This young Red party firebrand, helming the party’s trade union wing is also known as a jolly good fellow. 

He recently attended a farmers’ meeting held in a remote village off Matale. At the conclusion of the meeting, the young Red one said that he wished to sing a song to entertain the crowd. The crowd greeted this announcement with a thunderous ovation. The song he picked to sing was the popular hit, ‘Vele padura…’ that unfolds a poignant love story from a typical village life. 

The young Red one got on to a good start with “Vele padura…’, but he could not proceed beyond two lines – he had forgotten the remaining lines of the song. He started singing it all over again, but failed to go ahead with the rest of it even after several attempts. At length, he apologized to the audience saying: “I thought I could sing the song, but I find that I have forgotten the words of it!”

At this stage, a farmer who came forward announced that he knew the song well and he could sing.  The farmer later sang the song, ‘Vele padura…’ and our young Red one was seen happily beating time by clapping with the rest of the crowd.