Everybody loves Kevin...
Kumari Martenstyne: Mothers never give up		More Review Articles... The waste that is Galle Face NU AT THE LSE Colombo's only General Manageress says the  hotel is her second home Celebrating three Golds  - 'Soul Sounds in Concert' 'Champions Concert' of The Revelations    HUMOUR Fashion

By Ranee Mohamed

Life is about love, life is about relationships. And the love and relationship between a mother and her son is enough reason to live for.

It is this love that keeps fragile Kumari Martenstyne strong. It is this relationship that helps her to cruise through life and battle the storms of hardship.

Ironically, to Kumari, this great love of her life Kevin is also the cause for a heartache that only a parent will understand.

"Help me to understand what my son is afflicted with," she cries out as she watches Kevin shuffle by, calling out to her "Amma, Amma."

In their modest home, Kumari Martenstyne, a working mother and her daughter Natasha (12) try to battle the condition called Tuberous Sclerosis which has been described by doctors as 'unpredictable.'

"I feel alone and I feel frightened. But love is a great driving force and it is the love I have for my children - for my Kevin that keeps me going," says Kumari Martenstyne who juggles between a full day job and the care of her ailing seven year-old and the well being of her daughter Natasha.

Rare genetic disorder

Kevin Martenstyne is suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis (TS) which affects many organs and causes tumours in the skin, kidney, brain, heart, eyes, lungs, teeth, oral cavity and other organs.

"My son's brain and skin have been severely affected by TS. He was born on April 27, 2001 as a perfect baby. Two weeks after his birth however, small white patches began to appear on his trunk and limbs. The patches and bumps continued to develop further. When he was about six months old he developed a seizure and after several tests, doctors confirmed that he was suffering from Tuberous Sclerosis," elaborated Martenstyne.

"When he was a baby I took him to a different doctor one day and the doctor told me 'forget about this child and enjoy life... but I never gave up on Kevin. Mothers don't give up on children," cried Martenstyne.

"I was also told that Kevin will never be able to lift his hand to his mouth," said Martenstyne. But today Kevin can do more than lift his hand to his mouth: he can use cutlery to put food in his mouth and eat (hot spicy food at that!), he can walk and he can play. What's more, Kevin can hum the whole song of Air Supply's I Was The Lonely One.

Reaching out to each other

Kevin may feel like he is the lonely one - this little family may feel like they are alone. But that is because few people know of their heartache and their tears. In their cosy little home, the trio huddle together, reaching out to each other for comfort.

Kevin is never allowed to be alone. His mother and his sister rally around him and care for his every need. Kevin indeed is the apple of their eye.

"He hits me sometimes and I want to hit him back," said his sister Natasha (12). "He shouts at me and I want to shout back at him. But instead I end up carrying him, comforting him, calming  and speaking out words of love to him," said this little girl who never stops kissing her little brother Kevin.

Kevin loves books, hippopotamus,' elephants, cats and dogs. He loves to read and tries his best to pronounce words.

"I am so anxious for Kevin. I have found out via the internet that there are about one million cases of Tuberous Sclerosis. I have also been told that each case is unique that the symptoms and signs differ from person to person. I wish to form an association with mothers of children afflicted with TS in Sri Lanka," said Martenstyne who wants to console and be consoled.

Worst fear

Kumari Martenstyne is  looking for medical guidance, support and help. Her fears are that of a mother for a child - the worst fear in this universe. She fears for Kevin and wants him well and safe. 

"Kevin has suffered far too much in his seven years. He has developed several kinds of seizures - from drop seizures where his neck drops, to scary seizures where he begins to scream during the seizure, without any reason. He has also suffered from seizures which cause him to stare at his palm during the seizure and to stare continuously  at glaring lights during the seizure.." said Martenstyne in tears.

Kevin Martenstyne is on anti epileptic drugs and continues to be his mother's greatest hope and joy.

Attending a school called the RCCI in Nawala, where he is showered with love, Kevin has emerged a hero among his teachers. "The teachers at RCCI in Nawala are doing a wonderful job and I am so thankful to them for what they are doing for my son," said Martenstyne. 

Kumari Martenstyne has debunked cold and clinical medical assessments and advise to give up on Kevin.

Parents of special children may have often been told that their children will not be able to perform up to the mark. But parents who bury such advise and continue to nurse and nurture their children with  affection, devotion and care know of the miracles that love can bring.

Kevin Martenstyne is such an example. "If we  let go, then everybody let's go. Mothers don't give up on their children," said Martenstyne with determination, yet in tears.

The joys that special children bring to their parents is special in every way. Their abilities, words, songs and gestures reach out to mothers in a way that is far more touching than the everyday gestures of other children.

