By Colombo Caner
colombocaner@gmail.com
Hiranthi Bandara Senviratna recently received a scholarship to
do a three year post graduate doctoral program in Pathology at the Australian
National University in Canberra, Australia. This is a program many young pathologists
aspire to get in to. Hiranthi first managed to obtain a first class upper pass in
her undergraduate degree she completed with the University Of Colombo, Sri
Lanka. Thereafter she scored the highest marks in the examination
conducted to select a candidate for the scholarship. She knew that her hard work
as well her systematic approach to studies brought her to this position. She
could not help been appreciative of the coaching she had from Ms. Devika
Samarakone, many years ago. After failing miserably in her first two attempts,
it was Devika who guided her to get through the Advanced level examination. In
spite of the benefit, the chapter with Devika in her life was something she wanted
to erase from her mind. That was a period she thought she was stripped of her dignity
and pride. It was a period during which on the pretext of helping her in her
studies she was subjected to humiliations, severe canings and punishments.
