Asoka Wijeyekoon passes away
We have lost another Batch colleague
News has reached us that Asoka “Lubber” Wijeyekoon passed away in London
in December last year. He is the 53rd in our Batch to do so.
During his visits to Sri Lanka, on a few occasions he has joined Pram’s
get-togethers at her residence and this is from a photograph taken at one in
2019.
Please read message from his son Sanjaya.
We like to extend our deepest commiserations to his family. May he Rest
In Peace.
Stop press: Message from his son Sanjaya whom I contacted.
He died in London at st Bartholomew Hospital on the 22nd December. He was on a short trip to London and promptly went into heart failure on arrival, was admitted to cardiology, started to develop some tachyarrythmias and then attempted an emergency pacemaker but sadly went into cardiac arrest on the evening of the 22nd and died. We only got to see him briefly before the event. He had a PM unfortunately as the cause of death was uncertain and was cremated in the UK. My brother is coming with his ashes to SL and we planned a small ceremony here as per his final wishes. I’m sorry we did not have everyone’s contact details but I messaged Professor Lamabadasuriya and also emailed the 62 medical school group. We are holding a small ceremony at Jayaratne funeral hall on the opposite side of the road from borella kanatta entrance on Sunday the 11th February at 10 am. We have a video link too for those who cannot attend but would like to view the proceedings
Here is the link:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwqKomz9Z-M
I think this is on 11th Feb, at 09.00 am SL which is 03.30 am UK
Click on it on the day.
I think his two sons, both medical Consultants in the UK are Bhatya (Rheumatologist) and Sanjaya (Colorectal surgeon). I am grateful to Nihal (ND) Amarasekera who wrote this beautiful eulogy at very short notice.
Asoka Wijeyekoon – A Tribute
to my friend
By Dr Nihal D Amerasekera
Friendships are one of
life’s golden gifts. Those made in our youth are specially gilded to last a
lifetime. It is hard to replicate that closeness in associations later on in
life. In our life’s journey we find friends who walk with us a short way and
move out of our sight.
This is a eulogy for Lubber and
also an appreciation of our friendship of many years. After five gruelling
years in medical school we worked together for another four years in the
Central Blood Bank in Colombo, a large slice of our young lives. We managed to
hang on to our friendship despite the distances, careers, family commitments
and the many bouquets and brickbats of life. It is indeed a tribute to our
friendship.
I recall most vividly the
legendary Law-Medical, the intrusion into the cricket match at Reid Avenue and
questioning the umpire. The gory details are best forgotten and buried deep. I
am certain a résumé is analysed and remembered at reunions and gatherings after
a generous dash of the social lubricant.
|
Final year trip Kurunegala? Badulla? Igloo" HO's quarters. Lubber is squatting behind Lakshman Jayasinghe and Yankee Bala |
At our final year trip, Lubber’s
memorable performance took centre stage. In the chill night-air he wore
just his tie and nil else. When asked who he was, he said “I am Argyle
Robertson’s pupil”. Even now, this legendary moment never fails to raise a
smile. That was a fitting farewell to a journey none of us will ever forget.
When this episode was mentioned previously, Sanath Lamabadusuriya
commented this took place in Kurunegala and not in Badulla, as I recalled. I
would most certainly trust his memory more than my own.
My first meeting with Lubber
in med school was perhaps unremarkable, hence lost in the fog of time. I do
recall Sunil De Silva’s long tale of how his classmate from Royal College
,Asoka Wijeyakoon, came to be called Lubber. It seemed Asoka’s teenage swagger
on terra firma was like that of a sailor. The term ‘land
lubber’ was shortened to lubber. Although most plausible, Sunna’s stories were
told with a poker face blurring the fine line between fact into fiction.
Despite being at either end of the alphabet we met up in the common room for a
tea and a chat. The common room was a very special place for us medical
students. It was our own retreat and shelter from the storms of Faculty life. I
have often watched him deep in thought over a game of chess with Satchy. He
joined in the conversations with his endless stream of wise-cracks. Listening
to the repartee between Chanaka Wijesekera, Sunil De Silva and Lubber
Wijeyakoon was spontaneous comedy at its best. It moved from the ridiculous to
the farcical. The ‘one liners’were brilliantly intelligent and hilariously funny.
Those were indeed touches of genius taking the noble art of comedy to a whole
new level. I wish we had smartphones to record those treasures for posterity.
Their quick wit and humour must swirl in the ether of that common room. The
Faculty years passed swiftly. After the ‘finals’ we were thrust into the lions’
den of the wider world. Then marriage and careers usurped our lives. None of it
was easy!!
I was thrilled to see that
familiar swagger entering the Central Blood Bank in Colombo when I was a
Medical Officer of that institution in the early 1970’s. We clicked instantly.
