Tags
Arankale, Bogowantalawa, Circuit Bungalow, Ena de Silva, Habarana-Trincomalee, Herbert Tennekoo, Iris Rambukwelle, Jaffna, Kalpitiya Fort, Kalutara, Kantale Resthouse, Kegalle, Kurunagala, Mullaitivu, Panduwasnuwara, Priyani Tennekoon, Puttalam, Rambukkana, Ritigala, Semita Wijewardene, Vakarai Resthouse
In addition to expeditions to the Wild Life Parks, we also during the eighties had various communal holidays in various parts of the country. On several occasions we stayed at Priyani Tennekoon’s family home at Rambukkana, which included wandering over her paddy fields – she had no idea how much the family actually owned – and expeditions to Arankale and I think Panduwasnuwara. One expedition was however halted when Romesh had an altercation with a CTB bus, entirely its driver’s fault, though when we finally heard from the police, it was to be told that they had decided not to prosecute Romesh out of kindness. We had to spend a long day at police stations, to no purpose it seemed, though I suppose the entry was required to make sure the repair to our vehicle was on insurance.
In that delightful fashion which I suppose was what Sri Lankan high society was all about a century ago, Ena and Priyani were connected, in that her father’s brother George had married Ena’s cousin Iris Rambukwelle. Another brother was Herbert Tennekoon, former Governor of the Central Bank, who had married my mother’s cousin (in the inclusive Sri Lankan sense, as she was the daughter of my mother’s father’s cousin) Norma. Priyani’s mother was Semita Wijewardene, cousin of my uncle Esmond’s wife Nalini.