Sri
Lankan Sinhalese Family Genealogy
DIAS, Haramanis
(Robo Singho) - Family #3008
1 Haramanis
Dias (aka Robo Singho)
2
2 [2] Pattinihennedige Jeremias
Dias b:1848 at Nalluruwa, Panadura, d:24-Mar-1902 + [1] Celestina Rodrigo
b:11-Jul-1858, d:26-Mar-1933, m:1873 (she established Visakha Vidyalaya in
16-Jan-1917). Helped to hold the Panadura
Controversy 1873. President Panadura Association, Bddhist Philanthropist, supported Rankot
Vihara, Panadura. (3792)
3 Harry Dias
3
Arthur Vincent Dias (popularly known as KOS MAMA) b:10-Feb-1886,
d:31-Jul-1960
4 Nanda Nissanka Dias d:July 26 2012 + Dayadari
5 Ajith N Dias + Sunel
5 Naomal Dias + Deveni
5
Neelakanthi Dias + S J de Silva
3 Arthur Edmond Dias
3 Charles Martin Dias
3 Lilian Vilisia Dias + Abraham
Perera
3 Ellen Mania Dias + Thomas De
Silva Wilson m:1888
1 Covis Dias
2
Cornelis Dias, merchant and respected
resident of Panadura + Hewa Fonsekage Hellena Fonseka
3
Jinoris Samuel Dias
3
Andiris Dias
3
[4] Ponnahannadige Domingo Dias, b:1853, attended local government school, of “Siri
Medura”, Panadura + [3] Dovisina Leonora Cooray m:1895 (sister of Dr
Henry Cooray & only daughter of Mendis Cooray, mine owner and Government
Contractor at Horetuduwa)
3
Jeremias Dias
3
Selena Dias
3
Leonora Dias
3
Celestina Dias
3
Missiona Dias
3
Jane Isabella Dias
1 Mendis Cooray, mine owner and Government Contractor at Horetuduwa
2
[3] Dovisina Leonora Cooray m:1895 + [4] Ponnahannadige Domingo Dias, b:1853, attended local government school, of “Siri
Medura”, Panadura
2
2nd spouse of Dovisina Leonora Cooray + Sir Susantha de Fonseka
3
Manel de Fonseka m:1949
2 Dr
Henry Cooray
Excerpt from an article published in the Sunday Times, 14th
December, 1997
Celestina and Visakha
The
story of Celestina Dias, Buddhist female philanthrophist and educationist, by Manel
Tampoe
Published by the Social Scientists Association
Reviewed
by Mallika Wanigasundara
Celestina Dias (nee Patthinihennadige
Warnadeepthia Kurukulasuriya
Rodrigo), wife of Jeremias Dias of Panadura, the remarkable
woman who founded Visakha Vidyalaya,
Bambalapitiya, the premier Buddhist School for girls in Sri Lanka, was
certainly not typical of women of her era.
In her
extraordinary determination to found a superior Buddhist School for girls she
showed a confident and single-mindedness characteristic of the manner in which
she lived her life as a widow since 1902. She resembled, not a woman of her age
and time, but the more enlightened, vibrant energetic activists of the 20th
century's feminist movements.
Celestina was born in 1858. It was an era when a woman's
worth and virtue were measured by her domestic competence. She was tied to home
territory - husband, children, kitchen (ambul thiyal, kos polos),
family weddings, funerals, alms-givings and the temple
in almost all Buddhist families.
Celestina would have none of it. After she was widowed,
she inherited her husband's massive fortune and became a business woman. "Renda nona" she was called
and she strode her husband's arrack and plantation empire as if she was born to
rule it. She is said to have shown no housewifely inclinations, but she managed
her household staff with firmness and efficiency.
The
foundations of her later philanthropy were laid quite early.
Celestina founded Buddhist Girls College (which later
became Visakha Vidyalaya)
in 1917 in an old house in Turret Road (Dharmapala Mawatha), Kollupitiya, called
"The Firs" in memory of her son Edmund Wilson. Not a college for boys
as you would expect.
She took
the first step of creating two Trusts appointing W.A. de Silva first and later
D.B. Jayatilaka, D.S. Senanayake
and her son-in-law Thomas de Silva as Trustees.
Rs.
100,000 from her Good Hope estate, a valuable rubber property was set side for the school. Celestina's
contribution to the school amounted to Rs. 450,000, a staggering sum in those
days, out of a total of some Rs. 2 million given by her to charity.
