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.