Addressing a gathering of literati and glitterati on the occasion of this year’s Cumaratunga Munidasa commemoration day held at Folk Art Centre Battaramulla, Minister Wimal Weerawansa is reported to have said “thank God! I did not go to university”. As he claims, had he gone to university, he would have been a chip of the traditional mould of academics who he underrated as “a worthless pro-Western unpatriotic lot”. He asserted that he was so pleased that he did not go to university. I agree that Weerawansa is cast in a different superman mould with his infinite knowledge and ground breaking discovery of Balaya fish curry but I disagree with his derogatory remark concerning the university community at large. I note that when he made this statement, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera who is a brilliant product of Peradeniya University was by his side.
Weerawansa is also on record as saying that he has never been to Sigiriya, the nation’s proud mirror wall of aesthetic skill. No doubt Weerawansa can be forgiven for not going to university because all who aspire to go to the university cannot do so, but he cannot be forgiven for not going to Sigiriya as anyone who wants to visit Sigiriya can do so at will. One would wonder why the nationalist and patriot par excellent chose to boycott the bare breasted damsels who present to the world our rich heritage and archaeological wonder that caught the eyes of billions of people from 477BC to this day.
I wrote this preamble not to enter in to an endless confrontation with Weerawansa. His statement provoked me to write this article for two reasons. Firstly my aim is to draw the attention of especially the freshers who are now in a long wait to enter a university and who know nothing of the university community or the true meaning of University education and the potential pitfalls that are hidden or not obvious to them at first. Secondly Weerawansa’s speech could convey quite a wrong signal to civil society to establish a belief that the country’s university system produces a good-for-nothing lot with pro-Western values and ideology.
It is reported that the intake of students for the current year is to be about 25,000, the largest number ever taken to the National University System. This augurs well for the country because the country has to provide more and more opportunities to its youth.
I entered the Peradeniya University, then University of Ceylon on October 14, 1969. All freshers were asked to congregate at the Arts Theatre (AT) for the welcome address following registration delivered by Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra (1914 -1996) who was the Director of Student welfare at the time. Two of my friends and I made it a point to take seats closer to the podium for us to have a better view of Prof. Sarachchcadra who was an iconic figure in my heart since my school days. Prof. Sarachchandra came on the dot and stood before the freshers. There was pin drop silence for a moment. That was the first day many of us happened to listen to Sarachchandra, the man who made Peradeniya proud and world famous and was responsible for being the forerunner of the Peradeniya clan better known as Peradeniya gurukulaya.
He looked at the students passionately and asked:
Prof: Where have you come to?
Students: All in one voice said - “university”
Prof: Why have you all come to the university?
Students: (Pat came the reply) “to study”
Prof: “Weren’t you all studying at your schools where you all came from?
Students: “Yes”
Prof: Then what was the purpose of your coming here?
Students: A number of replies came – “for higher studies”, “get a degree” and so on...
Prof: Yeah, there you are. We have come to the point.
Oz The Great and Powerful begins in a black and white mode. Trickster magician Oscar Diggs is transported the magical land of Oz in an air balloon. As the cyclone diminishes, the scenes shift to a gorgeous setting where 3D technique and vibrant colours are at its full glory. There he realizes that he is taken for the wizard who is prophesied to save the realm from a wicked witch. A witch named Theodora falls into his charms and takes him to the Emerald kingdom to meet her sister, Evanora, but unlike Theodora, Evanora needs to be convinced that Oscar is really the powerful wizard that he claims himself to be. The sisters send him on a deadly quest to free the land from the evil witch. With only a winged monkey and a china doll for company Oscar embarks into the dark forest hoping to steal the witch’s wand and destroy it so that she will be vanquished forever. However unusual circumstances lead him to Glinda the Good and the oppressed citizens of Oz. There the truth comes to light.
