A tribute to parents

By C.N.S.

There are a few more delicious little Swiss Alprose chocolates left in the fridge even after we had relished them two at a time over the last many weeks. The cakes of Dove beauty cream bars will be there for a long, long time in the bathroom. The expensive bottles of Davidoff perfumes and colognes and other valuable gifts showered on us in capacious tote bags will remain with us for the remainder of our days. And, the memory of the occasion at the Royal Golf Club in Colombo on a Wednesday evening shall be indelible, everlasting. 

Chatura drove us there in air-conditioned comfort. There were 30 of us, all octogenarians, at the event, one or two in wheelchairs, one with a walker, and a few too feeble to manage without a caregiver in attendance.

All the others present were grown men in their fifties and their wives. They are members of the Class of 1974 at Royal College, now occupying important positions in various spheres of work – medicine, engineering, architecture, business, banking, accountancy, the armed services and other fields – some working here and quite a few in foreign lands. 

They were gathered together at the Golf Club to pay tribute to us their parents who took them to school, watched them grow year by year and from grade to grade until they finished school and stood on their feet and began life as adults. They had learnt before they departed from their school, grew into manhood, got married, raised their families and served and continue to serve their motherland in their chosen vocations.

Colonel (Dr.) Tamara Wickremasekera (wife of a member of the Class of 74 Dr. Venura Ranasinghe) had an inspiring message to share with us in her charming manner and Yogi Nigamji from India told us about the ancient art of yoga and meditation interspersed with wit and humour. 

Cameras clicked, countless photos were taken and delicious snack and drinks served as Nedra, Dushan’s wife, held us spell-bound as she as she played her role as emcee at the event. 

A mother paid her tribute to her son and his friends in these words: 

Thank you for being our children,

Thank you for the privilege of moulding you,

Thank you for resting your heads on our shoulders,

For the daily dose of ‘huggy buggy’.

Learning came easy to some,

To others a daily struggle,

BUT, you “learnt of books and learnt of men

And learnt to play the game”.

Men of Gold and Blue,

Our Blessings upon you,

Lift your flag high,

For the limit is the sky.

Saroj emailed the above to his friends and they responded as follows:

• Good morning to you all and especially to Saroj! Thanks and I am blessed and privileged to have a good friend like you who was brought up by amazing parents. Please say a big thank you and a big hug from me, buddy! Once again thank you all and this will be in my memory for ever until one day I close my eyes! Love you all dearly. Vidya Thewarapperuma – UK
• Hi, Saroj. Thank your mom for the wonderful message. Suren Abeysuriya – Sri Lanka
• Wow! Vijitha Wijeratne – Switzerland
• Nice! Dr. Miran Salgado – USA
• WOW again! Thank you, Aunty Suji, and thank you, Saroj for sharing it with us. Cheers to Vidya and the rest of the team. Sorry for not mentioning names for fear of leaving out a few. Chatura Wickramanayake – Sri Lanka
• That was beautiful. Again, thanks to Vidya for initiating and seeing this through! Kumar Guneratne – USA
• Beautiful message from a beautiful lady. Thanks, Saroj. You Lucky. Iqbal Hassen – Sri Lanka
• Very nice. Please thank your Mom on behalf of all of us. Lucky Jayaratne – Nigeria

The elegant brochure titled ‘Tribute to Our Parents’ in school colours with the names of the old Royalists of the Class of 1974 and of their parents together with addresses and contact numbers and the touching words “Nobody on earth can ever love you more than your parents” is a keepsake as are the remembrances of an unforgettable and moving March evening that enriched and inspired us in the evenings of our lives. 

This little tribute is a reciprocal one on behalf of the parents to their sons; their acts of kindness and love, gestures of generosity and gratitude that show what Wordsworth called “the human heart by which we live”.