Features

NIHAL SENEVIRATNE

Published

3 weeks ago

2026/01/25

(29 May 1934 – 6 January 2026)

The clammy hand of death has claimed the life of that gentle, decent, most likable human being, Nihal Seneviratne, known to all and sundry as “Galba”, a nickname he had acquired as a student of Royal Primary School. Even in Sri Lanka’s Parliament, where Galba served as Secretary General for well nigh 15 years, most Ministers, including the late Felix Dias Bandaranaike, and Anura Bandaranaike, called him by his nickname “Galba”. Mrs Bandaranaike and Mr Premadasa however preferred to call him Nihal. The Socialist Minister Dr Colvin R de Silva quite surprisingly always referred to him in the more formal term “Seneviratne”, probably a hang over from the very formal court room practices he was accustomed to.

As Secretary General of Sri Lanka’s Parliament for many years, Galba’s expertise and unparalleled knowledge on parliamentary practices and regulations served as a repository mail to Facebook information and advice to successive governments, Presidents, and Prime Ministers. His advice was sought in the confidence of his absolute political impartiality, regardless of the political philosophy and the governing inclinations of the party in power. I am aware that his advice was sought even when in retirement.

In addition to his family, Galba had two great affections, viz Parliament, and to his old school, Royal College.

Apart from acting with him in a school play “Hiawatha”, I had only a superficial acquaintance with him in school. He having joined Royal Primary a year ahead of me. Galba belonged to the 1945 Group which entered Royal during the final year of Principal E L Bradby’s tenure as principal of Royal College. It was during the years of World War II when the school was temporarily relocated to Turret Road and Form one in the building known as “Carlton Lodge” within the grounds of Turret House in which the upper school was located.

Galba’s classmates included Lal Jayewardene, Sinha Basnayake, Cuda Wijeratne, Nihal Senaratne, Pillo Rustomee, Maurice Koelmeyer, Ged Gooneratne, Dicky Wijeratne, Madduma Kappagoda, Rohan Perera, Nihal Calayanaratne, G C Wickremesinghe, Ranjan Canekeratne, Ian Goonewardene, Geevaka de Soyza, A Vigneswaran, Derrick Andree, Justin Gunawardene, Y D A Senanayake, Ernie Weerasinghe, Balaraman, S J Jafferjee, Lt Col C H Fernando, Keerthi Mendis, Ian de Zilwa, K Thuraisingham, “Bambarey” Samarasinghe, et al, most of whom have also pre deceased him.

In Royal Primary, in his class there were two boys from the UK, James Burt and David Gent, the former’s father Prof Burt was the founding Professor of Zoology in the emerging Ceylon University. Both James and David returned to the UK after their primary education.

Although not inclined to indulge in sports, Galba took on leadership roles in later years at Royal as Editor of the school magazine and serving as a school prefect. He also made an everlasting and very significant contribution as Honorary Secretary of the century old Royal College Union, and later as Vice President for several years.

Galba was never a “nerd” however and displayed trends of mischief that yet engaged boys would delight in. One incident comes to mind. Galba used to travel to school on a push bicycle usually accompanied after school by another classmate heading in the same direction. One afternoon he was cycling along with his friend Madduma Kappagoda, when they passed a home with a large sign, not the usual brass plate on the gate post, which announced to all passers by that the Reverend so and so “resided there”. While passing the house both he and Kappa could not resist the urge to shout in unison “Ado Reverend”. Unfortunately for them the Reverend had been lurking behind a bush waiting for miscreants who had been regularly taunting him. He jumped in front of Galba’s bike and noted the exercise books with his name in the carrier basket in front, and rang the school principal Corea, and complained. Galba was disciplined by Corea.

Galba was a year senior to me at Royal Prep and in Royal College. The difference in one year was enough to socially distance ourselves. In school I only had a “nodding acquaintance” with him. The gap was crossed and bonded after I moved to Australia more than 40 years ago, and residing in the adjoining suburb to which Galba’s sister Iranganie and husband Sena Atukorale moved. Galba was a family oriented person and his bonds with his only sister were strong. His frequent visits to Sydney brought us closer, and I enjoyed his company despite the fact that he was a teetotaller and non smoker, while I was quite the opposite as far as those social practices went. His classmate the late Dr Madduma Kappagoda who became a prominent ophthalmologist in Sydney also lived in the adjoining suburb of Pymble and on Galba’s visits to Sydney it was like a social cyclone hitting our families.

