Where are ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ of Peradeniya?

This is a short piece written after reading Prof. Susrith Mendis’s “A Short Essay” assessing the humanities and social sciences in the universities of Sri Lanka that appeared in “Midweek Review” on 16 February 2022. He mentions the name of Professor Sarachchandra “among the great academics who walked tall down the corridors of Peradeniya”, but has not mentioned the names of at least a few who were the other great academics in his times. For the benefit of present-day students as well as academics who do not know the history of this great seat of higher learning a list of names of other internationally acclaimed academics in the Sinhala Department (the list is too long), departments of Pali, Sanskrit, Buddhist Civilisation, English, Tamil, Geography, Economics, Philosophy, History, Political Science, Western Classics, Sociology and Archeology should be provided to show that these men and women were the path breakers of the journey they have undertaken now.

But what has happened after the demise of these great academics? Although they were able to produce a few greats (some invariably fall into first generation, never mind) to use Professor Mendis’s words “keeping the flame inviolate”, we saw entropy or utmost decay in the system of humanities and social sciences at Peradeniya from the next generation. A great mishap has taken place at baton change; either the baton was fallen or not given to the designated runner or the baton was grasped by a spectator.

Let us now examine in brief the writer’s “medical analogy to describe a university”. With the shifting of University of Ceylon from Colombo to Peradeniya only the Faculty of Arts and Dental Faculty (housed in an isolated mountainous area in Upper Hantana or North End, with a handful of students) were located at Peradeniya. Science students came in 1961 followed by medical students in the following year. Engineering students came in early seventies. Are we to assume that until such time Peradeniya functioned without bones, sinew, muscles and blood having only the “spirit” and “soul”? After the staging of “Sinhabahu” in 1961 are we to believe that Peradeniya lost that “spirit” and “soul” too?

SENA THORADENIYA