Dr.Ponnambalam, Surgeon, Jaffna, was
one of my good friends. I made his acquaintance when I was doing my internship
at the then GH Colombo. He was SHO to the Orthopedic Surgeon Dr.Rasanayagam. I
was allocated rooms at the ‘Violet Cottage’ in Regent Street, the MO quarters.
My room-mate was Dr.AS Thavarasa. ‘Ponna’ had already completed more than 8
years in the Health Department. He had been in charge of hospitals and also was
trained as a Medical Officer of Health. He was full of medical lore and had a
very humorous approach to any problem. After a days work we used to lay on the
easy chairs, arranged in the veranda of the quarters and listen to stories
related to, life in the Health Department.
He subsequently passed his Primary
FRCS, trained in Surgery, went to the UK, got his FRCS and came back to Ceylon.
He was posted as Surgeon, Kurunegala and subsequently Surgeon, Jaffna. He got
married pretty late in life. He started learning the Indian flute.
When I was working as Surgeon at the
NHSL Colombo, he had been admitted to the Merchants ward, with a history of
Dysphagia. They found a tumor in the lower esophagus, which was subsequently
resected. The histology report came as ‘argentaffinoma’. I used to visit him in
the ward during the post-operative period. He told me the following story, during
one of these visits.
It was the time that the Indian
Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), captured Jaffna town from the ‘Tigers’. The staff
in the Jaffna Hospital knew the approach of the Indian soldiers. They heard all
the firing and shelling. Quite a few of them ran off to their homes. The
Matron, some sisters, nursing staff and a few doctors including Dr.Ponnambalam,
thought that they would stay inside the hospital, so that they could render any
service to the injured. They stayed in a room in the hospital. In due course
the Indian Army arrived. They marched into the hospital. They came into the
room where the medical staff was staying. They asked them to put up their
hands. One of them went up a flight of stairs near the room. When he came down,
he came firing with his automatic at the people in the room. All fell down.
‘Ponna’ was not injured but fell down with the others. The man who fired called
out ‘Dr.Ponnambalam, stand up.’ ‘Ponna’ preferred to ‘play dead’. The soldier
who fired came and kicked their bodies with his boots to make sure that they
were dead. Satisfied that they all were dead, he went his way. ‘Ponna’
pretended to be dead for a long time, lying in the blood on the floor. Later
when he was sure that there was no one, he got up and disappeared from the
scene.
‘Ponna’ subsequently served with
dedication in Jaffna Hospital; in it’s time of trouble. He gave yeoman service
to the hospital, till he got progressive dysphagia and was transferred to the
NHSL Colombo. They resected the tumor in the esophagus but apparently there
were secondaries. ‘Ponna’ died a few months after the surgery. at the NHSL for
dysphagia, presumably from the secondaries from the ‘argentaffinoma’. That was
the end of another gentle surgeon.
Subsequent to this incident, I never believed, that civilian
casualties were totally unintentional, in any armed conflict, anywhere in
the world. That fantasy disappeared from my world.
Thanks Phillip
I came to know Ponna
when he was at Kurunegala. What a gentleman he was. Sad to hear of his
departure. Kind Regards
Lawrence
God Bless Ponna, a true and
honourable Son of Sri Lanka, but as you say he did not know what you
know!
Derrwik
HelloPhillip,
I got to know Ponna when I was in Violet Cottage in 1965/66. He was a very
gentle gentleman. I am so sad to hear of his death.
Buddy
I got to know Ponna when I was in Violet Cottage in 1965/66. He was a very
gentle gentleman. I am so sad to hear of his death.
Buddy
I knew Dr. Ponnambalam when I was at
Violet Cottage. Sorry to hear about his death. He really was a gentle soul.
Harischandra Piyasena
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