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Oct 25 (2 days ago)
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> Memories of Ceylon-
> Remember Nimal Mendis- Udarata Menike
> Mendis - dared to dream
> Recently I got in touch > with Nimal Mendis, a veteran composer of hits such as Master
> Sir, Nim Him Sewva and Ganga Addara. He has been living in Britain for many
> decades travelling to and from Sri Lanka to write those hits that have proved
> extremely popular. When I emailed him I > received the following reply.
> "Thank you very much
> for your email. Unfortunately or may be fortunately I am now
> in Sri Lanka. We
> came over three months ago and have been busy settling down
> here in Malabe.
> Hoping to be here now with an occasional visit back to
> London. Our son worked
> for the BBC (TV Centre White City) for seven years as a
> sound/video editor and
> he too is now here with us.
> Nimal
> Mendisi
> There is outstanding
> talent in Sri Lanka, especially in some of the young
> musicians and singers here
> today and we are quite amazed that they have not got on to
> the world stage as
> yet. One thing we are determined to accomplish is to try and
> do our best to
> help these young artists."
> This is the man, as a
> young lad from Sri Lanka who dared to dream that he was good
> enough to perform with the best in the West. An impossible dream at the time!
> He would swim along the coastline at "Bambalawatte" (Bambalapitiya) as it
> was called then, gazing at the sky on his back dreaming his dream. Just out
> of school at Royal College he filled in his music ambitions playing the piano
> for the Harold Seneviratne Combo. He said that they used to be paid Rs 10 a
> night and Rs 15 for an all-night gig at the 'Pigalle' night club in
> Colpetty.
> He came from a family that viewed the world with an anglicised professionalism and the
> house was filled with the atmosphere of western classical music, art and
> literature, although it was also infused with everything Sri Lankan, especially in
> the world of art philosophy and politics. There were discussions of Ghandian
> and Nehru values.
> His mother was the first author in Sri Lanka to write in English and her first
> book was published in London in 1929. His father was an inventor - inventor of
> the now famous brand of "Mendis Special" that reached great heights
> through its development by his brother, Walter M Mendis.
> The Mendis family was a set of liberals, five children making their mark in
> different spheres and the youngest Nimal, who dared to dream a tall dream into the
> entertainment world. Nimal said, "It must have been the `gene jewels' we
> inherited from my father and mother. The liberalism of his parents is what
> enabled the young Nimal to convince his parents to send him to England,
> initially to study accountancy.
> However, there was a manipulation that took place because
> after an year of accountancy studies in London he was playing the piano in
> sophisticated restaurants and writing songs and composing music. The seeds
> were sown of the dream he dared to dream.
> Big break
> His first big break came when he was playing the piano at the Ceylon Students Centre.
> He had formed a group called `The Kandyans'. Mano Chanmugam on piano
> accordian, Anura on Kandyan drums, and Subra de Silva as the singer in the
> group. Nimal played piano and also sang. The piano was in the restaurant and after meals
> the manageress allowed them to practise there while Sri Lankan students and
> their guests drank coffee or tea. While they were practising one of Nimal's
> songs a young woman came up to them an inquired about the song.
> She was Mary Marshall an up and coming English singer. The song was "Kiss Kiss
> Kiss" and it went on to be a huge hit in Sri Lanka played regularly over
> the airwaves by the late Vernon Corea, Livy Wijemane and Jimmy Bharucha, the
> veteran broadcasters of then Radio Ceylon.
> It did well in England too but soon after Mary married a successful agent in the
> entertainment industry, she left England and went to live in the Channel Islands.
> After 40 years Mary is in contact with Nimal again. Her daughter had seen some of his
> work on Sinhala Juke Box on the internet and emailed him. Although Mary had
> faded out from the music scene in London she was involved in a lot of charity
> work in the Channel Islands. Mary always kept her interest of 'Ceylon'
> and when the tsunami occurred collected funds for an organisation dealing with
> the victims. of the tsunami.
> "Kiss Kiss Kiss" has still an occasional play on the SLBC.
> String of hits A string of hits followed when Nimal came back to Sri Lanka for a short spell. Kandyan
> Express, Butterfly in the rain, Cherry Blossom Tree, Champagne Blues, Oh My
> Lover and Goodnight Kisses, all with the Harold Seneviratne Combo and singers
> such as Ciff Foenander, Sandra Edema and the Jay Brothers. The dream
> beckoned him back to the bright lights of London and Nimal became a successful
> musician of the sixties in London.
> Nimal Mendis Although he did not share the fame of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones he held his
> own as a Sri Lankan with his singing partner Sandra Edema who was now also
> searching stardom in London. They teamed up and were on' Top of the
> Pops", the famous British TV show at the time and "Beat Club" and even the
> more successful TV show in Germany that was viewed by millions on the continent
> of Europe. Nimal Mendis is one of the two Sri Lankan artistes to sing on BBC
> Top of the Pops.> The other singer is Bill Forbes who lives in Yorkshire.
> Nimal said that he was> searching for over 30 years to get a clip of the performance
> on "Beat Club" and there it was two weeks ago on the internet.
> He managed to get a copy which is of good quality and is hoping that a TV
> company in Sri Lanka will pick it up for airing. It is certainly a clip
> that is worth seeing by all our young people of a lad who dared to dream. They
> will be inspired and they too will dream. To dream the dream is the first step
> of fulfilment. Unfortunately, but as Nimal said, "What looks like misfortune at first, if
> accepted and you do not `Cave in could lead to fortune once more. He was in a
> race attack in the late sixties and decided to come back to Sri Lanka.
> He got 10 acres of land in Norton Bridge and farmed for five years. While doing this he
> experienced first hand all kinds of negative values. This was what led him to
> write " Master Sir". His good friend Manik Sandrasagara said, "You are not a farmer, you are a composer. Stop burying yourself here. I am making a film and you must write the music for it."
> Doing the music for Kalu Diya Dahara was the beginning of Nimal's entry to the
> Sinhala film Music scene. Lester and Sumitra Peries and Manik used his talents to
> write several scores and songs. Every song that Nimal wrote for a Sinhala film
> was a hit with our people. Master Sir, Ganga Addara, Nim Him Sewva, Upul Nuwan,
> Gehenu Lamai, Viyo Gee and Obey Adare are household name songs.
> From the dream of the western entertainment stage Nimal was now conquering the
> Sinhala music scene with his songs and composing. This is a career that should
> be followed by our youngsters as an inspiration.
> Here is this veteran come back to his motherland. Come on - make use of him - meet him
> - get his experience and storm the world stage with the amazing talent that exists today
> in Sri Lanka.
>
> The moment you have hatred,even with
> good reason,that
> hatred will hurt you before it hurts anyone else.- Swami
> Satprakashananda.