It was
not too propitious a time to start a Buddhist school for girls. Parents were
still enamoured by the denominational schools and
were wary about taking them out of these schools. Besides, Buddhist Girls
College started off in the least flamboyant fashion. The house provided hostel
accommodation (the done thing was to send your
children to boarding school) for students and teachers. The classrooms were in
old stables, garages, outhouses and cadjan sheds at
the back. Hardly enticing, one would think.
Manel draws a picture of life in the school in those
times culling from the memories of the few old students who are still living.
It was compulsory to speak English in school, and the emphasis seemed to be to
prepare the girls for genteel society in a kind of Victorian way at the
beginning.
They
learnt to play the piano, tennis in the evenings, art, drawing, clay modelling,
embroidery, deportment, table manners. Physical exercise, games and dancing was
also encouraged. All this tended somewhat to alienate the girls from
traditional life styles in Ceylon and soon this was corrected. The going was
never easy. There were financial deficits, and there was the need for a strict
control of expenditure. D.B. Jayatilaka did just
that. The only comic relief in those years of worry was the two feet long and
three feet wide hostel accounts book which was lugged to D.B. Jayatilaka's residence every morning.
As time
went on the situation improved, examination results were good and the school
expanded rapidly.
Celestina is remembered visiting the school in her crisp
cloth and "kabakuruththu" jacket with
sweets for the hostellers. It is important to record that in her later years,
she distanced herself from the arrack business on the advice of Arthur Dias,
temperance worker.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from an article published in the Sunday Times, 23rd August,
1998
...a friend in need
by Upali Salgado
....
Perhaps the most talked about persons of the clan was Miss Celestina
Rodrigo (Later Mrs. Jeremias Dias) the founder/benefactor of the Buddhist Girls
College in 1917 at "The Firs" Turret Road (now Dharmapala Mawatha.)
The school was later renamed Visakha Vidyalaya, when it was moved to spacious four acre
surroundings at Vajira Road.
Mrs Celestina Rodrigo
was a remarkable woman, who was born to give her wealth to the needy. She
became a national figure, when decorated with the MBE. Manel
Tampoe in her book The Story of Celestina
Dias says, " Her charitable impulses did not diminish with age. As a
woman she was not entitled to membership in the "Rodrigo Friend In Need
Society", though she was the most illustrious member of the family at that
time. (Later, membership became open to both males and females of all Rodrigo
families). But, it did not deter her from making donations to the Society. She
thoughtfully donated a handsome lump sum to be used to provide dowries for
daughters of the poorer members. It is also known that, she had built a hearse,
which was given with Petrol free of any charge, to poor people who asked for
it; and this proved to be a boon to people of diverse ethnic groups."....
The birth of the founder of Visakha Vidyalaya
Sunday Times 9 July 2006: A major
philanthropist Mrs. Jeremias Dias, best remembered as the founder of Visakha Vidyalaya, the leading
Buddhist girls school in Sri Lanka was born on July 11, 1858. Hailing from Panadura, Selestina Rodrigo
married Jeremias Dias, a wealthy plantation owner as a teenager. After being
widowed when she was 44, then a mother of eight children, she spent her wealth
to promote the cause of Buddhist education and assisted in the campaign to
resurrect Buddhism in this country.
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Mrs.
Jeremias Dias (1858-1933) |
She started Visakha Vidyalaya
by leasing a house at Turret Road (present Dharmapala Mawatha) in 1917 and
having bought three acres in Vajira Road, moved the
school in 1926. She formed a Trust and appointed a Board of Management to
administer the school and provided funds by donating a 180-acre rubber estate
and a coconut plantation at Horana. Her service to Visakha Vidyalaya has been
recognized by naming the newly built auditorium after her.
Meanwhile, when Ananda College was refused a
government grant due to the lack of a laboratory, she built a modern laboratory
for the school which helped it to be recognized as an institute of higher
education.
The Jeremias Dias Buddhist Educational and
Charity Trust Fund established by her, awards scholarships with monthly grants
to a large number of needy Buddhist students including undergraduates. She
helped the poor constantly, distributing foodstuff, clothes and other needs to
them every weekend. The innumerable religious and social service activities
initiated by her have helped a large number of organizations to fulfill their
objectives.
