“Cogito, ergo sum.” A famous statement made by a French philosopher, René Descartes. Simply translated it means “I think, therefore I am”, a basic fundamental concept in life.

Perhaps by now you would wonder what the connection is between me, our faculty and Descartes. It was Prof Carlo Fonseka!

This concept, I learned during one of his lectures in physiology. That was his style of teaching and it always worked. He did not merely teach a subject, he opened our minds to a whole new world. Blessings come in many ways in our lives. Ironically, students of Ragama first batch were blessed more than the others. Apart from being the Dean in this new establishment, Prof Carlo Fonseka had to stand in as Department head, Senior lecturer and lecturer in almost all departments wherever there was a gap. All day long we heard Carlo’s voice around us!

Transition of Ragama Medical Faculty from North Colombo Medical College (NCMC) to University of Kelaniya was not a walk in the park. We had the bare minimum of facilities and an extreme shortage of lecturers. The first batch had to take the brunt of it. On the very first day we met him, he was honest enough to forewarn us about this. Once we came out of the trance he put us in with his mesmerizing opening lecture, we realised the uncertainties and hardships awaiting us. Our only consolation was this great man walking alongside us, determined to make respectable doctors out of some kids he had just met.

Going through hard times always leads to some special bonds. It was no different between Prof Carlo Fonseka and the first batch. As many of my batch mates have done, later in his life, I visited him whenever I got the chance. The last time was a week before he passed on. Even then he was inquiring after my batch mates using their full names. I’ve never met a man who had such a brilliant memory. Even on his death bed he quoted some paragraphs to me from the last book he had read. Mind you, it was not a simple book of fables!

I am proud to be a product of our faculty and even more proud to say that Prof Carlo Fonseka was my teacher and mentor. To grow under his wings, there is no doubt that I have done some good deeds in my past lives. Anybody who was blessed enough to have his presence around them would feel the same. Let me finish this note with a quote I found which I think is a fitting tribute to him.

Harsha Jayamanne MBBS, MRCS, FRCS is a surgeon working in Newport, Wales, United Kingdom. He was in the first batch of students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and graduated MBBS in 1996 with second class honours and a gold medal in Anatomy. He completed his internship at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama and worked in the Teaching Hospital Anuradhapura before migrating to the United Kingdom.

Harsha also enjoys many aspects of music production, audio engineering and website development.