Dear Batchmates
Let me at the outset offer my very sincere thanks to
the Organising Team led by Asoka Dissanayaka and ably supported by the local
Team- Mana Wedisingha,Jayalath De Silva, Philip Veerasingham, Piyaseeli
Wedisingha and Lucky Jayasekera and all others who worked behind the scene.
I am sharing this on behalf of quite a few batchmates who
attended the ReUnion on the 7th July. They were delighted with the
wonderful opportunity offered once again
to hold the latest ReUnion 58 years since our entry into the Colombo Medical
Faculty in 1960.
It was quite apparent
that the Organisers had taken so much of
effort, time and energy over many months
even at the expense of their family and social life to make this special
Event a great success.
Those of us who were
lucky to be participants of the latest ReUnion would recollect that we all
entered the Colombo Medical Faculty in
the swinging sixties- to be precise on the 7th June 1960. As
Asoka had stated in his most
illuminating article published in the Island
newspapers on the 7th July, we were a unique ‘Batch’ in many
ways- unique group of individuals much like the United Nations. Each of us with
a very different view of ‘Fame and Success”, from different schools across the
country, different socio-economic backgrounds and different faiths, but united
in eagerness to begin our medical
journey.
Unique, in that we had multi-talented mixture
of academics, sportsmen & women, musicians and a jolly and carefree types. We were , and are, a unique group
because, despite the hard work to get into medical school and come out alive,
we have each forged our path to success, and yet still share a common bond- that of being the ‘300
batch’. It was so apparent that we were able to mix and gossip along on an
equal footing as one family.
Those who stayed overnight had much more opportunities to meet and greet
and reflect on the ‘good old days’ and share some of their family and social gossip.
As in the past, we
found many ‘regular attendees’, not so regular ‘attendees’ and ‘non attendees’.
This year too, there were quite a few ‘regular attendees’ and couple of ‘1st
time attendees’. There may be variety of
genuine reasons for those who did
not attend but quite a few who have never attended our ReUnions, may not have found these ReUnions of any great importance.
We had app. 50 of our
batch mates from across the globe along with some of their spouses and close
families swelling the numbers to almost 90 on the day.
The venue was superb except that the hotel
owners would have thought the participating medicos were a bunch of spring chicken
as some of the facilities available was not meant for the old and the frail( do
not get offended if you are still fully able bodied).
The Days
Event was well organized to gave more time to share personal glimpses in
a light hearted way, rather than engaging in a serious ‘academic session.’ We
had once again shared our sweet memories of all those who had departed over
the years ( 75 and counting) and showed
our respect and gratitude by 2 minutes silence at the start of the proceedings.
The production of a souvenir( for free
distribution) and the plans to
provide a Group Photo of the participant batch mates with all their names added on ( for those who
were keen to purchase) must be greatly
appreciated by most as these could be
added on to the collection of memorable
souvenirs
The Evening programme had much more variety
with light music throughout the evening. The dancing troupe had a selection of
Kandyan, modern and Indian dancing which was most eye catching for a wonderful
start. The specially prepared ‘Goden Oldies’ booklet gave an opportunity for
the participants to have a lovely ‘Sing along’
spell guided by the talented Live Band.
The Organisers had
tried to cater to most of the burning needs of the participants- plenty of refreshments-
soft and hard liquor to quench their
thirst, wonderful array of hot and spicy
food Sri Lankan Style for the Gala Dinner, to fill their empty stomachs and
mixture of selected
scintillating live music to show
their muscle power. Many of us also
admired the hidden musical talents of
few of our batchmates and their dancing prowess.
Most of the attendees
stayed till the music was stopped later in the evening.
It is unfortunate that
we had such a wonderful evening of entertainment and refreshments & tasty
food along with the excellent company, to be enjoyed only by those who stayed
in the hotel. The ReUnion was held in
Sri Lanka over the years since 2005 mainly to encourage the ‘locals’ to
participate but the ‘locals’ may have other reasons why they do not find it
appealing to stay overnight.
I am so pleased that
even after 58 long years, we have continued to organize these ReUnions
successfully and to the satisfaction of most. There may be few ‘brick bats’ on
the way I guess.
I am happy to offer a
big Bouquet to all the Organisers for a job ‘Well Done’ and to all those who
took the trouble to come along and make this once again a great success.
I can vaguely visualize Sarath Kapu in the
distant horizon far away, grinning and whispering ‘ Machang, I never thought
you guys could organize another batch Reunion without me’
Very best wishes
Nana
C.S.Nanayakkara
Kettering
UK.
