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... Constellation aircraft of Air Ceylon flying in to land at Ratmalana. In 1934 the State Council of Ceylon made a historic decision to construct an aerodrome and found that Ratmalana was the best area because it was within easy reach of the capital city of Colombo. The first plane landed at Ratmalana was on 27 th November 1935, a de Havilland Puss Moth flown by Tyndalle Bio, Chief flying instructor of Madras Flying Club.
This was the year of Sumith Wickramasinghe's birth. Little did Sumith Wickramasinghe know that both his daughters would join Air Lanka in the 1980 s and 1990 s and his youngest actually flew all over the world with one of the great small airlines of South Asia. Ratmalana was a hive of activity when Sumith and his family rented a house down 5 th Lane. Ceylon was well into the 1960 s and Sumith spent several years as an independent representative of several drug companies - as a salesman he made frequent trips to Jaffna, Kandy, Nuwawa-Eliza, Trincomalee, Galle.
Ceylon elected the world's first woman prime minister in Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Dudley Senanayake, sone of Ceylon's first Premier after independence in 1948 D. S. Senayake succeed Mrs Bandaranaike as the Leader of the Nation. Sumith had the opportunity of making his first flight on Air Lanka, on a trip to Singapore with his wife Prema, they subsequently made a second trip to this progressive city.
Sumith also flew to Bangkok in Thailand with his daughters. It was a poignant flight which he thoroughly enjoyed... his eldest daughter was working for Air Lanka at the time, so it was a moving experience. They flew on a Air Lanka LIOII Tristar from Colombo to Bangkok and explored the markets, the tourist sites.
Sumith was so proud to see his daughters working for Air Lanka. It was indeed something to work for this young airline inaugurated in the 1970 s by the Jayewardene Administration. It gave Sri Lankan's a sense of pride to work for the flag carrier - it heralded a new dawn for Sri Lanka. Life was simple in the 1960 s and 1970 s in Ceylon. There was no television, radio ruled the airwaves and every Ceylonese family had a radio in their home tuned into Radio Ceylon - the oldest radio station in South Asia. Sumith's family were no different.
Sumith Wickramasinghe's radio at home was tuned into Radio Ceylon and subsequently the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation through out the 1960 s and 1970 s. His favourite Sri Lankan musician was the great C. T. Fernando who thrilled the Sri Lankan crowds with 'Sinhala Pop' one of Sumith's perennial favourite was Piyumehi Panibothi by C. T. Fernando who had a wonderful voice.
Sumith and his friends loved to sing a few of CT's songs on an evening as the sunset over Colombo. He also sang one of CT's hits Ambili Mame to put his little niece Thrishana to bed. Sumith enjoyed the lyrics of the legendary Sri Lankan writer Karunaratne Abeysekera - he loved the Sinhala cinema too - Gaming Fonseka, Rukmani Devi and the old actors and actresses of Ceylon who were classy performers on stage and screen in Colombo. The Wickramasinghe Family enjoyed listening to the radio, going to the Cinema to watch wonderful movies like Gone With the Wind, Hatari and the Sound of Music, a family outing to a Chinese Hotel for a slap up Chinese Meal on payday, a stroll down Galle Face Green in Colombo. These were the joys of family life. Sumith used to speak about 'Gone with the Wind' a story from the American Civil War highlighting the love-hate relationship between the hot tempered Southern Belle Scarlet O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and the questionable, rebellious, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
The film was directed by Victor Fleming. Although Sumith was 4 when it was released he saw the film many years later - it left a lasting impression on him. One of his favourite film stars Vivien Leigh, actually visited Ceylon in 1953 and stayed at the Galle Face Hotel to shoot the film 'Elephant Walk. ' Due to illness - they say she suffered a mental breakdown while she was filming 'Elephant Walk' in Ceylon Vivien Leigh had to leave the island and she was replaced in the film by Elizabeth Taylor. 'Gone with the Wind' was a massive hit on the island. Queues of Ceylonese stood outside cinema halls to see this film as well as Hatari with John Wayne (released in 1962 and directed by Howard Hawks. ) People in Colombo used to whistle the 'Baby Elephant Walk' theme song from this intersting film - you could feel the sense of danger as John Wayne and his crew attempted to capture the wild rhino and other animals. Henri Mancini provided a wonderful score including the popular 'Baby Elephant Walk' which was played over and over again on Radio Ceylon. Sumith also loved the 'Sound of Music' (Directed by Robert Wise and released in 1965) the amazing real story of Maria Von Trapp and her family from Austria starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
This is the moving story of a former nun who captures the hearts of a strict disciplinarian, a widower and his children. With the introduction of television to Sri Lanka in the late 1970 s Sumith enjoyed the new Sri Lankan tele-dramas and foreign programmes such as 'Ohio. ' Television had replaced the radio and families sat around the box - it was a new visual experience in Sri Lanka. Sumith was used to the radio era of Ceylon and he was an avid listener to the radio programmes of Radio Ceylon. Once television was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1979 he and the Wickramasinghe family were 'glued to the box. ' They loved the Sinhala tele dramas - a new genre on television and enjoyed the comedy shows. Sumith used to howl with laughter at the antics of the veteran American actor Bill Cosby on the Cosby Show which was so popular in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan's were amazed at the likeness of Bill Cosby to the President of the day - J. R. Jayewardene! Sumith loved music, particularly Sinhala music - he would often listen to music over the airwaves of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Sumith loved to sing the favourite songs of the day and he marvelled at the talented voice of the great Rukmani Devi. Bertram Joseph Fernando writing in the Daily News in Colombo paid a tribute to the 'Nightingale of Sri Lanka, ' one of Sumith's favourite stars: 'Rukmani Devi was born as Daisy Daniels on January 15, 1923. At the age of seven she was picked to sing Christmas carols. Watching her ability to sing, dance, also to act, she was selected to perform a main part in a Christmas play, "The Color's Wife." The stage play was trained and presented by St. Clare's School, Wellawatte.
