I introduce here my plans for an English project at Madola, the estate in his home village of Getamanna which my father had bought; and also the momentous arrival at Lakmahal of Ricky. The second picture is of the much loved Haputale Resthouse. New initiatives There was more to check over during the next two days, but on the Tuesday ...

I introduce here another initiative I contributed to, on a small scale but fascinating, conducting English classes for the little monks at the Malwatte Viharaya in Kandy, arranged by Derrick Nugawela. The pictures are of that Mahanayake with the twinkling eyes though in this picture he concentrates on the new Prime Minister of a few years earlier, and of Derrick ...

In addition to my work, I record here my first sight of the German Shepherd who was to be my great companion over the next nine years. The pictures are of Ricky, preceded by his parents with my aunt, and then Janaka Walgama, a good friend over the years. New companions I taught over the next two days but went ...

This post is about settling in to a very varied routine, in the first days of 1998, at the university mainly but with a lot of ancillary activity, including developing a degree course for the Sri Lanka Military Academy. Sadly I could find no pictures of General Percy Fernando, nor could I trace one of Liberal Values, so what appears ...

As this post shows, Somasundara was keen for me to represent the university publicly whenever possible. And by now I was spending much time there, and was delighted to put people up. The pictures are of my cousin Rohan, of the Sinharaja, and of Martin whom I just found out was also a Wijesinghe, though sadly he had died last ...

I describe here my decision to leave the Council, when it transpired that the work I had done on the AUC programme might fade away since there would be no one at USJP to take it forward. Geetha Premaratne was emigrating to Australia, and the wonderful Prof Palihawadana was retiring, and their plea to me that I take over was ...

This post describes a range of cultural and educational activity, though increasingly there was much that had nothing to do with the Council. But my expertise in education was now generally recognized, leading to a strong rebuke from David to Gail when she tried to limit my involvement in it. The first event mentioned was I think my first visit ...

This post describes the sort of intensive schedule I had, in that I went straight from the airport on my return up into the hills to help David with workshops, something Gail resented very much. And then I give details of the irritation caused by my story. The pictures are of Max, showing he has not changed since those happy ...

This post describes a happy memory of dinner with Bill McAlpine, the British Council representative of my childhood who had stayed on after his retirement, and was a constant presence at Council and other cultural activities. But his wife had died, and he was now a lonely and sad man, though he remained an excellent host. And I mention the ...

This post describes the visit of Hanif Kureishi who was fun but limited, for though we had arranged two readings for him in Colombo he read the same passages at both and said he had just the one gig, which I had also heard in Kandy. But I also note here my first steps towards a place of my own, ...

I describe here a lovely visit from one of my most cherished Oxford friends, whom I was able to take to Aluvihare, where Ena was a wonderful host and also took us driving over the hills as she and I had done when I first started to visit her. The pictures are of three editions of the poetry collection, including ...

This post relates how our English Association books went from strength to strength, though my effectiveness at the Council was ending, despite the pleasure of working for the only sensible British officer left there. Meanwhile Jarvis evinced another and perhaps guiding characteristic in flirting outrageously with a handsome dancer who found it a bit difficult to cope with his language, ...

I note here continuing work on English Association projects, with the sadness of the death of Rehana Mohideen who had been Secretary at the time we were developing it. Jarvis meanwhile restructured the Council, but this in fact meant the end of its influence with the Ministry of Education for Gail had no idea what she should do, and the ...

This post describes how Richard Jarvis tried to play himself in as it were at the Council, hampered by the fact that he had obviously been told in London that he should try to get rid of me, which meant he had to stand by Gail even though it was clear he did not like her. But perhaps in any ...

After ten posts about travels with Kithsiri about my time at Sabaragamuwa, fom 1997 on, I get back to my 1991 visit to England, which included much communication with the British Council. And I go on to note the arrival of a new Representative, soon after I got back to Colombo. The pictures are of Harrison and Jarvis, in later ...

I describe here how Somasundara finally became Vice-Chancellor, having got two of us at the university to nominate ourselves so that no outsider could be selected. He had been upset when the UGC had initially appointed a Peradeniya academic (Vijita Kuruvita, husband of my former British Council colleague Sujata) to be Vice-Chancellor, but then the students, to oblige Somasundara, had ...

In the midst of the confusion caused by ragging, we continued to liaise with Diyatalawa about the SLMA degree course. I also mention here a practice which became regular, dinner en route when I took several staff to the university on Sunday night. The pictures are of Manoj Ariyaratne, as the Rev Tissajeewa became, and of Chandra Amarasekera, both taken ...

In this account of the beginning of term I spend much time on ragging, the great bane of our university system, which inhibits learning and promotes indiscipline, or rather rigid discipline as far as the student union in concerned with flouting of the university authorities, understandable for they did nothing to alleviate the pressures new students were subjected to. The ...

I begin this post with a brief reference to an important innovation in the course at Sabaragamuwa, namely an introduction to Library Skills which were not taught at all in schools. The pictures are of great figures of early days, Manorani and Sirancee and, in the absence of pictures of Lady Vaithianathan and her son Thiru, Sir Kanthian Vaithianathan, our ...

I introduce here another element that was to become a vital part of my life over the next decade, the degree programme at the Military Academy. I suspect the UGC Chairman sent its hierarchy to us because he wanted me involved, and I believe I fulfilled his faith in me and established a very good programme which my future colleagues ...