Special happiness

Special children bring a special happiness - and what can bring a human being more happiness than to experience little miracles happening at home everyday.

Kumari Martenstyne is calling out to other mothers with children afflicted with Tuberous Sclerosis to contact her so that they reach out to each other during times of distress. Kumari Martenstyne not only expects help and medical guidance, but also has hopes of forming an association with mothers of children afflicted with this rare genetic disorder called Tuberous Sclerosis.  Her telephone number is 0714899788.

The waste that is Galle Face

By Shezna Shums

Galle Face Green is the place where thousands used to go for some relaxation, recreation and a walk along the sea front.

Of late however this beautiful sea front and the green have been declared out of bounds to the public.

According to a Defence Ministry directive the Galle Road stretch from Galle Face Green to the Hilton junction in Fort remains closed except for the few vehicles plying to the hotels and offices near the old Parliament building.

Ministry decision

The Traffic Division of Police Headquarters said that the Defence Ministry had taken this decision for "security reasons." This decision by the Defence Ministry has resulted in the common man being deprived of his favourite haunt, the vast green, to relax and enjoy the cool breeze that blows across the length and breath of the place.

This is the first time that Galle Face Green has been declared out of bounds to the public on a permanent basis. Not too long ago it was the meeting place for both the man from Mahiyangana and Cinnamon Gardens. In the evenings and going late into the night, the place would be packed with people of all ethnicities who would converge there with family and friends to enjoy themselves, so much so that finding a spot to park one's vehicle would be quite an ordeal.

The area has today become an extension of the adjacent army headquarters with the place crawling with security personnel. The atmosphere is so intimidating that anyone will think twice before venturing to even one of the hotels in the vicinity.

The green was a place where children and adults could indulge in a game of cricket or football, families and friends from distant places could enjoy a picnic, or even take a stroll munching boiled gram, peanuts or enjoy an ice cream cone off the many ice cream vans that park there or just laze around.

Another pastime was flying kites. From early evening till after sunset colourful kites could be seen gently swaying skyward - a sight that added myriad colours to the skyscape.

Deserted

Sadly, now there are no kites to be seen; no children running around or adults taking a stroll, nor are there any friendly games being placed. The green has become a ghost land. 

The Galle Face Green is one more place that has literally been cordoned off by a fence blocking it from the public, adding it to the many other places that have been declared taboo to the citizens.

Colombo has very few parks that the public can make use of and recreation now comes at a price. The Galle Face Green was a one of a kind place where everyone could have a spot of fun and not burn a hole in the pocket for even the tasty snacks that many vendors had for sale were priced at affordable rates.

The other negative aspect is that the hundreds of vendors who made a living by selling a range of tasty snacks, toys, kites and other items are now out of business resulting in many families being deprived of an income.

Deprived of income

Those who ran food stalls, those who sold balloons, kites, paper fans, inflated toys, gram, chips, peanut vendors, soft drink and ice cream vendors, and even those who sold trinkets and earned some money are now bereft of the income they derived from the sale of these items.

People even had paduru parties - bringing their own food and drinks to camp out in picnic style at night.  

Now nothing of that sort is possible.

It is the tax payers money that is used for the upkeep and maintenance of the Galle Face Green. By citing security reasons not only is the public deprived  of enjoying the green but many others are also deprived of their source of income. 

Despite the Galle Face Green looking lush and pleasing to the eye no one gets to enjoy the breeze that wafts from the Indian Ocean anymore.

Chapter 10

NU AT THE LSE

An extract from the book N.U. Jayawardena - The First Five Decades by Kumari Jayawardena and Jennifer Moragoda which was released recently.

The London School of Economics seems to prefer intense, committed, often workaholic scholars and public figures.

(Dahrendorf, 1995, History of the LSE, p.191)

NU's next big break came  in 1938, when aged 30, he received a scholarship and leave to pursue postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics (LSE) as an internal student. The government was in the early stages of setting up a new Commerce and Industry Department, and NU's superiors had selected him to undertake the special one-year course of training in Business Administration offered by the LSE, to make NU's services "more useful to the department."

He was expected to: "make a closer acquaintance with modern business methods and to acquire training in practical commerce" (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files).

In his admission application, NU stated that he was interested in acquiring "a close acquaintance with the foreign marketing of primary agricultural products;" and that the Sri Lankan government would make arrangements with the recently established Colonial Empire Marketing Board to enable NU to familiarise himself with their marketing surveys. His special interest was the marketing of "oil seeds," since Sri Lanka was the leading exporter of copra and coconut oil (Letter to Prof. Arnold Plant, Jan 18 , 1938).

