19 February 2022 02:00 am Views - 2537
Athula first appeared in the Benedictine landscape when he joined our A/L first year class from St. Joseph’s College Anuradhapura; as a boarder! He had to be in the small boarding with the juniors as there were no beds available in the senior boarding. His home- Alwis Walawwa- in Anuradhapura being close to famous “Kuttan Pokuna” also attracted attention and nick names! His stay at the boarding was short as he didn’t enjoy the rigors of boarding life. He found a place down Mayfield Road.
Athula was really an amiable guy and soon became a popular character. If I may quote from the appreciation written by his Peradeniya medical batch mate Dr. Neela Ekanayake: “From the very first day in the faculty we saw a carefree confident chap, always saying things in a light vein – never angry, never in a bad mood. Undoubtedly clever, we never saw him slogging at books. He was courteous and charming always, caring as a friend, compassionate to the downtrodden, courageous during adversity, competent in administration, conciliatory during a crisis, careful in conversation – a charismatic persona”. This is a very fitting description of Athula’s character!
He had an initial “hiccup” when his registration as a medical student was refused due to a highly illogical and archaic regulation which did not consider a credit in Health Science as a science subject for the entry to the A/L class. The famous story about the “Unlucky Seven” as related by Dr. Mervyn Joseph (Agric) originated from this ruling as there were seven students including Athula who had a credit in Health Science as an entry qualification. The students and their parents were successful when going to courts to seek justice.
I always admired his gentle unassuming ways, talents and down to earth nature. He never changed his ways give his achievements nor status. His long period as the Secretary of Health- treading a fine line between most vociferous and rebellious health unions and politicians-itself was a remarkable achievement!
We became roommates when both of us were invited by Blaise to come and stay with him in his house at 32, St. Mary’s Road Mattakkuliya. His mother Aunt Clarice was also keen to have us. One of our duties was to keep ourselves in a good mood and study together for the A/L Examination. That’s how we joined the Lowe family of Oswin and Indira, Bernadette and Prema to have a great time! It would be a great miss if I forget to mention the entry of Athula’s soul mate Indira to his life during this period!
It is during that time that our classmate and our Sinhala debating team leader and trainer Nihal Ranaweera had a brain wave to do a 16 mm film with Athula as the heartbroken leading actor! To collect funds we even organised a musical show at the College Hall presented by Junior Rythmiers and Dharmaratna brothers who were all Benedictines and performed free! Nihal’s selection of Athula as the leading actor was due to his excellent facial expressions. I can remember in one scene Athula in shorts and a tie walking up the staircase to the College Hall on the day of the actual prize giving- which he did without any cringing nor second thoughts! Of course we never had the good fortune to appreciate his acting as we moved out of school after few months and the project was forgotten!
I was the best man at his wedding and after that had the dinner and a rollicking sing song party which went on well beyond midnight.
Later when he was in Wariyapola as the DMO and I can remember a very interesting episode when I stayed with him during a short stint. Athula had a lucrative private practice and we had to wait till about 10.30 pm to have a drink and a chat. Then maybe at about 1-2 am I was suddenly woken up by a commotion and could hear Athula’s voice raised in anger. Only then I realised that Athula was questioning a terrified woman! When I asked him later why he created that commotion, very unlike his treatment to other patients,” Machang without knowing what poison that mad woman drank, how can I treat her?” he replied with a sarcastic grin.
One of the tragic incidents in Athula and Indira’s life was the untimely death of their elder son who met with a freak accident. He was thoroughly unsettled and it took a long time for him to recover. Another incident in a similar vein was when I fell from the roof of my house and damaged a lumbar vertebra and ended up in the Accident Ward. When my wife contacted Athula, he was about to leave the island for a conference, but came immediately to the accident ward to arrange Dr. Narendra Pinto to treat me and to move me into a paying ward. At that time he was the Secretary to the Ministry of Health. I was in the hospital for about a week and Athula checked my progress closely till I recovered fully. Whenever our teachers, friends fell ill Athula was always there for them.
I met him on several times after he was diagnosed with cancer and he had the best of medical treatment available and was very happy to observe his recovery. After the completion of the treatment his birthday was celebrated with an extended sing song with the family and close friends. Our expectations were that he would live for a long time! But alas- that was not to be.
I always admired his gentle unassuming ways, talents and down to earth nature. He never changed his ways give his achievements nor status. His long period as the Secretary of Health- treading a fine line between most vociferous and rebellious health unions and politicians-itself was a remarkable achievement!
I would be doing injustice to his illustrious career if I do not state at least the high points of his contribution to the National Health Service. He became Director General of Health Services in 2002 and ended his career in the Government as Secretary to the Health Ministry in 2010. He served as Chairman of State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka, on the Board of the Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka Medical Council, University Grants Commission, University Council, Peradeniya and many Presidential Committees.
Athula was subsequently hand-picked by the World Health Organization for its Senior Management cadre and served as its Director Health Systems, Sustainable Development and Environment in the Southeast Asia Region based in Delhi. After his retirement as an international civil servant in 2014, he served within the Corporate Sector as Director of Fonterra Sri Lanka and Chairman of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital where he donated his salary to a fund to support patients who could not afford payments. He was attached to the Board of Directors of the Durdans Hospital at the time of his demise.
He was the longest and youngest serving DGHS and had the rare opportunity of leading the Tsunami response and reconstruction activities in 2005; the worst disaster that has ever struck this country was hailed and commended by the international community and also by the Director General of WHO, who came from Geneva to visit the disaster affected areas in Sri Lanka.
Our sympathies are with Indira, Pramod and the family who have faced this irreparable loss.
Goodbye Athula, you have been a great friend and served mother Lanka truly and consciously to the best of your ability
May you attain eternal peace!