My Heritage was Where I Started

I was born three months after my father died. In Sri Lanka it is believed that because of this I was a fortunate child. I do believe I have grown up and grown old having been blessed with this good fortune all my life. As I wait in the departure lounge to take flight into the unknown and be with those who went before me, I feel a need to share the story of my good fortune with you. So here I am with my memories.

Baptised Padmani Ayoma Chittra Wijeyesekera. Born as the ninth child of Adriel Henry Wijeyesekera and Pansy Alexandra Cecilia de Soysa on February 8, 1939 at “Sumanagiri”, Gangodawila, Nugegoda. My birth was registered on the last day of the mandatory three-month period by a much-loved and loving bachelor Uncle, Geoff. His full name Geoffrey Patrick Perera Abeyewardene, a first cousin to my mother. It was indeed kind of him to ensure that I was recognised formally as having been born. Perhaps it was because of his haste to beat the deadline that he seemed to have got the spelling of my name wrong?

I had always been called Padmini except when my mother shortened it to Padmi. Only she used that short-form. And I loved that – to me it was a reflection of her love for me. But then she also sometimes referred to me as her “bada-pissa”. I had all my schooling as Padmini, and it was only when I received my School-Leaving Certificate that I knew that I should have been Padmani. And Padmani I was ever since. Other than when my family and friends call me Padi, and I like that too – except when it reminds me of a few drunken Irishmen I met as a student in England. But Irishmen spell their names as “Paddy”. Who’s to know the difference when both sound the same?

If you thought the names of my parents were unusual, just wait until you hear those of my eight siblings. Arananda Rajamani Piyasena, Tissaka Camelin Moriawansa, Nalini Upamallika Premawathi, and then thankfully, perhaps with the times, they get shorter – Rajapala Sirisoma, Chandrani Sryalatha, Anura Hemakirthi, Sumana Gamini, and born a year after the last one and six years before me, Shatra Oraja. I have never met nor heard neither of another Shatra nor of another Oraja. The closest I came to either was when I met Chaththra in Nepal. But all these names would of course have good Arya Sinhala origins and deep meanings.

They would have been selected by well-known astrologers, using the sounds that must be included according to the time of birth. But for me born posthumously – no sounds necessary. They had meaning as most names given to babies have even now. So Padmani relates to a lotus and is the alternate name for the Goddess Lakshmi, the embodiment of beauty and charm. And Chittra is brightness. But Ayoma? That I have never been able to find out. I must add that the simplicity of my own names and the elaborate names given to my siblings indicates that, in all likelihood, the selection of names was my father’s prerogative.

On with my heritage. I believe that has had a strong influence on making me who I am. My father was the only son of Mudliyar Richard Samuel and Francesca Wijeyesekera. He grew up in their two homes which were the Wijeyesekera Walauwa located in Ambalangoda and another in Moratuwa. The Ambalangoda Walauwa I last saw standing over forty years ago. What is left of the “Moratu” Walauwa is now a Chinese restaurant. Over time it has lost its extensive gardens. The front to the new Moratuwa-Panadura Road and the back to new housing.

My Father

My father, a proprietary planter, was 24 years old when he married my mother, then 16 years of age. Their marriage I am told, was a happy one and there is evidence of it – nine children. Unfortunately, married life for my parents was relatively short. My father died at the age of 44 at the Private General Hospital on Kynsey Road. He had diabetes, difficult to control in those days. A common complication of uncontrolled diabetes was carbuncles and his death was caused by septicaemia which developed from the infected carbuncles.

Death came to him slowly and he spent his last two months in the hospital where he passed away. The fact that he knew with certainty that I was on the way is very important to me. I have that certainty because he had provided for me in his will. He is said to have loved children, and, as the baby, I too would have had all his love.

During his short life my father had many interests which my mother shared. Owning and racing horses, at that time on the courses at Galle Face, Kelani Valley and Peradeniya; and importing and raising Great Danes for Dog Shows were among his interests. Often talked about within our family were the six elephants he owned at the time of his death. The most loved was Maharajah, known fondly as “dthuth kota” on account of a short tooth. The tooth was topped with a permanent silver sheathe. He carried the Tooth Relic at the Kandy Perahera for many years, including the years following my father’s death.

