Ernest Macintyre

When a little child grows up there is always a sense of loss with the passing of the thrill of having assisted in the creation of a life and of an enchanting childhood.  So it is with human organizations too.  I had a vague sense of this on the night of 27 August 2011, and of the increasing expectations needed to compensate, at the fourth “Hantana Night”, the annual dinner and dance function of the Peradeniya University Alumni Association of New South Wales at the Greyhound Social Club, Yagoona.

The nostalgia for the early thrill was soon dispelled by the President’s speech early in the evening, covering the year’s activities. It was a corrective which restored my sense of reality that the Association had grown and was doing things.  “Today we have gathered here to fulfill one of our objectives of the Association, which is to encourage, foster and promote close relations between the University, its alumni and the rest of the community” began President Wasantha Wickremanayake.  

The achievements were indeed substantial – Two scholarships for students of the Arts Faculty of Rs. 6000 each, a consignment of books for the library and  $4500-00 to the library fund, two annual challenge trophies to the most outstanding sportswoman and sportsman of the year and fund raising for Queensland Flood Relief.  The Association is also currently working with the parent body at Peradeniya, to provide monetary help to economically disadvantaged students by way of studentships.  All these are made possible not by a committee but by the whole membership, which now counts a hundred and fifty life members who bond together, as well as with friends and supporters, for the Peradeniya University belongs to all of Sri Lanka.  And in the bonding process the year that has passed saw a great occasion when we all gathered around Jayalath Manoratne, a Peradeniya alumnus now the most popular and creative performing artist in Sri Lanka. First at our traditional weekend Hunter Valley outing, and then at a musical evening in Sydney led by Mano and attended by about two hundred enthusiasts.

The evening itself was fun and entertainment effortlessly guided through by the relaxed style of Hasanka Wickremanayake, our Master of Ceremonies.  It began with the start up music of Bonnie and the Heartbeatz, followed by a lively young female performer, Thenuhaa Thanikarajan who did not allow a traditional Sri Lankan form to stand in the way of her youthful contemporary leaping rhythms.

A song from the Peradeniya favourite, Sarachchandra’s Maname, rendered by Soma Athukorale and Lal Warusuwitharna followed, and brought back distant memories of the campus in the poignant way the pair sang it.  After the President’s speech, Sydney Kolam Maduwa which has a strong Peradeniya component entertained with two presentations, and Janaka Seneviratne reports about these as follows:  

First an Irish folk song of a cruel break up of a family by forced displacement to Australia titled “Fields of Athenry” rendered both dramatically and melodiously by Devika de Fonseka and Daya Gonsalkorale and accompanied by Ismene Chitty.  Then, a dramatic skit titled “Maname and Bucket Dias – a story of Peradeniya” performed by Sunil de Silva, Daya Gonsalkorale and Malini Arumugam.  It was an adapted extract from Ernest Macintyre’s play “Rasanayagam’s Last Riot“ about a Peradeniya friendship, between a Sinhalese who said “Baldiya” and a Tamil who said “Val” for the same bucket and how the Tamil learnt through a Peradeniya fresher’s “bucketing” incident to pronounce the word the Sinhala way and how thirty years later, in July 83 it saved his life.  Roaring laughter from the audience sent the spirits surging and added extra lustre to a memorable evening.

Then came a great glow over the gathering from the contribution of the Chief Guest Kandiah Kamalesvaran, a name of Sri Lankan heritage now long submerged under his popular performing name, Kamahl.  

Once again the President and committee have to be congratulated on inspired choices of Chief Guests – last year a stern minister of immigration, this year a once struggling immigrant - which made all the difference to the evening.  He reminisced on the irony of a dropout from university being invited by a University Association, he revealed to us a young Rupert Murdoch, kind and generous, setting up a  a struggling dark complexioned immigrant like him.  When he movingly sang that famous American song “Old Man River”, especially the lines “I'm tired of livin', I'm scared of dyin', but Ol' Man River, he just keeps rollin' along“, I did think of the Mahaweli that has seen the arrivals and departures of so many Peradeniyaites, but still keeps quietly slipping past the campus. 

The night went on to its conclusion with dancing, a Sri Lankan dinner to romantic music, raffle prizes and Wattalapam and Ice cream with fruit for dessert.

The unfailing burst of baila dancing, preceded the midnight homewards journey through Sydney, of a happy congregation.

Click here to enjoy an album of photos by Ranjith Wijesekera