I am a high IQ guy.
That is the assessment of my fellow classmates.
I had high memory capacity which is gradually failing due to old age.
Does not bother me and what remains is good enough to take me to 80 but I wish to kick the bucket, the moment my memory fails.
I do not carry a cellphone or store information in the cellphone.
On a few rare occasions, especially when traveling abroad, I carry a tiny notebook.
In my retirement, I do not set tasks but during my working years, I finish all my work by 12PM and thereafter, test all the New Linux Distributions (post a mini review) and test a few of their running utilities.
My current obsession is to make Linux PC penetration 10% and it is around 4% currently.
I thought that all my classmates had the same IQ capacity as me BUT they were Lazy.
I am proven wrong.
We have different capacities and the education should cater for the Slow Learners not the Fast Learners like me.
This piece is about me.
Teachers who assessed me, in my primitive years did not tell me my potential (Good on them) but said I was a bright cookie.
By the way, I was good in athletics.
1. I went to missionary school first.
There they tried to convert me to Christianity which I strongly opposed and I was thrown out of the class as a punishment.
2. I schemed and got all my Buddhist mates out of the class in one week.
I was a rebellious but was Not a JVP activist.
I was against all indoctrination.
3. When things started getting hot I stopped going to school.
I told my father, find me a school in the city.
4. He went to all the schools in Kandy and they all refused me having looked at my record book which was pretty good.
I was happy.
5. I did not take this plunge (stop going to school) lightly.
There was another reason, related to making the boys school, a mix school due to government intervention.
6. During school last athletic meeting, the visiting principal of the city school while handing over Under 14 Championship Cup to me, he whispered to my ear, if you want to come to my school, come and see me.
7. I was head of Junior Cadetting team.
I hated scouting for many reasons.
8. I was forced to do Senior Cadetting in the city school.
I came there to do real schooling not Cadetting.
So every time I was taken in, I used spoil the march past, deliberately.
I was thrashed with Albesia Stick until it broke in to several pieces.
I stood firm until I was thrown out of the "scoud".
He was the Vice Principle.
9. By this time, I started hating all the teachers.
We had a terrible set of science teachers.
10. We had a plot.
Only six of them were in the plot.
I was leading the team.
Three of them have left us only 3 left now.
I managed to collate information of our classmates before, I left Ceylon.
Coronavirus episode curtailed and ended the proposed gathering.
I avoid the "Big Match" which is a "Houch Party".
I stopped my drinking habits after publishing the book "Joys of Alcohol".
The topic was selected to encourage sales but it gives all, "Good, Bad and the Ugly" in the tradition of the Western Film.
11. I went and met the Vice Principle who thrashed me and told him we were very badly treated by the teachers that we wish to stay out of the class.
Please give us six chairs and place them next to the library.
We will not spoil the learning of the students left in the class.
We gave him the undertaking that all of us will enter the University first time round.
Our negotiation succeeded.
We all entered the University and none left in the class did.
12. The school library was hopeless.
But British Council Library had all the books we needed.
Six of us borrowed the books we needed and shared them in school.
I took classes for my mates in chemistry and physics.
I was very good in physics but did decided to take medicine for higher studies.
If I did physics, I knew I become a loner.
I must make a note about the School Inspector Mr. Panamaldeniya.
I reported to him all what was happening in the school including my class teacher not allowing me to apply for medicine.
He sorted this out for me.
Then we had a teacher from Galle named Mr. Widyasekara who was on teacher training assignment in our school. We got him to teach chemistry.
The teacher who refused me signing me for medicine sited that I had not done enough "Organic Chemistry" practicals.
I argued that practicals are after Theory Examination and I would do them during the school holidays.
The chemistry lab was completely neglected.
Sure enough, 6 of us cleaned up the entire chemistry laboratory, including preparation of chemicals necessary for tests, including titrations.
It did not help me.
I got a chemical (naphthalene or para- dichlorobenzene or moth ball) which was non reactive after repeating the test.
I wrote this may be naphthalene or para- dichlorobenzene.
Additionally, I got another teacher to guide me on organic chemistry practicals.
He was a chemistry special guy (Mr. Samaranayake) waiting for an appointment outside schools.
Sure enough,, two of the six ended up in Chemistry Special.
All 25 students were suspended for life for cheating in the Final Examination except two of my friends, who did not cheat.
Both are no more.
One of those guys who copied ended up as a MP.
All the others ended up as lawyers but I never saw any of them.
Any cheat including politicians can enter Law College.
13. We had very bad medical teachers.
Professor Senaka Bible was an exception.
One day, I met my supervisor and I told her I am going home and not coming back.
I said, if beginning of the career is this bad end must be even worse.
She was taken aback and made an appointment for a proper sit down with the professor. The problem was solved amicably and we decided not to divulge what was discussed.
Incidentally, I scored highest in that subject and they called me to tell me that fact.
They were in two minds whether to award a distinction.
I said please do not.
I do not deserve it.
At this point, I must say, my relationship with my father.
He discouraged me and told me not to do medicine. Before we entered there was a paper advertisement to offer a scholarship.
It had a strange request. I would get it only if I decide to do science instead of medicine.
I said NO.
Second, I requested him to buy a book on anatomy (it was not available in the library and the British Council Library).
It was very expensive.
He told me, he almost had a heart attack.
I told him this is the first and the last time and I will repay it in good, later.
I solved all his financial problems within a short time.
I decided never to buy any medical books as a student and used only library books.
Of course, I bought many medical books after graduation.
I bought two copies of General Pathology by Water and Israel. I thought the second copy was a recent edition but it wasn't.
That book had been on my bedside all my life.
It really does not need any updates.
Solid and Scientific.
14. Jealousy was at its peak.
One of the guys in the class stole two of the very expensive books that I borrowed from the British Council Library.