She was on the honours'
list of the monarch of England and was awarded a MBE (Member of the British
Empire). She died on March 26, 1933.
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'Ceylon
Times' begins publication
The first issue of 'Ceylon Times,’ a new paper
started to oppose the 'Observer' appeared on July 11, 1846. The newspaper,
which became the 'Times of Ceylon' in 1883, prospered after John Capper, a
sub-editor in the London newspaper 'Globe' bought it in 1858 and became its
editor. Its object was to further the interests of the mercantile community.
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The
‘Times’ bulding in the early days |
At the time 'Ceylon Times' was started, at
least three English newspapers were published during the week. While the 'Observer'
came out on Monday and Thursday, 'the 'Times' was published on Tuesday and
Friday. The third newspaper, the 'Examiner' appeared on Wednesday and Saturday.
By the time Capper left in the early 1880s, the 'Times' was getting established
as an evening daily newspaper and the most popular one with a wide readership.
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First
signs of representative government
Following the recommendations of the Colebrooke Commission, an Executive Council and a
Legislative Councils were established under an Order-in-Council in 1833. The
Executive Council consisted of the Governor and five official members - the
Colonial Secretary, the Officer commanding the military forces, the Attorney
General, the Auditor General and the Treasurer. The Legislative Council consisted
of nine official and six unofficial members who were nominated by the Governor.
It was on July 9, 1837 that the unofficial members took oaths.
Though the Legislative Council was only a
little more than an advisory body, it paved the way for a representative and
responsible government to be evolved in later years.
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>
Mrs Jeremias Dias: A Visionary of
the 20th Century
By Dr. Ganga de Silva
Founder's Day of Visakha Vidyalaya falls on March
25 2014
Today, the slogan “Educate the girl child” is
popular the world over. It is important to educate the girl child, to ensure
educating generations to follow, thereby educating all nations and uplifting
the whole world. Almost a hundred years ago, Mrs. Jeremias Dias, a lady from Panadura who had studied only up to the fifth standard at a
small Sinhala medium village school, but had inherited great wealth, realised the importance of educating girls. When one of her
beloved sons died, she founded a school for girls, Visakha
Vidyalaya, in his memory. She envisaged a world of
educated women who would cease to be the second class citizens they had been
for generations.
Mrs. Jeremias Dias founded “the Buddhist Girls
College” on January 16, 1917 in a house called “The Firs” at Turret Road, (today
Dharmapala Mawatha) in Kollupitiya. The school’s first Principal was Dr. B.T.
Banning (M.A., PhD). Twenty girls were enrolled that first day. As the numbers
increased, Mrs. Jeremias Dias decided to move the school to its present
premises at Vajira Road, Bambalapitiya. She purchased
three acres of land on which were erected the two original school buildings
consisting of class rooms and a hostel. The school was renamed “Visakha Vidyalaya” on November
21, 1927 by Lady Stanley, the wife of the then Governor of Ceylon.
Early years
Mrs. Jeremias Dias was born on July 11, 1858 to
the Rodrigo family of Panadura. The Rodrigo family
had considerable social standing in Panadura due to
their immense wealth accumulated through the arrack trade. Her father was Pattinihennadige Warnadeepthia Kurukulasuriya Salaman Rodrigo
and her mother was Mahawaduge Madalena
Perera. She was the third in a family of seven girls and two boys and was given
the name “Pattinihennadige Warnadeepthia
Kurukulasuriya Selestina
Rodrigo”.
In 1873, aged 15, Selestina
Rodrigo married Jeremias Dias, the well known
philanthropist of Panadura. Jeremias Dias, who was Selestina’s first cousin, also came from a wealthy family
involved in arrack trade. While in his teens he started many successful businesses
and was an ardent supporter of the Buddhist Revival. A philanthropist who
supported Buddhist causes, he was instrumental in organising
the world famous “Panadura Debate”. Selestina and Jeremias had eight children; Harry, Lilian,
Arthur Vincent, Edmund Wilson, Adeline, Ellen, Rosalind and Charles. Some of
them were to become prominent figures in society. Selestina
took good care of friends and relatives, while managing the magnificient
family home “Edmund House” with an army of domestic staff.
Businesswoman
Jeremias Dias died in 1902 leaving Selestina his entire business empire. He had invested in
the arrack trade, plantation agriculture, plumbago
mining, urban property, etc and Selestina
was left with colossal wealth and the Herculean task of managing his
diversified business interests.
