39th Death Anniversary & 100th Birthday Anniversary

Exactly 39 years ago, a day like today, our HEART was shattered beyond help. Our father, a great pillar of our life had been swept away right before our very eyes. Some people’s presence is so vivid within us that it is hard to imagine a life without them, as we felt when we lost the very man we called “APPA”.

Above all, in a few days’ time, he would have turned 100 years old. His absence in our lives is tangible like the silence after a mighty roar. It is our honour to reflect on the life of our late father in present day.

Our father lived in Neervely with his parents and his affectionate sister. His parents passed away, while he was undertaking his undergraduate degree at University of Ceylon during the time of Sir Iver Jennings (Vice Chancellor), which meant he had to take over family responsibilities at a very young age. As we understand, it was a challenging part of his life, however, he was able to complete his undergraduate degree (the 1st person from Neervely to enter the University), which he was immensely proud of. He then married our loving mother and settled down in Kopay where he had 3 children. He had always been a loving and caring husband and father throughout his life, and we are incredibly proud of our APPA. He is still an inspiration in our lives.

Our father had been very fond of his profession as a Principal for Kopay Christian college (KCC) and Jaffna Central College (JCC) over 20 years, creating a safe, inclusive, and orderly environment where pupils feel supported and, established educational standards to prepare pupils for the next phase of their education and life. He always believed and highlighted the principles that teachers of an “EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT” should dedicate their time to improve the educational standards and create an environment where pupils feel supported and can experience a positive school life, which was really appreciated by parents and students under our father’s leadership at both KCC/JCC. Seeing him get up before dawn to go and do a hard day’s work at the school until late in the evening, demonstrated his commitment to his work and most importantly contributing to pupils’ education really inspired and guided us throughout our life. After leaving JCC, he became the Senior Director of Education at Ministry of Education and later moved to Nigeria as Advisor to Ministry of Finance, Kaduna state.

Our father was heavily involved in helping the local community in Neervely and Kopay. One of his greatest achievements was establishing a childcare centre in Neervely “creche” in 1956, where parents could comfortably leave their children under the age of 5 to be cared for by professional carers, whilst they are at work during the day, similar models have been set up in the western world since 70’s.He was also instrumental in setting up a local cooperative society for farmers in Kopay and Neervely, which enabled farmers to procure seeds and plants at subsidised prices to support food production and improve productivity locally. We, as well as the local communities of Neervely and Kopay are profoundly proud of our father’s achievements at this front, which helped local community at all levels.

“Appa, your love, your patience, your understanding, your wisdom and your attitude to caring for your family and society will live on inside us forever. You have given us gifts that are more precious than anything in this world. You will always live on in our HEARTS".