Then at the age of just 12 years she was picked to perform the stage play, "Ramayanaya" presented by 'Sinhala Navy Sabha'. Since her performances were highly appreciated by the packed audience, well-known dramatist Dick Dias selected her to act in two of his stage plays, "Jana Kiharanaya" and "Mayawathie." In 1936 her first recording of famous song "Siri Buddhagaya Vihare" with Master H. W. Rupasinghe brought her fortune. She captured the hearts of the masses. With her unique voice she was in a position to be picked and selected by many music directors.
Her singing career continued on stage and screen. She in fact was able to sing with pop groups in the latter part of her life. Rukmani Devi reached the dizzy heights of stardom in Ceylon when the popular play 'Broken Promise' was turned into a film by B. A. W. Jayamanne.
This was the first Sinhala film - 'Kadavunu Poronduwa', screened on January 21, 1947. Thus Rukmani became the first local actress, acclaimed as "the Nightingale of Sri Lanka." Her film career covered a period of three decades. At the time of her death, she had acted in around ninety films. Rukmani Devi played the main role in B. A. W.
Jayamanne's drama 'Seethala Nadia. ' This was staged at Mary Margaret Convent's School Hall Mutual, somewhere in 1958. With her there were many artistes like Joe Abeywickrema, Eddie Jayamanne, Mili Kahandawela, Eddie Junior and BAW. They jointly made the drama stunning. Rukmani Devi, the singing star, stage and screen idol died in a tragic motor accident near St. Mary's Church, Thudella on September 25, 1978. She was returning after her last musical show in Uyanwatte, Hatari.
Her funeral ceremony was attended by a very large gathering, mostly film makers and dramatists, friends, politicians and relations. One could remember how people stood on the walls of Negombo cemetery on September 28, 1978. In fact part of the wall collapsed. One can also remember the speech delivered by late President Ranasinghe Premadasa on that day acclaiming Rukmani's life for art and culture... '. On the international stage Sumith admired President John F.
Kennedy who took up the US Presidency in 1961 the very same year that Ceylon appointed the world's first woman prime minister, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. (who was assassinated) Sumith encouraged his children to read the stories of Martin Wickramasinghe one of Sri Lanka's great writers.
Martin Wickramasinghe, recognised as one of Sri Lanka's greatest authors and intellects, started to write in Sinhala at the age of 13 and continued to write both Sinhala and English until 86 years. Some of his major novels and short stories have been translated into English, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, Romanian and Tamil. Sumith bought his children books and urged them to read the works of Martin Wickramasinghe. One of his personal favourites was 'Mail Door. ' The tome has a fascinating storyline: 'The courage and determination that give the two friends Upali and Jenna heroic stature in the eyes of the reader, is a product of their unyielding physical and mental strength.
Their intelligence confronts and overcomes the handicap of a deficient education. Upali is a hero who overflows with an extraordinary human vitality... ' W. Sumith Wickramasinghe left the health field and joined the Ceylon Insurance Corporation in 1978 and worked for several years as a Motor Assessor. This new post gave him immense job satisfaction and he spent hours on the move. He worked for the Ceylon Insurance Corporation until his untimely death on the 22 nd of July 1990. At the time, the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation came under the Government of Sri Lanka.
It was the leading player in the insurance industry on the island with the lion's share of all insurance policies. Sumith died when he was 54 years old. No one can forget the legacy left behind by W. S. Wickramasinghe, he was a man of our times, deeply patriotic, deeply loyal - to his family, his friends, his work colleagues - he was one who inculcated traditional Sri Lankan family values, religious values that provided his offspring with a sense of identity - which they hold so dear - even to this day. The family stories involving W.
S. are handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. The life story of W. S.
Wickramasinghe is a life story from Sri Lanka, part of that rich tapestry of colour, vibrant, history, culture all embedded into the human fabric of this beautiful island - the home of W. Sumith Wickramasinghe...
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Research essay sample on 1960 And 1970 Sri Lanka
