Tribute to a great soul

Just turned the telly on during the weekend for the routine dose of news. It broke the news of the death of a literary giant of our time ; Mr. Sarathchandra Jayakody. The news was a shocked one for me as he was from the very area where I was born and brought up. Though I had bumped on to him onece or twice, he knew who I was and literary pieces that I had written years back to Divaina. It has been nearly now five years that I have stopped writing to papers due to my hectic schedule and professional comitments. He still wanted me to contribute as he thought my writing in mother tongue was good. Indeed a great complement for an ordinary soul like me to recieve such a honor from a great man. If he is a jumbo, I am an ant. So commencing writing is the best honor that I would be able to bestow on this great soul.

He was such an educted soul that he led a modest way of life . Anyone will hardly believe, I reckon. That is against the background in which today with a little knowledge people try to be pseudo intelligentsia. He was excellent in English, singhala and Sanskrit, so they say. Many sought his support in transalting sanskrit. His features in singhala newspapers were palatable to read. They dealt with village life that we cherished as kids. Our villages have now become semi urban areas. But he used to bring nostalgic memories of yesteryears. He lived in that dream. Though the opportunity was there to migrate to an urban area, he lived in handapangoda as a village folk. He was in his roots and never did he forget his roots. This suddenly flashed in me while taking lunch today, a colleague told how another colleague use a FAB outlet as a landmark to enhance her/his social status. In a world with empty people of that nature, you are a complete man ; a rare breed indeed. May you attain the supreme bless of Nibbana