Dulip Harsha Jayakody (1967 – 2009), Attorney-at-Law and State Counsel
A true Royalist at heart and in action….
I met Dulip in 1979 when we were both picked for the under 13 Cricket pool. What followed was a delightful friendship and companionship that lasted approximately 30 years until one fateful night, 1 March 2009, just a week before the Roy-Tho, when destiny took Dulip away from his young family, his mother, other relatives, friends, fellow old royalists, in particular the eighty-sixers, and yours truly.
Dulip in my view was a true Royalist, a Royalist who truly learnt of books and men, and learnt to play the game. He was smart, studious, methodical, a “neat freak” as his close friends used to call him and one of the most able prosecutors when he was in court. He was a truly talented sportsman and perhaps the best junior cricketer from Royal College never to have played first XI cricket, a choice he made giving priority to his studies.
As a friend Dulip was a mate who didn’t walk in front of his friends so that friends may not follow, or walk behind them so that his friends felt intimidated, but a friend who walked besides his friends.
As Shakespeare had said “"parting is such sweet sorrow". What an oxymoron, and yet it can be true. During the Roy-Tho we the eighty-sixers will remember him fondly, the big smile, the sweet voice, the friendly hugs, and the forced sips of the glorious spirits from his plastic cup.
Our memories are perhaps the only paradise from which we can never be expelled. In that paradise, Dulip is alive, with us, celebrating.
Asanga Gunawansa, Group of 86
