A Maths wizard, exemplary teacher and much more

R. Mahathanthila, my daughter Avanthi’s father-in-law passed away at the age of 91 years after rendering a great service to the people of Mathugama as a Mathematics teacher and bringing up an illustrious family of three sons.

He was a self-made man who was born at Deeyakaduwa, a remote village in the Kalutara district. I was able to get to know him intimately over the last three to four years and was amazed to hear how he, being one of 13 siblings achieved all his aims on his own. He was the last in his family of brothers and sisters to bid farewell last week.

He told me that he started schooling as an adolescent in the village next to his due to the non-availability of a school in his own village. He passed his SSC in the Sinhala medium at Mathugama, moved to a temple in Gampaha where one of his brothers was a chief priest, studied Maths and English on his own and became a teacher, later further qualifying as a trained teacher from the Government Training Colleges in Maharagama and Katukurunda. He ended his career as a Senior Teacher.

He married Nanda Arandara who was also a teacher. They had three sons, all who became graduates, two from the University of Moratuwa and one from the University of Colombo. Being Government Servants, with no additional income, it was no easy task to finance and maintain three sons in university at the same time.

He told me that this compelled him to retire prematurely and give tuition in Mathematics at his own home at a very nominal fee at that time. With the increase in the number of students both girls and boys, he became a highly sought after teacher not only in Mathugama where he was living but also in the Kalutara district. He maintained his principles and standards; each class was only one and a half hours and students were also limited to around 100. He was able to understand each and every student and even predict their home situation from their behaviour in the class.

Although he was retired, he never conducted any classes during weekday mornings – he was adamant that attending school was compulsory.

However, he stopped giving tuition once his children graduated since the main purpose was to finance his three sons’ education during their campus days until they were able to find suitable employment. He wound up his classes in a very systematic way where he first stopped new enrolments and then continued his classes until all his students from different age groups had sat for their Ordinary Level exams. This is a classic example of the calibre of teacher he was.

He had the ability to grasp any teaching technique in Mathematics and be able to teach that to students. He was able to do revision with his (and my) 11-year-old grandson with whom he was living. Although my grandson was studying an international curriculum, he was able to help him at his exams until his demise which even amazed his teachers at school. He could prove all theorems in Mathematics until his last days.

Apart from his mastery of mathematics he loved folklore, reading novels and poetry with a very critical mind. With his fantastic memory even in his last days he used to quote from literature and recite poems from the books he had read decades ago. He was well versed in geography and had long discussions about geography with his grandson. He was also very versatile in handwork which made him, his (and my) smallest granddaughter’s hero. Whenever she had any handwork to be done at home from either Montessori, school or extra classes, Seeya as he was fondly called, came to her rescue.

His fantastic memory amazed not only me but many others who associated him during his time in Colombo which was nearly three years since the passing away of his beloved wife in 2019. He had golden qualities and valued our Sinhala-Buddhist customs, traditions and ethics. I had very long and interesting conversations with him on a variety of subjects – ancient, current and modern.

His loss will be deeply felt by his immediate family and I too will miss his friendly company.

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.