Selestina who had played a mere
domestic role as mother and housewife took on the businesses with the help of
her eldest son, Harry. When a crisis occurred in the business her third son
(born in 1888) Edmund Wilson consented to assist her. Edmund Wilson worked
untiringly without taking a break to put the things back in order within a
short period of time.
Manel Tampoe
in her book “The Story of Selestina Rodrigo” says as
a gift to Edmund Wilson for his efforts Mrs. Jeremias Dias sent him to Bandarawela for a holiday. Sadly he contracted tuberculosis
and died in 1908 causing much grief to both his mother and sister Ellen who
cared for him as a patient.
But none of these family tragedies deterred Mrs.
Jeremias Dias from building up her husband’s business empire with the help of
her second son Arthur Vincent. Her contribution to Buddhist education for girls
was recognised by the Government when in 1929, she
was honoured by the Order of Membership of the
British Empire.
Vision
In an era when many did not think about girls’
education, the vision of Mrs. Jeremias Dias was remarkable. While engaging in
many social services to improve the lives of the less fortunate and to uplift
Buddhism, she felt the need for a Buddhist girls’ school, which gave Buddhist
girls a modern English medium education and nurtured social accomplishments
associated with elite status while still preserving their Sinhala Buddhist
identity.
In starting a school in memory of her beloved son,
Edmund Wilson instead of founding a boys’ school she decided to start a girls’
school. She did not start it in her native town Panadura
but instead in Colombo. A hostel was provided so that a Buddhist girl from any
corner of the country could benefit from the school. Her vision was for the
entire nation.
Mrs. Kumari Abeyagunawardene (nee Wickramasuriya)
a great granddaughter of Mrs. Jeremias Dias whom the writer had the privilege
of interviewing for this article says Mrs. Jeremias Dias’s vision was
extraordinary. She not only founded the school but ensured its sustainability.
She had the foresight to gift an estate “Good Hope”, the income from which was
given towards the school’s expenses.
Visakha Vidyalaya
From humble beginnings Visakha
Vidyalaya has become the premier Buddhist girls’
school in the country. The academic excellence of the school has continued
unchallenged for the past several decades. Almost every year Visakha Vidyalaya produces
students among the top ten in O/L and A/L results if not the first or the
second. Even the success rate at examinations is amazing; more than 99% at O/L!
Visakhians also produce academic excellence while
engaging in sports and co curricular activities. The
school has 24 sports and 26 clubs and societies. Many Visakhians
represent national teams in netball, swimming, water polo, badminton, etc and are involved in many activities like singing,
dancing and drama often leading the scene in those fields also.
Best Tribute
This noble
lady from Panadura who did yeoman service to the nation
by founding Visakha Vidyalaya
breathed her last on March 26, 1933. During a function organised
to unveil the photograph of Mrs. Jeremias Dias in 1933 Sir Graeme Tyrrell, the
acting Governor of Ceylon, said the true memorial to Mrs. Jeremias Dias would
be the work that Visakha Vidyalaya
would perform during the present and succeeding generations. Without any doubt Visakha Vidyalaya is paying the
best tribute to her founder, Mrs. Jeremias Dias, as Visakhians
are found leading in each and every field while preserving their identity as
Sinhala Buddhist women.
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Pirith and alms giving |
History of Visakha Vidyalaya
The
school was established in 16th of January, 1917 by the late Mrs. Jeremias Dias
as Buddhist Girls College in a house called 'The Firs' in Turret Road, Colombo,
Sri Lanka. It was the desire of Mrs Jeremias Dias to
train the school girls according to the Buddhist moral
values and principles through this institute. In 21st of November 1927 it moved
to its present premises in Vajira Road, Colombo and
named Visakha Vidyalaya(Visakha College) by Lady Herbert Stanley the wife of the Governor of Ceylon
at that time. From its humble beginnings, it has risen to the position of the
leading girls' school in this island.[citation needed] Science
subjects in to its curriculum in 1946, for the first time in a girls school in
Sri Lanka.
Arthur Dias - A man for all seasons
Death
anniversaries of two nationally recognized personalities fall on July 31: They
are the mighty Maha Mudaliyar
Sir Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, KCMG, of Attanagalla;
and the benevolent but bold Arthur Vincent Dias of Panadura.