LSE records indicate that NU received a scholarship of œ300 for the year as well as half-pay as an allowance. The cost of the course was œ30. Whereas his leave was for one year, NU provisionally sought permission to extend his studies for a further year. With his sights set high - as they always were - he had ideas of completing a Ph.D. in two years if the LSE allowed it.

Strict rules

For NU, this would not have seemed an unusual goal. However, there were strict rules and he was advised that he could apply for the M.Sc. degree concurrently with the Business Administration course - which he did. He also had not given up his ambition of obtaining a law degree. Accordingly, NU almost immediately sought and obtained permission from the LSE to register and study for the (London) Bar examinations.

NU's selection for the special Business Administration course was fortuitous. His theoretical and practical exposure to business and commercial studies at the LSE would equip him for the second half of his life as a business and financial entrepreneur.

The opportunity to study at the LSE as an internal student gave him the chance to devote himself to his studies without the added pressures of work and family commitments, and to attend lectures by eminent economists and social scientists (some of whose works he had already read for his B.Sc. (Econ.) degree).

A great opportunity

 Furthermore, to attend a prestigious university and to make use of its facilities, while living in London - a commercial and an intellectual hub - was for him a great opportunity.

NU arrived in Britain in September 1938 for the LSE term that began in October and ended in June 1939.

This was NU's first experience as a full-time student, and the excitement he felt at that prospect is not hard to imagine. His period in London was to have a profound effect on his intellectual life and professional career.

As part of the process of setting up the Department of Commerce and Industry, the Sri Lankan government had recently established Trade Commissions abroad, one of which was located at "Ceylon House" in London at 28 Cockspur Street, SW1, which served as NU's mailing address.

The LSE

The London School of Economics and Political Science, better known as the LSE, and a part of the University of London, was founded in 1895 by a group of Fabian socialists, notably Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw.

The LSE aimed to provide a theoretical understanding of the political economy of Britain and the world that could also be of use to the emerging labour movement in Britain, where there was plenty of action. Trade union militancy had developed rapidly in Britain from the 1880s onwards; and the Labour Party, formed in 1906, was composed of Fabian socialists, along with representatives of the trade unions and the cooperative movement.

The older universities of Oxford and Cambridge were elitist, and mainly geared to the humanities, classics and philosophy, with a strong emphasis on sports. They had their ancient buildings and chapels, rivers, boat races, lawns, and historic rituals.

These universities had traditionally produced the 'mandarins' who would rule Britain and its colonies. In contrast to such 'ivory towers' and bastions of privilege, the LSE was down-to-earth, non-elitist, and an urban institution that reflected the shifting needs of the times.

'Cultivated' gentlemen

As society and the economy became more complex and industrialised, a broad classics-based education, to produce 'cultivated' gentlemen to help run governments, was no longer adequate. There was a growing need for specialisation and applied knowledge, as governments began to administer and build new and more complex political and economic institutions.

Max Weber, the pioneer sociologist, noted this clash of the two approaches to education: the first being the traditional approach, of which "the goal consisted of 'the quality of a man's bearing in life,' which was considered cultivated;" and the modern view, which valorised "specialised training for expertness" (Weber, 1948, p.243).

The 1930s and 1940s were the period when this transition became more solidified, even in the colonies; and after his return from the LSE, NU, who exemplified the "specialist type of man," would soon incur the resentment of the older type of "cultivated man" in the bureaucracy.

The LSE seemed an ideal place for a person with NU's qualifications, outlook and work experience. It was policy-oriented and had new courses in sociology, political science, business, commerce, and other subjects, such as statistics, not taught in the longer-established universities.

As a "total institution," it had a certain vibrancy - one entered it in the morning and left at night. Apart from lectures, tutorials and discussions, students could use the library and canteen, attend lunchtime dances, participate in student societies, and listen to guest speakers - including British and foreign politicians, and from the colonies, agitators for independence.

Attractions and distractions

Outside the LSE complex, students were part of the capital city of London, with its several attractions and distractions - political, social and cultural. The LSE was in the 'heart' of London, within walking distance of a cluster of historic monuments and institutions, such as the BBC, the Bank of England and commercial banks (Threadneedle Street), newspaper offices (Fleet Street),  the Law Courts, Bloomsbury, the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, the House of Commons, the theatres of the West End, the multi-ethnic restaurants of Soho, and the great bookshops (notably Foyles) on Charing Cross Road.

Supported by grants and bequests, the LSE developed as a part of the London University and developed a character of its own.

The LSE motto was "Rerum cognoscere causas" (To know the cause of things), and it had as its logo, a beaver - an animal that burrows.

