Tribute to a teacher, mentor and friend:

Prof. Gamini Hattotuwegama

Prof. Gamini Hattotuwegama made his contribution as a senior lecturer in the English Department at the Vidyalankara University, Kelaniya and the Peradeniya University specifically in the area of drama for well over 35 years and was the father of street drama. He took drama to the grass roots level and yet maintained a level of professionalism and academic interest.

Prof. Gamini Hattotuwegama

Fondly referred to by his students, as 'Hatha' of course formally always very respectfully as 'Sir', Prof. Gamini Hattotuwegama was a human being with a rare combination of profound human qualities and superior intellectual abilities. With a mind as sharp as a razor blade and a heart large enough to empathize with the difficulties of a struggling student who had no money to buy lunch, to the struggle of slum dwellers displaced because the city had to look nice, or the oppression of minorities or the burdens placed on the poor by capitalist regimes of Sri Lanka, he could still be approached by those who agreed or disagreed with his radical views.

Political views

His social and political views never stood in the way of his interaction with his students irrespective of who they were rich or poor, children of influential parents or of ordinary folks. He had wide outreach and an outstanding ability to bring everyone in the entire class or I may say classes together. He always maintained a close relationship with the students, not just the ones he taught. He never went to the staff canteen, always took meals and tea with the students. This enabled him to interact with a wide range of students.

One of the most cherished experiences I had with him among many others which are still alive in my memory is the day he took the poem Uneasy Lies the Head... from the classroom to the street theatre. What is significant about this move was not that it was just another drama with a radical message but the timing of it. It was in 1979, shortly before hell broke loose and the North and South began to build a fence of hatred, bloodshed and fire. And if there was one message that this drama tour took to the North with students of Vidyalankara, an institution of learning that is unfortunately often labelled as an extreme 'Sinhala' university, it was one of friendship and an understanding that people wherever they be are the ultimate victims of oppressive power structures. The tour in the Jaffna Campus went so smoothly with some of the students establishing lasting friendships, but these friendships may have ended because the friends are no more.

But on a less dramatic note was the fact that this tour was a witness to Vidyalankara itself that students of what was then called the 'elitist' English Department or also known as the 'Kadu' faculty with 'snobbish' students, could get together with the leftist leaning student population of the rest of the university, on doing something useful in sharing each others gifts and learning from each others' experiences.

His boldness and courage comes from a deep sense of humanity and humility believing that nothing wrong or bad would happen when you are doing what is right. This was put to the test when we tried to stage the drama at the German Cultural Institute in 1979. Some of my classmates reading this may have to scratch their heads to remember this, but may be not so, it may be fresh on their minds as well.

The staging of the drama at this institute was interrupted by groups of armed thugs of the then regime of 1977, but after all, we all got out without a scratch, but the more important thing was that the message of the drama was elevated, because the focus of this drama was how uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. If at all this drama injected a bunch of humour into the difficulties of being in power in the hope that a leader looking in the mirror and having a laugh may ease the burden and weight of the crown and open avenues for dialogue and learning to govern better.

Among the other outstanding qualities of the man, beyond his passion for what he believed in was his immense commitment to his students. There were several occasions when both male and female students would visit his home at Horana for guided discussions before exams. He would spend endless hours taking questions, providing his insights and references to help students to familiarize themselves with the subject matter.

Rat race

This approach also took away the competition and the rat race that prevails among students as exams approach. After long hours of study and discussion we would enjoy a simple meal with jak, red rice, fried dried fish and Pol Sambal, which Yamuna would put together in between her involvement in the discussions and study session. By late evening study would be over and we would spend the night shortly after dinner singing folk songs and of course he had to tell us of the different memories associated with each song. And later into the night began the great debates on solutions to the world's problems that went into the wee hours of the morning.

I would never end this memoir if I recall the richness of the man, his character, values and inspiration. A profound human being, rare in his outlook in life, with generosity at the core of his being never assuming that he was faultless. Again Hatha as I will always remember him even at a point in life with children of my own the one lesson that I learned was to take a risk because if I don't I will never know what is possible.

- Rienzzie Kern