One year, my father had a difference of opinion with the Diyawadana Nilame and refused to send Maharajah for the Perahera. As an Elephant who legendarily never forgot, Maharajah, when the time came for him to leave for Kandy, fell seriously ill. My father, sensing what had happened made up with the Diyawadana Nilame and sent Maharajah for the Perahera without fail every year after that. Maharajah carried out this task that he loved until he was too old to do so and Raja took over. I believe it is the stuffed body of Raja that is to be seen in Kandy today.

Great-Grandfather

A statue of my maternal great-grandfather stands in the middle of de Soysa Circus, Colombo in appreciation of his philanthropy. Charles Henry de Soysa is reputed to have been the greatest philanthropist that Sri Lanka has ever had. His statue now stands close to the Victoria Eye Hospital because he had gifted the premises to the people of Ceylon. Other gifts to the people of Ceylon included the De Soysa Maternity Hospital and the premises of the Colombo Medical College next door, the Lunawa Hospital, the Prince and Princess of Wales Colleges, a temple in Lunawa, and both churches and temples as well as schools and roads in other parts of the country.

Model Farm Road, Borella is named after his gift he called “Alfred Model Farm” – 160 acres of land in 1871 to make a farm. The farm was not a success and the land was taken over by the Governor. The Royal Colombo Golf Club now stands on part of this land. I have heard it said that parts of the University of Colombo and the Colombo Race Course also stood within the acreage of that land.

His philanthropy extended beyond the beloved land of his birth. He visited the UK in 1886. On that visit, he gifted money to The Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street and to the London Hospital. Also, to St. Thomas’ Hospital and to Guys Hospital, London. I worked and studied at Guys Hospital for two years. I cannot recall whether or not I saw a plaque on its premises which had his name also inscribed on it as a generous donor.

He passed away in 1890. But not before Charles Henry or CH as he is fondly referred to by his descendants, entertained Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Queen Victoria, on his visit to Ceylon in April 1870. CH was the only Ceylonese allowed by the Governor to do so.

CH had two residencies that he used. A Walauwa at Moratuwa in which he and his large family spent some of their time, and another called “Bagatelle Walauwa” in Colombo in which they spent most of it. It was here that CH entertained the Duke. It is written that CH had got made items of pure gold for the Duke to use for his meal. These included a plate and a knife and fork together with champagne and wine goblets. These items were carved delicately with vine leaves and embedded with rubies and pearls. Two days later, Alfred the Duke returned the courtesy and entertained the elders of the de Soysa family to dinner at Queen’s House.

After the visit of the Duke, CH had his home extended further and renamed it “Alfred House” after the Duke. Alfred House, consisting of a hundred rooms, stood on 120 acres of land. I have not seen its boundaries described anywhere. From what I hear, it extended possibly from the Golf Course in Borella to the sea at Kollupitiya. And possibly from Bullers Road to Fifth Lane. One can have but an idea of its extent by all the roads that still include the names “Alfred” and “Charles” one sees around Kollupitiya.

Nalin and I now live in an apartment called “Prince Alfred Tower” located on Alfred House Gardens. We moved here over five years ago. I like to amuse myself and my friends and family by telling them that I have come to live in my great grandfather’s back garden.

Regina Walauwa

As his sons grew older and found themselves wives one by one, CH decided he would gift them each land on which they could build their homes. And among these I know of two. One is “Lakshmigiri” built by his second son Alfred Joseph Richard or “A.J.R” as he is referred to. And the other situated next to it built by my grandpa, his fourth son, Thomas Henry Arthur or “T.H.A.” My grandfather had married Regina Perera Abeyewardene from Closenburg, Galle.

They started building their home together, but unfortunately she passed away at a young age before their home was complete. T.H.A. named their home “Regina Walauwa” and his five children which included my mother, grew up in it. It was bought by the State in 1920 and is now known as “College House”. Between Lakshmigiri and Regina Walauwa was a path which led to Alfred House. After grandma Regina died it was referred to as “Regina’s Path” the literal translation of which is “Queen’s Road”. And that is what it is now.

T.H.A. was an entrepreneur, but as with other de Soysa’s, did not have much business acumen. The shipping line, bank, plumbago mining, export business and newspaper which he had set up all came a cropper. The properties he inherited from his father and the generous dowry he received when he married were all gone. He was heavily in debt and was declared bankrupt. He came to live with my parents until his death in around 1929.

