Hantana days

Mrs. Howie in August 2009. She now lives at a retirement home run by Catholic nuns at Padiwatte, near Kandy. She is 94 years old.

Note: In 1981, I found employment in the Sultanate of Oman and Fawzia followed a year later. Roy, who was attending Trinity College at this time, was very unhappy at his boarding places. My parents agreed to go to Kandy and keep Roy with them if I would buy them a house. During this time, President Premadasa had started a housing scheme for the middle class in Hantana, above Kandy town. So, we bought a house in the scheme, paying the full amount of Rs. 250,000/. Soon after, my parents moved to Kandy, but dad wasn't satisfied with the house I had selected. He moved houses twice before settling on No. 53/B/01 which had a panoramic view of the valley below and the hills beyond Peradeniya Road. As my mother often remarked, there were 34 steps to climb from the road to reach the house.

Some of the best years of my parents' lives were spent in Kandy. Only a few people had come in to occupation of the houses at that time and they formed a close community. Among them are Mr. & Mrs. Sidique (who still remain close family friends), Mr. Shelton Ranaraja, a former deputy Minister of Justice, Mrs. Howie, and other whose names I'll add later. Quite a number of houses were leased by the Department of Agriculture for senior staff, and they became my parents' friends. Mr. Sri Kantha is one such friend who comes to mind. They started a welfare society which still functions.
For the most part, my parents led a leisurely life at Hantana. I left for the United States on a scholarship in 1984 and having become a student again, couldn't help them much financially. Fawzia who was still teaching in Oman continued to support them. My mother's tiny pension also helped. Beaula also visited regularly and helped. At one time, they ran a tiny grocery selling yogurt and frozen meat. Another time, they baked and sold hoppers. The salubrious weather, the clean water coming from uphill springs, and good neighbours made their life happy overall. My parents have green fingers and they transformed the barren hillside around the house to a green zone, planting mangoes, avocado, jambu, and flowering plants. The greenery around the house will forever be a testimony to their efforts.

During their stay at Hantana, my parents made regular trips to Boralessa in the Mazda car that my father was so proud of. Dad also made regular trips by bus to attend the Chilaw Courts to fight a legal dispute over the ownership of "Pondside" on my behalf.

Here's what dad wrote about their Hantana Days.

George bought a house in the Hantana Housing Scheme so that Roy could attend college from there. Fernie and I with the girl Vasanthi lived there and looked after him while the parents were away in the Middle East. We had a Mazda car and would go to the Asgiriya Stadium to watch him at rugby practice. He grew up to be an obedient well behaved boy and gave us a lot of happy days and a little bit of anxiety when he got late returning home from school.

Our life at Hantana Housing Scheme No. 53 B-1 had its adventurous times for Roy and me. There were days that we would at night watch wild boar come creeping under the bushes up to the garbage disposal sites to enjoy a delicious meal of remnants thrown from houses during the day. The female would first let the young siblings have a good feed before she took her own meal. From the lower balcony of our house the site was clearly visible under the street light by the road. I had my firearm at the time, and on two occasions had to shoot male boars that were destroying the vegetable plots of the minor staff who appealed to me to come to their aid, since all their hard labour would be ruined in one night.



Parents in the early days at Hantana, maybe around 1984 or 85

The frenzied barking of dogs in the Scheme at night alerted the residents of the arrival of wild boar. I would by instinct know if their bark was unusual. It was due to the fear of either the wild boar or the leopard which were known to be seen by the security staff since the forest reserve which was part of Dunumadalawa forest reserve covering an area of about 450 acres from above Wace Park to Hantana, with a steam flowing through to the Kandy lake , was the haunt of animals. The leopards here are large with thick coats due to the cold weather in the hills. The stray dogs would seek shelter in drains and under culverts to escape the predators in time.

The dogs on our side of the scheme were very few and the security staff informed me of the presence of a large leopard prowling in the area in the night. My first reaction was to warn Roy to be very careful and to refrain from going out with his friends for walks at night, he and I were determined to have a look at the animal. We would spend hours on the upper balcony with the binoculars scanning the road below.

One night I was awakened by the shrill yelp of a dog in fright. I quickly ran into the balcony and looked below and there was the leopard snarling at the dog it had attacked. I quickly wakened Roy up and together we had a clear view of the leopard majestically walking away on the center of the road. It disappeared into the culvert from where we heard it attacking the little puppies and once again came onto the road and vanished into the dark night. The time was 2:00 a.m. on a cold windy dawn. We were thrilled at the prospect of having so many of these magnificent big cats right at our doorstep, A few weeks later the Kandy police arrested a poacher who had shot and killed this leopard which are a protected species, as such he was charged in courts and fined. Leopards will go out of their way to capture dogs.

