Felicitation event for Dr Harold Gunatillake OAM – By Ajith Karunaratne, Sydney Australia
Dr Harold Gunatillake and Mrs Ira Gunatillake have been living in Australia for quite some time and are well known in Sydney and in fact across many parts of Australia.
Dr Gunatillake has been a selfless individual who has served the Sri Lankan and Australian communities, providing a multitude of services including the medical advice provided to the community.
In recognition for these services, Dr Gunatillake was recently awarded the Order of Australia (OAM).
As the Sri Lankan community in New South Wales, it was just as important for us to recognise such an individual. Dr Lakshman Jayaweera was the initiator of an idea to hold a Felicitation Event for Dr Harold Gunatillake. Dr Jayaweera together with an organising team comprised of Niranjan De Alwis, Anoja De Alwis, Ramani Jayaweera and Kithsiri Karunaratne organised a Felicitation Function.
The Felicitation Function was organised on Friday 14th October, 2022 in the Pioneer Room at Castle Grand in Castle Hill.
As we walked into the Pioneer Room, it generated a delightful ambiance with the soft lighting, setting out of the tables and its decorations. It was so nice to see the multitude of colours around us with the guests wearing their beautiful evening dresses or sarees and the gents in their suits. We knew from the beginning that the night was set to deliver a wonderful evening with many surprises in store for each of us.
The evening started with the energetic and passionate MC for the night Chitran Duraisami making the opening announcements and welcoming all the guests to the event. The role of an MC is to make announcements during the event, however, not to dominate the event. Chitran certainly performed the role of the MC extremely well and allowed the guests to enjoy their company, music and meals and entertainment without being too intrusive.
Each table was comprised of approximately eight guests and were organised well and each of us at the table were able to enjoy one another’s company.
The night moved on with the entry to the room of the chief guests, Dr Harold Gunatillake and Mrs Ira Gunatillake. They were accompanied by two fantastic Kandyan dancers who performed a dance to Sri Lankan music played in the background. This part of the evening was well organised as Dr Harold Gunatillake and Mrs Ira Gunatillake were escorted to their table, with the audience entertained by the Kandyan dancers.
During the night we were entertained by a great live band Redemptions. The music performed by the band was very appropriate to the audience present as it varied from western to Sri Lankan Baila. The organisers had taken into consideration the volume and style of music suitable to the guests present and this was reflected by the audience’s participation throughout the night, including the ability for guests to be able to have a decent conversation, catching up with some people they had not seen for a long time.
During an occasion such as this, we needed to hear from an independent speaker who would be able to present to the guests an outline and summary of Dr Gunatillake’s works and efforts. On this occasion, we were entertained by two guest speakers, namely Mr Maithri Panagoda and Mrs Pauline Gunawardena. Both these speakers delivered eloquent speeches, which at times brought about some surprises which were unknown to the audience.
Such a function cannot be complete without a scrumptious meal. We were treated to a Sri Lankan style buffet meal by Siva of Blue Elephant, which catered to all palates of individuals. The meal started with several main course style dishes including meat, fish and vegetarian dishes and followed by a colourful array of deserts.
The night ended with Dr Harold & Mrs Ira Gunatillake dancing away to a waltz performed by the band Redemptions. This would have been to me a highlight of the evening as it encompassed the true purpose of the event as saying thank you to two lovely people whom the community had loved for may years. The last dance resonated with the theme of th evening and was a very fitting end to a wonderful evening form which each of us will remember the beautiful couple Dr Harold Gunatillake and Mrs Ira Gunatillake.
A slide show of photos from the event is provided below.
By Ajith Karunaratne, Sydney Australia
