Cynthica Irugalbandara: A GENTLE SOUL, A LASTING LEGACY

I was once told by my mother that life is a puzzle of your own design and choosing, and one that requires to be put together yourself, with one salient negative factor.

-  Hasantha

TIME! You will never be aware of the time duration you have to complete it. Her advice was to try my best to keep the puzzle simple and uncomplicated. As much as completing it is a daunting task, it would be a fruitless effort if you do not have the ability to silently appreciate it and share it with those who are close to you.

It is said that a true friend is the one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden. This, for all intents and purposes, was Cynthica Irugalbandara. Growing old didn’t seem too bad when you have such friends to share and enjoy your life with! That is, until fate intervenes!

A soft-spoken, humble, sincere, charming slip of a girl containing, in the simplest words of Robert Southey in his poem “What all the world is made of’, an abundance of “sugar and spice and everything nice”! Cynthi was the epitome of humanity!

It has been almost six months since Cynthi left our midst, and yet, for those of us who were privileged to know her, her presence remains deeply etched in our hearts — not in silence or in sorrow alone, but in warmth, gratitude, and enduring admiration.