Appreciation on Gamini Bulankulame: Quiet and dignified to the very end

• Due to his skills and dedication, he was promoted to superintendent and subsequently managed estates such as Kepptigala, Etana, Udapola, and Pallegama
• He successfully oversaw the commissioning of Sri Lanka’s first centrifuge latex processing factory at Udapola Group

Sooriyakumara Wannisinghe Gamini Bulankulame was my father’s first cousin. I met him for the first time when my parents took me and my siblings on a visit to Nuwarawewa Walauwe, Anuradhapura, where he was living with his parents, P. B. Bulankulame Dissawe and Nimala Hurulle.

Uncle Gamini attended S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, where his father, uncles and brothers had also attended. While in college, he excelled in cricket, boxing and hockey. Before joining the ‘big school’ at Mount Lavinia, he received his primary education at S. Thomas’ Prep School, Kollupitiya. He then studied at Aquinas College of Higher Studies and later began teaching at Isipathana College.

However, his time at Isipathana College was short-lived as he, after 02 years, decided to pursue a career in ‘planting’ with Carson Cumberbatch Company, which owned many tea and rubber plantations across the country. He started as an assistant superintendent at Nakiyadeniya Estate in the Southern Province in 1965. Due to his skills and dedication, he was promoted to superintendent and subsequently managed estates such as Kepptigala, Etana, Udapola, and Pallegama. 

He was an active member of the Lions Club of Kegalle for many years and served as the club’s president in 1986. He was also a devoted ‘dayakaya’ of the temples near the Etana and Udapola estates where he worked

He successfully oversaw the commissioning of Sri Lanka’s first centrifuge latex processing factory at Udapola Group and managed the estate and processing plant for 10 years before retiring from Pallegama Estate. He then moved to Kandy as a retiree.
He was an active member of the Lions Club of Kegalle for many years and served as the club’s president in 1986. He was also a devoted ‘dayakaya’ of the temples near the Etana and Udapola estates where he worked.

Uncle Gamini was a very unassuming personality and a family man of high integrity. He always gave his best to everything he did. He was ably supported by his wife Kanthi, daughters Rasitha, Gayani and Udhini and their spouses Thusitha, Samantha, and Thushantha.
He passed away in March and his funeral took place at Mahaiyawa Cemetery, Kandy, with a large gathering of friends and relatives in attendance.
I wish him Nivan Suwaya in his journey in Samsara.

(Themiya L.B. Hurulle)