Denzil's Stories

Anna and Leo — Part I of II A story of a broken heart, manslaughter, and exile — Part I A nna was my pappa’s youngest sister. The first time I met, Anna was the day after pappa’s funeral. The year was 1961. She could not arrive in time for the burial service. Anna sat on my grandfather’s verandah and, in her deep sorrow, veiled her cries. She bawled for a while, recalling how her brother guided her life. Anna lived far away in a remote village in Ceylon, now rebranded as Sri Lanka. Three years later, during the school holidays, my family went on an exciting trip to the bush. It was Anna’s home in Anamaduwa in Northwest on the island of Sri Lanka, which she shared with her husband, Thomas Leo, whom I had not met as yet. I was nine years old by then in the year 1964. Before I write about our trip to Anna’s and Leo’s home in the bush, I must write about how Anna, an educated teacher, landed in a remote village. It is a story suited for a screenplay packed with action and suspense. A story...

W hen I was in the boys boarding school at the age of twelve, I wanted to grow a money plant tree. Adjoining the boarding house was a beautiful, curated garden. Every day, from the dormitory on the third floor, I looked down at the garden marvelling at the sight of the garden. It had flower beds, grapevines, many tropical plants and tall coconut trees. It was a beautiful mini orchard. It was alive with an array of myriad birds who took shelter in it. But what took my attention was the huge money plant vines that had clambered up the trunk of a coconut tree. The plant had large green and yellow leaves almost to the top of the coconut tree. Once a week, for one hour on Fridays, boarders were required to help clean indoors and do garden maintenance. I loved working in the garden with my friends. In between my work, I rested and admired the beauty of the garden. Most of my attention was on the money plant vines. The enormity of the huge leaves took my boyhood wonder to another level. I fel...

Lewis — Ancestry Record L ewis Jayawardhana was my grandfather; my mother’s father lived in Eldeniya, Kadawatha, on his ancestral land, some twelve kilometres north of Colombo. This is his genealogical family history extracted from various records and listening to my elders. It goes back six generations from Denzil to Thelenis, Lewis’s great-grandfather. These records began around 1825, ten years after the British took control of Sri Lanka. Lewis was the son of Cornelis. Cornelis was the son of Alexander. Alexander was the son of Thelenis. This story starts with Thelenis. Manchanayake Jayawardhana Don Thelenis lived in Radawana, forty-five kilometres from Colombo, born around 1810. In 1815, the English took control of the island of Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon. Alexander, the game-changer His son was Manchanayake Jayawardhana Don Alexander. Alexander had two aliases. Alisandiri was easily pronounced in Sinhala. It was further shortened to Allis Appuhamy by locals. Alexander was a farm...