Memories of the good times will live on

I heard that Herman had died a few weeks ago. It had been his wish for the funeral to take place on the same day with the family in attendance even without an obituary notice.

I met Herman more than 50 years ago when he was the private secretary to my father B.J. Perera who was secretary and head of Human Resources at the Bata Shoe Company. My father was not an easy person to work for but Herman with his fun-loving amiable personality got on well with him. So much so, he was regarded as the eighth child of my father who had seven children of his own. We, in turn, treated him as a sibling.

After my father’s premature death, Herman left Bata and joined Pegasus Reef Hotel as Personnel Manager. Herman said to me that he had learnt the rudiments of personnel management by watching my father work. This experience helped him to get this position at Pegasus. Herman did quite well and was sent overseas for further training. I remember sending an acquaintance for a job with a note and Herman replied “your wish is my command”. Such was the friendship between us.

Herman was tall, fair and good-looking – an eligible bachelor. A friend of mine at the Lions Club wanted my help to get his daughter married to Herman. I arranged the meeting but Herman elected to remain a bachelor his entire life.

I then went overseas and every time I came back for a visit, Herman was the first to greet me. We had so many good times. He was a livewire at any gathering.

Many years later, I came back to practise law with my brother Nihal K.M. Perera. Herman was living at St Rita’s Avenue and I bought a house at Athula Mawatha in Mount Lavinia. Due to the close proximity we met practically most days for drinks, dinner and a singsong. Those were good times and Herman used to say that “the night is young and so are we” and carried on merry making into the night.

Like it so happens in life, we got older and retired. I went to live in Diyatalawa and the frequency of our association reduced considerably. On the rare occasions we met the fun and frolic was gone and he was a frail sombre man.

When I heard that Herman had died, I was grief-stricken. I am sure if Herman sees this from wherever he is, he will be delighted that his appreciation was published in the papers. Goodbye Herman. Rest in peace.