My Father’s Ancestral Home

Our lunch time stop is at my uncle’s home in Negombo.  We have come to visit my father’s younger brother who lives about an hour north of Colombo.   After lunch I take off with my uncle and aunt (my father’ sister who travelled around with us), take off to Minuwangoda, the village they grew up in.  I am keen to visit my grandfather’s house and have a look around the area.  

My uncle and his wife lived with my grandad here in Minuwangoda till he passed away.   I have fond memories of spending weekends at their house.  It was quite an excursion for us in those days and I used to love driving through the green paddy fields to get to the house.  It was quite a buzz for a little kid from the big city to see open space and feel the clean air.

The old house was set on an extensive plot of land that had loads of coconut and other trees.  They even had a mill to process the paddy.  My uncle had lots of animals from bees, to dogs, fish and cows.  It was very exciting for us city kids to come here and experience a bit of ‘village’ life!  Minuwangoda is quite a big town today but back then it had a lovely rural feel to it.

The house has passed through several hands since my uncle sold it and the new owners don’t know him.  A young girl answers the door and stands there looking at us a little nervously, not quite sure what to do.  I am dying to have a look around but she doesn’t even open the door wide enough for us to have a peek but she is OK with me taking photos from the outside.The house is still looking great.  They have painted it white (it used to be pink in those days) but the extensive grounds have been subdivided and sold off.  

The old ‘Nellie’ (a fruit) tree is still there.  My uncle and aunt are quite surprised and pleased to see it.  I guess they have memories of this tree just like I do!  We used to pick fruit and play here as kids.  It is such a trip back memory lane to be here…and I wish my dad could have come back with us although my uncle tells me he did come here not too long before he passed away. 

My grandfather had owned lots of land around these parts, coconut, paddy and rubber plantations and my dad had inherited some of the paddy fields, now long since sold off.  My dad used to have the paddy fields cultivate when we were kids and we actually ate the rice we grew but only my uncle has land left in these parts.

My uncle and aunt reminisce during the journey and tell me tales of their childhood.  They take me back to how they were boarded in Negombo so they could attend school and what it was like here during the war years.  My dad attended the girls school in this village and I hear stories of some of his classmates who have ended up in high places in Sri Lankan society.  It is interesting that he too started his academic career in such humble beginnings and ended it by wining a scholarship to Stanford.  We see the church where they worshipped and pass other landmarks from their childhood. 

I learn that both my grandfather and grandmother had been quite well educated, having attended missionary schools.  In fact they had both attended the same school as young children and competed with each other for the class prize, both being keen students!  My grandfather too had been a keen reader but not as studious or hard working as my dad.  He had been the agent for one of the big companies around here, coordinating the collection of coconuts from the estates.  My grandmother had been a trained teacher, quite an achievement in those days. 

It has been quite a trip down memory lane for my dad’s 2 remaining siblings (a younger sister has also passed away) and I am grateful to them for sharing so many stories from their childhood and filling in a few gaps for me from the days of their youth!  Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  ~Samuel Ullman