"The School" (as it was known) attracted teachers in the newer disciplines of economics and political science, and became associated with many famous and controversial names - which added to its attraction for students. LSE's director from 1920 to 1937 was Lord William Beveridge - the author of the Beveridge Report, which launched the welfare state in Britain after World War II.

Ralf Dahrendorf, who served as Director from 1974 to 1984 (and became author of the authoritative history of the LSE), states that it did not exactly "invent" the social sciences, but "brought them together like no other university in Europe (and) led them to full bloom in all their variety" (Dahrendorf, 1995, p.vii).

Internationalism

The diversity of the LSE was partly due to its internationalism, which was "one of its greatest strengths" and "widened the horizons of hundreds of students and many young members of staff" (ibid, p.223).

Moreover, in the 1930s the LSE benefited from the flight of European scholars escaping Fascism, who injected "a new energy" into the university (ibid, p.296).

According to economist Harry Johnson, the "essential thing" about the LSE was that it was "the one centre of economic teaching and research" in Britain that was "genuinely international:" .it is not merely an established British university that allows itself the luxury of a few foreign staff-members and students for the sake of variety and balance, but a world university that tries both to keep in touch with whatever of intellectual importance is going on elsewhere in the world, and to admit to its scholarly fellowship students of quality whatever their origin may be. (Johnson, quoted in Dahrendorf, p.223)

In the LSE of the 1920s and 1930s, the Department of Economics was renowned and "acted as a magnet for bright students from many parts of the world" (Dahrendorf, p.215). There were African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and North and South American students at the LSE - many of them eventually becoming eminent politicians, bureaucrats, university teachers or diplomats in their countries.

Among them in the 1930s were Krishna Menon, N.M. Perera, R.N. Haksar, Doreen Wickremasinghe, and B.K. Nehru. NU would have known many such students at the LSE, for as B.K. Nehru (later an Indian diplomat) remarked, "foreign students tend to form their own groups for they are all homeless and rootless and friendless" (ibid, p.190).

A remarkable diversity

The LSE possessed a remarkable diversity in terms of race and class, in contrast to the privileged old universities. B.K. Nehru commented on its "pervasive atmosphere of learning" and the "absence of distractions" (ibid, p.185). Kingsley Martin (editor of New Statesman), who studied at LSE, found it "a wonderful home of free discussion, happily mixed races, and genuine learning" (ibid, p.187).

According to Dahrendorf, the LSE "did not necessarily produce well-rounded personalities," as it seemed to attract committed single-minded and hard-working scholars and public figures (ibid, p.191). He also remarks that:

Real life was never far away. LSE was. more serious and also more seriously cherished by its students even if they were desperately poor or felt that their 'delight' was almost outweighed by 'drudgery'. The school produced a particular frame of mind. (ibid, p.301, emphasis added)

Unlike the prestigious universities, many poor students attended the LSE, and others doing daytime jobs followed the evening classes.

Against all odds

"Some students were poor, very poor," Dahrendorf wrote, and also noted that it hurt to read how "Nell McGregor worked her way out of a Manchester working-class family in the middle of the depression to the LSE. (and) got her degree on tea and buns and baked potatoes and not much else" (ibid, p.299). NU would have empathised with the problems of such students, who struggled against all odds to pursue their studies, much like he himself had once done.

Years later, in a taped interview, NU would recall walking from one end of London to the other and being struck by the contrasts of wealth and poverty he encountered along the way.

A student's assessment of the LSE around the time that NU was there, was that, "the closed mind was alien to everything about the LSE" (ibid, p.299).

The LSE economists regarded themselves as "the centre of the school, if not the universe" (ibid, p.298). Some of the great lecturers were described as "spell-binders," "great showmen" with "beautiful speaking voices" (ibid, p.297).

The Economics Department

In the 1930s, the LSE, which had started with a social-democratic vision, veered to the right in economics and to the left in political science, whereas the older Cambridge University ironically absorbed the left-inclined economists.

Controversies raged between LSE and Cambridge on the respective virtues of the 'free market' and of the Keynesian model (ibid, p.219). In "the second dispute between London and Cambridge," the chief interest was "the way to combat (the Depression of 1929), by deflation or by expanding public expenditure" (ibid, p.218).

NU, who had lived through the Depression and also written about it, would have been avidly reading about these debates, and he almost certainly gravitated more towards the LSE viewpoint. These debates and polemics (and quarrels) of the 1930s were a "turbulent episode in the history of economics" (ibid, p.217). The issues were "broad, including methodology, theory, policy, ideology, and the role of the economist in public life" (ibid, p.218). Since politics was ever present at the LSE, these 'great debates' reflected a political divide.

Robbins and Hayek

Lionel Robbins and Friedrich von Hayek formed the bulwark in the LSE of traditional liberalism against Keynesian interventionism and socialism, which were the dominant creeds of the day. Robbins was head of the Economics Department.

