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In the eyes of the law

Lawyer Gamini Balasuriya

By Marianne David Lawyer Gamini  Balasuriya's life proves  that perseverance,  determination and believing in your dreams can get you anywhere. Although he lost his sight when he was nine months old, he did not let that hold him back in any way, opting instead to believe in the power of his dreams. A drama he heard over the radio when he was a child planted the seeds of a dream that he would relentlessly strive to achieve - that of being a lawyer someday. He is now a member of the Private Bar Association and specialises in criminal law.

"That was my only aim - to be a lawyer. Even when filling out the application forms for the university, there are five options but I entered law for all five because that was my only desire," said Gamini.

Born in Muttur where he lived until he was three years old, Gamini had fallen off his bed in his sleep when he was nine months old and sustained a hard blow to the back of his head. Poverty prevented his parents from taking him to a doctor at the time, and as a result of the fall he gradually lost his sight. His family moved to Ampara when he was three.

"My parents were not educated people. So it was always my dream to study," he said. Although his parents are no longer alive, if they were, they surely would have been proud of what their son has achieved.

When The Sunday Leader interviewed Gamini at the Attorney General's Department, he walked with us to another room with ease, without even the aid of a cane and spoke about his life in Ampara and how he became what he is today.

"First you must decide what you want to do and then make your own path," says Gamini, a soft-spoken and friendly man. "Have targets and tell yourself that you will somehow get there and achieve what you want. Then you will get there," he says with conviction.

Gamini successfully completed his OL's and AL's in Ampara and then sat for his LLB at the Colombo University. He did not let his lack of sight keep him away from getting what he wanted and with the aid of a tape recorder and good friends, he worked hard to fulfill his dream.

His examination results were five Bs and 11 Cs - "I had no Ds at all," says Gamini with pride. Gamini now counsels clients and also appears in court regularly as a criminal law practitioner in the high courts.

He has been practicing law for the last eight years and appeared in Prabhakaran's Central Bank case where the client he represented was acquitted.

"For my AL's I had Braille books but in university I used a tape recorder. In university my problem was textbooks. There were no Braille books on law and only about two books on cassette. In my university exams I stopped Braille because there was no Braille typewriter. Then I had to use a typist and as a result had a time problem as well," said Gamini.

He says that his batch mates were extremely helpful and used to give him lessons on cassette. "Even when I was schooling we did not have much money but my friends  helped out and we also got some money from the Public Trustees Department and some scholarships. It was my friends who gave me money to get into Law College," said Gamini.

In Law College, accounting was a problem for Gamini because of the time factor and difficulty in doing accounts. "The person who did the typing did not have any accounting knowledge so my time was wasted during the exam," he says.

Gamini says that he has not been subject to discrimination and people encourage him a lot. "I have unique ways of dealing with my cases. I do not write down anything," he explains. "I try to do my best and I am satisfied with my cases. I enjoy criminal cases and even in university I got good marks for those subjects."

He says that as a child, he used to meditate so that he would have the strength, confidence and perseverance to make his dream come true. "I developed my speech skills as well, but learning English was my biggest problem because of the lack of material in Ampara to study the language. I read a lot and now I teach English as well. I have about 10 students to whom I give private tuition."

Being a strong Buddhist,Gamini lives in a temple in Nugegoda and goes to his village only about once a year because of difficulty in travelling. He has two brothers.

As we were getting ready to leave, Lawyer Hemantha Situge walked into the room and spoke to Gamini. He also spoke to us about Gamini and it was then that we saw Gamini really smile. "He is a good-hearted man," said his friend, patting him on the back and relating tales of how they tease each other, making Gamini laugh.

"I know him very well. He used to study in a temple and has come all the way from Muttur. He is a person who sees things that others cannot see and is a good-hearted man. If he wins a case he is very happy and has a good meal of fried rice. He recognises me by my voice and we are good friends. I wish he would settle down because he is a good man."

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