George continues: Fawzia and Roy joined me in the United States in 1987 and my parents must have been lonely after Roy's departure. However, they appear to have stayed in Hantana for about two more years before moving to Boralessa for good. Nevertheless, when we visited Sri Lanka, my parents would sometimes accompany us to Hantana to spend a few days there. Through all these years, we have held on to the Hantana house. My dad's last visit was in 2008 which I have recorded in a previous blog entry.

Photos of parents together

The following photos of Teddy & Fernie Braine are arranged in reverse chronological order. This display is not complete. More photos will be added later as they are found and scanned.



In the summer of 2004, Roy paid a visit to Sri Lanka and this photo was taken during his visit. Mother was already ill by this time but managed to get about with a walker and could sit up.



This photo was inserted in a birthday card dad sent me in 2003. On the back, he wrote "Valentines Day 2003". He was giving mother a hibiscus flower in the absence of a rose!



With dad's sister Bee. May have been taken in 1999 or later.


December 1999/2000? With Beaula and George

Mid-1990s (?) at Seeduwa. With Beaula

Probably taken in the late 1990s.

At Seeduwa. Mid-1990s?

This must have been taken soon after parents moved to Liyanagemulla, Seeduwa. As usual, they grew a lush garden later on around the parapet wall, but the grass was removed and paved over. The young king coconut palms near the wall grew well and bore lots of nuts but had to be cut down because the nuts were being stolen!


Taken at Hantana during one of Roy's early visits from the USA. I am not certain of the year.

Mid-1990s? Location unknown.

At "The Meet" in Boralessa. Must have been around 1991, just before they sold the house and moved to Seeduwa. For a long time, my father had been trying to sell the house, thinking of moving away from Boralessa because he thought there was nothing for him to do there. First, he offered the house to his sister Bee for Rs. 100,000. This must have been in the late 1970s or early 80s. Aunty Bee agreed but dad changed his mind later. In 1990, he offered the house to Delphine, his sister Kates's daughter, who lived in the UK. Delphine was unable to buy the house. (Dad recorded all this in the diaries he kept meticulously.) Around this time, I used to call my parents monthly from the USA (they didn't have a phone and had to go to a call center on a prearranged date to receive my calls) but dad only told me about the sale after he had sold the house. I didn't have much money at that time but would have been able to buy "The Meet" after I came to Hong Kong in 1995.

For the rest of his life, dad regretted selling "The Meet". We discussed the sale on later occasions and he would give various reasons at different times, all of which I will not state here. But, he was living on mother's tiny pension and the payment I was sending him monthly and probably felt (as I mentioned earlier) that he could be productively employed closer to the city. Also, he felt isolated and neglected by his relatives. He had also become an "agent" to a crooked employment agency and had taken small advances of cash (paltry amounts like Rs. 3,000/) and was embarrassed by when the agency let him down.

November 1991 at "The Meet". Photos taken by Eddie Wambeek, Aunty Bee's husband, on a visit from the UK.

With Beaula & Damian at "The Meet". 1991.

At Hantana. 1989. This was probably their final year at Hantana.

With Damian. 1989. Location unknown.

At Hantana in 1988. My parents had moved there in 1984 to take care of Roy who left for the USA in 1987. My parents would have been lonely after Roy left.


At Hantana in 1988.

Fawzia at the airport, probably leaving for the Sultanate of Oman. The young man in the photo is Razali, Fawzia's nephew. The year must have been 1985 or 86. I was already in the USA and Fawzia continued to teach in Oman till she and Roy joined me in Austin, Texas, in 1987.

Fawzia with my parents, probably at "The Meet", before leaving for the airport. From August 1981 to December 2008, for nearly 30 years, dad drove us to the airport when we left Sri Lanka and met us at the airport when we returned.

Fawzia leaving for the airport from "Pondside". Beaula and Roy are also in the photo. The year is unknown, but may have been in the mid-1980s.

Parents at Hantana, probably around 1987 or 1988. Fawzia's brother Hamlin and his wife Chandra visited Hantana and Hamlin must have taken this photo. They had gone to purchase Roy's electronic organ after Roy left for the USA.

Chandra is seen in the photo with Wasanthis, the girl who used to work for my parents. Wasanthi is now (2009) in Hong Kong working as a dometic helper, and I see her occasionally. She is now a mother with a daughter of 11.

The view at the back shows few trees. It's different now, with lots of avocado and mango trees.

September 1985 at the entrance to the Hantana house.

