led by Kapu. He is no more and I feel it would be very fitting to organise the next one in Sri Lanka to show our respect & Gratitude to his sustained efforts.

c. Durumila who also took an active role is functionally incapacitated but still strong mentally( I had a long chat with her few weeks ago at her residence)

d. Ranjan F is still around but appear not too capable of any active support.

e. Of the rest of the Organising Group, we are left with Mana/ Piyaseeli ( who are still active and willing), Jayalath and Philip. They do need few active local supporters to organise another ReUnion soon. I do not want to name those capable mates but I am copying this to some of them who I believe would volunteer.

f. My personal thoughts are any planned future ReUnion would very likely to be the last and final one as the organisation takes so much of effort, commitment and dedication.

g. We have a good guess as to who would very likely support this idea. We know by now those who have continued to participate over the years and those who have not attended any of the past ReUnions ( for variety of reasons). We also know how difficult to get a consensus as to the mutually agreed date, venue etc.

I also feel the need to organise any of this event closer to Colombo rather than outside ( for overall convenience/ commuting).

May I suggest that we plan to have at least one more ReUnion say in September/ October 2018 in a mutually agreed location near Colombo. May I appeal to Mana/ Piyaseeli and Philip to take the initiative and get few other active volunteers in and around Colombo to form the organising committee.

We would offer our support in whatever way we could to make this a great success.

Let's all put our combined effort and dedicate this to all our departed and disabled colleagues.

Best wishes.

Nana

Mana Wedisinghe

10:33 PM (6 hours ago)

to Charith, bcc: me

My dear Nana.

It is a good idea.

Might i suggest that we combine our batch get together along with COMSAA next year.

Comsaa , as you know will have a one day session on a sunday. Some members gather the previous day ,have a sing song and a dance.

Why dont we gather the day prior to Comsaa meet , have a joint sing song in the evening and attend the comsaa next day and depart.

This is only a suggestion. Logistically easier to manage.

Your views please.

Another Reunion

Inbox

Udula Pathirana

10:20 PM (7 hours ago)

to me, Nana

Dear Philip,

I am thankful to Nana for starting the dialogue about another batch reunion. Like Nana, I believe batch reunions are a great opportunity for us to meet our old friends/batch mates we don't meet otherwise in our day to day lives. Most of us in 2015 voiced our opinion that the next reunion should be in three yrs time, and not five as before. Hence 2018 is the year we should meet again. Not for the last time I hope. We are still young at heart with a few aches and pains here and there!

Though you tried to organise a get together this year, due to poor response I presume it never materialised. I hope you have not taken it as a let down, ( we never meant it to be, but as Nana says we who live overseas need advance notice ) and will rise to the occasion and take the leading role in organising the next big one in 2018 as you did before. The organising committe has shrunk a bit, but I am sure you should be able to coax a few others to give you a helping hand. Nalini , Ranjini Thevaraps, and Lucky come to my mind as would be willing supporters in addition to Wedi, Piyaseeli and Jayalath. I know Nalini and Ranjini were highly involved in the past. Duru though confined to a wheel chair will I am sure help in whatever way she can. She is very alert and keeps in contact with her friends as before. Ranjini would be able to get her help. There may be others who will be happy to support you and take some of the burden off your hands. Some of us would offer support in whatever way we could from distant lands.

As Nana's suggested a location close to Colombo would be best and September/ October would be ideal timing. That is a year from now. You need a fair few months to get everything finalised and adequate time for those living overseas to make holiday / travel arrangements.

As Nana says, lets put our combined efforts to make the proposed get-together a success and dedicate it to the departed colleagues.

You can tell Nalini, Ranjini and Lucky that I proposed their names.

Good luck.

Hello Udula,

Thanks for the sentiments expressed in your email. Now that we have started discussing about the get together it should gather momentum and hopefully reach a concrete objective. All my best wishes go to you.

Philip.