Dr. Dilantha Fernando, Dean of St. Paul's College, at the University of Manitoba, and Past President of the Sri Lankan Association of Manitoba came up with a thoughtful idea to celebrate Sri Lankan New Year on April 14, 2024, at St. Paul's College. More than 100 of the multinational and multicultural communities participated. I am confident this is the first time the Sri Lankan community conducted this type of new year celebration.
Sri Lankan men wore traditional sarongs and the ladies wore sarees in blue as is traditional at New Year. The Head Chaplain of Christ the King Chapel Fr. Mark Filips was also wearing a white shirt similar to the Sri Lankan national dress. He told me that it was a gift from a Sri Lankan, and he decided to wear it to grace this grand occasion.
Before starting the mass at the chapel, the brass oil lamp was lit by the distinguished invitees. Tharu Fernando and Sheena Oguri highlighted the significance of the new year in South Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka and India. They explained the historical background and pointed out that Sri Lanka has a history of more than 3,000 years. Choir hymns too were sung beautifully in Sinhala, Malayalm and English.
Mass was followed by a well-planned Sri Lankan potluck lunch. Delicious options included milk-rice to make it an auspicious event. For dessert, there were fruits, a variety of Sri Lankan oil cakes and watalappan.
Just after lunch the audience was in for a real surprise when Sri Lankan Dream Start made an appearance with none other than Suneera Sumanga, who is now world renowned for his Amaradeva style signing. Three Sri Lankan new-generation singers conducted a grand show in Winnipeg on March 30, 2024. Suneera was one of them. As a Catholic, he sang hymns with the choir. Suneera was trained as a singer in his school days at De Mazenod College and in his church choir in Sri Lanka. In 2017, he won first place in the national singing competition and became the Derana Dream Star. Suneera sang Sinhala and Hindi songs and got the audience to participate in his last song.
All in all, it was a great Sri Lankan New Year celebration on the 14th of April. A first in Winnipeg. I am sure many will have lovely memories of this for a long time to come.
A tribute to Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne: Gandhi of Sri Lanka
On Nov. 5, 1931, Dr. Ariyaratne was born in Unawatuna, where my wife Chandani’s ancestral home is located. He was my teacher (guru) in my school, Nalanda Vidyalaya (College), Colombo.
When my father visited my school to monitor my studies, he became friends with Dr. Ariyaratne, who told my father about his village development in Kanatoluwa in the late 1950s. I was encouraged to attend, as a gift of labor (Shramadana), for the rural poor. My father arranged for me to attend his Maths class at his home in Maradana, Colombo.
Dr. Ariyaratne started the Sarvodaya movement with 40 school students and 12 teachers from Nalanda College. The book named "Revolution Under the Breadfruit Tree" described the early days of this movement. The author explained that Dr. Ariyaratne was forced to marry because, if he stayed unmarried, working with young girls and boys could send a bad signal to the world.
Before getting married to me, Chandani was teaching at Sumanajothi Vidyalaya, the school located in Unawatuna. Chulalatha was a staff member in this school and Dr. Ariyaratne's elder sister. After we got married both of us had contacts with Chulalatha and we discussed my school experiences about her younger brother. During my tenure in Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka I managed to obtain Sarvodaya services to enhance the capacity of Farmer Organizations in Mahaweli areas.
In 2018, when we visited Sri Lanka, Chandani and I paid a visit to Neetha Akka, Dr. Ariyarathn's wife, and my Guru Ariyaratne. We had a long conversation about Sarvodaya and both our day-to-day our family matters. A few weeks ago, when I spoke to Dr. Ariyarathn's son, Vinya. I inquired about his father's condition. Vinya told me that his father was very weak. He passed away on April 16, 2024.
My dear Sir, under Conventional Truth (Sammuthi Sacca) you were honoured and recognized by national and international organizations and individuals. However, based on Ultimate Truth (Paramattha Sacca) your humble humanitarian service more than six-decades is quite enough for you to shorten the long walk in Samsara.