This is what dad wrote on the back of this photo. "Hillman Minx Super De Luxe 1500cc Manufactured in Japan 1964. Owned by S.T. Braine"

Before the Hillman, dad owned this Mazda which he persuaded us to buy for him for Rs. 50,000/. It must have been in 1982 or 83. The Mazda had a new engine and the silence pipe had to be repeatedly replaced because it could not cope with the thrust of the engine. Almost every trip to Kandy was delayed as a result.

On the way to Kandy or to Boralessa. While they were living at Hantana, my parents made frequent trips to Boralessa to visit "The Meet" and also to keep an eye on "Pondside". The car did not have air conditioning s the trips must have been long and hot (taking 4 to 5 hours, because they stopped frequently on the way), but they didn't mind. My mother would prepare elaborate picnic lunches to enjoy on the way.

Wayside halt for lunch. The photo had been taken by Roy. The older girl looks like Chandra, who used to work for us in Sri Lanka and later in Hong Kong. The younger girl is probably Wasanthi.

On moving to a new house and on New Year's eve, my mother would arrange to boil some milk for good luck. This photo must have been taken at Hantana, probably in 1984.

At Hantana, but not at 53/B/01. My parents changed houses three times, so this must have been at one of the earlier houses.

My mother boiling milk again at Hantana.

At "The Meet" in 1982. I had returned after my first year in Oman, bearing lots of gifts (I brought 45 saris for distribution to relatives.) Sri Lanka was, as usual, going through various import restrictions so foreign goods were highly prized. I had also brought a Yashica 35mm camera and many photos were taken.

Taken inside "The Meet". The girl in front was being brought up by my Aunty Rosie, dad's sister, who lived nearby.

This, taken at "The Meet", must have been around 1974. My maternal grandmother Rosalind is seated in front. The boy on the left is Rohan, the son of Irene, my mother's younger sister. Her nieces and nephews were in and out of our home. Fawzia is on the extreme left. Beaula is carrying Roy.


This was taken at Rathmalagara Estate, Madampe, probably in 1961. I took the photo using a simple box camera. Beaula and my late brother Roy are in front. We were both studying at Maris Stella College, Negombo, dad's alma mater.

Grandma on a visit.Marie and Rani are also in the photo.

 Beaula, Roy, and George

Morris Minor EL 4251

Rathmalagara belonged to the Coconut Research Institute, which dad joined after a series of jobs in privately owned estates. But his troubles with bosses and colleagues never ended.

Dad returned to Rathmalagara again in the late 1960s. He also served at two other estates owned by the CRI, in Poththukulame and Ambakelle, both beyond Chilaw in the Pallama area.

This is probably the first photo we have of my parents together. They were married on 10th May 1949 at the Registrar’s office in Mahagalkadawala, a remote village near Galgamuwa. This photo may have been taken on their wedding day or earlier when they were courting.

One of the attesting witnesses was a Mr. Weerasingham. A reception for friends at the Galgamuwa Rest House.

One of the first photos of parents together. Taken at Anuradhapura, probably around 1949.

Mother's funeral, May 2005

After suffering bilateral strokes, my mother endured for nearly two years before passing away on May 21, 2005. She was bedridden during the final months of her illness. Both Beaula and I were away during this period, and although I paid frequent visits from Hong Kong, they would not compensate for being at her side during her suffering. Towards the end, she was constantly calling for her father who had passed away in 1969. Dad, Mrs. G.M. Fernando, Sunanda (one of the women who took care of her), and I were at her bedside when she died.

During her illness, her main consolation were the daily visits from Bandaiyya (Mr. Ranbandara), my brother-in-law, who stopped by on his way to work. He brought "roast paan", a perennial favorite, which was eagerly shared by Bingo, a mutt that mother had adopted.

Mother must have been only 81 when she passed away. Her birth certificate says she was born in 1924.

These are some of the photos taken at her funeral.



Cecil, mother's only surviving (younger) brother with dad



Dad, Fawzia, & me


The casket about to be taken from the house. Besides dad and me, there's Bandaiya, Charlie (his son), Ananda (a friend of Beaula's), and Gemunu Athula, mother's nephew (son of her younger sister Irene)


Open casket at Kanatte Cemetery, Borella

Dad lighting a candle

Mother's lifelong friend, Mrs. G.M. Fernando and Shirley, Fawzia's sister, with Fawzia and me



View of the grave site. Kanatte appears to be an oasis of peace and quiet in busy Colombo. Mother had purchased the grave site, a 4' x 9' plot, in 1969 for only Rs. 150/. She buried her father there and always wished to be buried at the same site.