He was born in 1898 in a village near London, the son of a market-gardener who was a "liberal activist" and "strict Baptist." He used to cycle five miles to a local school. In 1920 he entered the LSE as a student, and was later appointed to the staff.

In 1929 he became Professor of Economics (Dahrendorf, p.214). By all accounts, he was a fine teacher, known for his "great seminar in economic theory" (ibid). Students doing other courses sat in at his seminar - and not to have attended it, was said to be as bad as not having been at the LSE (S.B.D de Silva, 2007, personal communication).

The philosophy and theories of Friedrich von Hayek, whom Robbins invited to join the department in 1931, would make one of the most significant impacts on the discipline of economics and economic policy. He was an ‚migr‚ economist, formerly a citizen of the collapsed Austro-Hungarian Empire, and belonged to the Austrian School of Economics.

Gained ascendance

Though scoffed at by mainstream economists at the time, his ideas gained ascendance in the 1980s, half a century later. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974, and is best known for his book on the dangers of central planning, The Road to Serfdom (1944). He came from a family of biologists, and was second cousin to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. As a young man serving in the army during World War I, he had felt the "compulsion to find an answer to 'the burning question' of how to build a 'juster society'" (Yergin, 1998, p.123).

 According to Hayek: The desire to reconstruct society led many of us to the study of economics. Socialism promised to fulfil our hopes for a more rational, more just world. (it was) almost inevitable... (that any) warm-hearted person, as soon as he becomes conscious of the existing misery, should become a socialist. (ibid, pp.125-26)

As an Austrian, however, his direct experience with the hyperinflation that occurred in his country after World War I, alerted him to its dangers. Hayek was wary of state interference and believed the open-market system was the most effective means, not only of promoting individual freedom, but also of regulating demand and supply - or as pithily summed up by the US economist Larry Summers, many years later - the "invisible hand was better than the hidden hand" (ibid, p.132).

ÿHayek thought of the price system as being "nothing less than a marvel."  His main contention against Keynesian interventionism and other centrist approaches was that information was lacking about markets to enable planners to adjust them. Later, Hayek became "increasingly apprehensive about what he saw as the advance of collectivism, central planning and Keynesian interventionism" (ibid, p.125).

The famed Keynes-Hayek debates that took place between Cambridge and the LSE today still shape the two major schools of economic thought regarding the merits of the welfare state versus a market-controlled economy. The LSE's influence upon modern economics became the basis of the modern perceptions of free-market economics, with an influence almost around the globe.

Business Administration

While the courses at the LSE were mainly 'academic,' the university also provided some that were of an applied and practical nature in business and commercial subjects. One of these was the special course in Business Administration, which NU followed in 1938.

The Business Administration Department was set up in 1931, somewhat on the lines of the Harvard Business School programme. Both universities took a less traditional, more hands-on approach to education, centred around 'case studies.' The course at LSE involved study tours of, and internships with, British business firms, government departments and similar organisations, and discussions led by business leaders.

The LSE Business Administration course was unique in Britain at this time, and was a precursor to the MBA (Masters in Business Administration). Competition to enrol in it was high, with entry restricted to 20 students per year. NU was the first Asian to be admitted to the programme after its inception in 1931 (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files). It involved an amazing range and number of subjects: Business Relations, Business Finance, Cost and Marketing Problems of Manufacturers, Cost and Marketing Problems of Distributors, Business Statistics, Management Accounting, Industrial Psychology and Personnel Management, and included factory visits.

Students were also required to attend other lectures in Business Administration and in Economic Principles. The course was a "full session of daytime study" extending over 29 weeks (Pamphlet of the Dept. of Business Administration, Session 1939-40, p.6).

NU recorded that he visited many factories and firms, "with a view to studying their systems of business organisation, personnel management and factory administration." These included well known companies of the time such as the Ford Motor Co., Harrods, Lyon's, and Metal Box. He also visited the Colonial Office, Department of Overseas Trade, and Colonial Empire Markets Board.

Students of the Business Studies course had full access to LSE's facilities, including the library and membership of the Students' Union. The faculty was composed of eminent teachers - and its head was Arnold Plant, Professor of Commerce and Business Administration, "an outstanding teacher" in Economics (Dahrendorf, p.205).

Students of  Business Studies also had access to the lectures of other distinguished economists and statisticians in this 'heroic age' of the LSE. They included, besides Robbins and Hayek, F.W. Paish, Vera Anstey, A.M. Carr-Saunders, Professor R.H. Tawney (famed for his classic book Religion And The Rise Of Capitalism), and many more illustrious persons.