The Don
produced three national leaders - SWRDB, Sirimavo and
Chandrika - and tends to be forgotten since his demise in 1946. Arthur Dias is oft-remembered
since his passing away in 1960 for his pioneering campaign of giving the nation
food to ingest as well as food for thought and initiating another pioneering
campaign to plant a million jak trees. He earned the
endearing sobriquet of Kos Mama or Kos Ata Mama.
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Arthur
Dias pioneered his tree-planting campaign for jak
fruit (artocarpus heterophyllus)
in 1918. He imported a special strain of jak
seedlings from Johore in Malaya. He established a small office in his home to organise and distribute jak and
papaw seedlings and plants free of charge to the public. The catch phrase in
this campaign was that "jak was good for food
and wood."
Apart
from promoting the planting of jak, which he called
the Buth Gaha (rice-tree),
he encouraged the propagation of fruit trees which included papaw (carica papaya), mango (mangifera),
sapota or sapodilla (manilkara
zapota), durian (durio),
golden apple or ambarella (spondias
dulcis) and lovi (flacourtia-inermis). Sachets comprising seeds of these fruit
trees were distributed free of charge to the public.
Arthur
Dias was born on 10 February, 1886, to wealthy parents: P. Jeremias Dias and Selestina Rodrigo; a prominent family in Panadura who earned their fortune from the popular and
lucrative arrack-renting trade augmented by the income from a large acreage of
rubber.
Arthur
Dias received his nursery education at St John's College, Panadura,
now Cyril Jansz Vidyalaya,
and completed his secondary education at St Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia.
He
conducted himself different from his rich and rambunctious father. (Jeremias
Dias was an ardent Buddhist and gave freely of his money earned as an arrack
renter towards his religious cause.
It is
said that Arthur Dias being no hypocrite preferred to remain silent with folded
palms while others repeated the fifth precept while observing pansil.)
The
thoughtful and quiet young man curtailed his studies soon after leaving St
Thomas' and took over managing the family business and trade since the death of
his father in 1902. He became an accomplished rubber planter and businessman
but was never enamoured by the riches that were
accumulating from the arrack trade.
Family involvement
It is
said that it was the family involvement in the arrack trade which made him turn
to temperance early in life after witnessing the horrors of what drink did to
man especially during the celebrations after a successful bid by the family for
a profitable tavern.
The
sprawling family home in Panadura became "open
house" for all and sundry and the celebrations went on until the supply of
free booze ran out which saw many of the visitors lying around in a stupor or
behaving in an unruly manner to be bodily thrown out by their indulgent host.
All this was too much for the sensitive young man who was already involved in
national interests and intent on following in the footsteps of persons like Anagarika Dharmapala, Walisinghe Harischandra, C.A. Hewavitharana, F.R. and D.S. Senanayake while receiving
from them the inspiration to serve the country and nation.
Simple life
Similar
to his mentors, Arthur Dias opted for a simple life notwithstanding his
enormous riches, which he doled out generously for philanthropy. He donned the
white banian and cloth in preference to fashionable
western attire.
He was
instrumental in the regeneration of the model village of Heenatiyana,
where simple living and self-help were the driving force. He pioneered writing
and signing cheques in Sinhala, and was the first
planter to correspond exclusively in Sinhala. In 1912, Arthur Dias was one of
the pioneers to join Don Spater Senanayake
in the Hapitigama Korale in
Negombo to launch the Temperance Movement which
encouraged the closure of taverns in townships and villages with the intention
of breeding a just society, to foster peace and harmony amongst all
communities.
Richard
Salgado and Dr. Marcus Fernando amongst others were also temperance workers.
The core
principle of the movement discouraged the consumption of liquor, smoking and
cattle-slaughter. Soon after February 4, 1948, he wrote the following curt note
to his close friend, the D.S. Senanayake, PC, after his suggestion that no
liquor be served at the official Independence day celebrations was rejected by
the Prime Minister: "I am not satisfied with the way things are going on
after Independence. Our culture has found no place in the administration. I am
a sad man.
Let this
be the parting of the ways. You go your way and I go mine," This note was
reportedly written in blood, unwillingly lanced from his finger, by his family
physician, Dr C. Wilmot Dias. The spat between two
close friends was short-lived. In 1915, the infamous Sinhala-Muslim riots
rocked the country and Arthur Dias was imprisoned by the British government.
