The motorized two-wheel owners of our batch of 1960 medical entrants.

'Several of our batch mates owned, rather expensive motor bicycles even in the 60’s.. Derryk De Silva used to ride a NSU motor bike. It was a well-known German brand and was relatively noise free. It had a built-in self-starter, a rarity those days.  Derryk used to take the bends at speed, leaning into the curve rather than turning the handle.  This was in the style of the true riding   connoisseur. I think that he was trying to imitate Zacky Deen, the motor cycle ace of Ceylon, of those days.

Rama Karthigesu owned a beautiful BMW motor bike. It had horizontal, opposed cylinders.   I think it also had a shaft drive. 'Karthi' used to take off in a jiffy, starting the bike with the built-in self starter.  Selladurai owned what I recall was a Triumph Tiger 100, with twin vertical cylinders and overhead camshaft but no self starter.  Sella’s riding gear consisted of dark glasses and black gloves and reminded one of 'Zorro'. It was a lovely bike.  

A few students owned scooters which were a novelty those days.  Vijitha Nikapota used to ride a Lambretta which was a rather sedate vehicle. In the early days, he used to give a lift to Anula to and from the faculty.  The sight of Anula who was always neatly dressed in a Kandyan saree, perched on the back of the Lambretta, never failed to gain the traditional attention of the medical   students, living in Bloemfontein Hostel.    Perrin and Geri Jayasekara, who behaved more like cousins than brothers, also had a Lambretta scooter. Perrin would be riding the scooter blissfully unaware that Geri seated behind, was waving at girls passing by and making merry. Gamini Jayasinghe, Ganeshanayagam, Sabanayagam and a handful of others   also owned scooters and were much in demand when we had to attend classes in distant places such as Angoda and Ragama.

            Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki brands were not heard of then and helmets were never worn. The main brands of motor bicycles were BSA (Birmingham Small Arms), Triumph, Norton, Royal Enfield, Indian, Velocette - a machine as quiet as a Rolls-Royce, having a water-cooled engine, a shaft drive and a long metal arm which had to be pulled to start the engine, Moto-Guzzi, Gilera, and the mighty Harley-Davidson. Petrol was Rs 2.50cts a gallon and very often students short of money, would fill up 50 cents worth of the petrol oil mixture. The cost of a new scooter was around Rs.3000'.

Extract from the book 'Remembered Vignettes'.

'Kumbaya' sung by 'The seekers', in the early 1960s

A song very popular in our medical college days.

'Kumbaya'