Teachers from other disciplines whose lectures attracted students were Harold Laski (Political Science), A.J. Toynbee (International History), Morris Ginsberg (Sociology), B. Malinowski (Anthropology), Karl Manheim (Sociology) and Ivor Jennings (English Law) (Calendar of the LSE 1938-39, pp.24-29). The latter deserves special mention because of the important role he was to play in Sri Lanka's university and constitutional affairs.

Jennings came to Sri Lanka during the war in 1941 to serve as the Principal of Ceylon University College, and was instrumental in setting up the universities in Colombo and later, Peradeniya. He also served as the chief legal advisor to Oliver Goonetilleke, and played a major role in helping substantially in drafting the Soulbury Constitution of independent Sri Lanka. Among the younger lecturers at LSE of the time who later became eminent in their fields were R.G.D. Allen (Statistics), R.W. Firth and M. Fortes (Anthropology), Dudley Stamp (Geography), and H. Finer (Public Administration).

NU deepened his interest in economic theory during his period at LSE, benefiting from the lectures and seminars of eminent economists and social scientists, and from the ongoing debates on economic theory and policy. He also widened his experience through his contact with students from different countries.

The LSE library contained a vast collection of nearly three quarters of a million books and journals in the social sciences (Pamphlet of the Dept. of Business Administration, Session 1939-40, p.23).

NU, whose love of books dated from his early school days, when he used the Library and Reading Room of St. Aloysius' College, would have been in his element there. One can imagine the delight and wonder that NU would have felt at having this world of knowledge laid out before him.

As mentioned earlier, during NU's stay in London he perhaps for the first time felt a measure of freedom. His correspondence from this period shows that, while he was trying to make maximum use of this time to advance in his studies, he also took time off to visit new places. During the holidays, he travelled to Cornwall, as well as to Switzerland, where he went during his summer break. But the changing events in Europe brought his stay to a sudden end.

London politically tense

With war looming on the horizon in the wake of the rise of fascism, London became a politically tense city. After the declaration of war against Nazi Germany in September 1939, the situation changed irrevocably. As a precaution, LSE temporarily moved its campus to Cambridge. Although there was no bombing of London or fighting for the rest of that year, foreign students, for fear of becoming stranded, quickly prepared to return home.

In spite of the danger, NU desired to stay on at LSE in Cambridge for the 1939/40 term. The Colonial Office initially had no objection, but in early October 1939, it wrote a letter to LSE informing them that NU should return "as soon as possible." He was in Switzerland at the time this letter arrived, and could not immediately find his way back to London - he had a problem about obtaining a visa from the French authorities. However, by December 1939, he managed to obtain passage to Colombo.

The family back home

While NU had been in England at the LSE, Gertrude with their children, Lal aged four and Nimal aged two, moved to Colombo from Lunawa (their daughter, Neiliya would be born in the year following NU's return to Colombo). Gertrude, the boys and their nanny stayed in a guest house called "Killarney" in Kollupitiya.

Lal attended his first school, St. Clares' - also popularly known after its principal, Ruth Marshall, as "Miss Marshall's School." In the evenings, the family went to Victoria Park (Vihara Maha Devi Park), which had swings and other equipment for children to play on. NU's sister, Rosalind, was close to Gertrude, and when NU went to Britain, Gertrude spent a day or two at Rosalind's home in Ratmalana to observe sil for poya. Rosalind's daughter, Chandrani (born 1930), dressed in white, accompanied Gertrude to the temple. After NU's return, as he moved up in his career, the family rented a house on Police Park Avenue.

It would not have been easy for a young mother with two infant sons to cope on her own. NU recalling this period years later, remarked that:

'I did not realise how much I had neglected my family in those distant days while I studied and fully spent my time at the London School of Economics.' (Roshan Peiris, Sunday Observer, December 13, 1987)

A great support to Gertrude was the nanny who worked for her, Jane Cornelia Atale, a Eurasian Christian, who was a widow. Atale came to work for the Jayawardenas before the birth of the elder boy Lal, and stayed with the family long after Neiliya (the youngest in the family) was married. Born around 1880, her father was a British planter, and like many Eurasian 'orphans' she was brought up in a Catholic convent.

Fluent in English, she had worked as a nanny for a planting family - the Ogilvys - and also at the 'House of Joy,' an orphanage in Talava run by a missionary, Evelyn Kearney. Atale had also been a hospital attendant. She was married to a Sinhala employee in the Prisons Department and had two daughters.

She was a strong presence in the Jayawardena household, helping to bring up the three children, who were greatly attached to her. Neiliya recalls that she was the only one able to calm NU down when he lost his temper. Atale never left the Jayawardenas, until her death in 1970, aged 90, at the home of Nimal.

