I came to know Sunil when he was at the Attorney Generals Department. I was a young Police Officer drafted into the Criminal Investigations Department ( CID ) which was made famous or ” in” according to which side of the law one fall upon. Keen as I was in investigations it was Tyrell Gunatilleke who was the then Director of CID who honed and led me through the intricacies of a proper investigation. Having done that I had to prepare a comprehensive file and jog to the Attorney Generals Department to confer with a State Attorney to file an indictment. I came before Sunil. If Tyrell was J Edgar Hoover Sunil was Robert Kennedy. He sharpened the loose ends and taught me the other end, which was to satisfy an independent judge of criminal liability. He became my mentor and was easily accessible.
I resigned from the Police Department and went on to learn printing and Sunil went up the ladder to be Attorney General. Our paths didn’t cross till I took office as the Consul General for Sri Lanka in Sydney in 2015. We were quick to fill in the gaps but reminisced of a time when we worked together. I would visit Sunil and Senanie at Kariong. Sunil would cook whilst I enjoyed the wonderful efforts of Senanie in their garden. I digress. There were many facets to the man which made his life as rich as one could imagine. Never the lad ( he was a lad all his life ) to live in the past Sunil followed his passions in his adopted country. Literature and Drama were his forte. Gone was his persona with wig and robe. He together with Ernest Mckintyre kindled the buds of Sri Lankan Australians with stage performances worthy of the West End. I had the privilege of enjoying his scintillating performances during my stay in Sydney.
It was a time I had to bring about a ” coming together” of all ethnic groups of Sri Lankan origin in Sydney and Queensland. The civil strife was done and dusted and reconciliation was the order though the dust had not quite settled in Sri Lanka. I conferred with Mr Ratnayake, Commercial Consul, and Pramuditha Manusinghe, Consul, and later with Mr. Raheem who replaced Mr. Ratnayake on the modalities of doing so. By this time I had the privilege of meeting with Mr Shiva Pasupathy who was himself an Attorney General in Sri Lanka now domiciled in Sydney. It was between these two gentlemen the process of reconciliation began with Sunil and Shiva playing pivotal roles. Though they were two sides of the same coin it always flipped and landed upright to show neither won the toss. The rest was easy.
There were other facets to Sunil’s life. He was an artiste, dramatist, a carpenter but above all a great wit. His stories of yore regaled us and the simplicity of a man who had reached the pinnacle of his profession was not lost on me. I would consult him on a sensitive issue clearly laying down in great detail the complexity of a problem in Sydney and his answer would be in a simple one-liner. That was his grasp.
Sunil was looked upon by the ex-pat Sri Lankan community as a leader, mentor, and role model. He took his knocks in life on his chin but never lost his values in humanity. I did have the good fortune in catching up with him on one of his journeys to Sri Lanka after I had finished my term in Sydney. After many an elbow exercise, I inquired what he would like to retire on. “Thosai” was his preferred choice. Close to midnight a former Attorney General and a returned Consul General ( both in sarongs ) repaired in not such a good state to Indo Ceylon on Galle Road, Colpetty. That was quintessential Sunil.
Sunil lived his life to a full. Senanie was his foil and stood by him through thick and thin. She would know best that Sunil packed into his eighty years all which he wished for. A life well lived for himself as well as for those who were fortunate to have met him.
” Life is real, life is earnest and the grave is not its goal,
Dust thou art to dust returneth was not spoken of thy soul”
Farewell Sir, Till we meet again.
Lal Wickrematunge
