COLOMBO : (DERH), known to all his friends and family as “Hapu”, was born on 25 Aug 1948 in Bandaragama, Sri Lanka. He was, initially, educated at Greenlands College from 1953, and then joined Royal College, Colombo, in 1959 to continue his secondary schooling. Hapu passed away on Dec 10 2020 in Colombo.
Being boarded at the College Hostel, young belonged to the band of brigands who were quite famous for the many antics that went on behind those great walls. Many are the tales Hapu has remembered and submitted to be shared by the rest of the class through the years. His natural fervor for humor plus his amazing memory has brought back so much nostalgia among the guys since we all left school in the late 60s.
Srilal de Silva, a school mate and hosteller, wrote on FB that one of the oft mentioned activities of Hapu was his part in Mr Upali Attanayake’s “Amutta” and later in Dayalal Abeysekera’s ‘Komisama Ediriye Sakki Denno’, bringing to life the character of Mudra. Hapu elevated the Big Match and Hostel Day dancing to a more sophisticated level by performing a stylized version on stage, through his portrayal of the character Mudra. Mr Upali Attanayake, the teacher who trained the boys did nothing to change what Hapu did, and, on the contrary, encouraged him to ‘Fine Tune’ his performance. On the day of the finals at the Lumbini Theatre, Hapu performed excellently and also sang (All the dialogue was in the form of verse) and it was only when ‘Komisama’ was staged did we hear Hapu singing any form of serious songs.
Hapu attended the Technical College in Maradana where he took a course in valuation and it was here that he met his most valuable asset – his wonderful wife Ramani.
Hapu was involved in his family timber and furniture manufacturing business since he left College. The College library, today, boasts of extremely high quality furniture made by his factory. The newspaper stands outside the library are also proof of his awesome work and contribution to his alma mater.
I had the wonderful opportunity of enjoying a “Thosay Feed” with Hapu several months back, in 2019, after we had delivered some furniture to the College library as part of the ’59 Group library project. It was a rewind of some great old times. One of the most valuable comments made by a classmate, who was also in the hostel with Hapu in 1959, is “He was a rough Diamond, such a large hearted man”.
There never was a dull moment when good old Hapu was around.
May he attain Nibbana and Rest in Eternal Peace!
Fazli Sameer / Royal College ’59 Group
