OBITUARY – Dr GPLM De Silva ( 24 March 1935 – 21 Sep 2024 ) – By Hugh Karunanayake
It is with utmost sadness tha t I pa y this tribute to a dear friend I have been fortunate and privileged to know for the past 80years. GPLM were his initials but is better known to his friends as Lakshman. I met La kshman first as a ten year old enrolled in Form 1A in Royal College, in 1946. The school was still in temporary premises( the school buildings req uisitioned in 1941 for the war effort) and the lower school housed in Carlton Lodge, in Turret Road on the grounds of Turret House which was accommodatingb the Upper School.
Lakshman together with a few other boys came from Ladies College, whereas I was promoted togeter with about 80 % of the intake, from the Primary School of Royal College, then known as Royal Preparatory School. The cohort from the Prep School besides being large in numbers, knew each other well and tended to dominate classroom activities, socially. The boys from Ladies College not to be outdone also ganged up when necessa ry and they included the late Gamini Nanayakkara, Colin Abeysinghe,Bryan Wickremeratne, and Lakshman de Silva.The total intake was around 100 boys plus a few stragglers who were required to repeat from the pevious year.. There were three parallel forms and it was my destiny to be included in form 1A togther with L akshman and about 30 other boys, our Form master being Aubrey Collette the famed cartoonist.
Before joining Ladies College, Lakshman had studied in the Primary School of
Dharmarajah College, Kandy, where the Buddhist educational environment had got a deep seated hold on him. He was a great believer in the philosophy of Buddhism which he tried to emulate right through his like. A man of high principles he never seemed to waver from the straight and narrow path ahead. Lakshman’s father David de Silva a lawyer, and an old Royalist to boot, I suspect, saw Lakshman as the one in the family to ‘rise above the rest’!
There were many good students in our batch including two future Civil Servants viz Gamini Iriyagolle, and Olcott Goonasekera, and amongst them in the scholarly stakes was Lakshman. A studious and reflective soul, he was never seen on the sports grounds and had his own reservations about “contact sports” which of course included rugby football, and to his mind the game oif cricket too ! He was no “nerd” however, and when the occasion arose would engage in banter and argument without pulling any punches.
In school he was not known by his given name Lakshman but was called by his initials GPLM or by his nickname which was derived from his initials, and which he detested. Lakshman progressed through school effortlessly and entered the Ceylon Medical School where he completed the course with honours, and went overseas where he qualified as a Virologist. In school he was the Secretary of the Music Society, western classical music being his favourite leisure time indulgence. Surprisingly, he veered away from classical music and was at one time in later life an unabashed fan of Julio Iglesias.
After acquiring his post graduate qualifications in Virology, Lakshman worked in London and about 50 years ago migrated to Australia.
Lakshman married the love of his life Lakshmi, daughter of Dr MH Saddhasena, one time Member of Parliamment for Ambalangoda. Their progeny, son Suresh, and daughter Keshani both emulating dad by qualifying as doctors. Suresh is a radiologist, while Keshani is a paediatrician. Keshani married to Dr John Moore , haematologist have three boys two of whom are medical doctors, and the third Mathew protesting that there are too many doctors in the house, chose to do a degree in engineering!
When I migrated with my family to Sydney 40 years ago, my old pal L akshman lost no time in inviting us for a meal to which he had invited a few friends. My late wife Tulsi and “Lucky” became great friends, and when Keshani married, my talented Tulsi not only made the wedding cake, but also the bridal trousseau and the outfits for the maids.
When the Ceylon Society of Australia was formed 25 years ago, I invited Lakshman to join. He dithered at the start as he felt that such initiatives run out of puff before long, but joined within the first year and even made a very interesting contribution on the activities of the Royal College Music Society of which he w as the Secretary, and during his tenure received a massive grant from the Asia Foundation to purchase new instruments for the school orchestra, very efficiently managed by Paul Marcus Jeyarajan, son of Dr SC Paul, and formerly of the Indian Civil Service. He wrote under the pseudonym “ a music tragic “.
During the last decade or so, Lakshman and Lucky lived in a serviced apartment in the heart of. Chatswood. After Lucky’s departure, Lakshman continued to plod his weary way through life. Both Suresh and Keshani living in the adjoining suburb were always there to support him, but Lakshman was not a gregarious person. We used to chat on the phone often, and on our last visit to Sydney about 6 years ago we stayed in the same block of apartments.
During recent months his health issues were increasing, and it was no surprise to hear of his demise. Lakshman’s departure has impacted on me considerably, and my world reduced now to a few close friends. “We’l meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, we’ll meet again some sunny day”!
May Lakshman attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.
Hugh Karunanayake
