Ukku Banda loved and gave, lived and died

Kurukohuthenne Gedara Ukku Banda passed away recently. He was 90 years old. He lived in a small hamlet called Kiriwandeniya, which is near Rambukkana and by which the Ma Oya flows.

He was a character. Ukku Banda’s nephew spoke at the funeral. The nephew, himself 77 years old, spoke about his childhood and his relationship with his uncle, i.e. his father's youngest brother. In Sinhala. 

‘He was very particular about cleanliness. Every morning he would go to the Ma Oya for a bath. 

He took with him three bars of soap, a bar of Sunlight and two bars of fragrant soap, one of which was of inferior quality and the other a Rani Sandalwood bar. 

He would first use the Sunlight to wash away the grime. Then the cheaper fragrant soap would be used to remove oiliness. Finally, he would apply the sandalwood soap. 

‘Now this entire process would take about 45 minutes, during which time I would have to man his retail shop. There were days when I hid the Rani soap, so he wouldn’t take long. 

‘He was generous. When his older brothers started chopping down the Jak trees to build houses their mother had been upset. She had thought that there won’t be any trees left for her youngest son. Ukku Banda had calmed her down: “let my brothers take what they want, if there’s anything left I’ll take it.” 

‘Baappa had money and if us youngsters needed a few rupees for something we would go to him. He would give me the key to his almirah. He trusted me to take only what was needed. Even today, looking back, I feel that it is because he taught what trust and honesty was all about that I have led the life I’ve led. We never broke trust and we were never dishonest.

‘He got me to take care of the accounts. At the end of the week I would check who had taken goods on credit and had failed to pay. I discovered that a teacher who had come to the village recently had not paid in two months. I informed my uncle and told him we should collect that money.

‘He disagreed: “whether or not he pays, he is doing a great service to our village by teaching our children. We must respect that and value it. When he gets his salary, he may pay what he owes. Even if he doesn’t, we shouldn’t ask him.”

‘His mother, my grandmother, was upset that Ukku Banda would give money to his friends. When he about to get married, she chided him and told him he had to save money. He just smiled and made it a point to give someone a rupee or two or even more. In her presence. She would be reduced to tears.’

You can check how much you gained and what you lost at any time in your life, but you could also think about what society gained and what it lost. 

If there are two things that make for good living it is the ability to love and to give. Without expecting anything in return.

Ukku Banda lived well. 

Several years ago, I wrote a regular column for the JEANS section of 'The Nation'.  The editor of JEANS, Kusumanjalee Thilakarathna now handles the 'Littlestars' tabloid distributed with 'The Sunday Morning'. This is the seventeenth article for Littlestars.  Scroll down to find the full series of articles written for JEANS and the those of this new series.

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