XMAS 2023

 The 2023 Xmas Lunch was held on Dec 16 at the Beach Wadiya with 13 attending. Lunch was sumptuous as always and the games and music went down very well. We wish everyone a Very Happy Xmas and New Year 2024.

Crimson Rose

 Crimson Rose

“The Arts are vain,

Naive and ungrateful”

He stated sardonically

I remained silent,

Gazed into the abyss

Of his Jade green eyes

Deprived of joy and hope

I recalled the melancholic truth

About a boy who resembled him,

A student who dwelled in self-delusion,

Oblivious of a Nightingale's sacrificial love

For only the Arts can truly comprehend

The intricate elements of life,

Our impermanence in the fabric of times

And the essence of sincere love

Estranged from the student

Of objective reality,

All embedded in the thorns

Of a crimson rose

Zainab Hussein

May 13 2023

Room for Rent

 Room for Rent

I have a room for rent

Never occupied

Not much sunlight

But cosy for the right one

I have a room

It's a little dark

A swirling, well-like place

But a quiet one

I have a room

Seen pictures too

I've never been there

But the doctor says

It looks mostly fine

By Himangi Jayasundere

May 13 2023

Caged Freedom

 Caged Freedom

I am a bird in a cage

Where no one wil hurt me

They look at me with rage

This path you may not agree

This is still my world,

Can't you please let me be?

I came in willingly

A choice, knowingly

I am still dreaming,

Convincing myself

I am not lost

Surely, this dream will last

In my cage, I behold bars

Believing they are stars

Shining bright in the sky

Has my life been a lie?

Am I so blind?

I cannot know why

Will you listen to my plea?

Within this cage, I feel free

Amidst laughter and rage

In the confines of this cage

A thousand miles I have flown.

Why am I so alone?

Amar Gunatilleke 

April 2023

The Indenting Agent

The Indenting Agent

Rasheed Appa, my maternal grandpa, ran his own indenting agency, Kingston Agencies, located at our home in Bambalapitiya. He was doing pretty well with many foreign products under his belt and tons of containers that he received through the Colombo harbor on a regular basis. Our garage, in the backyard, was always stacked with crates of Pearl Barley, Quaker Oats, Soft Toys, and whatnot, waiting for wholesalers to call over and pick them up.

 

Appa never went to University but the immaculate knack he had of doing business with, both, local buyers and foreign manufacturers, would have made the Harvard Business School blush. Math, Accounting and typing were certainly not his cuppa tea and so it was outsourced to his two sons, my maternal uncles, and then later on to my bro and me. Grandma was called Umma.

Appa: “Those Dutch food manufacturers are planning a visit to Ceylon to meet us and assess our future capability to act as their agents here. We must put on a good show.”

Umma: “We can refurbish the verandah, office room, and living room and convert it into a makeshift office to satisfy them. We have a large house with a big yard in the front and back. Anyone who is not impressed with this outfit won’t find another for sure.”

She was a very wise old lady, who hailed from the very well-known and famous, “Jemmi” family in Colombo. She used to read lots of stuff in English and Arwi (Arabic/Tamil) and relate many stories to us when we were little. Her memory on genealogy was also overwhelming. Her best characteristic was her tremendous patience which I try so hard to emulate, yet with not much success.

And so the Dutchmen came.

A limo was arranged and sent to the airport to pick them up and transported to our home in style. The place was nattily furnished, with all our home furniture neatly arranged to look like a posh office, of course, with a typewriter, Secretary, and clerical staff all dressed to kill. Appa sat behind his big mahogany desk like the Mudalali he was. Sir Razik Fareed, his maternal cousin, was also invited to be a part of the business meeting that ensued. Appa felt it would add more weight to his enterprise with a British Knight around. Our domestics were all kitted up to kill and served the refreshments. Homemade pastries (short eats as we chose to call them), Ice Cream and Orange Barley.

My maternal uncle, spruced up in a black bow tie, sat behind a desk, looking very much like a manager. The discussion ensued. The Dutchmen were very impressed.

Grandpa won the deal and his agency contract was renewed without much fuss. That’s how international trade was done in the 50s.

I Come from a Paradise

 I come from a Paradise

I come from a Paradise who wanted freedom,

But having obtained it will not give it to others;

I come from a Paradise who preach democracy,

But only want it for their fellow families;

I come from a Paradise who cry equality,

But ensure that some are more equal than others;

I come from a Paradise who are always demanding,

But not willing to give to those who are crying.

I come from a Paradise who are supposed to be literate,

But will not do anything until the stars foretell them.

I come from a Paradise who vote for their fancy,

But will jump ship quickly to fulfil their needs.

I come from a Paradise who want to ban slaughter,

But still want their “mussplate” when drinks are being ordered.

I come from a Paradise who offer rice from the moon,

But only a QR code will feed your kids hunger.

I come from a Paradise who bow at the altar,

But show no concerns to the poor on the street.

I come from a Paradise who beg, borrow and steal,

But when it comes to business they are all making deals.

I come from a Paradise who preach compassion,

But at the end of the road there’s only depression.

I come from a Lanka where the people believe,

That even if the ship sinks, the band must play on.

Jan 28, 2023

Seventy Five Years and Counting

 Seventy Five Years and Counting

This year 2023 pushes all of us ’59 Group members into three score and fifteen years of age. Once upon a time in 1959, we were a bunch of young, happy-go-lucky, adventurous lads entering College, some from RPS and others from various other schools across the island.

Looking back over the past sixty four years that have lapsed since then, one is reminded of the popular Beatles track, “When I’m 64”. Would it be appropriate to ask, “Will you still need me, will you still heed me?”

Life has certainly taken a gentle course through times and tribulations of BP checks, controlled salt intakes, fasting blood sugar, HDL & LDL Cholesterol, ECGs, EEGs, Chaemo, Greens, Walks, Exercise, Wheelchairs, Walking Sticks, and even solemn moments of hopeful Prayer, and has now established its final phase upon us, on a very serious note pushing us slowly, but surely, towards gardens of green and rivers of blue.

Career, Research, Professions, Business, Relationships, Marriage, Children, Family, Divorce, and even Grandkids, in many cases, have overtaken our lives at such a hectic pace that the time left now is more or less spent online on WhatsApp and FB sharing dirty clips, corny joke, and some political banter.

Fifty-one lovely dudes have moved on to the other side and must certainly be having a better time there than most of us here? 

Looking back, one reminisces the wonderful times we had in the classrooms, along the corridors, inside the VPs office, Saranapala’s canteen, and also romping across the grassy playing fields, where, cricket, rugby, athletics, tennis, hockey, the gym, and many other pleasurable pastimes were enjoyed and endured.

May the remaining members of the Group be blessed with comfort, convenience, health, peace of mind, tranquility and prosperity for the rest of the time we have left on this planet!

Amen!

Fazli / Sat Jan 28 2023