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THE GOOD THE BAD THE BITTER AND THE SWEET – by Bernard VanCuylenburg Life in the Boarding taught us from an early age to take the good and the bad, taste the bitter and the sweet, and face life squarely and stand our ground. When we left College, we were well rounded human beings (hopefully !) equipped to give life our best shot, no matter where the road of life took us. Sadly, that road took us in different directions and on leaving College, little did we realize that we would never see some of our childhood friends again. True to the script, destiny took us to lands far away, and most may have lost touch with our fellow boarders and schoolmates as the years passed. This email I’m afraid is not all peaches and cream, because I have detailed below a list of Antonians, I knew who have departed this life. ...

Jul 20, 2021 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, Mr.Miller., THE GOOD THE BAD, Tissaweerasinghe

NIGHT OF TERROR DAWN OF HOPE. – By Bernard VanCuylenburg PROLOGUE Please note that the names of the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent in this story are pseudonymns used for reasons of journalistic propriety. The officer in Charge of the Maskeliya Police Station at the time Mr.Ivan Boteju, a star athlete and an old boy of St.Anthony’s College Kandy, passed away about fifteen years ago. The name of the plantation too has been substituted by a pseudonym. The shades of night began to fall when the sun said ‘goodbye’ to the mountains. Then the mists began rolling in, embracing the landscape of green tea in its mantle, and another busy day on this large tea plantation was ensconced in the bosom of the nights stygian darkness. In his large estate bungalow a young Assistant Superintendent Tony Richards then a bachelor, settled down to his usual routine. Pouring himself a stiff ...

Aug 4, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, Ivan Boteju, Mr.Dunsmore, St.Anthony’s College, Tony Richards Comments 0

GLORY DAYS : THE LEGEND THAT WAS TOM DEEN.- By Bernard VanCuylenburg The legend that was Tom Deen had its genesis on the playing fields of St. Anthony’s College Kandy, when he first attended cricket practice for the Under 12 team. Thus began a fairy tale when in no time this promising youngster graduated to the Under 14 team before one could say “How’s that?” in cricketing parlance ! Following this meteoric rise, he was called for practice for the Under 16 side. You guessed correctly……he had hardly taken his middle at the batting crease in the Under 16 team, when he received the call to attend practices for the first eleven side. And there the tremendous potential of this legend came to life when the powers that be soon realized they had a fast bowler the likes of which had not been seen at St.Anthony’s for a long time. At ...

May 5, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, Saliya Doranegama Comments 0

A MEMORY OF MURDER By Bernard vanCuylenburg From serial killers to celebrity victims, sensational murder cases tend to grab one’s collective imagination and just wont let go. In the past I wrote some articles about famous murder cases of English planters on the tea estates. The first was about the murder of Mr.John Frank Whitehouse, the Superintendent on Madampe Group Ratnapura in 1949 in the article titled “Tales from the Thotum”. The second, was the article “Murder at Midnight” which was about the murder of Mr.George Pope the Superintendent on Stellenberg Estate Pupuressa in 1941, and the third, “Murder around the Bend” was regarding the murder of a young Superintendent on Talgaswella Estate, Galle, Mr.Roger Blumer in 1939. In the first story titled TALES FROM THE THOTUM, I also briefly dealt with the murder of Mr.Geoffreys, the Superintendent on Kenilworth Estate Ginigathena by his chief clerk I believe in the late ...

Apr 23, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Kitulamulla Patana, Talgaswella Estate, Victor Melder Comments 0

THE LIAM DODDRELL STORY – A SAGA OF CRICKETING BRILLIANCE – By Bernard VanCuylenburg Since his prodigious feats with bat and ball at the tender age of six on his home turf of St.Clair in Sydney, Liam Doddrell is a name that has been attracting wide attention for lovers of cricket over the years. Following my articles about Liam a few years ago when the cricketing world sat up and took notice of this promising youngster while the press eulogized his prowess out in the middle, it appears that this consummate young cricketer has the potential to make the jump to senior international cricket today. It wont be wrong to surmise that this could be his next big move. His meticulous and promising talent, his skill in every aspect of the game, his precision with bat and ball which is free – flowing and very easy on the eye, and his ...

