Enriching students
I recently got an e-mail informing me that Professor Ranaweera was retiring from his post. I have not met him in a long time. Now, we live in two different worlds. He has climbed to the top in his field of engineering. I have left that path to be a teacher of revolution in a different space. Yet, there is plenty to discuss when we get together. Even politics is not completely alien to Rane, though he is not much interested in it.
Rane and I first met in 1953 when we entered Ananda College. Our
parents were teachers. I remember that I was fascinated by 
his name - Munidasa Pathmasri Ranaweera. What a
beautiful Sinhala name! Then, we laughed at each and every thing -
names, parents and our siblings. How skilful and talented we were to
stretch things and coin nicknames?
Good at everything
Rane showed from the word go that he was bright and good at everything. At that stage I was not at the top of the class. My interest was limited to several subjects. His was not. Everything that came his way he handled well. His notebooks were so fine and orderly that any one could make use of them. Hence, from the very beginning he was an informal teacher in the class. I could claim to such a status only after a number of years. I disliked patient and careful study. I wanted to get at the fundamentals quickly and hence neglected the details. Rane looked into all aspects and carefully took necessary action. However, I was able to rise upto a standard where we both were considered to be great mathematicians of the school! It was a great victory for me to reach his level. In those days if one was good at mathematics and interested in nails, wires and iron rods, he was pushed into the engineering stream. On the other hand, those who were fond of animals and plants were persuaded to do medicine. I was not much aware of the divisions and combinations of other subjects. Thus we ended up in the engineering faculty.
As I had some knowledge of politics I intervened to organise an opposition to the seniors who came to rag us. I contested in faculty elections and became a member of the faculty council. In such matters Rane helped me though he did not play a serious role. Instead he took up leadership in engineering programmes. In the final year he was more a teacher to the batch than a fellow student, particularly to the civil engineering students. He was a powerful swimmer and I saw several times, just before the finals, Rane leading his tuition group to the Mahaweli for swimming and diving. While Rane did civil engineering I joined the electrical stream. We were a bit apart at that sage. However, destiny made us teachers in the engineering faculty and subsequently research students at the University of Cambridge.
Cambridge
Our friendship was revived. As he joined Cambridge before me, with his advice it was easy for me to adjust to the environment. He taught me how to get good food and get around at the cheapest price! He had an extensive knowledge of his selected field of civil engineering at Cambridge. Of course as usual he did everything in a well organised manner. Back at Peradeniya, as lecturers we became close friends again and we helped each other through all kinds of difficulties until I was thrown out from the university in 1978.
As he gained respect as a teacher in the engineering faculty, he also became a universal master and a scientist. His greatest asset as a teacher is the ability to explain a point patiently, step by step. For this, one should have kindness and compassion. If not, one becomes a routine ‘lecture notes’ teacher. Not because he is unable to update his knowledge or fail to continue research work, but because he fails to convert the new knowledge into easily acceptable messages. Rane never had such a deficiency. In any case his subject was modern and he had to deal with the most modern concepts. For a brief period Rane was involved in university administration. He never fought for the position but rather he was compelled to accept it. I saw that administration was not a suitable subject for him. As soon as he did his duty as the dean of the engineering faculty, he left the post. He probably felt that it was not a path for him to tread. In other circumstances he could have brought prestige to the entire university by becoming the vice chancellor. Instead he devoted his time to enrich his knowledge and to pass that knowledge onto others. By that he not only did a great service to the engineering students of this country but also made a grand donation to mankind. He has students not only in this country but also in many other countries where he served as a teacher. I am sure he will continue to be a teacher though he leaves the university, formally. I wrote this little piece about Rane as there is nobody else to do it. No one has associated with him for so long - since 1953! Of course there are others who were close to him in many ways, but none who can narrate my long story.