The
others jailed were his elder brother Harry, brothers-in-law Richard and Walter
Salgado, Dr WA de Silva, brothers DC, FR and DS
Senanayake, C. Batuwantudawe, George E. de Silva, AE Goonesinghe, DB (later Sir Baron) Jayatileka,
Dr CA Hewavitarne, John
Silva, Piyadasa Sirisena, Edwin Wijeyeratne
(later Sir Edwin), and several other Buddhist leaders whom the British
mistakenly thought supported the 1915 riots. Arthur Dias and others were
sentenced to death after a court martial hearing.
The
family retained Advocate Eardley Norton, renowned as the Lion of the Madras
Bar, from India, who got him off the hook.
The
death sentence was eventually commuted to one of life imprisonment. Later, the
new Governor Sir John Anderson, GCMG, KCB, who replaced Sir Robert Chalmers,
GCB (later Lord Chalmers) released him after his mother paid a fine of Rs.
100,000.
After
his release, Arthur Dias made a beeline to the village of Medamaha-Nuwara
where Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe
was arrested by the British. He built a commemorative pillar on the spot and
pledged that he would thenceforth dedicate himself to the emancipation of
Ceylon from the British yoke.
Arthur
Dias was by this time the epitome of the patriot, planter, pioneer temperance
worker, national hero, philanthropist, and ardent supporter of the government's
Grow More Food Campaign.
MILESTONES
*Arthur
Dias reportedly declined a knighthood from Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott, GCMG,
CBE, during his tenure from 1937-1944.
*In
Oct-1957, at age-71, we read his type-written letter to Premier S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike, politely declining a seat in the Senate, offered over the
telephone, owing to "feeble old age."
*Author
of Three Prime Ministers of Ceylon, J.L. Fernando, in an article in the Ceylon
Daily News of August 01, 1960 recalls a conversation with the Minister of Home
Affairs Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, who stated
"with pride that at least a million jak trees in
our country owed their existence then to Arthur Dias."
*Arthur
Dias was the first and sole private citizen to receive a special concession
from the Minister of Communications, Sir John Kotelawala
to use the OHMS frank for his Grow More Jak Campaign
by which he had reportedly posted some sixteen million jak
seeds and plants, with leaflets containing instructions and letters of
encouragement, to town and village folk.
*Arthur's
indefatigable mother, Selestina Dias, a widow since
1902, founded Visakha Vidyalaya,
then called Buddhist Girls' College on January 16, 1917 in a house called Firs
at Turret Road in Colpetty.
* The
first Board of Governors of the school, comprised DB (later Sir Baron) Jayatileka, DS Senanayake, Arthur
V. Dias, Sir Susantha de Fonseka,
CM Dias and Lady Evadne de Silva, wife to Sir Ernest. The school shifted to Vajira Road in Bambalapitiya on November 21, 1927 with the
governor's wife lady Herbert Stanley giving it a new name, Visakha
College.
* Selestina Dias also established the Sirikandula
Buddhist Educational Trust, and the Jeremias Dias Educational and Charitable
Fund.
She was
later conferred an MBE in the King's honours list.
* When
Ananda College was in dire need of funds, Arthur Dias extended his support by
writing a cheque for Rs.
20,000, and thereafter raised Rs 10,000 each from FR Senanayake,
Dr WA De Silva, Domingo Dias. He was also
instrumental in building the Edmund Wilson Science Library to enable Ananda
College to gain Grade-1 status.
* In
July, 1971, in order to assist the Help Ananda Fund, Arthur Dias urged rubber
growers in the Kalutara district to donate a day's
collection.
* In
1926 under the aegis of the founder of Nalanda
College, P. D. S. Kularatne, its first principal Dr G.P. Malalasekera organized
the famous Nalanda Flower Day campaign to boost the
Building Extension Fund.
It was
ably supported by Arthur Dias resulting in the construction of a new storied
building. Arthur also assisted Dharmaraja and Dharmasoka colleges.
FAMILY
Arthur
Dias married Grace Salgado, and they had nine children: His five daughters were
Mallika, wife to Prof. Gerald Cooray,
Lalani wife to V.C. Jayasuriya,
Srimathi, wife to B.R. de Silva, Nerupamal,
wife to N. de Fonseka and Anoma,
wife to Rukman Amarasuriya.
His four sons; were Upali, Nanda, Chandra and Dr.
Padma.
Except
for Nerupa and Nanda and Dr
Padma's wife, Kusum all others have passed away.