His name is Sangakkara who came from Kurunegala.
I hate all Sangakkaras, including one who was MS in Kandy Hospital.
There were many other petty incidents.
We reported all of them to the class teacher but no action taken.
15. I paid money for the lost books to the British Council Library on a concessionary rate.
Luckily for me the assistant librarian was an old boy form the city school.
It lead to a prolonged and healthy relationship with the library.
I had a scheme to catch people who steal books from this library.
I would buy any book for RS.100/=.
I returned the book with the guys name and his membership was cancelled and he is not allowed to sit even in the reading room.
When the third guy was caught the stealing episodes went to the acceptable level.
I must tell you there was two clinical professors (of my time) from the University who used to steal books from the Medical Library.
One is dead and the other, I had a very heated exchange (he left the University) over distortion of Buddha Dhamma.
I told him Dhamma is not his field of expertise and leave it to the erudite.
My experience abroad is that Indians are the worst of all, stealing books.
They start tearing pages from books to begin with and finally the entire reference collection is lost.
Beware.
16. For this help I was given the books I needed before they were accessed and put in to circulation, all throughout my University years.
I never lost a book but never took them away from our home, fear of losing them.
17. I have over 1000 books, most of them are on Linux.
They are gathering dust.
I spread them with gasoline (thinner plus moth balls) type of liquid our "mason bass" Navaratne prepared to kill book worms (silver fish, book-lice and termites), before l left Ceylon.
I have lost several books having loaned them to my cohorts.
One of them was the Geneva Convention on Human Rights, which I obtained with difficulty.
This guy died of a cancer and I told him he should seek medical advice.
I picked up the early signs of cancer in him.
Neither he believed me nor listen to me.
Of course, I was not in Ceylon when he was finally diagnosed with bladder cancer which is very aggressive.
18. All post graduate degrees and PhD awarded belonged to the Institution that awards them.
They are not personal items to wear.
In my case, I did the basic stuff at the age 60 and kept the substantial stuff for myself to publish books with data, so I can make Royalties.
One cannot make Royalties from the PhD.
As for my Medical Registration, I refused to pay money every year to Medical Council from the year 2000 onward, since I do not dispense any medicine to any guy or girl.
I pretend to be a PhD doctor, not a medical one for the last 24 years.
That gives me freedom to voice my opinion, including medical stuff.
This come good for me. I published a book "Coronavirus who cheated us, Locally and Globally" .
I was critical of Doctors (Andrew Fousi to begin with) and WHO who handled it poorly.
It is selling well in America.
I was critical of our regime but without data I did not mention guys and girls who made a profit on the side.
Now to the crunch points.
1. I do not like indoctrination of JVP style.
2. Learning is more important than teaching.
I did not enjoy teaching.
Retirement was a blessing and guys wanted spoon feeding.
Guys come to the University and they could not define the word definition.
3. I hate free school books.
4. I encourage only English books.
I could not find a copy of Das Capital by Carl Marx.
I am still looking for it.
5. Learning a second language makes one creative.
Single language guys are not good even in politics.
6. One can learn a new language during the critical period of 7 to 16 years.
7. I passed French 'O' Level at the age of 55.
But I am not proficient enough, yet.
I have decided not to visit Paris until Macron is evicted.
8. Learning is a life long endeavor.
This is what I learned from late Sir John Kotalawala.
He was one of my last patients in Ceylon.
Reverend Narada Thera was teacher cum patient. Both left us when I was abroad.
My first clinical (Dr. Drahaman) teacher (not under my care) was struggling for life at Navaloka Hospital.
He could not recognize me.
That is how life events unfold.
By the way, I signed the last blood report of JRJ (our late President) , and said this guy cannot be living.
The osmolality of the specimen was well below resuscitation level or in other words cerebral oedema and Brain Dead.
Report went out at 12PM.
I do not know who signed the Death Certificate.
They were hoisting white flags when I passed Ragama by train that evening at around 4PM.
Reverend Renukane Chandhawilama Thera was in coma right at the same time.
I did not who he was but bought a few of his books in Sinhala.
I believe they should be translated to English.
For me, The Dhammapada by Reverend Narada is my pick.
I have quite a number of books on Buddhism published at Amazon Books and two books on Ceylon and its Rivers and Water Falls.
By the way, I was involved in "Total Quality Management Training" at Navaloka.
Part of the work was to develop hospital wide "Network Connectivity" (first time in Ceylon) using Unix.
We trained 8 guys and few of them were sent to Singapore for training.
Navaloka received the Quality Award for that year.
I joined the University after 7 months but continued to visit over weekend to finish the Quality Training Proposal.
20 years later when I visited there for VISA formality for my son, two out of three of us did not have chairs to sit.
That is the End of Quality Training in Private Hospitals in Ceylon including Asiri Hospital.
9. My current learning topic is Philosophy.
Philosophy is the First Order discipline.
All the others including religion are Second Order disciplines.
10. Thinking to Think is the most important part in learning.
Read books by Professor De Bono, who is no more.
I have quite a number of books by him including Beautiful Mind and Wisdom Thoughts.
My teacher of Philosophy was late Professor A,D.P Kalansuriya.
In his retirement he did not have money for the the battery of the pace maker.
He never told me about his medical problems.
He was down to earth man philosophically speaking, and he was ready say "Good Bye" when his daughter was given in marriage.
He taught what is called Language Games in Philosophy.
I have not given up on philosophy.
11. Our education system is in ruins including in the Universities.
In my belief, it takes another 20 years to get us back to "Global Needs".
Developing Private schools is not a solution but adds another dimension to the already existing problem of ever expanding curriculum.
Ranil Wickramasinghe's plan was to destroy "Free Education" apart from creating Batalanda Training School.
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