I was then a drifter at a loose end and was grateful for his company. I do recall
our evenings at some of the popular bars discussing philosophy, politics and
religion. Those were heady days of idealism, ambition and youthful optimism. There
were occasions I joined Lubber for company in his blood donation programs in
the out-stations. One that stands out is a trip to Galgamuwa on the road to
Anuradhapura. We stayed at the DMO’s quarters as he was away. Emptying his
fridge of the amber nectar we chatted deep into the night when we heard a group
of girls singing “Oyathamai Bamba ketu ekkana”. In our inebriation they sounded
like a choir of angels. Then again, we spent a memorable evening in the
verandah of the Nikeweratiya Rest House polishing a bottle of Molasses
discussing the world, politics and our ambitions and aspirations. These images
still haunt me.
I recall the dark days of
1960’s and 70’s with sadness. Sri Lankan politics was in turmoil. The economy
was in a perilous state. Our lives and careers were at a standstill. I remember
it so well. Mahendra Gonsalkorala, Lubber and I debating the pros and cons of
leaving Sri Lanka. We couldn’t see an end to the political and economic crisis
that crippled our country. They were emotionally charged discussions that left
us in a wilderness of confusion. After much deliberation we joined the rest of
the herd for greener pastures abroad. Although I had agonised about it, I never
realised the enormity of that decision. My youthful exuberance protected me
from the fear of reality.
I was immensely fortunate to
have Lubber to travel with me to the UK. We boarded the Swissair DC10 and
comforted each other until our transit at Zurich. We were dying for a beer.
Money was in short supply and we had to syndicate to share a bottle that calmed
our nerves. After a change of plane we disembarked at Heathrow airport. I can
still remember that cold and wet June afternoon in 1974. There on the concourse
of the airport we said our goodbyes and parted company. Lubber disappeared into
a Psychiatric Hospital in the heart of Sussex. I started my journey in
Pathology in Chase Farm Hospital in Greater London. We kept in touch and met up
a few times. Each time we had some drinks and listened to our favourite Sinhala
music of Victor Ratnayake which brought back fond memories of our final few
years in Colombo. To be frank it was a tough time for us in the UK too. As we
drowned in our careers and family obligations there was hardly any time to keep
up with friends. There were long periods of silence and we never met on our
journey up the professional ladder. When I went into the abstract world of
Radiology, Lubber became a respected Consultant Psychiatrist in a London
Hospital.
It was a couple of decades
later I met Lubber again this time in his pad in London when he cooked a meal
for me and my family. We talked a lot about times past, of mutual friends and
the pleasures and perils of life. After we parted our contact remained an
occasional phone call, out of the blue, and a warm query on how life treated
us. It was a shock to our system when our children left the nest. He is rightly
proud of his two sons who are Consultants in the National Health Service.
The years rolled by as
retirement loomed. Our careers ended as it started with uncertainty and some
trepidation. The next I heard of Lubber was when he left the UK. A little
birdie told me he was living it up in Bangkok and spending his retirement in
‘well earned’ luxury. No doubt it’s everyone dream to be happy. I thought I had
lost contact completely until one day, on a whim, I used an old phone number
and sent him a message on WhatsApp. A few days passed and to my
surprise I got a reply. His messages were brief and always after a prolonged
latent period.
In May this year I booked a
family holiday in Bangkok. Lubber now spends time in Colombo and Bangkok. He
made a special effort to be in Bangkok during my visit. He invited us to stay
with him in his condominium. Getting into a taxi and finding a location in
Thailand is fraught with difficulty due to language problems. Never being a
part of the British Empire, Thai people do not speak much English. We felt it
would be best to meet near my hotel. It was such a pleasure to see him again, a
little more grey and more rotund than I knew. He decided to stay the night at
my hotel in the best top floor room. We started a drink in his room and caught
up with the lost years of friends, family and our life’s journey. Lubber is
tremendous company with or without a drink and has retained many of his
formidable intellectual gifts. As always after a drink his wit and humour takes
over. We had a fine seafood dinner followed by more drink and chat. Unlike the
hard-nosed yours truly, Lubber has a certain empathy for the less fortunate and
the downtrodden. He rewarded the waiters and waitresses most
generously. We parted company not knowing if we would ever meet
again.
After several months I
was pleasantly surprised to hear from him in London. He was staying in a hotel
near Moorgate where we decided to meet. It was wonderful to see him again.
Lubber is as always upbeat about life but very aware of the ironies, mirages
and illusions that we all must face. Now more than ever life’s oases and their
many pleasures drift past us far too quickly. We spoke for just a couple of
hours as he had to take a taxi to Heathrow Airport for his return to Colombo.
As I think about life, I am convinced more than ever, our lives are a riddle,
wrapped in a mystery, within an enigma – to misquote Winston
Churchill.
When I look back the
memories of 50+ years, Lubber was a kind, sociable friend and a unique human
being. This is not an attempt to deify him. He too has the same faults we all
possess. As in his youth Lubber is extraordinarily frank, fears no one and
retained an aura of gravitas from his ‘consultant’ days. He had the remarkable
ability to bring to any discussion a huge degree of intelligence derived from
lateral thinking. I am ever grateful we were able to meet. It is true we go
back to the beginning as we get to the end.
It was, and will always
remain, one of the great privileges of my life to have known him.
May he find eternal Peace.