His is a life to be celebrated
He was a teacher, artist, carpenter, metal worker, master leather craftsman, social worker, social mobiliser, but above all, John David will be remembered as a true child of God, who constantly looked for ways of fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by his Creator. All those who knew him closely would agree that he had a very good idea of what this mission was. Anyone meeting him for the first time had to spend only 10 minutes with him to get a glimpse of this divine objective.
As a government servant attached to the Education Department, he would often complain that the amount of work he did as a Lecturer was not sufficient, and hence would look at providing a holistic learning experience to his trainees who were being coached to be teachers themselves, spending extra hours on weekends and holidays. An uncompromising approach to hard work and the innate pioneering spirit led him to leave the state sector and embark on a totally new field with no leaders or role models to follow. It was only his instincts and his values that guided him to create a whole new field, hand-crafted leatherware, which today is an established industry providing gainful employment to many. In the early 70s, vegetable tanned leather was used only for the inners of shoes.
The underutilised lecturer saw opportunity not only for himself, but for so many others, especially the socially handicapped, such as young men and women from broken homes, broken marriages, often ostracised by traditional societies. His first leather craft workshop was named the Handicraft Service Centre, in the then small roadside town of Pilimatalawa. True to its name, this entity was a lot of things, except a business venture. It was sans many of the components of a small and medium scale enterprise such as accounting procedures, marketing, work study, etc., but it was bursting at its seams with love, kindness, empathy and sharing.
This was the beginning of a lifetime of experimentation with leather and other materials, and sharing all of that with his followers.
Interestingly, at various stages of his venture in leather craft, John David would strike up partnerships, and watch the partners grow rapidly and then challenge their teacher and leave to start on their own. The pioneer would put hand to chin, and with a partly hidden smile would comment that this person has grown to such a level, that he or she can now, challenge me, leave, and go on and start a new venture on his or her own. This had happened more than 3 or 4 times during his days as a leather craftsman. In his personal life, enemies were nonexistent. Recognising the true significance of Christmas, John David along with his family visited many homes of people with whom relationships had gone sour during the year, much to the discomfort of his young children and wife. At each of these occasions the hosts turned out to be very gracious and hospitable and the whole exercise resulted in healing and reconciliation.
Even in his 80s, one would see him taking the arduous bus journey to the Pensions office in Colombo, to attend to a pension matter of a poor or feeble neighbour. At the same time, he would assert himself when he saw that the rights of the less fortunate were being deprived. The unscrupulous queue jumpers at the Kadugannawa bus stand in Kandy were often at the receiving end of his protests which are almost always complete with a touch of sarcasm. “Mahaththayo, polimeya awanam neda honda?” coming from the immaculately dressed, greying and distinguished looking John David, this was most disarming to the younger perpetrators.
His spirituality was engraved with a deep acknowledgement of the existence of a divine being. He would call it the “X-factor”, someone or something that would make things fall in place, and how right he was. At every turning point in his life he would claim that there was divine intervention. So, he would venture fearlessly to the unknown, assured of assistance of the X- factor.
Money meant little to him. A few years ago John’s daughter and son decided to ask him why he had no bank balance, and why he had not saved any money for his last days. Bang, came the reply “Why should I? I was positive I won’t need it, I was sure you will look after me”. The answer was plenty and the point inarguable. As claimed by himself often, John was blessed with very caring family and friends. He had friends from all walks of life, and was adored by all. His life’s achievements received silent but resilient support from his beloved wife Therese, who stood by this extraordinary man through thick and thin.
During his last few years he would reflect on each phrase of the Lord’s prayer. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” seemed to be the underlying statement in the life of this multi-faceted man. About four years before his demise, he was seen consoling the grieving siblings and children of a deceased elderly relative by reciting the Lord’s prayer and reflecting and meditating on each phrase. He found solace in prayer, and the Lord’s prayer epitomises the beliefs of this innovative, amiable man who touched every soul he came across in his own inimitable style. A life to be celebrated. May God bless his soul.