Harsha Fonseka-April 5th 2008.....Legacy will live on!

Harsha was a dear friend of mine and to hear his departure was a real shock. He was a great friend and a great human being and his journey was cut short due to his health issues he had for many years. His beautiful wife, Shantheni stood by him and her family. At this time my thoughts and prayers with his family to ease the pain and be strong to continue their journey of life.

I am sorry that I cannot come, please forgive me for that. But, my thoughts and prayers are with Harsha's family.

Sarath Ranasighe, thank you for letting me know. When Chithra passed away, you and I were there at the funeral but Harsha could not make it due his illness. My friend, Abdul Sattar passed away and I knew after many months later. I guess, we have to accept death as part of life. Again, my thoughts and prayers are with their families.

Harsha Fonseka truly was a great human being who had a very fulfilling life. He had health issue but overall he a had great life. He was born to a great family. His two great children and his beautiful wife, Shantheni who has angelic qualities and to share his life with them, surely Harsha had a great life.

On Christmas days, Harsha's house is open to his friends and family and we all got together to have a great time, and we always did. Thank you for all you did for us. Harsha, you have been so wonderful!

It must be very tough for Shanthini and for the children and both families and friends. But we have no choice but to accept the cards that we have been dealt, we have no control over that. We all have tried to play the best way we know how and that�s all we can do.

My friends, Sarath, Gamini, Priyantha and Morris, I invite you all to write about the good memories about Harsha and email me so that I can publish them in my blog.

I am with Harsha's family, in London.Shanthini, Harsha pushing the stroller and Thomas in it, Christine and me walking .

Power of non-violence

Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K.Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of Puerto Rico, shared the following story: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father asked me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, "I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together." After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00. He anxiously asked me, "Why were you late?" I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, "The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait," not realizing that he had already called the garage. When he caught me in the lie, he said: "There's something wrong in the way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth.

In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles and think about it." So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again. I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened yesterday. That is the power of non-violence.

Dharmaraja Old Boys Reunion- Kandy October 2007

My visit to Sri Lanka after many years was worth the trip not only I was able to spent quality time with my family, but I took the opportunity meet up my old friends. Asoka Palamakubura and Asoka Basnayake were among them.

With Asoka Palamakubura I was able to walk in the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.

Then with Asoka Palamakubura and Asoka Basnayake and I met again and had lunch in a nice restaurant in Peradeniya Kandy. We were so happy that we were able to meet up and catchup the lost time. I met them after 30 some years.

I visited the Temple of Tooth in Kandy. The time that I went there it was the morning ceremonies where the pilgrims come and pay their respect and listen to the drums in the morning. It was so facinating and very memorable experience.

Apart from the Temple of Tooth in Kandy, the other main attraction in Kandy is its lake in the foothills of Hantana. It is magnificent. I walked around the lake many times during my short stay in Kandy. The young and the old, walk around the lake morning to the sunset. It is also the lovers pastime- they spent lot of time there.

“ union has been made real and unbreakable by a thousand subtle bonds and ties which have been weaving their chain unnoticed.”

We had our defining moments, but we survived, today we can exhale and remember the good times and in between the bad times. And, cherish the good times and offer our lives to the young as an inspiration. The photos here are taken by a dear friend of mine, Ananda, at ISH London, at a Tea dance.

The love for one another and love for music and dancing kept us going. We use to have a very close network of friends, all of them loved to have a good time. Most of them new dancing and we reached out to each other, shared the good times and bad times.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi"

I recently saw some thing in Oprah's talk show and I thought of sharing this inspirational information with my blog readers. So that my blog readers be inspired and do what ever they can to make a difference in the lives of the children living in Sri Lanka.

This is about an Asian Hero, but a non- Asia. John Wood holds a MBA from the Kellogg School of Northwestern University and a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Finance from the University of Colorado. He was a senior executive in the Microsoft Corporation and was living a life of most men and women dream of. But, everything changed for the better when John Wood took a vacation to escape the hectic life style. It was in 1998 and the vacation was spending time in Nepal for 18days.

