E.mail responses
to the 'Resurruction' series written by me
Dr.Tissa
Kappagoda, e.mailed on 22/6/2006
This
is so vivid. I have spent the best part of thirty years chasing Claude Bernard
and his internal environment! This was the topic of the oration I gave
earlier this year at the SLMA. Professor Koch's lectures were exactly as
you described them. Their significance dawned on me 10 years
later when I started doing research in Leeds.
Things went the full circle for me when I was invited by the Physiologists in Colombo to deliver his
memorial lecture. Professor Basnayake was in the audience and he came up
to me before the lecture and asked me if I remembered him! How could one
forget these people?
Best
wishes,
Tissa
Phllip:
My
overwhelming impression of Professor Basnayake was his sense of kindness.
In many ways one felt that it was genuine reflection of the man himself and how
he viewed his place in the world. Around 1989 I was visiting my parents
in Kandy and someone
suggested that I give a lecture to the Department of Physiology in
Peradeniya. After my presentation, Professor Basnayake offered to give me
a lift to my parents' home in Kandy.
As we left the Department and headed to his car he suddenly excused himself and
rushed back to re-position a saucer which was by the door of the
building. I noticed that it contained some colorless liquid and as we
moved away I asked him what he was doing with it. I was thinking in terms of a
physiological experiment. "It's the ants," was all he said and we
moved on to other topics. Much later I mentioned this to a friend at
Peradeniya who smiled and said, "That's Bassa for you!"
According to my friend Professor Basnayake was moving the saucer which
contained some sugary liquid to a spot where the ants could get better access
to it. Although I cannot vouch for the accuracy of his
interpretation, it is conceivable that his concern extended to more than humans
and puppies......
Tissa
No comments:
Post a Comment