DEATH & EPITAPH
Arthur
Dias died at his home, Edmund Niwasa in Panadura on July 31, 1960 at the age 74. He was a man who
upheld national freedom, national dignity, national dress and national food. He
was a man who lived a simple and austere life inspired by the tenets of
Buddhism. A man who believed and lived the Sinhala adage, "example is
better than precept."
A
one-rupee postage stamp was released by the government postal department in his
honour on his 26th death anniversary in 1986.
Honouring Arthur V. Dias
Jak tree should have been named the National
Tree: The
Daily News feature writers Nalin Fernando and Firoze Sameer deserve to be complimented by readers for
their excellent well researched article (July 31) on that great patriot of
yore Arthur V. Dias. Of all his pioneering, courageous initiatives, the
campaign to plant a million jak trees was indeed
the most noble concept. Had this effort been relentlessly pursued, today it
would be having a significant beneficial impact not only supplementing
healthy food requirements but more importantly the environment.
But by
the wanton destruction of Jak trees accelerated
particularly by the timber requirements of the construction boom of the past
three decades a great disservice has been done to the memory of this great son
of Lanka. The
rapid fragmentation of land for building purposes has had a devastating
effect on jak as well as other trees.
Notwithstanding all the laws that have been enacted by well
meaning governments Jak trees keep on
vanishing. In most urban areas of the country, Jak
trees and even coconut trees have become a rarity. It is not far from the
truth to state that many schoolchildren in Colombo have not seen a jak tree! When a
Jak tree can easily be grown in a homegarden and its wonderful shade and fruits enjoyed,
lazy urban lifestyles are driving housewives to stand round pavement jak vendors to buy a polythene bagful of cleaned and
shredded tender or mature jak. When bought by the gramme and cooked and consumed as a mere accompanying
curry they probably do not realize the potential jak
has as a substitute for the rice of the common man. The
proliferation of residential buildings in cities and the suburbs with limited
space for trees has led to the emergence of individuals and even communities
with no love for trees. There are even anti-social petty minded individuals
who curse the winds if the leaf of a neighbour's
falls on their concrete, treeless and even grassless outer areas. It was this
mental degradation resulting in a condition that psychiatrics described as an
"aversion to greenery" that prompted Singapore to introduce
legislation to make it compulsory to grow trees round houses. This
unique, less apparent human factor would also have presented obstacles to the
Jak planting campaign of Arthur V. Dias.
Singaporeans who for generations had grown up in 'concrete jungles' initially
found it difficult to adjust to a green environment with falling leaves,
twigs and fruits. This natural fall out of a green environment came to be
considered a nuisance. Such
cranky individuals exist in Sri Lanka too. About 25 to 30 years ago when I
was DIG Metropolitan, I received a petition against the Cinnamon Gardens
Police that the latter had refused to entertain a complaint. When I recorded
the statement of the aggrieved party he said that when he drove out of his
residence rotting mangoes that had fallen off a tree of a neighbour
on to the road were polluting the wheels of his new car! I asked this man who
was an educated professional," what if you run over cow dung or the sh--of a dog-- you will want to change the wheels of your
car." I had to explain to this stupid man that the police were well
within the law to refuse to entertain trivial complaints. Another
major sociological obstacle to Arthur V. Dias's efforts to popularize jak was the 'brown Sahib' dominated ruling class of the
time who used only silver cutlery and Johnson's crockery. To this class,
which exists even today eating jak was 'infra dig'
it is a fact that seldom or never is jak served at
our State banquets or even at wedding functions in star class hotels. The
country needs another V. Dias to give a start. Jak tree is one tree that fully deserves to be
protected to the utmost. Its fruit can be consumed tender, mature or ripe.
Our forefathers even dehydrated the pulp (Atu Kos)
and preserved it to be eaten during the off season. The value of a jak tree as a 'buth gaha' overwhelmingly outweighs its timber value. The Na
Tree's (Iron wood tree) tender leaves often glamourized in classical Sinhala
poetry led to its fame and recognition. But unlike the highly versatile jak, Na has limited uses. Because of its thick foliage
that provides shade and the unique redness of its tender leaves it had been
planted as an ornamental tree in the Walawwas of
yore eg. Batadola and Weke in the Gampaha District
and in cemeteries eg. Borella
Kanatte. It is surprising indeed that adequate
importance had not been given to the life sustaining jak
tree when naming a "National Tree". |
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