A crucial phase in NU's life began after this brief interlude in London as a student. The war and postwar years in Sri Lanka were when NU's talents as an economist and an administrator would be increasingly recognised and utilised to the fullest.

Colombo's only General Manageress says the  hotel is her second home

By Ranee Mohamed

Tilomi Nanayakkara does not feel out of place dressed in a saree amidst the coats and ties. In fact she says that she feels she can do the work of a general manager even better than any of her male counterparts in star class hotels in and around Colombo.

"It has not been easy," she says as coat-clad hotel employees line outside her room waiting for instructions and guidance. "It has been a long trek up here to this position. I have worked for three years at the Taj as sales executive and then became assistant sales manager. Thereafter I trained at Taj Conimara and Caramental in Chennai. It is after 10 years at the Taj Group that I am here as the general manager of Global Towers," said General Manager Tilomi Nanayakkara.

Settle fights

Nanayakkara who toured Italy and Germany says that she has never known fear and uncertainty. "There are times when as the General Manager I have to settle fights. These 'drinking fights' have all been dispersed with a smile when possible," said Tilomi and went on to say that when it required a tough stance, then she has to be tough.

An old girl of St. Bridget's Convent, Nanayakkara says that she is very proud of her position in Colombo's hotel industry today.

"At most times I am required to do it with a smile and it is easy to do things with a smile. But this does not mean that it is easy to keep smiling when a guest is angry," she said, recalling difficult guests she has encountered in her career.

"Global Towers has approximately 146 rooms and 54 apartments. It has a 24 hour restaurant and 24 hour room service, with a pastry shop, spa and gym. I have to ensure that there is smooth functioning of all these sections. Global Towers will mark its fourth anniversary on  August 20," said GM Nanayakkara.

Happening place

"A hotel is a very happening place. There are many different kinds of guests. And we all have to learn to respect guests and their relationships. Global Towers is set in a very romantic corner near the beach and this means that we have quite a bit of romance here and it is up to us to ensure that the privacy of our guests are protected. No one has the right to question the relationship of guests and a man and a woman can enjoy the company of each other and there is no law to stop that," elaborated General Manager Tilomi Nanayakkara.

Nanayakkara who spends many hours both in the morning and in the late evening doing 'rounds' said that running a hotel is somewhat similar to running a house. "To me running Global Towers is like running a huge palace. When I wake up in the morning I ensure that my house is run properly with the kitchen and housekeeping departments in order. And when I come to work, I have to ensure that the kitchen and the housekeeping here too runs smoothly," said Nanayakkara.

It is not unusual to see Nanayakkara clad in saree doing a round at the bar as the men  continue to drink their liquor and watch a match. In fact, Nanayakkara says that she has given much thought to making the hotel a comfortable place for people to come and watch sports and enjoy a drink.

"I have always dedicated my life to my family and my job. After my husband sacrificed his life for the sake of his motherland, I have picked up the pieces and learnt to go on. It is his sense of dedication that is inculcated in me and my two young children," said Nanayakkara, whose husband was a squadron leader of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

The best

"I want to do a good job here and make this hotel 'simply the best.' I am not so interested in the stars, but I want Global Towers to be different, to be talked about.and my staff too are dedicated towards this cause. I have to direct and guide 150 staff members and I must admit that I am quite strict with them," she smiled.

Celebrating three Golds  - 'Soul Sounds in Concert'

Soul Sounds, the premiere Sri Lankan all female vocal ensemble, needs no introduction both to the Sri Lankan audience as well as their fans all around the world. They have captivated audiences wherever they have sung, especially in Australia, India and China.

Directed by musician Soundarie David this choir has been the first to set standards for other choirs to follow. Their vision and dream have been to showcase Sri Lanka to the rest of the world in the realm of music. Their latest achievement has been winning three Gold medals in the open categories of Gospel and Spiritual, Popular Choral Music, and Folklore categories at the World Choir Games in Austria.

To celebrate their win and to give Sri Lankan audiences a taste of what they experienced in Austria last month, the choir will be holding a concert titled  'Soul Sounds In Concert' on August 20 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre at 7.30 pm.

Achievements

With two international tours, two prestigious competitions, one festival, one international record that reached No. 4 in the UK charts, together with two local CDs  this choir has achieved a lot in a short duration of just four years. What sets them apart from the rest is their versatility, their determination, their drive to achieve the impossible, and most importantly their music, coupled with shear enthusiasm.

This time in Graz, the choir competed in some of the toughest categories, namely in the open categories. To achieve a Gold medal in these categories is not an easy task. Soundarie David, being the only appointed Council Member at the World Choir Games Council, is well versed with how the system works.

