The visitor of my week

The visitor of my week was Fred Senior, grandson of the late Rev W.S. Senior widely famed as the Bard of Ceylon. The late Rev. Senior was Vice Principal and acting Principal of Trinity College Kandy, and Parish Priest at Christ Church,

Galle Face. He was a truly remarkable man who was a scholar, nature enthusiast, poet, musician, teacher and an Anglican Priest. He wrote the Call of Lanka, Hymn to Lanka and a hymn for Trinity College, Kandy. He is buried in Haputale which he loved. I was happy to meet Fred as the Call of Lanka is a favourite poem of mine and so is the Hymn for Ceylon. Fred is on his tenth visit here and I asked him what he loves most about Sri Lanka, He replied “The People. Your country has been through so much trouble, many years of war, natural disasters like Tsunami, Covid and bankruptcy but your people still smile through all this. Fred walks all over meeting people from all walks of life and talking to them. Undoubtedly, this is the best way of getting to know a country and its people. Fred’s first visit was to see where his father was born which was in Kandy. He says he will never stop coming here, as he loves our country following in the footsteps of his grandfather in this respect. He was a farmer, and still lives on a farm in New Zealand where his father emigrated to and now spends his time organising classes and activities for intellectually disabled children which is a most satisfying and rewarding occupation. Fred’s wife is a teacher, who sends boxes of books regularly to an orphanage in Nittambuwa, run by Chantal de Saram, who invited me to meet Fred. I was glad to hear that the children in this orphanage love to read English books. Fred on his first visit had come with only two names and addresses of contacts, One was the late James Obeysekera, Chantal’s father who the late Senior had tutored and stayed with at their beautiful stately home; the Maligawa where Fred is staying too. This house is one of the jewels in Colombo’s architectural crown. The late W. S. Senior’s autobiography was launched on Founders’ Day at Ladies’ College and a portrait of him and a plaque unveiled at Trinity College, Kandy over the weekend. It was nice to meet someone who loves our country and visits regularly. My favourite lines from Call of Lanka are ‘But most shall we sing of Lanka in the brave new days to come, when the races all have blended and the voice of strife is dumb, when we leap to a single bugle, march to a single drum.’ That is my dream for my beloved homeland too.