Remembering Sunil C de Silva – A man for all seasons (30 January 1941 – 28 February 2021) – By Niranjan Selvadurai
The renowned Sinhala poetry collection Subashithaya (සුභාෂිතය) states:
“ලොවින් එකෙක් එක දෙයකට වෙයි සමත
වෙනින් අනෙක් දෙයකට අනෙකෙක් සමත“.
This translates as – “One person in this world will excel in one thing, while another person will excel in something else”. The poet Alagiyawanna Mukaweti can be forgiven for this simplistic conclusion as these lines were written long before the birth of Pandikoralalage Sunil Chandra de Silva.
I first met Sunil de Silva after he migrated to Australia, in the 1990s. But I had already heard of him and his legal exploits from my Uncle Rama, who had been his classmate at Royal.
Coming from Galle, Sunil was a young hosteller at Royal College in the early 1950s. The senior pranksters at the hostel soon spotted one of Sunil’s many skills. Sunil could open padlocks with ease. Students returning to the hostel from home brought in many goodies and food items, which they locked up in their trunks. When the coast was clear Sunil was requested to get to work while the seniors kept watch. Sunil obliged as he was given his fair share.
An image of a chubby youngster seated on the hostel floor comes to mind. The boy puts a metal pin into a lock…then calmly feeling and exploring…at some point a slight quirk, an aberration, a wobble is sensed. Then he gently presses home the advantage and snap the lock opens.
In the year 2000, the Sri Lankan athletics team was here in Sydney for the Olympic Games. The Sri Lanka Assocataion of NSW hosted the team to dinner and a welcome celebration. The manager of the team (a former Asian Games gold medallist) spoke eloquently in Sinhala and thanked the organisers. But there was a passing remark, a delicate legside glance that may have gone unnoticed.
He mentioned that all the hosts appeared lot fairer now than when they were in Sri Lanka and may be that was because they have all been in Australia for a while. Hmm, was this a subtle reference to migrants forgetting their mother tongue and adopting western ways?
As the immediate past president of the association Sunil de Sliva, stood up to speak next. He spoke in Sinhala and referred to the manager’s remark. Then he quoted two famous lines from the classical poem Goththilaya (ගුත්ති ය).
“කිරි දියෙන් දොවියත්
අඟුරු සුදුවෙන කලෙක් නම් නැත්”
Which translates as: “Even when washed in milk, black coal never turns white.” This was my first exposure to Sunil de Silva’s oral mastery and delivery style.
I cherish the light-hearted but insightful conversations I had with Sunil at his Kariong home during his last few years. He shared some gold nuggets and incidents in a very matter-of-fact way, many involving past presidents/prime ministers and other well-known persons. So how did Sunil calmly stump his legal opponents time and again? It is not unlike opening locks. First a slight quirk, an aberration, a wobble is sensed. Then he gently presses home the advantage and snap the lock opens.
After Sunil’s parents moved to Colombo, Sunil travelled to Royal from his home in Pamankada. Sunil confessed that his favourite pass time was to play around with the engine of this father’s car, when the old man was away. His ambition was to be a motor mechanic. To this end he had organised a motor mechanical apprenticeship in a leading Colombo firm by the time he completed his High School Certificate. But Sunil’s dad informed him that he needs go to Law College. Sunil strongly objected. Then his father told him kindly that Sunil would be given a car of his choice plus the required petrol. Sunil could take the engine apart and re-assemble it when ever he wished. This was
of course too good an offer to be refused. So that is how Sunil de Silva ended up in the legal profession.
Sunil de Silva was Sri Lanka’s 19th Attorney General and earned a stellar reputation as a legal scholar. He was instrumental in the computerization drive of the AG’s Department and introduced many other new technologies to the Department. After migrating to Australia in 1992 he served as NSW Crown Prosecutor.
He was President of the Sri Lanka Association of NSW, Ceylon Society of Australia, Royal College Old Boys Association of NSW & ACT, Secretary of Sydney Kolam Maduwa and even at the time of his passing, Treasurer of Probus Club of Gosford North.
In February 2023, Sunil de Silva was posthumously included in the NSW Multicultural roll of honour for his significant extemporary contribution to the multi-cultural society in Australia and beyond. His efforts in building harmony between Tamil and Sinhala communities in NSW and Sri Lanka and openly advocating for human rights of Tamil people were acknowledged. The award was accepted by his wife Senanie de Silva.
Regarding building harmony, the cutting words uttered by Sunil De Silva appearing in as Lady Muriel Panabokke in the stage play ‘The Lost Culavamsa’ is pertinent.
“How far back do we have to go? To when we were apes? Before we were Sinhalese or Tamil we were all apes, hanging on the same tree and chattering the same sounds! Tell your scholar, obsessed with the past, that humans go forward, not backwards.”
That brings to focus another of Sunil’s talents which was acting. He was regular performer in the plays produced by Sydney Kolam Maduwa, under the direction of playwright Ernest Macintyre. In Sri Lanka Sunil performed in Professor EFC Ludowyke’s immortal play He comes from Jaffna. Further he regularly acted in the Ralahamy series directed by the late ECB Wijesinghe. He took part in Well
Mudaliyar, Fifty Fifty, The Senator and The Dowry hunter. He also directed a drama at Neethi Ranga produced by Bar Association of Sri Lanka. He even performed on stage while holding the position of Attorney General. Sunil appeared in cameo roles in films as well such as Puran Appu (Sinhala) and Midnight Orchid (English).
One of Sunil’s greatest achievements in the literary field was receiving the Best Translation award in the State Literary Festival in 2012 for the book he has translated as Death by Pool. It was a translation of a Sinhala short story collection written by renowned Sri Lankan author, Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera.
Those who associated with Sunil de Silva closely know of his many other talents, such as carpentry, cooking, and his ability to fix any gadget that was not in working order.
Sunil left us just over two years ago.
He goes to heaven to be with his beloved daughter. When he arrives there, the Pearly Gates are padlocked. No problem! Sunil picks the lock and walks in.
Saint Peter welcomes him with open arms saying, “Ah Sunil, we knew of your talent. So, we wished to test your skill one more time.”
“We were expecting your arrival. There are several pending court cases against Hell relating to smoke pollution. There is excessive burning down below. So far, all the legal luminaries are representing the other side. By the way…my alarm clock is playing up too. If you can have a look at it some point.” continues Saint Peter.
But what if it is the other heaven the one referred to as the Thawthisa (තව්තිසා)? That would be a typical Sunil cross question.
Well Sunil! the story line would still be much the same. The king of gods සක්ර(Sakra) himself would be there to greet you with a similar yarn. May be his hot seat the පඬු පුල් අසුන needs some fixing as is it no longer warms-up when witnessing adversity on Earth!
Let us cherish the memory and the contribution of Sunil de Sliva – a remarkable and humble human being and certainly a man for all seasons.
– Niranjan Selvadurai (21 March 2023)