According to statistics, the category that draws the most number of entries is the folklore open category closely followed by other open categories. Marks are given on a technical evaluation as well as an artistic evaluation. Soul Sounds scored high marks on both these criteria. They are currently ranked at No.18 among the top 50 gospel and popular music choirs in the world.

However to this group of intelligent and ambitious girls this means nothing compared to the experience they gathered, the friendships they made, the comments received from eminent conductors and members of the jury, and the smiles their singing brought to the faces of many in Austria.

Does country proud

Sri Lanka is indeed proud of these young girls for once again bringing glory to the country. On their way back from Austria, Soul Sounds gave a brilliant performance to Indian audiences in Delhi where they received a standing ovation.

On their return they were invited to perform for the SAARC delegates by the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, and once again they were ambassadors for the country. The group is sponsored by the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, Deutsche Bank, and the Dr. Earl De Fonseka Trust Fund.

The concert will feature their winning songs and is bound to be a treat to all those who have missed their concerts in the past.

'Champions Concert' of The Revelations

The Champions Concert of the Revelations sponsored by Seylan Bank and the Cinnamon Grand will be held on August 18 at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand, commencing 7.30 pm.

A spokesperson for The Revelations revealed that the concert comes as a result of a loud cry from so many sections of the public for them to perform when they returned from Austria. The Revelations won two championship categories, two Gold medals and a Silver medal at the recently concluded World Choir Games in Graz, Austria where 441 choirs from 93 countries competed for 28 categories of which only 26 were awarded. For Sri Lanka to win two of those is a great achievement by itself.

Children and choices

Last Tuesday, my friend had her first baby. At the age of 23, she had a baby boy.

She was the first friend I made on moving to Australia. Four years ago, she liked to go out to nightclubs and bars and do all the usual things most people my age seem to like doing. She and I always got on well mostly because she never cared that I didn't want to do half the things she did.

Four years later, she has a partner, a job and has bought a house. And a few days ago she had her first child. Four years later, I am still studying, still writing, unemployed and renting. Am I jealous? No. I like the way my life is going and she likes the way her life is going. What she and I both want out of life are completely different things at the moment.

What is odd is that weird feeling of things not seeming quite right somehow. I am older than her, she's in my age group and she is the first friend I know to have a child. Granted, quite a lot of people I was in the same grade with have already married and have had kids but this is someone I actually know. Where I will actually get to see them and the baby?

Disconcerting

I think what I am trying to say is that it is very disconcerting at first when (a) the rest of your friends your age are finishing university or working and just going out and partying every night and (b) you don't do all that but you are still pottering around and studying and working towards your own different goals and then suddenly (c) one of them gets pregnant, commits to her partner and buys a house together.

My best friend in New York is very different from my best friend in Australia and they are both very different from me. Trying to get used to that fact takes a little time even if you accept it quite easily.

But I think it is also indicative of something greater than just me figuring out that I am not necessarily the only odd one out at the moment. Both of my friends would not have been able to do what they choose to do had they not both been living the greater proportion of their lives in a society that enabled them to make such choices. The choices are there even if they aren't exactly the kind of choices we would like them to be.

For instance, my Australian friend can now get maternity leave to take care of her child for up to a year without losing her job. Unfortunately it isn't paid maternity leave. Someone said to me that there never is a right time to have a child - there will always be something that isn't quite as good as it should be.

With a mortgage, single income only for a year and the global economic state, it doesn't seem like a very good time to have a child. Children are expensive - food, health care, clothing, education. Everything does add up. But she made a choice to have a kid now just like her 25-year-old cousin made a choice to have three kids!

My age with three children? That is a bit scary.

Taking choices for granted

My American based friend has a choice too. She can now choose to live on her own as a single entity in that country and work in that country in careers that not very long ago employed only men. And she does. Living where she does means however that she has a very high cost of living and so she has to work several jobs to pay for things.

There are too many people in the world for whom chance works more than choice in terms of lifestyle. Maybe we take our choices for granted when we don't stop to think about the decisions we make before we make them.

Being born into this world is not something you can choose. Nor can you choose where, when and to whom you are born. You cannot predict the kind of start you will get in life at birth - whether you will be rich or poor. Whether you will have the opportunity to make choices. And perhaps we should be mindful of the fact that quite a lot of people don't get to make the same choices that we do. Maybe we can't change that fact for them but perhaps we could make better choices, more responsible ones.

I haven't planned out my life like some of my friends have. I can't tell if or when I will have children. But I think I'd like all my friends to teach their children to think about the choices they make and to be a little bit more conscious about their impact in the world than their parents and grandparents have been.

- Marisa Wikramanayake