Anura Bandaranaike – memories of the "boss"

“Anura Bandaranaike was a conversationalist and raconteur par excellence. He was a Shakespearean scholar and quoted liberally from the great works of Shakespeare. At one time almost all his eloquent speeches in parliament ended with a quote from The Master.”
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by Merrick Gooneratne

(March 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The passing away of Anura Bandaranaike on a gloomy afternoon on 15th March 2007 was a moment of intense grief and sorrow to those of us who were privileged to be his close friends.

Anura Bandaranaike was born to one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished families on 15th February 1949. Although he belonged to one of Asia’s most powerful dynasties, Anura Bandaranaike was an extraordinary man full of humility and simplicity. To him, a man’s caste, creed and class did not matter. What he most appreciated was a man’s sincerity and loyalty. This made it possible for a few persons like my own self who came from ordinary families, who were not rich nor famous to become his close friends. Eventually we were part of his inner circle with unrestricted access to The Boss (as we affectionately called him). We were the chosen few who could enter his inner sanctum -his study where clad in his Barbara Sansoni sarong and Byford’s undershirt we would "talk of many things: of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings – and why the sea is boiling hot – and whether pigs have wings"

Anura Bandaranaike was a conversationalist and raconteur par excellence. He was a Shakespearean scholar and quoted liberally from the great works of Shakespeare. At one time almost all his eloquent speeches in parliament ended with a quote from The Master.

The evenings were enlivened by Gamini Guneratne (Batta) who was often his "partner – in - crime" – the crime being playing practical jokes on his friends and acquaintances.!! Sometimes the results were disastrous – with hosts of unwanted guests being invited for birthday parties of the rich and the famous or gangs of beggars from Davatagaha Mosque suddenly appearing at the plush residences of his friends in Colombo 7 for unscheduled alms givings. The day after, The Boss would relate the story and all of us had a hearty laugh. Although he was structured big physically, at heart he had a childlike impish and boyish innocence. This trait in his character came alive when he doted on his pet Beagles – Kira, Jini, Berty and Beauty. Kira, the fiercest of them all, was his favourite. They were his constant companions.

Anura Bandaranaike’s greatest love was the cinema, theatre and good books. In Singapore, he stayed at the Marriot, crossed the road to the Shaw Centre – watched the latest movies on the wide screen – sometimes two a day – walked through the underpass to Borders – the famous book shop – and purchased the latest best sellers in hard cover. He was a master of Hollywood and his knowledge of movies, directors, producers and actors was indeed encyclopedic. His favourite actor was Sir Anthony Hopkins and he loved Hopkins’s portrayal of the elusive Serial Killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the terrifying Hannibal Lecter Trilogy. His DVD collection is perhaps the best for a Sri Lankan. His library was equally one of the finest private collection of books in Sri Lanka. A voracious reader, he continued to read extensively even when he was ill and physically debilitated.

One of the very last books he read was Carl Bernstein’s "A Woman in Charge" on Hillary Clinton, whom he admired immensely. Sometimes he reacted angrily when I talked of the very distinct possibility of Barack Obama defeating Clinton in the primaries of the Democratic Party.

Anura Bandaranaike’s other passion was the opera. His favourite performers were Andrea Bocelli and the legendary Pavarotti. We spent many evenings in the elegant residence of Deepo Senanayake in his listening room with HDTV and BOSE acoustics, watching Andrea Bocelli’s "A Night in Tuscany" – a momentous outdoor concert, where Bocelli sang to the people of Pisa. Boss was in raptures when Bocelli sang "O Sole Mio" and "Santa Lucia." He was equally enthralled by Pavarotti’s rendition of Verdi’s Celeste Aida.

Although a devout Buddhist, Anura Bandaranaike was extremely tolerant of other religions. When my school Maris Stella College had problems in securing land for its branch school, on my request he intervened and facilitated the process of purchasing the land at Seeduwa. The Archbishops House was deeply appreciative of this gesture.

Anura Bandaranaike took a keen interest in the study of the Bible and the Old Testament fascinated him. On Sundays he would ask me for the Readings from the Old Testament. He looked at the rich with a degree of cynicism and his favourite quote was from Luke 18: 24 – 25 "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. Indeed it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God"


Anura Bandaranaike was criticised, lampooned, ridiculed and humiliated in the media. He was sad but never angry. There was no acrimony in his response. At most, he would reply in prose and verse with equal venom and invective. He gave as much as he got. He abhorred violence as a form of counter attack. He believed that the pen was mightier than the sword and expressed disgust at the relentless campaign of sadistic wanton violence in our society.

Over the past year, Anura Bandaranaike, perhaps aware of his illness, off and on talked to me of death and its inevitability. He sensed a certain lack of fulfillment in his own life. Often he was on the wrong side of power and out of luck’s way. "He was a man who knew the whole world. The whole world knew him. But he did not know himself." He never appreciated his own extraordinary brilliance, his intellectual strength and refinement, his scholarly erudition and above all his humaneness. I leave it to the political experts to argue why this colossus of a human being failed to keep his tryst with destiny and why the cookie crumbled.

Very recently talking of death, he quoted Sir Winston Churchill: "I am ready to meet my Maker: But whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter" Boss was always conscious of his many failings. He made no bones about that. That is why he believed in redemption and forgiveness.

May his soul dwell amongst the righteous.

- Sri Lanka Guardian