A great teacher and award-winning writer

The first death anniversary of Lalitha Karalliadde-Witanachchi – a Gratiaen Award winner for creative writing in English, fell on September 26 this year. As one of her early students at the Central College Anuradhapura, it was in the mid-1950s, that we had the exceptional privilege of coming within the aura of this great teacher, trainer and later award-winning English writer.

The mid-1950s witnessed an age of transition in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) with new hopes and expectations emerging after Independence, galvanised by the visionary leadership of SWRD Bandaranaike, the Oxford-trained Prime Minister of Ceylon.

Amidst the far-reaching changes in the country, we who entered the Central College to study in the English medium, had to switch to the Sinhala medium though not unwillingly, to keep up with the strong winds of change. I still remember, Madam Lalitha introducing to us Charles Dickens’ ‘The Tale of Two Cities’. Her voice still rings in our ears…. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….”. The lines sounded as though characterising what was happening in the country at that time.

Lalitha Witanachchi (Ekanayake Wijeratne Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyansalage Lalitha Karalliadde) was born to a respected family of Kandyan descent with direct lines to royalty, in January 1927, at Lankatilleke Walawwa in Bandarawela, the residence of her grandfather J.C. Lankatilleke - then Rate Mahattaya of the Udukinda Division of Uva. Her book, “Wind blows Over the Hills” provides not just a feel but also the fragrance of Kandyan village life of that time, despite the scars of destruction caused by the colonial rulers and their lackeys. She began her education at Hillwood College Kandy, and proceeded for her higher studies to the University of Ceylon in Colombo. She excelled at the University entrance examination itself, winning an ‘Exhibition’ award in Geography. She graduated from the University of Ceylon in 1950, with Geography Honours, while offering English as a subject.

She came to Anuradhapura with her beloved husband, Douglas Witanachchi, who had been appointed District Land Officer at the Kachcheri, and who rendered yeoman services to improve land administration in the early 1950s. The Principal of the Central College at that time – another reputed Sinhala writer, E.R. Eratne, was constantly in search of qualified teachers who were sadly in short supply in the area then. He was determined to persuade the young wives of many Civil Officers, who happened to be at leisure at their homes and discovered a few of them – Lalitha Witanachchi, Sriya Jayasekera, and Mrs Meegoda among others like Shakuntala Nadaraja and Nanda Udugama.

Madam Lalitha, was on the tutorial staff at the Anuradhapura Central College, from 1953-1957, coinciding with the years of my own secondary education there. Later, while I happened to be an undergraduate at Peradeniya in the early 1960s, she obtained her post-graduate Diploma in Education in 1963, from the same University. After a long teaching career from 1950 -1980, she worked at the Lake House Group of Newspapers from September 1981 at the Daily News Features Desk till December 1995.

She also wrote several books such as “The Paddy Bird”, “The Wind Blows over the Hills”, “Little Bamboo”, and the “Customs and Rituals of Sinhala Buddhists”. She won several awards and accolades, among them the first prize in the International Short Story Contest by Macquarie University, Australia; co-winner of the Gratiaen Award 1993; and the Esmond Wickremasinghe Award for Journalism in English. In 2011 she was conferred the “Kala Bhoosana” Award for her distinguished contributions to arts and English literature.

A mother of four, she was grandmother of four and greatgrandmother of two. She passed away at the age of 94. Above all her scholastic achievements, she was indeed a superior human being, reflected by the generous support and attention she gave to poor pupils. She was patently on the path of liberation to attain the ultimate bliss of Nibbana!.