Some Recollections as a Fresher at Peradeniya University in the late 60’s
	It was some forty years ago that I entered the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. According to our academic performance at the G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Examination, Maths Stream, 150 students were selected to the Faculty of Engineering, Peradeniya. Of these 150 students 145 were boys and 5 were girls. These 5 girls were given residence at Sangamitta Hall, while the boys were allocated to different Halls such as Arunachalam Hall, Jayatillake Hall and the James Peiris Hall. I was given the James Peiris Hall. As the car passed the Peradeniya Junction on the Colombo- Kandy Road, just after the bridge across Mahaweli, the round-about itself looked magnificent with the University of Ceylon emblem standing out. Then travelling along the shady Galaha Road, which runs through the Campus, was really charming. The Kandyan Architecture of the buildings located beside the emerald hills of Hantane certainly enriched the scenery, and it was further enhanced by the salubrious climate of Peradeniya. As we all know, the James Peiris Hall is located at the top of a small hillock, and when I reached the porch at the entrance to the James Peiris Hall, I was over the moon by the fascination of the scenic beauty. I was allocated a ground floor room, on the main arm of the building closer to the dinning hall. There were three students in each of the ground floor rooms, and these rooms were essentially given to the freshers. The seniors were occupying the upper floor and only two students were allocated for those rooms. My room mates were Lal Jayawardane (from Trinity College, Kandy) and Wimalasiri (from Maha Vidyalaya, Hemmathagama). Lal and I did Engineering, while Wimalasiri was an Arts Student offering History, Sinhala and Philosophy. Even though we were from different Faculties, and from different backgrounds, we got on very well and we became very good friends. So much so, I have heard from Wimalasiri, a lot about Professor Sarachchandra who took some First Year Lectures that particular year, and how he conducted his lectures and what and what interesting things Prof. Sarachchandra came out with in those lectures. Three of us were returning to JP Hall after the General Induction Programme conducted for the freshers. The set of steps starting off, just past the Kissing Bend on the Galaha Road was a short cut to JP Hall. Even some Marcus Fernando Hall boys used to take this set of steps to cut short to their hall. As three of us reached the top, we saw a senior who was seated at the top end of the embankment, and he was having a good scrutiny of the freshers passing by. He straight away recognised that we were freshers, and gave us an order to go back to the foot of the steps and start coming up counting the steps. Then Lal, Wimalasiri and I went down and started counting the steps very seriously. At the end, he called us and inquired about the total count of the steps involved. We had three different answers, and we were sent back to the foot of the steps for a re-count. That time of course, all three of us were careful enough, and we came out with the same answer. I am sure, even the senior did not know the total count, so we could have got away easily, had we come out with some common answer and not contradicting each other. Another rag that comes to my mind is as follows: Three of us were in our room, and a senior walked in. He wanted the three of us to get-together, and with our combined effort to blow off the glowing bulb of the room, considering it to be an oil lamp. We were fresh from home, and found this amusing, and we were laughing. The senior lost his temper, and said, “Cut your bloody smile off”. Then we thought that it was serious, not a joke, and the smiles had all disappeared from our faces. Then he said, “Bring it back” referring to the smiles. Then the smiles were back on. Then he ordered us to wipe it out with our hands. Then all the smiles went off again, and he inquired from us where the smiles were at that moment. Then we replied that they were enclosed in our palms. He then ordered us to open up our palms, and divide it into four equal parts, and put back one of those quarter smiles back in our faces. We tried it, and were in doubt whether that apportioned quarter was really correct, and realised how funny it was. Another rag that I found amusing is as follows: An Arts Faculty senior student asked us to come out with some ‘Seepada Kavi’. Three of us came out with whatever the ’Seepada Kavi’ that we could remember. Then the senior student asked us whether we have heard of this particular ‘Seepada Kaviya’: ‘Male male ara naa mala nelaa waren Aththa bindei paya burulen thabaa waren Kelani gange oru yanawa balaa waren Saadhu kaara dee oruwaka negee waren’ Then he wanted us to sing it properly for a perfect tune, and it appeared that we did it to his satisfaction. He then ordered us to sing this ‘Seepada Kaviya’ in English, and we were amazed and we kept silent. Then he turned on to the two of us, Lal & myself, and said “Umbala denna maha loku Trinity, Royal walin aavata kaduwa horai, umbalata mama kiyala dennam”, and came out with this: ‘Brother brother pick that naa flower and come Branch break keep your feet soft and come Kelani river boat going watch and come Prey Saadhu kaara, get on to a boat and come’ And he insisted that we, three of us, sing it to the very same tune of the original Sinhala ‘Seepada Kaviya’. I thought it was very amusing. This incident happened in one afternoon. It was quite a sunny day, and we were seated at the top of the embankment of James Peiris Hall, facing the Hilda Obeysekare Hall. The three storeyed Hilda Obeysekare Hall looked magnificent with its seven wings appearing nicely. Down below, we could see the Galaha Road going across, at the foot of the embankment of JP, and we could see quite clearly all the people walking down the road. Then among the people who were passing by, we noticed a family. There was a very tall Yankee looking gentleman walking quite relaxed, and next to him was an elderly stockish lady dressed in a white saree. She was wearing white socks and slippers on her feet, and was wearing gloves on her hands & holding a dog with a chain. Then there was a lean tallish boy walking beside the mother and father. The senior pointed at this family walking at the foot of the embankment and asked us whether we knew who they were. We replied negatively and the senior explained to us saying “ Ara Yanne Cook, Cookie, Cooklet & Balu Cook”. It was rather shocking and funny to us when we heard it at that time, but it was quite an unique scene at the Campus where Mr. Cook, Mrs. Cook, the young son and the family dog going for walks. It was not uncommon to witness this family walking around the campus during our era. Palitha Manchanayake October 2008