Memories of tough work in the jungles and relaxing evenings

Thosapala Hewage, former Ambassador to Nepal and former Secretary to several Ministries, passed away in New Zealand during the height of the Corona lockdown in April. After retirement, he was living with his beloved wife Thilaka, son and daughter and their families in Auckland.

‘Those’ (his pet name) and I became friends at first sight when we were introduced to each other by Thilakasiri Prathiraja, the first Chief Settlement Officer of the then Mahaweli Development Board and my superior at Galnewa settlement office. Mr.Prathiraja later became the Land Commissioner and retired as Land Secretary. We lived in cadjan huts on the banks of Kala Oya without having even proper toilet facilities at the very outset, around 1974. However, those were the days we enjoyed both our tough work in the jungles with farmers and evening get-togethers with singsongs and dances.

We were the pioneers of the Mahaweli Settlement Plan launched under the able leadership of R.S. Jayarathne, the then DGM-Settlement Planning, assisted by T.H. Karunatilake known as ‘think tank’. Later on, Mahinda Ralapanawa and D. M. Ariyaratne respectively took over the leadership. Both these clever task masters also made our rough life in the field interesting and enjoyable as they frequently visited us sometimes with literary giants like K. Jayathilaka and A. V. Suraweera. I remember once Mr. Ariyaratne challenging Maestro Amaradeva to sing a song with him.

Jayalath Manoratne and dramatist Abeysundara were also working in my team in the “H” Area and we organised drama festivals at Bongamuwa, Kekirawa and some other places. After Y.G. Wijeratne took over as Chief Settlement Officer such gettogethers became a regular feature.

The District Land Officers of the neighbouring districts were summoned from time to time for land kachcheries to select eligible farmers to receive Mahaweli lands in the “H” Area under the Kalawewa basin first. ‘Those`s’ regular presence at those programmes made us good friends. Whenever we had to come to Colombo we used to pick-up ‘Those’ at Rajangana where he fuctioned as Resident District Land Officer. Nostalgic memories of such encounters have an indelible place in my mind. One day when we were returning from Colombo at night our jeep had a tyre puncture on the Puttalam Road. Mr.Prathiraja was at the wheel and it was raining ‘cats and dogs’. ‘Those’ and myself got out in the heavy rain and jacked up the vehicle making a desperate attempt to remove the wheel in question to replace it with the spare. Both of us used the wheel brace together with our full force but the wheel nuts refused to move. We were fully wet and thoroughly frustrated. Then a man approached with an umbrella - a bus driver living nearby. After having a look at the wheel he said sarcastically “Sir, you have fastened the nuts instead of loosening them.” ‘Those’ looked at me helplessly and we didn’t utter a word after that.

Our paths crossed several times during our lengthy public service career. When he became Secretary to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources I was Additional Secretary to the same Ministry. When he was made Secretary to the Ministry of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion I worked with him again as a consultant and Project Director of the projects funded by World Bank, ADB, and JAICA. Rohitha Bogollagama, able and clever negotiator took over the Foreign Affairs Ministry at a time when our multilateral as well as bilateral relations became very vulnerable, especially, at the verge of elimination of LTTE terrorism by our armed forces. ‘Those’ and I were sent as Heads of Sri Lanka Mission representing the country abroad.

He settled down in New Zealand after retirement and when vacationing here in 2018, requested me to assist him in launching his autobiography ‘Emerging from the Backwoods’. We organized the event at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute with the participation of our seniors, colleagues and friends. Nanda Abeywickrama, well respected former Ministry Secretary chaired the event. The then President`s Secretary Austin Fernando delivered the keynote address. It was a memorable day for me as I could meet and talk with most of my former bosses and colleagues during the event. ‘Those’ and Thilaka thanked me profusely for managing the programme. ‘Those`s’ autobiography itself will vouch for his genuineness and frankness.

There were many other brief occasions when we ran in to each other unexpectedly. When I was Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, a great leader who had a vision for the nation, summoned a meeting with couple of Secretaries to other Ministries which included ‘Those’ as well. He stayed with me for more than ten days while attending an international conference in Havana as Secretary to the Urban Development Ministry, if I remember correctly, when I was the Head of Mission in Cuba. I took him to the ‘Granma ‘ cabin cruiser on which Fidel Castro and 81 followers returned to Cuba from Mexico in 1956 and to the Museum of Revolution in Havana. While driving him from Havana to Santa Clara where the ‘Che Guevara Museum’ has been located we had a wonderful time reflecting on our halcyon days.

‘Those’ was one of those dwindling band of hard working public officers this country had in the recent past. The ‘National Forestry Policy’ was drafted and finalized under his supervision as Director, Forestry Planning. There are several landmark achievements in his public service career. He was elected twice as Secretary to the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association which came under the chairmanship of veteran administrator/ diplomat Lionel Fernando. More than anything else ‘Those’ was a friend in need and in my case he became a friend in deed. His honesty and integrity cannot be easily matched by his juniors or followers in the public service. There were situations challenging his reputation once or twice but he came out smelling of roses.

‘Those’ used to call me whenever he returned to Sri Lanka from New Zealand and we would meet to have a chat. He was too busy during his last visit to Colombo due to some special medical treatments as his health was deteriorating by then. My advice to him was to return to his family in New Zealand as soon as possible which he followed promptly. After going there he succumbed to his illness sooner than I thought.

When I called him a couple of days before he passed away, he said, “Jayantha, they are doing their best but I feel my days are numbered!” Albert Einstein said once “we have been programmed before sending here”. ‘Those’ you have accomplished your task here to the letter and we are proud of you. We miss you badly during this extra little time of our lives and hope our paths cross again one fine day during our sojourn in ‘Sansara’!

Until then, farewell ‘Those’!!