Meditation on the Passing of an Era

Estate bungalow

- BY GEORGE BRAINE

The following obituary appeared in a Sri Lankan newspaper some years ago and it brought back a flood of memories.

BOYD MOSS M.R.P. MIKE Late Manager of Telbedde Estate, Badulla. Husband of Shelagh,

father of Nicolla and Robin, father-in-law of Giovanni and Debs, grandfather of Paola Jemma James Chiri and Georgina, brother of Tony and John, passed away in Nairobi 16th October. Funeral 21st October P.O Box 14483, Nairobi, Kenya 00800. Service of Remembrance in Sri Lanka Saturday 24th October 6 p.m. Church of the Good Shepherd Jawatte Road, Thimbirigasyaya, Colombo 5.

After graduating from teachers’ college, my first job as an English teacher in 1972 was at Kandegolla Maha Vidyalaya, an overnight train journey from Colombo, in the remote hill country. The school was a 2 km uphill trudge from the nearest bus stop. The villagers were subsistence farmers. Due to poverty, many students came to school on empty stomachs. I was young and didn't mind the hardship.The area was dominated by Telbedde Estate, managed by Mike Boyd-Moss. He was, indisputably, the local monarch, but a benevolent suddha that people respected and were in awe of. I met him only once, when I organised the school's first ever sports meet and sought his help for the cross-country race, which would be run partly through Telbedde Estate. I needed his permission as well as a support vehicle to follow the runners and pick up stragglers. Lacking even a bicycle, I walked all the way to his office to meet him, enjoying the early morning walk through the greenery, inhaling the aroma of pine and eucalyptus along the way. To reach his office, I remember climbing a steep flight of steps. He gracefully agreed, and, during the race, a van from the estate followed the runners.