He was precious to family
Christopher R.T. Andradi, my dear cousin, kept his tryst with death on July 24, 2015. Born to the late Rev. Canon Raylin Andradi and Letiticia Andradi of Moratuwa, he had his primary education at Prince of Wales’ College, Moratuwa and completed his secondary education at St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia where he proved to be a bright student and won the Liturgy prize twice.
He graduated from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya and joined Mackwoods Ltd. as an executive. Shortly after, he proceeded to the United Kingdom where he easily assimilated the ways, customs and culture of that country and stayed put for 38 long years as an accountant.
He was an avid reader. He had a thirst and craving for books, paintings, works of art symphonies, plays and similar cultural pur- suits and UK was the God-given place to satisfy such interests as well as to expand his knowledge in various fields ranging from comparative religion, politics, culture to classics and art. His library was the pride of his life stacked with around 6,000 books, some priceless. He kept himself up-dated in such interests.
He ran his own apartment here and abroad paying huge rentals ostensibly for residence but in actual fact to house mainly his vast library and video collection as once he left in the mornings, he returned only late in the night after dinner out. He spent most of his spare time in bookshops and where his interests took him and when he returned in the night decided to communicate with close friends and relations, read or watched videos (he had a valuable collection here too) and retired to bed generally in the early hours. After his return from UK, time was hanging on his hands but his thirst for the pursuit of his interests did not diminish. Nor did he alter his routine of leaving home early and returning late or reading.
He was devoted to his only sister, Pauline Opatha and much later decided to visit her and his niece Kshiara for what he considered lunch at around 4 p.m., only to resume his stroll thereafter. His friends were a chosen few.
Only a few could have shared his keen sense of humour and incisive wit. Knowledgeable in varied matters, he did not suffer fools gladly. Like most intellectuals, he was a man of few words and was not prone to a display of his knowledge.
He did not have much opportunity of tasting seriously the intricacies of Sri Lankan society nor the tricky internal machinations or manifestations among relations. In the footsteps of an upright conservative Englishman, he was uncompromisingly steadfast in principles, common courtesy and etiquette. He remained a gentleman to his fingertips. He was fond of his two grand-nieces as well and despite his long sojourn abroad very concerned about the family and their welfare.
A God-fearing man, he loved his alma mater and was proud of the “blue, black and blue” ensuring as a last wish that the tie he was to be adorned with bore the colours. Although not specifically willed by him, the family was by circumstances compelled to have the last rites performed at the College Chapel - ‘The Chapel of the Transfiguration”, before burial at the Moratuwa Holy Emmanuel Church burial grounds.