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Celebrating STC Gurutalawa's 60th Anniversary Reflections in tranquillity by Gerald de Alwis, Member of Board of Governors, S. Thomas' College gurutalawa. 'I grow old, I grow old, In April 1942, when the outbreak of World War II had the school by the sea taken over by the Army for a military hospital, four branch schools had to be opened at Girls High School, Mt. Lavinia, St. Pauls' Milagiriya, Getambe and Gurutalawa. Ifarma est" (as the story goes-perhaps apocryphal), the Principal of Ladies College, Colombo at that time, expressed an interest for the Gurutalawa Farm. Fortunately, Mr. Leslie de Saram our benefactor donated the farm lock, stock and barrel to S. Thomas' College, where his relation Canon R. S. de Saram held the reins. Canon de Saram, in turn, handed over the task of establishing the branch school to Dr. R. L. Hayman who along with Father Foster, Chaplain, went about their task with missionary zeal. In 1945, the Getambe boys, too, were brought to Gurutalawa as that branch was closed. The buildings were far from ready to accommodate the influx and the seniors were lumped into the "Long Room" which later became the Winchester Dormitory. I had left the comfort of a very happy home to face the turbulence of boarding life. Shramadana was at its height, what with Canon de Saram wielding the mammoty as he did the willow in his time (not forgetting his Boxing Blue from Oxford). Dr. Hayman in his one piece swimming suit, if I am not suffering from dementia, trundled the wheel barrow which looked like a toy in his ample frame, Father Foster, C. H. Davidson and S. J. Anandanayagam both later Wardens made their presence felt in the shovelling department. We also had E. F. C. Pereira and K. Nesiah - the first master in the history of the College to wear national dress and of course, mistakenly identified! Anyway, before long, the senior dormitories were ready for us, houses adjacent to each other. For, bathing one had to go to the spout and the outhouses became the safe haven for the spoils of the 'raids' on the farm and the orchard. We had manna grass roofs for temporary classrooms and dining hall. Bird droppings added to the flavour of our food! Even for practice cricket matches we had to go to the Bandarawela Esplanade, as our grounds were unsatisfactory for any serious cricket. In fact when I was defacto headmaster cum manager in 1977-98, one of the first things I did was to collect funds for constructing three turf wickets. The response from my former Guru students and friends was overwhelming. Mr. Ajith Jayasekera, manager Sri Lanka cricket team in his report to the Board of Governors says "the wickets have been well constructed by Marion Cooray, curator of the Moratuwa cricket stadium. In 1952, when Bradman Weerakoon, Duleep Kumar and I joined the staff, straight from the University of Colombo, there were A. K. Chapman, J. L. Habaragoda, Captain Lucien Amarasinghe, Pandit P. Y. Ambrose, A. C. M. Lafir already part of the happy family, with Dr. Hayman and Father Foster to provide lustre to the groves of academy. In 1953, the cricket team (under 16) captained by Mahesan Selvaratnam and coached by me, beat S.T.C. Mt. Lavinia with Michael Tissera, David Peiris et al in their team. In 1955 when my wife and I returned from Cambridge after study leave, Dr. Hayman gave us his old quarters and what is more, expanded his garage to accommodate our brand new Volkswagen, bought for the then princely sum of Rs. 8,000. Headmasters after Dr. Hayman have contributed in their own imitable way. We are particularly grateful to Bala Gunasekeram and his wife who both paid the supreme sacrifice with their lives. It was indeed a tragedy which rocked Gurutalawa and almost brought it to a closure. It was former Bishop Jabes and Father Goodchild, along with the manager who held the fort as it were, along with the boys and the staff at that time. St. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa has been home to many who have contributed to the country's development. I do not wish to elaborate for fear of omitting many. |
