A devout Buddhist

I thought of Indrani Iriyagolle as her birthday was on the 16th of May, which was Vesak day. She was a devout Buddhist who practiced Buddhism as Lord Buddha wanted it done. She worked hard all her life with compassion and tolerance to the under privileged in countless ways. Indrani worked with dedication for rehabilitation, women's rights, welfare and humanitarian work.

Her grandfather, William Jayasinghe, established the first Buddhist English school for boys in Badulla. She had her primary education at Nalanda College, later at Musaeus College. She was a graduate of the University of Ceylon and of the University of Cambridge, taught at Visakha Vidyalaya, was President of The Prisoners Welfare Association, President of the All Ceylon Womens conference in 2015 and Founder of The Sinhala Women's Foundation for Welfare and Development. She was also involved in

Lak Vanitha the women's wing of the UNP remained loyal and worked hard for the party. Indrani was married to Gamini Iriyagolle, a lawyer, writer and civil servant whose father was former Minister of Education, the late I.M.R.A. Iriyagolle. Both Indrani and Gamini contributed much, each in their own way to our nation. Such people are sadly missed today.