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University’s Loss was the Industry’s Gain

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21 January 2017 12:35 am - 0     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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On July 22, 1970, while walking along the upper corridor of the Chemistry Department at Peradeniya, a tall undergraduate saw bottles of Nitrobenzene being shifted from the store by a lab attendant, through the closed windows of the laboratory. This happened to be the day prior to the SSQ practical examination at Peradeniya for the Special Chemistry batch. The undergraduate crept into the library to read Vogel’s organic Chemistry Practical manual and immediately contacted the rest of his batchmates for a discussion. He was certain of the upcoming practical the following day and informed all his batchmates of the expected reaction, the difficulty of getting the intermediate product and how to face the practical Examination successfully the following day.  
That was Ranjith Guruge who had the ability and sincerity to convince and share his knowledge with his colleagues without jealousy or competition, unlike most other undergraduates of the day. He was intelligent and had the ability to grasp the subject by listening and reading. He was not a bookworm but had a great deal of imagination and a vast knowledge of the finer points of practical chemistry. He had the ability to find solutions to difficult chemical reactions and had gotten the opportunity in a foreign University research team he would have gone into new inventions. If not for his extracurricular activities, he would have ended up as a brilliant University Don. However, the University’s loss was the industry’s gain.  
It has been nearly five weeks since Ranjith passed away, finally losing his battle with the dreaded cancer he suffered from during the last two years.  

 

"At the faculty, he was very interested in the welfare of students."


I have associated with him for almost fifty years since my school days at Mahinda College, Galle and at the University of Peradeniya as batchmates and later in life as a close friend. I wish to pen down this appreciation as a mark of tribute to a brilliant Chemist, innovator and socio-political analyst with a clear vision. I certainly miss our long telephone conversations on the current socio-political events in Sri Lanka and rest of the world.  
Ranjith Talpe Guruge was born in Sitinamaluwa in the Beliatta electorate as the eldest child of late Mr. and Mrs. T.G. Sirisena, landed proprietors and rice mill owners. He received his primary and secondary education at St Servatius College, Matara, Mahinda College and Richmond College, Galle. At the University of Peradeniya, he graduated with a special degree in Chemistry and later successfully obtained a Masters of Business Administration from the Post-Graduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.  
He married Doctor Kalyani Gomes in 1978 and was the father of three wonderful children, two sons and a daughter. He was very happy that all three children studied well and became qualified as independent professionals. Kalyani and the children supported him and looked after him during his final two years as a united family. He was really lucky to have such a dedicated wife and children.  
After a short stint as a Demonstrator at the Chemistry Department of the University of Peradeniya in 1973, Ranjith spent one year as a Chemistry teacher at Nalanda College, Colombo. In 1975 he joined the Ceylon Steel Corporation as a Research Officer and showed early signs of brilliant chemical innovation in producing Iron Oxide pigments, a by-product of waste from the steel production process. At that time, with import restrictions, the corporation had a ready market for the pigments manufactured by his technique derived from locally designed and assembled equipment. However, with the removal of import restrictions by the J.R. Jayawardene administration, this product lost the market. At the same time, Ranjith left the Steel Corporation for greener pastures as a Paint Chemist with Ceylon Paint Industries. Subsequently, he joined Masons Mixtures Ltd under Browns Group where he served as Production Manager till August 1983, when Ranjith was given the opportunity as Resident Manager in charge of the Rice Bran Oil Plant of Unilever in Minneriya. Later he shifted to the Unilever head office and sharpened his knowledge in the fine techniques of soap and toothpaste production which stood in good stead during the latter part of his career as a Technical Consultant to Swadeshi Industries, Antler Group and Link Natural Products to name a few. He initiated his own soap manufacturing operation in a factory he established at Kurunegala, which he operated even during the final stages of his life while bedridden. Ranjith Guruge practically never retired from his professional life until his untimely death.  

 


However, Ranjith will be best remembered by many of us for his student activities at the University of Peradeniya, where he was sometimes the most hated and sometimes the most loved student by his colleagues, as well as seniors and juniors, in all faculties during the 1968-1972 period.  
Since our first year, we were involved in student politics, whether in the Science or Arts Faculty. The JVP affiliated Samajawadi Sangamaya tried to capture power by opposing them. Guruge should be remembered for the contribution he made during the crucial Arts faculty Election in 1969 when we managed to put forward Ranjith Samaranayaka as a common front candidate against Somasiri Kumanayaka of the JVP.  
He was also engaged in SLFP politics in Kandy, working closely with late Hector Kobbekaduwa, G.B. de Silva, Anurudhdha Ratwatte, Monty Gopallawa and D.M. Jayaratna in their respective electorates during the 1970 elections.  At the faculty, he was very interested in the welfare of students. When he represented the Science Students Union as a committee member, he was instrumental in opening a better canteen for the students. He was also very interested in national harmony and had good relations with Tamil students.  
In fact, when he received an opportunity to participate in third-year industrial training, he opted to go to Paranthan Chemicals Corporation. He recall the time he spent with Tamil workers during weekends with nostalgia. In fact, later in his life, with his association with the Tamil weekly, “Janavegam”, he would visit the north and east with N. Shanmugaratnam and B. Sriskandadas, two prominent senior Tamil student leaders.  
He would visit Karainagar often, due to his close association with late V. Ratai, working with the minority Tamil population in the north, the “Harijans”.  
As an industrial chemist, he imparted his knowledge to anyone who sought his advice and spent several hours in libraries to upgrade his knowledge on modem developments. He was talented in utilizing used and discarded equipment to produce the products he wanted to manufacture. Whenever he travelled abroad, he visited closed factories and purchased used equipment, which he brought to Sri Lanka and assembled to meet his requirements. He was a versatile man who imagined things beyond the ordinary. In fact, Mr. Ananda Jayasinghe, Chairman Antler group told me at his funeral that, even during the last few months of his life he was planning on expanding his soap manufacturing activities.  
Ranjith was socially involved in the Peradeniya University Alumni Colombo Chapter from the inception. He never missed our batch get-togethers and used to be in touch with colleagues and friends through telephone and social media. He had a photographic memory and would talk about various past incidents. I’m sure that to most of our friends, his early death was a shock. He was very well looked after by his family during his illness in the latter stage of his life. He probably knew his plight and was expecting the inevitable. During the last stages of his life, he was engaged in meditation under the influence of a Bhikku he used to associate with and was a Dayaka of Mettarama temple at Bambalapitiya. I hope and pray that Ranjith will not suffer in future lives and attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana. Friends of Ranjith Guruge, at the initiation of Dr. Athula Attygalle, have decided to launch a scholarship programme in his memory to a deserving Chemistry undergraduate as a mark of respect.  
C.W. Jayasekera, on behalf of the Alumni Association of the Peradeniya University, Colombo Chapter and the University of Peradeniya Science Alumni Association. 


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