{"id":154081,"date":"2026-01-09T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=154081"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:58:08","slug":"our-trip-to-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/01\/09\/our-trip-to-the-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Trip to the South"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garvin Karunaratne Of the Administrative Service 1955-1973<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Twenty Second Dec 2025<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving Royal Park in the shrill morning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siri at the wheel, Hiran and both of us,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our way to the holy shrine at Kataragama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Mahinda Rajapaksa Highway,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Mahinda for making it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we passed by Culloden Estate Neboda<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where my dad, Boyd Oliver Manamperi Karunaratne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

once worked, the Chief Clerk at Neboda Estate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We found our way to Karapitiya, the home of the Medical Faculty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of our great Southern University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were greeted by Prof Wickramaratne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiran gave a token of friendship-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a donation from our GK Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the development of the Library there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Away to stay the night at Pul\u2019s home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pul, Nissanka baapa.s daughter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The baapa who offered a home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to Bimba, Arjuna, Hiran and Kanchi- not a month old<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when the JVP struck on 4 th April 1971<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and we had to leave the Residency and run – it was not enough safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the tine when my official car was shot at<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2- 23 rd Dec<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stopped at Ahangama, Bimba\u2019s Dad\u2019s home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel Gunasekera<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the home by the Waters Edge, where the water looms everywhere<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where he lived , swimming the deep wide waters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waters that did divide the two Districts Galle and Matara<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bimba thinks of the days when his father swam with her on his back<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where the waters loom large and cascades on the land Bimba owns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land lies now in limbo- a mass of twigs and trees, but having a water front<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land is now donated to Navi, her sister, Buddheni\u2019s son<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To develop- give it life. We hope for the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Went to Matara, saw Polhena<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my days at Matara , full Fifty years ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polhena, the sea front was small, of exquisite scenic beauty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

where I swam every Saturday and Sunday,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sad, I do not see that beauty now. It is all gone, fully dead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polhena I shall never forget, cause I wrested with a drowning man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when I ran, dived in, swum to him and grabbed him at his back<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He resisted and clung to me and I had to knock him and shake him dead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I swum carrying him to the shore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We turned him over and gave him a shake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he looked dead- all gone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We rushed him to the Matara Hospital, three of us in our bath suits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I carried a dead man, drove fast disobeying all road rules that day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and laid him on the table where the doctors were<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do Get him to live\u201d I pleaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctors laid their work aside and attended<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I drove home. Told Jaye my Deputy Disapathy to go and attended<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later I was told that he lived<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am proud of our doctors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessings to them-they did make a dead man live<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that happened somewhere in 1971-73<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed the night at Polhena Hotel, a useless place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climbed Browns Hill, my Disapathy Medura for two years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it was a hill full of trees, shrubs, creepers- where I lived,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

merged with Nature- a sheer beauty, with looks at the sea far away<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indian Ocean, glistening in the Sun\u2019s rays<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now full of rugged vehicles and many odds never there then<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Twenty Fourth<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off to Deniyaya oft visited by me as Disapathy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

living memories of old- half a century ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when Morawaka lads and lassies even made crayons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and sold them islandwide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Coop Crayon made by Vetus my Planning Officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

guided by me-Creating Jobs under the DDCP of Sirimavo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crayons done by the parlimentu manthri Sumanapala Dahanayake,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

working with the lads and lassies at Morawaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we import and sell and think it great<\/p>\n\n\n\n

then we found work and earnings for locals<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we create work for workers in other countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it is import and sell, the art of making ourselves is dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is the modernity taught by the IMF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

accepted by Jayawardena and my pal Ronnie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on the road via Hayes to Rakwana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siri at the wheel, going through tea bushes, a rugged road<\/p>\n\n\n\n

through Bulutota,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glorious stunning sights never to be missed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain after mountain bathed in the sheer mist that enwrapped us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

endless mountains where the mountains merge with the deep blue sky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We descended via the ten hairpin bends on one hill,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

landing at Rakwana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

reminiscences of my home for a week as a student at St Anthony\u2019s as a boarder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a nasty Headmaster, baths in the river that skirted the school<\/p>\n\n\n\n

during the days of the World War when we crept for safety to Nivitigala<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was then at my uncle\u2019s home at Mahawela Estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night at the Sanctuary, a welcome hotel, spic and span, clean<\/p>\n\n\n\n

charming and an extremely courteous staff, a cosy night\u2019s home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Next Day the Twenty Fifth-Christmas day<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My route – Via Madampe was Proved wrong-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drove cross country via Estates to Godakawela, the phone route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrived at Kataragama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On knees at Kiri Vehera- swarmed of devotees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then at Kataragama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venerated and Evoked Blessings from God Kataragama<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cosy night\u2019s rest at the Tourist Guest House<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remembered PGB Kalugalla the Minister<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who created the Rests at A pura, Kataragama, N Eliya, B wela<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kalu was a charming minister<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that really worked for the people he loved<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew him as a Minister when I slaved a year in Kegalla<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as Assistant Com Agrarian, minding paddy fields<\/p>\n\n\n\n

then as Additional Disapathy at Kegalla for two years when Kalu was in oblivion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the days of Dudley, the days when we did become self sufficient in rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Twenty Sixth<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off to Cbo, with Siri at the wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passed via the sea at Hambantota<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Saw the Crag in the sea from where we dived every Sat and Sun<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
it was a hive of action then -fun swimming and diving<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Walks daily on the beach with friends<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Tried to find my small office at Ambalantota<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from where in Fifty  Eight<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
I managed the Southern Province<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
for marketing paddy and milling rice<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
A Ricemill that  milled a thousand bushels a day<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
working day and night when switched on at eight on a Monday <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
it was switched off at nine on a Saturday night<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The Rice Mill was seen in pieces now, the land in shambels.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The rice  mill land parcelled to Departments, all neglected  <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
It was sad. <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Then I cared for it with my life to work day and night<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This shambles- we call it Development now.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
I relived memories of the days I served day and night.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
We reached Cbo via the Rajapaksa Highway<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to Mahinda for a job well done to turn our wheels home.  <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
 <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Garvin Karunaratne Of the Administrative Service 1955-1973<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
26-12-25<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Garvin Karunaratne Of the Administrative Service 1955-1973 Twenty Second Dec 2025 Leaving Royal Park in the shrill morning Siri at the wheel, Hiran and both of us, On our way to the holy shrine at Kataragama On the Mahinda Rajapaksa Highway, Thanks to Mahinda for making it. we passed by Culloden Estate Neboda where my dad, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154082,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154081\/revisions\/154082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}