During this time he saw the poverty that people of Nepal are undergoing and the children are lost in their dreams without education. This was a life changing moment for John Wood and to millions of children in Asia. When he visited a school and he saw there were hardly any books, he promised one of the teachers that he will come back with books, then the teacher said that there were many times people promised but never came back with books. But, John Wood did. Since then John Wood quit the job form the Microsoft Corporation and now has created a non - profit organization called Room to Read. This organization has dedicated not only bringing books to the libraries in Asia but they have build libraries as well as schools. My bolg readers can get more information about Room to Read from the web.

Where did the Sinhalese come form?

I found the answer, when I read an article in the The Asian American Community Builder, volume 6, issue 2, page: 56 and thought sharing some of the information with my Blog readers.

I for one, was unaware of the fact that in which part of India that the Sinhalese came from. The Sinhalese (Lion People) came from Northern India, Gujerat, about 1500 years ago. The writer has taken information from Buddhist Mahavamsa( Great Chronical) and it's sequel Culavamsa.

The prince Vijaya and his 700 Aryan followers sailed in a ship and the ship landed in the western Sri Lanka,Thambapanni, circa 504 B.C and they became the Sinhalese people. But, it was in the 3rd Century BC, that Sinhalese converted to Buddhism, then the Sinhalese found their distinct identity and culture.

Today, Sri Lanka's population is 19.5 million. The majority is Sinhalese. The Sinhalese has always called its country, Lanka and the Tamils called it, Ilanki. The Portuguese changed it to Ceilao the Dutch to Ceylan then the British to Ceylon. It was in 1972, that the Ceylon became Sri Lanka. (Sri means blessed)

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan

Instead of profiteering, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan offered the common man a dignified life.

The tables have turned, those days, Sri Lanka had lot of problems with Indians coming illegally and taking over the land and the jobs. The reason was, Sri Lanka had a greater economy than India and there was an influx of Indians coming to Sri Lanka. It is other way round now, as India is developing with leaps and bounces. Recently, I read an article about Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, a brilliant civil engineer who has change the way that India did business and taught India how to do business. This is the man who did the Delhi subway system.

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan the managing director of Delhi Rail Corporation was recently awarded Padma Shri -highest honours for nation building.

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan believes in finishing his projects in world standards not to Indian standards. His Delhi subway system shows it all undoubtedly.

He is simple humble man, but a genius that practice yoga. The passengers who travel in the Delhi subway touch his feet, when they see him as a mark of respect for what he has given them. A dignified life.

Vipula Wadugodapitiya

Vipula grew up in Suduhumpola, a beautiful village near the city of Kandy,situated in a valley beneath the Hanthana Hills. He received his education from Kingswood College in Kandy. It was in the village of Suduhumpola, where our family resided and grew up.

It was there that my sister, Surangani, met Vipula and thereby found the love of her life and soul mate. When Vipula passed away, he left behind him, his wife, Surangani, and three daughters: Iroshini, Lakshika, and Udumbara. Vipula was truly a great human being who took excellent care of his family which was his top priority. His love for his family was surely deep and sacred.

May Vipula attain the ultimate bliss of Nirvana.

I profess to all of you that I love my family profusely. Hopefully, all of you will understand and accept me for what I am. Rest assured of my continuing support for the family in the days and years ahead.

I extend my thanks to my brother, Suranjan for assuming the responsibility for doing what had to be done during those difficult times. I also offer my appreciations to my brother, Nimal, and his wife, Malkanthi, for their help, support, and generosity.

Moreover, I am also grateful to my brother, Denzil, who really has been there for my sister and my nieces. Finally, I thank all of the other members of the family and close friends who helped my sister and her children, working tirelessly amidst the shock and pain we all endured during this trying period.

I am proposing this website serve as a medium for members of our extended family to voice and share their comments in a manner that might assist us all to learn to live healthier and more enriching lives by loving one another, taking responsibility for the choices we make, while moving forward with the adventure of life.

Udumbara, and Lakshika, would you please prepare some comments, and perhaps, stories about your father, and send them to me for publication on this honorary website? Lali, Niroshan, Supul, Nirangi, Nimalka, and Iro, would you also please take some time to reflect and submit your own thoughts and stories for sharing with our family and future generations.

Write-up by Mr V K B Ramanayake-The Sunday Leader

Photos of the Dhana