It was in the early part of the second MB. We were a long way from picking acquaintances in our batch.
The Christians of the Student Christian Movement went for our Sunday church services to the Ladies College Chapel. After the Church services we would meet for short eats and a cup of tea. Douglas Arulanandam, jovial as ever, pointed out Anula Aluvihare and told me that the European Ladies College Principal, who was also present at the tea, was fond of Anula and pronounced the name as Anula as ‘An-You-La’.
Vijitha Nikapota had a Lambretta scooter. One day we spotted Anula riding side saddle on Vijitha’s scooter. This was one of the earlier hitch-ups in our batch. Both of them, and Prof Basnayake were active members in the Ceylon Symphony Ochestra.
When I was DMO at Koslanda, I would conduct a Maternity Clinic at Nikapota. I heard this was the ancestral home of Vijitha. I met quite a few of his relatives there.
I was Co-Senior House Officer with Vijitha at the Orthopaedic Unit Kandy. The Nikapotas invited me and my wife for a dinner, to their residence at Deweni Rajasinghe Road Kandy. It was a dinner enjoyed in the company of a Mr.Jacob, a civil engineer, one of Vijitha’s friends.
We parted ways and Vijita branched off to Radiology and Anula to Mental Health, and later settled down in the UK. Vijitha came to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital and updated the MOs there, on their knowledge of Radiology, when ultra-sound scans were new. Anula also made frequent trips to Sri Lanka to help in the field of Mental Health.
A few years back on one of their trips to Sri Lanka, at their request, I went with them to the Alupola waterfalls. Vijitha and his cousin, who accompanied him, had a lovely time bathing in the river. Anula and one of her female aquaintences enjoyed sips from a bottle of wine from Bordeax, which I had brought along. I remember Anula remarking ‘Bordeaux wine near a lovely waterfall. What more do you want in life’.
Years rolled on and we met at our batch get-togethers. The love shown to each other and their enjoyment of music bound them together. Their commitment to help others was one of their outstanding characters.
As we sing in that beautiful Chrystian hymn-
‘In the sweet –In the sweet,
Bye and bye – By and bye,
We will meet on that beautiful shore
‘In the sweet –In the sweet,
Bye and bye – By and bye,
We will meet on that beautiful shore’
Our condolences go out to Vijitha and his family.
‘May the Good Lord Bless and Keep you,
Whether near or far away…’
From Philip and Batch mates of 1960 Medical entrants, Colombo.
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| Apr 9, 2019, 3:45 PM | ||
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| Vijita Nikapota | Apr 10, 2019, 2:33 PM | ||
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| Aug 24, 2020, 11:47 PM (5 hours ago) | ||
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