“MANNY” by Des Kelly

Often, as this mad World rushes by, we tend to forget proud examples of “Personalities” who made our Country of Ceylon,(now Sri Lanka) very PROUD!.indeed.

E.C.T. (Manny) Candappa was one of these “Special Personalities”..

Manny was born in Ceylon in 1930, & “The kind spirit of the inky way”, as he was also known, died, in 2016, aged 86. I consider myself privileged to have known him personally, when both of us lived in Dandenong North, Melbourne.

For my readers of eLanka, & especially our Lankan/ Aussies, I hope you remember that, through no fault of our own, most of us were “blessed” with 3 (THREE) Christian names, followed by our Surname. Please do not ask me why, but there wasn’t anything we could do to stop our parents’ decision on this matter.

Emmanuel Christopher Thomas (Manny) was one of Ceylon’s most eminent & proficient personages who wielded a pen as newspaperman, author, playwright & broadcaster for more than 65 years.

As I remember, Manny also loved good music.. He was one of the most popular “scribes” at Lake House, Colombo, for fifty long years before migrating to Melbourne with his wife Yvonne & their 4 children.

Here, too, he became a well-known writer & editor of some of the most prestigious newspapers in Melbourne. Manny Candappa was indeed, one of the most exceptional “journos” in both Ceylon & his adopted Motherland, & when I visited him for the last time, I was so very touched when, after reliving many precious memories, he handed me his little book called “The First Born” & other poems, a book that I will cherish. Obviously, like me, Manny was also the “first-born”, a “poem” I am proud to publish on eLanka, together with a “video-clip” that fits this particular article.
I do not need to name the “Artiste” singing the song.

Just like Manny Candappa & someone, who is striving to emulate HIS superb writing, both of us loved the Country we were born in, & finally, this “story” is my dedication to a man we should never ever forget.

Manny Candappa, this is for you.
“The First Born” (by E.C.T. Candappa)
“I have walked this street at dawn, & have not known it,
I have walked this street at night, & have not known it,
That I have been a part of all the millions who have passed this street before me & the generations who will walk this way, when I shall walk no more, will have me by their side.
So, when the sky withdrew to overwhelm me,
I grew.less & less in time, & the crowded City,
was a lonely, gusty, place, & the wind & I were one”.
Beautiful sentiments from a great “writer”.

Desmond Kelly
Star of eLanka
(Editor-in-Chief)