About the Author

Padmani Mendis is a Sri Lankan author. On completing her education at Ladies’ College Colombo, Padmani proceeded to England in 1958 for professional studies in orthopaedic nursing and physiotherapy that would lead her to a career in the field of Disability and Rehabilitation. Since then until the present, spanning a period of 64 years, her work in disability has taken her from villages of rural Sri Lanka to those high in the Andes Mountains of Venezuela; from the marshy Mekong Delta to the arid deserts of sub-Saharan Africa; from the land of the Vikings to that of the Masai;  from the shores of the Caribbean to the Cedars of Lebanon; and from the biblical cities of the Middle-East to the rich cultures of China and Japan, sharing experiences in and between over 50 countries.

Her most significant contribution in her chosen area of work has been as a consultant to the World Health Organization. She was fortunate to have been invited by the WHO to participate in pioneering a strategy that would enable WHO to put on the ground their new disability policy directed at reaching people who have disabilities yet unreached with opportunities that would enable them to move from the margins to the mainstream of society. The strategy that Padmani helped pioneer together with two co-consultants, Einar Helander and Gunnel Nelson, came to be called Community-Based Rehabilitation or CBR, now increasingly called Disability-Inclusive Development.

In recognition of the contribution she made globally in the field of disability and rehabilitation Padmani has received many prestigious international awards. Among them, Uppsala University, Sweden, awarded her “Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Honoris Causa” in 1990; the World Confederation of Physical Therapy awarded her the “Leadership in Rehabilitation, 2015”. This Award is made every four years, to recognize an individual or group/organization that has made an exceptional contribution to international rehabilitation and/or global health. Padmani received two more prestigious honours from Lincoln College University, Malaysia, in 2018 in the way of an honorary Ph.D. in Physiotherapy and an honorary Professorship in Physiotherapy.

My Mother a Widow

My mother became a widow at the age of 34 with nine children to raise on her own. During their short married life my father had sold most of the properties he owned to meet, no doubt, the costs of his unusual and expensive interests and hobbies. On his death, he had bequeathed in trust to my mother the only land he had left, 450 acres of rubber in Bulathsinhala on a property called Waluwewatte Estate. Income from this was meagre but my mother, although she had little formal education, was fortunate to have had an educated mind, and this she used to raise her children. Her formal education had been three years at Bishops College. Before that, alongside her four siblings, she had been schooled at home by an English governess brought down for the purpose.

After the rubber boom at the end of World War II she was more comfortable, but still unable to spend much on luxuries. And yet she prepared all her nine children for productive and contented lives, conscientious and always giving of their utmost. They had the best of primary and secondary education available at the time – St. Thomas’ Prep, Bandarawela, Royal College at Glendale, Bandarawela and in Colombo, and Trinity College, Kandy at various times for the six boys. And Ladies’ College, Colombo for all three girls.

She went further to ensure that each would have the required qualifications and skills they needed so that they would have occupations with adequate incomes to raise their own families comfortably with more resources than she had had. I am confident that both my parents would have been pleased with their offspring.

Siblings

Arananda (or “Ara” as he was called – most of my siblings had short names) was educated first at the Technical College, Maradana to become an engineer and then sent to England to obtain the AMIMechE and become an Associate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, UK. He became an eminent engineer. Later still he was Chairman of the Ceylon Transport Board. Tissa developed his love of planting at a young age and pursued this interest at the Boy’s Farm School in Peradeniya which led to a life-long career in planting. Nali went on to university, was a teacher for a while and then became a full-time wife and mother. Siri also went to university and then to England to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. He was the first Ceylonese Chairman of Forbes and Walker, then a British Company and now part of the MJF Group. Chansi, straight from Ladies’ College, was in the first batch of students at the Girls Farm School in Kundasale and spent a large part of her life as a volunteer for the Mahila Samithi, sharing her knowledge and skills with rural women.

Of the younger boys, Summa became a successful practicing attorney with a special interest in Intellectual Property Law. The other two acquired business skills in areas of their choice. Anura pursued his love of all things managerial and became first the General Manager of Ceylon Shipping Lines and later a Director of Darley Butler and Company. Shatra joined Vavasseur Trading Company, proceeded to England to gain further knowledge and experience and returned to be a director in many of Sohli Captain’s group of companies. Each one doing as well as my parents would have hoped for.And then there was me.

(To be continued)