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Thanks Phillip

You may recall that I worked with Sinna at Kandy as his house officer and one interesting story that I recall is when I had prescribed something totally unnecessary to a patient admitted in the early hours A young final year medical student spotted this and asked Prof Sinna what the indication was. Sinna held him by the ear in his usual way and said, "if my houseman prescribes something ,there should be a very good reason for it" He then turned to me at the end of the ward round and asked me in Tamil why I had prescribed what I had and I replied 2 O'Clock in the morning Sir I could have been sleepy and his reply was "that's a good enough indication.'

Lawrence

Thanks Phiip for the reminiscence of our Professor Sinnatamby, a very remarkable man with qualities of the highest caliber. Least I can say, joking apart, some of us were terrified of him when we first met him. However, gradually we learned to appreciate his sense of humor and to respect his teachings.

            Many years later, after my graduation, I must say it was ironical that I came by to buy his House in Kandy that he had given it to his daughter as a dowry. I negotiated the sale of his ‘dowered’ house with his Son-in-Law, Paskaralingam, the then, Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri-Lanka. Needless to say his Son in Law and I became very good friends, following this deal.

            I remember very well, many years ago, your successful attempt to repair the old Fridge in a peripheral hospital in S.L. and got it going at last, thanks to you. The local newspapers were monitoring your expertise and reported it in the daily. Finally it was reported ‘’ he’s done it’’. You must have been very proud of your achievement as an Engineer cum Doctor

            Phil, I liked your picture of the Bible Rock and I shall, try and paint it.

With Regards

Sadiq

Reading Prof Sinnathamby's joke, I was reminded of  an incident at one of the surgical tutorials with Dr Niles .We were all seated around in a circle where there was a mix of our batch(some) and the batch below which included Babapulle. Dr Niles asked something and was going from one to the other, none of them having a clue. Then he came to Babapulle and asked "Baba  Pulle  have you any clue(to rhyme with Baba black sheep have you any wool?) When there was no answer Dr Niles started say Yes sir Yes sir" Those were the days-Cheers -Milroy

Dear Philip,

I saw the photo of Vijiy Ponnambalam, My good friend. When we were in the anatomy block, we used to play the hell out of her. One day she took out the femur that she was carrying and hit me in the head. Apparently I fainted. Needless to say she panicked thinking I died on the spot. To this day she remembers this incident and relates it to me whenever I meet her. With kind regards,

K. Harischandra, G. Piyasena.

Dear Phillip
That was a nice tribute to the memory of our dead colleagues. I certainly
remember them all but I remember Mercy Thomas the best, and most vividly. i
was a close friend to her and her death affected me very much. She was a
lovely girl and as you say would have made a very good doctor. Heather

Dear dear Philip,    Thanks a million million for the story and for
sending it to me.      I will thinkk of some myself..    See you down under
in Dec   Derrwik

Hello Thava,

Welcome to the club of Grand-fathers. My daughter Queenie, completed her MD Anaesthesis  & Intensive care in SL. She had to do a one year overseas to become fully registered as a specialist. She got 2 years study leave and is working in Romford. She has already finished one year and is doing well in UK. Her husband and son joined her 3 months later. Wife & myself went and spent a 4 month holiday with our grand son. It was getting cold hence we got back to SL. I met quite a few of our crowd and quite a few of my students from Kandy and Colombo in the UK. It was a round of dinner parties and trips.

Wish your better half and children all the best. Enjoy life with your grand-child.

Philip

Dear All

 Vijita and I are hoping to move forward in the grandchildren stakes but don't know when as our younger son Ashok (Clinical Oncology SpR) marrried Leonie (SpR Paediatrics)last year!. Our daighter Sharmila and husband  James  have two lovely daughters who we spend quite a lot of time with -41/2 and 3 yrs. Sohana and jacinda. Oldest son Damita film producer - I have trouble keeping track with girl friends so no grandchildren!

 Congratulations to all the grandparents in our group.

 Anula Nikapota (nee Aluwihare)

Dear Phillip,

Daya had chickungunya ( did you know it meant a crouched old man in tanzanian where it originated) & is still a bit lethargic (I've lost my young husband for the moment!) so I'm sending you a few of the million pics!!

 Your stories are certainly interesting & I'm sure lots of folk are reading them - but have no time to reply!

Are you going to print a book? Should be interesting.

Good luck with it!

Nalini

Phillip:

 I have been reading you stories with great interest and in fact look forward to receiving them.

 I have a suggestion based on a book I got from my friend Neil Halpe.  This was a history of the Peradeniya university through the eyes of about 15-20 people who spanned the years from 1943 to 1993.  The essays were wonderful,  especially because I had no idea what life was like in the 1970-1990 period in Peradeniya with rise of the JVP and the like.  I wonder whether you would consider a similar venture on our experiences in the sixties in the Colombo Faculty.  Perhaps you could ask for volunteers to write a chapter to be included in a book - I suspect you may receive about 15-20 volunteers. I could help you to edit it and get it ready for publication as I have some experience in this area (if you need my help!).  There are so many interesting stories we can recall which would be worth preserving - before our memories fade altogether!

All the best,

Tissa

Kamalika Weeratne (nee Abeyagunawardene).

Incidentally, did you know that Sr Reginald Watson-Jones had a Rolls-Royce, with a number plate, RWJ 1. He was brought to Ceylon in the late’50’s to attempt some spinal surgery, on my sister in law’s brother through Lord Francis himself.

My husband and I, have been auto enthusiasts, from even before we got married, we used to do rallyes in Ceylon, with the Ceylon Motor Sports Club. We still do Rallyes here in the US, and my husband does some auto cross events, and he was second in his class at a national event, a few years ago in a Mercedes SL.

Prof Milroy Paul also had a red three wheel car, that students called the Red Peril.

Kamalika

Dear Philip,

Thanks for sharing your Batticaloa Cyclone experience with us.

I was at the Southeast Asia Anaesthesiologist Conference organaised by our anaesthetist colleagues 2 years ago when a video showing the devastation of tsunami and its effects on the hospitals left many in the audience crying. Again Batticaloa was badly affected.

I have now fully recovered from the CABG. As an anaesthetist, it was a great experience being on the other side of the surgeon's knife and full of fun! Thanks for your kind wishes at that time.

Regards,

Victor.