old email from Chandran

Dear Philip,

                Just finished reading your book & it brings back many fond memories.Some events I had forgotten & some I was not aware of.Eg: your bicycle ride to Jaffna.

 As part of the Colombo University Basketball team,we did hitch hike during a vacation to Jaffna from Colombo to play in tournaments in Jaffna town & Vaddukoddai.It was quite an experience but pales in comparision to the trip you describe through the jungles of  Wilpattu, etc.

                 Thanks also for the many interesting  snippets & photos you keep sending. I am sure the many others receiving these enjoy them as well as I do.

                 It is indeed a great shame that the Ceylon we knew has deteriorated to the Sri Lanka of today, pretty much a failed state, due mainly to the racial & religious strife propagated by the powers that be,in order to serve their self interests. There seems to be little or no concern of the interest of the country as a whole in the long term. After working in the Govt Health services for 6 years after graduating, I saw the writing on the wall,& decided to leave. Perhaps a cop out, but the events that followed make me feel I made the right decision. All credit to those of you who stayed on despite the problems.

                  It is indeed a 'Paradise lost' .I enjoyed spending time with Asoka Dissanayake & family at his place near Giriulla, when in SL for the reunion & also volunteering for a week with Gunsie thru' the IMHO in the Vanni. At that time there was a chance & hope of a peaceful settlement of the issues, but conditions seem to be back to square one. The reunion was great. One can only hope & pray for better things to come.

                   Sorry to bore you with my thoughts. Keep up the good work & many many thanks for the memories.

                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                     Regards & God Bless you & yours,

                                                                                                                                                                          Chandran 

Hello Arjuna,

Thanks for the comments. It was left for a few of us to carry the flag through tortuous times. Ultimately in the end humanity will triumph. This is my firm belief and this will keep me going to the end, whatever that may be. But looking back, I have enjoyed the high adrenaline.

Philip