{"id":175910,"date":"2017-04-05T12:58:53","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T07:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=175910"},"modified":"2017-04-10T11:45:49","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T06:15:49","slug":"ravi-jayewardene-prince-and-pauper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ravi-jayewardene-prince-and-pauper\/","title":{"rendered":"Ravi Jayewardene, Prince And Pauper"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarath de Alwis<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sarath de Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n

An otherwise obvious clich\u00e9 needs to be reframed to draw out the lessons from the life of Ravi Jayewardene<\/a> who passed away at the age of eighty whose\u00a0obsequies will be held on Thursday 6th<\/sup> April.<\/p>\n

It is not enough to say that he was the only son of President J.R. Jayewardene<\/a>. It cries out for far more precise qualification.<\/p>\n

He was the humble, fearless, bold and wise son of President J.R. Jayewardene, who did many things right and a few things not quite right. The mortal remains of his only son lies at \u2018Wijayanthi\u2019 the stately ancestral home of the Jayewardene family where he was born.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ravi Jayewardene<\/p><\/div>\n

The point needs emphasis. Giving to the nation is a dying art in this age when duty free sports utility vehicles are a must for the practice of the sport called politics.<\/p>\n

Today it is the Library and Museum of the Jayewrdene center. That it is now in a state of disrepair in the custody of the state is a commentary on our indifference to our recent history as a civic nation and our preoccupation with the mythic history of the Sinhala tribe.<\/p>\n

Ravi Jayewardene conceived the idea of creating a special combat force that could be rapidly deployed to execute special tasks at the height of the civil war. The force was organized trained and equipped under his watchful supervision and with his exceptional ability to involve and motivate others whose views and contributions he recognized and respected. He emphasized honour, courage and commitment.<\/p>\n

We must celebrate the life of Ravi Jayewardene not so much for his self-effacing nature but for his lifelong contempt for sycophants. If he had any, they would have by now dubbed the Special Task Force with an inane moniker such as Ravi\u2019s Regiment!<\/p>\n

His cousin Mrs. Nallinka Jayawickreme daughter of Wilmot Jayawardene, President J R\u2018s youngest brother recalls how the police raided her home in search of Ravi during the first JVP insurrection. They virtually turned the house upside down despite our protests that he wasn\u2019t there.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Police later arrested him at the Ratmalana airport where he was getting ready for a routine Air Ceylon flight which he was then serving as a pilot in command. Recalls Nallinka , the police drove him off in police car with his \u2018Simca\u2019 driven by a police officer tailing. Ravi aiya told us let the law take its course.<\/p>\n

He was a well-known marksman. He practiced shooting. He was the son of the Leader of the Opposition. The police may have been anxious to connect some of those dots with the dots of their dotty minds. Yet it is inconceivable that they acted independent of any political direction. The news of his arrest and detention reached parliament which was in session. This writer was then a Lake House reporter covering parliament.<\/p>\n

The father was visibly angry. When he rubs his right index finger on his ample nose it was a signal of immense fury held in control by a steely resolve. Not a word from the Sphynx. Son Ravi remained impervious to the temporary inconvenience. Soon he was released at midnight. He refused to leave and waited till arrangements were made to take him back to his home in Ward Place.<\/p>\n

A few years later Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was stripped of her civic rights on grounds of abuse of power. When those events unfolded and many wondered about her alleged offenses and the punishment meted out, this writer recalled a conversation in the parliamentary restaurant which he overheard. Dr. N.M. Perera was telling some around him \u2018This is something Dicky will never forgive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ravi J was not J.R\u2019s Achilles heel. Ravi was Perseus to JR\u2019s Zeus. In his own right Ravi has slain many a Medusa.<\/p>\n

Ravi Jayewardene was unbelievably humble. Born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth renunciation came to him early. In the many phases of his life he was a mischievous Siddhartha, a probing and curious Siddhartha and a tranquil Sidharatha. That said Renunciation was the overarching spirit that marked his eighty years on earth.<\/p>\n

He was truly humble. He lowered himself to serve others with remarkable ease, immense charm and a mesmeric magnanimity.<\/p>\n

He was incredibly bold. All most all his life, in the shadow of his giant of a father who made the pursuit of power his vocation, Ravi J was unhesitant to speak truth to power.<\/p>\n

He was wise. He acquired an incisive knowledge of whatever that interested him. He was fearless to a fault.<\/p>\n

It is said that President J.R. Jayewardane did not groom his son for a political career. Steeped as he was in history and philosophy why should he bother? It is not every father\u2019s good fortune to sire a Siddhartha. Readers please note. The use of the term \u2018Sidhdhartha\u2019 is in the context of its use by Herman Hesse. Suffering, Joy, Rejection, Revival, Peace and finally wisdom.<\/p>\n

Good by sweet prince, May flights of devas sing thee to thy rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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