Arisen Ahubudu – Our Sinhala Teacher

By Dr. Prasanna Cooray

Mr. Ariyasena Ashuboda (or Arisen Ahubudu (AA), as he was popularly known) was our Sinhala teacher at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. My earliest memories of him date back to 1973, when I was in the Sixth Grade (or the Lower 4th according to the Thomian tradition). AA taught us Sinhala. His son, Demintha Udam, was also with us in the same class.

We were very fond of the Sinhala lessons mainly due to the interesting stories AA would narrate to illustrate points in his lessons. He knew all the stories behind Sinhala idioms, and, most of all, he knew how to relate them to a group of restless eleven-year-olds who were interested in anything but their studies.

AA was a lenient and compassionate teacher. He was perhaps the mildest among all the teachers we had. His wife, Sada, a teacher at the same school, was of the same disposition. Students loved and respected him dearly, and even the naughtiest among us behaved when he was around. As far as I can remember, he was one of the very few teachers who did not have nicknames. Such was our love for him!

AA was born on 18 March 1920 in Koggala, which is also the birth place of legendary Martin Wickremasinghe.

AA’s association with S. Thomas’ began in 1952, and he was there until 1979, when he left to compile the Sinhala Encyclopedia as an editor. He served the school faithfully for almost three decades, and together with teachers such as Sandadas Coperahewa, DS Jayasekera, GL Jinadasa and Dharmasiri, and Prof. Vini Vitharana, who had been there before us, he was instrumental in infusing a Sinhala (and Buddhist) culture into the school, which otherwise is famous for its Anglican tradition. All these great teachers were recruited during the tenure of the legendary Warden Rev. Canon RS de Saram. They were members of the “Hela Haula”, which was quite popular at that time. I remember some of my contemporaries who even used to sign their names in Sinhala, emulating their beloved teachers.

AA always used Sinhala equivalents for Sanskrit names in addressing some of us. Accordingly, I was called ‘Pasan’. Darshana became ‘Dasun and Waidyarathne ‘Wedarathana’. He was a patron of various clubs and associations at school. They included the Sinhala Literary Association, the Sinhala debating teams – junior and senior, the Buddhist Brotherhood and the Drama Circle. He also supported school’s Kala Ulela (Art Festival) in numerous ways.

Sinhala revival project at

S. Thomas’

Many students benefitted immensely from the Sinhala revival project (initiated during the era of Warden de Saram, commencing in the late 40s, and carried out by the Sinhala teachers handpicked by him). That was later to permeate various spheres of Sri Lankan society including politics.

Great Sinhala actor cum director the late Gamini Fonseka was a result of this project. Sampath Sri Nandalochana and Asoka Peiris were two others influenced by AA and his colleagues.

In the late 70s, the Buck house staged a Sinhala drama at the inter-house drama competition with AA’s help. It came first beating all the English dramas, which had actors of the calibre of Richard de Z, Chandri Peiris and Hemalal Ranawaka, representing other houses. Had Palitha Kuruppu, who was adjudged the best actor, remained in the field, he would have become another bright Thomian star in the Sri Lankan cinema. Priyankara Perera succeeded as an artiste. Arosha Fernando, with strong leftist roots, scripted and directed those two back-to-back plays that had strong political tenor, “Iranayen Aragalayak” and “Mahaweliyen Aragalayak”.

The Sinhala Literary Association and debating team during my time in school produced some top scribes and orators. Some children not only produced good articles for the school magazine, but also had their own “newspapers”, handwritten and released weekly. Rajpal Abeynayake was among them. Ravi Prasad Herath, who became a journalist for Divaina, in fact wrote novels as a ten-year-old. Anura Meddegoda (now President’s Counsel), Nigel Hatch (President’s Counsel), late SSL Hettiarachchi (Prof. Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa), the late Dr. Chanaka Amarathunge (founder of Liberal Party), the late Asitha Perera (Liberal Party and former MP), Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Priyankara Perera (Police Department) the Ladduwahetti brothers–Champika and Nalin (President’s Counsel)–and Arosha Fernando were some of the top debaters and members of the school “parliament”.

The Buddhist Brotherhood was another project close to AA’s heart. In keeping with multi-ethnic, multi-religious tradition, the school had sermons delivered by Buddhist monks or eminent laymen parallel to the morning chapel sessions of the Christians. AA also encouraged his students to write poems for the Budusarana, and some young Thomians were regular contributors to that journal then.

AA died on 26 May 2011, at the age of 91. The great teacher will continue to live in the hearts of the grateful Thomians.