Extract from ''Remembered Vignettes'

 

'Bible Rock', as seen from the road to Kandy, near Kadugannawa.
Photo by Dr. Philip G Veerasingam

Preface

            Life in Sri Lanka in the late 1950's was a very different experience to what it is today – looking back, it is hardly recognizable as the same country. The hustle and bustle of life for students was not evident. To cite just one glaring example, tuition outside the classroom for school children was not the norm in those days, even for those studying for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations, the equivalent of the advanced level examinations of today. Some extra classes were held on Saturdays by enthusiastic teachers, who would have been offended if payment had been offered. People were not mercenary to the degree one sees now. Very few students continued their studies after completing the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSC). Most had found employment by this time. Children often played a game where, they counted the number of letters of the alphabet in a name and predicted what the child would grow up to be, in adult life. The rhyme went as ‘DOCTOR< PROCTOR< COOLEY< CLERK’ repeated. Thus, PHILIP would be - P: doctor, H: proctor, I: coolie, L: clerk, I: doctor, and P: proctor. Thus, the child named PHILIP would be a proctor in adult life. It was as simple as that. There were no disciplines like hotel management, catering, computing, business management and a host of others as at present.

            Marrying for love was the exception, rather than the rule. Much more mundane things like race, cast, dowry and religion carried more weight, with looks thrown in as an added bonus. Happily, looking back, quite a number of these marriages thrived into old age. Break-ups of marriages were the exception. One of my batch mates had continuous problems with his doctor wife, with whom he had fallen in love and married. One day, his sympathetic father-in-law, took him aside and advised him in all seriousness, to take a mistress and keep the marriage going. Such was the sacrosanct nature of marriage.

            We had very few material possessions. A radio and a car fulfilled life's ambitions for most of us. Televisions, fans, washing machines, microwaves and floor polishers were not heard of. The clothes were washed by a 'dhobi' who arrived at the home, at regular weekly intervals. We went to the barber for a haircut and the tailor stitched our clothes. It was as simple as that. There were no supermarkets to speak of and the large department stores were operated by British business houses and they sold items which were beyond the reach of most ordinary Ceylonese.  The common leisure pursuits were, watching films or a play, the latter being reserved for those more sophisticated than the average student.  When money was tight (which was usually the case), one had to settle for a sunset or dinner outdoors on a moonlit night. Trips to distant places, with song and dance and guitar or accordion accompaniments, were special treats.

            Studies were not taken too seriously. Though we always lived with the prospect of an examination, we usually began working in earnest three months before the day of the examination was due to start. There was little competition among the majority to secure leadership positions. A pass at an examination was enough and very often, a lost love caused more heartache, than a failed examination.

Fifty years on, looking back life seemed very rosy, in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Out of that experience, the following tales emerge. They are based mostly on fact and any element of fiction which may have crept in is simply the consequence of re-telling the tale. They reflect the happy times and (almost) care-free days. They bring to mind the rollicking laughter and fun of medical student days, when schoolboys just out of their teens, began the tasks of simultaneously growing into adults and training to become doctors. These tales are told with amusement and laughter with the sole purpose, of warming the hearts of my batch mates who entered the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo in the year 1960.   I am indebted to my batch-mates who sent me contributions to this book and their names are listed in the acknowledgements, as far as possible. I regret any missed acknowledgements

            The photograph on the cover taken by me, shows "Bible Rock" seen from Kadugannawa, Sri-Lanka. The name ‘Bible Rock’ was to see the similarity of an open book, a bible, lying on a table. The Dutch thought that it resembled a coffin and named it as ‘Coffin rock’. It depicts for me, the 'resurrection' of wonderful tales from the 'book learning' experience at the Medical Faculty of the early part of 1960.

 

 

Philip G Veerasingam

Referances

1. https://magnificentsrilanka.com/guide-to-hike-bible-rock-in-sri-lanka/