Nihal “Galba” Seneviratne was born in Elpitiya where his father, the late Dr Robert Seneviratne, was District Medical Officer. Apart from his sister Iranganie, he had an older brother K N (Keerthi Nissanka) a tall and burly figure about three years senior to Galba and who was known in school as “Bull”, his nickname. Bull followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the medical profession. Having acquitted himself creditably as a medical student, he chose to follow a teaching career at the Medical College where he was a senior lecturer in the Department of Medicine.

His colleague in the Department was Prof A C E Koch. The Department soon acquired the appellation “the Cock and Bull show”. Sadly, Bull passed away some years ago and his wife from Wales returned to her family of orientation. Galba always admired his elder brother, and unfailingly organized an annual scholarly oration called the “Nissanka Seneviratne Memorial Oration” conducted under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Medical Council.

My image of Bull that has registered in my mind is that of him driving out of their family home on Havelock Road with a cigarette dangling from his lips. I have not seen or met their father, but Galba related the story where he returned home from school one day to be confronted with a pall of gloom. There were a few relatives seated around and the absence of cheer and bon homie was very evident. On making inquiries he realized that his father had passed away earlier that morning.

He had driven his car towards the Fort along Galle Road when he realized the need to pump petrol and had driven into the Walkers Petrol Station on Galle Road Kollupitiya when he had suffered a heart attack and passed away. Galba insisted that his father was a very generous man, and the prevailing price of petrol could not have triggered the heart attack.

Galba and his erstwhile classmate the late Jed Gooneratne, the elder brother of former Minister C V ‘Puggy’ Gooneratne used to tease each other in friendly banter when they met. On one occasion I recall, Galba who held a law degree from Peradeniya and was an enrolled Advocate of the Supreme Court, in a mischievous mood referred to Ged as Proctor and as “people who depend on us advocates”. Pat came Ged’s reply “but you are only a clerk”. That observation was uncanny as the Chief Executive of the House of Representatives which was Galba’s title then, was formerly called the “Clerk to the House”.

With advancing age, my own visits to Sri Lanka have declined in frequency. I did however obtain a seat on a charter flight to Colombo and back to attend the Royal Thomian match of last year 2025. Galba was my constant companion at the match together with other friends like S D de Silva, Ranjit Samarasinghe and Lakshman Kaluarachchi. There too, the sweltering heat in the Mustangs Tent compelled me to excuse myself before the end of the second day’s play, but Galba would have none of it, and insisted on accompanying me out of the grounds. He was almost universally known and recognizable, so we hardly walked a few yards when some friends of his stopped and offered a lift, which was like a gift from heaven for me as I was just visiting under the Colombo sun.

I have to refer to another matter which brings out the essence of Galba’s personality. For some years now I have been contributing articles for a journal published in Australia called “The Ceylankan”. Galba was insisting that those articles deserved a wider readership and should be compiled as a book. Although I agreed with him, my other preoccupations did not allow me the time to get about it. When I visited Sri Lanka last year, he took me to a publisher and introduced me to him, and even wrote a most engaging foreword to the book. Such sincere friends are rare indeed. He went even further and organised a book launch at the DBU Hall and presided at the launch together with our mutual friend Manik de Silva.

The loss of genuine friends have diminished our lives considerably. My heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife Srima, son Satyajit, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for permitting me to participate in a wonderful enjoyable musical soiree organized by Satyajit and friends at Galba’s home last year, and daughter Shanika and their families. Sri Lanka has lost a legendary figure, and the national psyche considerably affected by the loss of a stalwart of the highest calibre.

Farewell dear Galba. May Nihal Seneviratne attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.

Hugh Karunanayake Melbourne

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Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.

Features

Banana and Aloe Vera

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

To create a powerful, natural, and hydrating beauty mask that soothes inflammation, fights acne, and boosts skin radiance, mix a mashed banana with fresh aloe vera gel.

This nutrient-rich blend acts as an antioxidant-packed anti-ageing treatment that also doubles as a nourishing, shiny hair mask.

* Face Masks for Glowing Skin:

Mix 01 ripe banana with 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel and apply this mixture to the face. Massage for a few minutes, leave for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse off for a glowing complexion.

* Acne and Soothing Mask:

Mix 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel with 1/2 a mashed banana and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply this mixture to clean skin to calm inflammation, reduce redness, and hydrate dry, sensitive skin. Leave for 15-20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

* Hair Treatment for Shine:

Mix 01 fresh ripe banana with 03 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply from scalp to ends, massage for 10-15 minutes and then let it dry for maximum absorption. Rinse thoroughly with cool water for soft, shiny, and frizz-free hair.