Apr 17, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Covid 19, Liam Doddrell, National Cricket Carnival Comments 0

A WORLD OF FRIENDS – By Cam Lucadou – Wells The following article was published in THE DANDENONG STAR JOURNAL of the 31st March 2020.(ref:https://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/entertainment/2020-03-23/a-world-of-friends/ The well travelled Bernard VanCuylenburg’s worldly interests dont only span five languages but millenia of history. For two decades, the 76 year old multi linguist has volunteered as an English language tutor for migrants and new arrivals at the AMES School in Dandenong. His students have landed from as far away as Afghanistan, China, Sudan, and Vietnam. Each a window to history and culture, each a friend to Bernard. Such is his dedication, he learned Mandarin – thanks to AMES in recent years, to better support some of his Chinese students. “You get more than you give because you meet many different cultures”, Bernard says of his role as a Volunteer Tutor. “They have got so much to teach you It is a ...

Apr 2, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged ANTHONY'S COLLEGE in Kandy, Tullamarine International Airport Comments 0

THE GLORY DAYS OF ANTHONIAN CRICKET – BY Bernard VanCuylenburg It seems that we are reliving the glory days of Anthonian cricket thanks to Tilak and now Frankie Amerasinghe, who have taken us back to that great College by the mighty Mahaveli where “we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun” to quote the lines from a hit song of yesteryear. Recently Tilak and Frankie sent me interesting information of cricket in the mid fifties which I am forwarding to you. I am sure it will be appreciated by cricket enthusiasts and all true blue Anthonians. ...

Mar 25, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged and Ananda, Anthonian cricket, Dharmarajah, Frankie Amerasinghe, Kingswood, St.Josephs, St.Peters, Trininity vs Antonian Cricket Comments 0

STRANGE BUT TRUE – THE UNWELCOME VISITOR – By Bernard VanCuylenburg. As an introduction to the crux of this story, I have to part the veil of time and go back to the early sixties in Ceylon, when a friend of mine and I went to the Trio Cinema in Slave Island to watch what was then rated as one of the best horror movies of its time – “Cult of the Cobra”. Directed by Francis D.Lyon, this film was about six GI’s stationed in India, secretly photographing the arcane rituals of a group of Cobra worshippers ! In the film which the GI’ s were making, the bizarre climax was that some of the cult worshippers participating in these rituals turn themselves into snakes ! What was more horrifying was the High Priest of this cult of snake worshippers, catching the GI’s red handed in the act ...

Jan 5, 2020 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, Francis D.Lyon, Snakes Comments 0

MURDER ROUND THE BEND – By Bernard VanCuylenburg A beautiful city with a fortified Dutch Fort, world heritage site buildings, fine beaches with broad expanses of silver sand, and restaurants and hotels to cater to the most fastidious tourist is what comes to mind when one thinks of Galle. All this and more is what the discerning traveller will experience when visiting this port city. One conjures up visions of a land with all the charm of the South – the ubiquitous coconut palms, fishing, soaking up the sun on a sun kissed beach,and savouring the delights of a tourist haven. But Galle is not the focus of this article. In the spotlight today is a township known to residents of the area but not very familiar to the wider world, which lies in the district of Galle called Talgaswella. Talgaswella is situated twelve miles from Galle. Travelling ...

Nov 30, 2019 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Dutch Fort, Jak Tree Bungalow, Madampe Group Rakwana, Mr.John Frank, Talgaswella Comments 0

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT – By Bernard VanCuylenburg In May 1941, the Nuwaraeliya district was rocked by the news of the dastardly murder of the Superintendent on Stellenberg Estate Pupuressa, Mr.George Pope. In an article which I wrote about ten years ago titled “Tales from the Thotum” I wrote about this crime in detail. I subsequently changed the title to “Marked for Murder”. His murder, the quick work by the police in arresting the accused, and the subsequent trial which followed which was heard by one of the most eminent judges of the time Justice Soertsz, made its way into criminal records as one of the most dramatic and brutal murders of the time. Seventy seven years later, the aftermath of this crime still casts a dark shadow particularly on Stellenberg estate, and its memory lives on in the minds of some retired labourers of an older generation as ...

Nov 20, 2019 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, Pope negotiating, Sinne Muniyandy, Victor Melder Comments 0