|
|
|
 Newsletter
Maris Stella (OBA)
Australia Inc. Vol. 4 Issue 1
(Christmas Edition)
The Advanced Level results had
been published, but I was not certain I would get a place in the
University. Since I had a hankering to travel, I applied for a
scholarship being offered by the Department
of Education to study in the Soviet Union, as Russia was then known.
Great was my elation when I was called up for an interview and was
told that I had been selected to the Moscow University to study
Mechanical Engineering. I received the offer from the Peradeniya to
follow a Physical Sciences course subsequently. By which time I was
all agog to spread my wings and travel overseas. I also preferred to
become an engineer rather than a scientist.
One of the first people I
informed of my good luck in being offered this scholarship was Brother
Clinton Perera who was the Principal of Maris Stella at that time,
affectionately known as “Pina” among our AL crowd. Quite sure of being
congratulated, I took the good news to Brother Principal myself and
was surprised at the way he received my news. He was aghast that I was
going to a communist country and tried his best to dissuade me from
taking such a drastic step. Finally he realised that I was adamant in
my decision and decided to prepare me for a life in a European
country.
Having grown up in
Kongodamulla, a small village close to Negombo, I lacked the spit and
polish that was said to be required of someone going to a foreign
country. “Pina” thought he should take me in hand and teach me
rudiments of civilised living.
More....
|
|
