MOMENTS OF MIRTH - 1
Memories of life at Saint Anthony's College - that great College by the banks of the mighty Mahaveli - are always worth recollecting. Memories with a lacing of humour make the reminiscing always pleasant, sometimes sad, and very nostalgic. Parting the veil of time I was swept away on a tsunami of memories. The Mahaveli Ganga has its source in the foothills of Adam's Peak and flows past College on its journey towards the ocean - it also flowed into the canyons of my mind and the memories and the river will live on forever.
HECTOR'S HORROR.
Hector Fernando as many Boarders of the late 50's will remember was better known as a star full back in the college soccer team of 1960. Together with his partner S.Vaitilingam now domiciled in South India, they were a formidable duo which prevented, or made it extremely difficult for the opposing team to score goals.
One particular match I recall was against the very strong team from Colombo, Maradana Central College which had three national players in its side. The crowds streamed in through the College gate from early in the afternoon and by the time the game got underway there was a large crowd to watch the match of the season. They came not because they wanted to see the Anthonian team in action because they had seen our team play many times before. The draw card was the famed Maradana Central College team with the trio who played for the national side. The atmosphere around the grounds was electric and there was no room to swing a cat !
Despite this nationally famed trio, they were unable to breach the Anthonian defence and score a single goal. We won this game one nil. The other players in this champion Anthonian side were Franco Burke, Tilak Pananwala, Buncho Premaratna, Nallathamby, Jayantha Aturupana, Ananda Diyabalanage, Cecil Udulagama, Kanagasabai (Goalie) and Shanmugam, to name a few. In fact it was Jayantha Aturupana who scored the solitary goal which gave college her victory.
I was a witness to the day when Hector sustained a double fracture to his right hand, the result of a nasty fall while running down the steps on the terraces because he was late for soccer practice The Coach Mr.Kanniah was pedantic about time and did not tolerate late comers. We carried Hector doubled up in agony to the Sickroom from where he was sent to the Kandy Hospital in the "College Chariot" - the name given to the weird contraption resembling a truck. About seven hours later, Hector was back in the Sickroom with his right hand in Plaster of Paris.
Coach Mr K.S Kanniah
He was in the Sickroom for a week, was discharged and back in "The Villa" trying to resume life as normal. It became obvious to us that he was in apparent discomfort. But this is where the real horror began. About ten days after he was discharged, Hector was observed in the study hall inserting a foot ruler through the opening where the Plaster of Paris ended, just past the fleshy part of the palm below the thumb. Having done this, he proceeded to "scratch" the broken hand using the ruler as if his life depended on it !
We were horrified to observe this and on inquiry found that Hector had a good reason to counter this discomfort. Those horrible denizens which tormented every Boarder specially at night by creeping from the mattresses which they called 'home' had managed to find their way under the Plaster of Paris and like the little "Draculas" they were, proceeded to gorge themselves on Hector's
blood !! These bed bugs proceeded to torment his life further helping themselves to daily doses of "Red". Our hearts went out to Hector when unable to endure this torture, he pleaded with us to cut open the Plaster of Paris and give him relief from the ravenous bugs. Knowing that cutting open the Plaster would jeopardize the setting of the bone, we firmly refused. In his pain, Hector stated that a fresh plaster cast could always be made, and the look of agony on his face won us over. We then did the unthinkable ! With a pair of scissors and a knife (I later heard that the knife had previously been nicked from the College kitchen !!) the plaster was cut open to reveal the horrible sight of the bugs viciously gorging themselves on Hector's blood. It was akin to a scene from a horror movie and I for one was filled with utter revulsion.
We then rushed Hector to the Sickroom. The Matron in charge Mrs.Paige, on seeing the exposed hand and the torn plaster nearly fainted in shock and disbelief. Hector was then rushed to Hospital.
He returned with a new plaster cast and told us that the Doctor had thrown the book at him, but sympathized with his predicament fully comprehending the reason why the original cast was removed. Fortunately no second invasion of any bugs took place and in time Hector's hand healed, and he was back on the football field excelling in defense, like Horatio at the bridge in Roman times.
In jocular vein, I think that every Boarder at some time or another made a donation to "The Blood Bank" run by the Bugs ensconsced in the mattresses of their beds at night !! I digress, but I remember when Michael Landsberger broke his hand which was set in Plaster of Paris. A few days after that he had a nasty fall incurring some severe bruising and injuries to the other hand. This resulted in Michael walking about with both hands bandaged - one hand in Plaster of Paris,
and the other fully bandaged. To his credit, he never complained and made a joke of the entire incident - except that during meal time a Matron had to feed him !
DAVID THE DEFIANT.
Breaking the "Out of Bounds" rule was frowned on by the school authorities but was defied by many Boarders. However, climbing a coconut tree to slake one's thirst was unheard of ! There is always an exception to any rule and the "exception" in this case was David Berenger. There was a coconut tree in the vicinity of the "Junior Mansion" which fortunately was not very tall with tempting bunches of young coconut coveted by many a Boarder. None however dared climb the tree for fear of punishment but worse, the fear of falling from it ! Unlike the serpent in the Garden of Eden which tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the apple tree, there was nobody to tempt us.
But we had reckoned without one brave soul - the daring David Berenger ! One Sunday afternoon, David dared to climb the tree to help himself and any Boarder who happened to be around. I cautioned him strongly against this pointing out the risks involved by way of disciplinary action and worse, the risk of personal injury if he fell from the tree ! I might as well have spoken to the wind. With a warning to watch out for falling nuts, David climbed the tree and reaching the top triumphantly hurtled a few coconuts down.
"Down" is the operative word because it all went downhill after that ! I cannot recall who or what hit the ground first - David or the coconuts ! The horrible sound of David losing his footing and the terrified yell he let out when he lost his grip and fell from the tree, still lingers in my ear ! I watched in fear and near paralysis as he hit the ground landing squarely and firmly on his buttocks (This never happened to Tarzan in any of his movies !!!) which in retrospect was the reason why David did not sustain a more serious injury. Fortunately as I mentioned before, the tree was not very tall and as luck would have it he landed on a large bundle of cut grass and leaves. There was no hard surface and any rocks or stones.
THE HAPPY ENDING.
To my astonishment David got up, flexed his arms and shoulders casually asking me to help him break a coconut or two and enjoy the anticipated feast, having summoned three Boarders to join us who happened to observe the scene from a distance. The word "Cool" is used today almost as a cliche. I am proud to state that on that day David Berenger apart from being the defiant one, was beyond any doubt the "Mister Cool" of his day ! In James Bond fashion he quietly walked away without any fuss, leaving some gaping admirers behind awestruck by his bravado and nonchalance !
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
The sad conclusion to this article is that from the names mentioned, Hector Fernando, Jayantha Aturupane, Nallatamby, Buncho Premaratne, David Berenger, Cecil Udulagama, Mrs.Paige, Michael Landsberger and Mr.Kanniah have gone to their eternal reward.
Memories are there to remind us of those who have gone before........
It’s alright to miss you
It’s alright to cry
Just know we will never forget you
This is not a permanent "Goodbye".
Read Part 2 for more fun.
