Navaliyuran Selladurai By Channa Daswatte

Navaliyuran Selladurai
By Channa Daswatte

(A felicitation ceremony organised by a group of Old Boys for Mr N. N. Selladurai is to be held on October, 11 2014 in the Trinity College Hall at 10.00 am.)

To write a tribute to an old teacher is always a daunting task. After all, our teachers are the ones who knew us during a time when we were still discovering ourselves - replete with all our faults and our occasional strengths!. Teachers like Mr. Selladurai touched our young lives in so many different, but wonderful ways, that even today, the values they taught us live in us through the special way we Trinitians relate to the world around us. Trinity College, with its long tradition of a boarding school associated with it, was blessed with many kind and generous teachers who lived and taught among us during our formative years. Navaliyuran Selladurai was one such person that we will never forget.

Having studied at Jaffna College and later at the Colombo Cathedral College, Mr. Selladurai got his degree at the Government Arts College in Chennai. Here he was duly recognized for his prowess in acting when he was given first prize in Drama for acting and directing. Indeed, it is in the field of Drama and literature that Mr. Selladurai was to make his greatest cultural contribution to the boys of Trinity and to the country at large. During his tenure at Trinity College, between 1959 and 1984, he directed over 75 dramas! He also acted joyfully in many of these, and remembers with amusement an incident during a play called Ketta Kumaran, in which a student actually injured him with a drawn sword during a fight scene! Our Navliyuran continued acting as though nothing was wrong, even though he was bleeding from the sword - inflicted wound! In addition to writing numerous scripts and directing Drama, Mr. Selladurai also published 7 books between 1978 and 2013, including Sillappadhigarathil Silai Eduththa Seran, published in India in 2008. This erudite and prolific man also wrote volumes of Poetry, many of which he shared with generations of students.

In appreciation of his many literary contributions, Mr. Selladurai was honoured with various well-deserved awards and accolades, including: Sangitha Mandala Viridhu-1969; Mudhu Kalaigner Viridhu-1984; Kalabooshanan-1999; Kalai Gnach Chudar Viridhu-2002; Matale Tamil Sagithya Viridhu-2002; and Aalunar Viridhu-2009.

My own association with Mr. Selladurai began when he was appointed House Master of Napier in 1980; and Mr. Selladurai is remembered with affection, and not without a touch of amusement, by the boarders of Napier. It was difficult not to always be aware of his presence through the tones of his violin playing Carnatic music during any free time. Although most of us young ones at that time did not appreciate this great passion for Carnatic violin that Navaliyuran had, now, however, as I enjoy the melifluous music of Carnatic maestros M.S Subhalaxshmi and D.K Pattamal, I am certain that the lovely music that emanated from the violin of this passionate musician every night through the windows of Napier House, had much to do with kindling in me an interest in this special musical form. I must add that this is a cherished interest and an appreciation that I have enjoyed in my later life, that if not for Mr. Selladurai, I may never have discovered! I am sure that I was not the only schoolboy during that time that was in some special manner moved by Navaliyuran’s music!

During his tenure as housemaster, Mr. Selladurai was a strict disciplinarian, but he was never inhumane. Most memorable for us Napierites was when we had to pull our weight at the Inter -House Drama Competition, held that year in Tamil. Mr. Selladurai was determined to stage a play that he himself had written, reflecting the unity of all religious and philosophical teaching. Napier, of course, reflecting the typical linguistic proportions of the time, had a minority of Tamil speaking students. But, like all of the houses, we had to make do with the talent (or lack thereof :- ) that we could muster! What followed, i.e, the effort expended to pull together a cast worthy of Navaliyuran’s great creation, would have put Cecil B. de Mille to shame! It was an endeavor for which, under Mr. Selladurai’s tutelage, most of us non-Tamil speaking boarders learned to speak, act, and indeed appreciate, those crucial bits of the Tamil language which most of us would remember and cherish for a lifetime. And, with a large chorus required for the singing parts, we even learned to sing in Tamil to the tune of Mr. Selladurai’s Violin. I am sure all the Napierites of that time remember this "grand production" with great delight and even some amusement, although we didn’t win. Another play, also directed by Mr. Selladurai - "Veera Pandiya Kattapomman," with a redoubtable actor from Lemuel House in the title role, won that year!

The enthusiasm with which Mr. Selladurai encouraged all of the various extra-curricular activities in the boarding house, including sports, and the many cultural events, regardless of what language they were conducted in, was remarkable. Events that he presided over such as our end of year Grand Finales and House anniversary celebrations in both 1981 and 1984 will be remembered with affection by all those who participated in them.

When I was appointed a school monitor and later House prefect of Napier, I had the privilege of working with Mr. Selladurai rather closely, and even occupied a room right next door to his. Between being lulled to sleep by his violin and dealing with administrative matters of the dormitory, I came to know with much gratitude the gentle person who resided within the tough exterior persona that Mr. Selladurai often projected to the outside world. Although most students in the Tamil medium classes that he taught may remember him for his strict imposition of discipline, he was by nature a gentle, concerned, and deeply spiritual man, who was an ever willing father figure to many a boy - supportive of all students who needed advice or help, particularly as a house master. When he called every ward within his care by the endearing term ‘Son,’ we all knew that he meant it, and that he would put us first if our well being depended on his actions. This universal concern for everyone that he was called to look after was evident most on that unforgettable night in 1983 when Sri Lanka’s history changed forever. I will never forget the deep compassion that Mr. Selladurai demonstrated for all the students in the hostel who had stayed behind at Trinity even in the face of threats to their personal safety and rumors of attacks upon the school. Even in that time of terrible need, his concern for his boys was greater than his concern for his own safety, even though he himself was likely more in harm’s way by being a Tamil teacher, than anyone else.

With his retirement after the events of 1983, Mr. Selladurai returned to his beloved Jaffna, and to his wife Maheswari, herself a teacher who had continued to work in Jaffna during the latter part of his time in Kandy. We thank you Mrs. Selladurai for taking care of our beloved teacher for so many years when we could do nothing, and for being his strongest supporter throughout his life. An unfortunate and horror-filled war cut you both off from much of your former life at Trinity, for which you gave so much of yourselves, and for which we will forever be grateful! We have missed you Sir, for almost 30 years, but thank you for coming back home. We are privileged to reconnect with you in these your golden years, and to remember with affection once more, the huge part you played in our lives. We wish you both a long and healthy life full of joyful surprises and God’s choicest blessings!

(The writer is one of Sri Lanka’s leading architects. Having trained under Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most prolific and influential architect, he is considered by many to be Bawa’s spiritual successor.He graduated from the University of Moratuwa in 1987, after which he obtained a postgraduate diploma in architecture from University College London followed by a Master of Architecture from the University of London in 1991. After graduation, he joined Geoffrey Bawa’s architectural consultancy firm before being made a partner of Geoffrey Bawa Associates in 1997. He is currently the owner and partner of MICD Associates. He also writes frequently for international and local journals and magazines and has written the book, ‘Sri Lanka Style’ with Dominic Sansoni.)

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