Reminiscing a beloved brother…..

June 12, 2020, has so far been the worst day of my life. No sooner, I woke up to a normal working day, to receive a call from my younger brother telling me in a broken voice, that our beloved elder brother may have taken his own life was the most tragic piece of news I had ever received to date. I have no words to define my shock and despair. It was only a week before that we all met at a family occasion, and none of us saw anything untoward in his demeanor. To date, I am absolutely astonished at his precise planning of several months to depart from this life, and never showing any aversion to his final decision.

That was so characteristic of my brother, Rajeewa Jayaweera. He was always precise, methodical and organized and would always attend to any task with minute planning, looking into every little detail. He made decisions based on principles, rules and regulations. He possessed excellent work ethics and would never hesitate to call a spade a spade. These qualities were appreciated only by some people, as such people are rare in our present day society. However, these same qualities made him unpopular amongst some who were averse to such qualities.

His role model in life was our father, Stanley Jayaweera. He fully appreciated the qualities that our father instilled in all of us. I still recall our father telling us to always stand up and speak up for what is right and decent no matter what the consequences would be, and I must say my brother lived up to it.

Our father was a fierce patriot and so was my brother. They both were proud to be Sri Lankans and defended our country passionately in all forums. My brother was a tough administrator demanding total commitment from his staff in line with his own. Yet, at the same time I know of numerous occasions when he funded medical treatment to the less fortunate amongst his staff. He alone took on the responsibility of caring for our father in his final years in his customary precise and organized style. He hid so well the compassionate side of his nature which came to the surface on rare occasions.

When a friend asked him why he contributed half a million rupee to the Covid – 19 fund, he had responded saying ” I received a free education in this country, take it as payback”, though he studied in Sri Lanka only up to grade eight.

His hard work, integrity and commitment to work made him rise fast in the aviation industry. On retirement, he pursued writing to the papers with the same enthusiasm though he had no training in journalism. I believe I would have read all his articles on Sri Lankan Airlines, bribery and corruption and diplomatic blunders made by our leaders. It never ceased to amaze me at the amount of research done to produce an authentic story, and how well read he was. He possessed a vast array of books comprising fiction, autobiographies, classics and historical books in his home library. He also owned a huge collection of classical, semi-classical and Golden Oldies music which he enjoyed listening to in the evenings for relaxation. He played the piano, the organ and the accordion by ear, and was a treat to listen to. He was also a great dancer. He enlivened any party he attended with his chatter and humour and I can still recall how he used to entertain us all with his anecdotes when visiting home during his student days.

He was a qualified hotelier having graduated from the School of Economics for Catering and Trade in Dortmund, West Germany. When the hotel industry collapsed during the eighties due to the civil war in Sri Lanka, he joined Air Lanka, thus, commenced his career in the airline industry. However, the training he received in the hotel industry for fine dining was practised to the end, and he was a master of fine cuisine and wine.

Life would never be the same for any of us with him gone. It is very sad that he was unaware how much we all cared for his well being, and the length we would have gone to ease his problems had we been taken into his confidence. His unexpected and premature death has affected not only his siblings but also his close friends and colleagues. I can only end by bestowing blessings on him and wishing that his journey through Samsara be an easy one in attaining the bliss of Nibbana.

Dushyanthi Jayaweera