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| Sunday, 28 July 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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By. B. J. Perera
Anonymous The girl's parents were strict and the father could be violent at times. So they decided that it would be prudent to have their love affair on a low key till such time they could marry with or without parents consent. But love is the last thing that can be kept a secret. Soon the parents began receiving anonymous letters about their daughter. They did not need any proof because they had noticed a boy, a stranger to the village passing their house several times a day with his eyes on their house. They had also noticed that of late their daughter had taken an interest in gardening and spent long hours tending her flower plants. They put two and two together and knew that the contents of the letters were true. Rare Love affairs were rare things in the conservative and prudish society of Maggona those days and such attractions were thought to be inspired by Satan himself. The lassie was overwhelmed by the tearful pleadings of the mother and the angry threats of the father and she promised to give up the affair. So the affair was nipped in the bud, or at least that was what parents thought. They did not know that the best way to bring lovers closer together was to oppose them. Indeed opposition is love's best nutrient. The girl avoided any open manifestations of her feelings towards Bernard (not his real name). But the latter continued to haunt the neighbourhood of the girl's house. One day while he was passing he was set upon by two hired thugs. Bernard was well built and brave and could have put up a good resistance. But he desisted, for he knew that each blow that he got would be a point in his favour for he was assaulted in her sight. If the father had hoped to beat out the love of the boy as you would beat out the dust off a carpet his attempt was counter productive. A new dimension was added to the relationship of the lovers. The incident created a deep sympathy and an equally deep sense of guilt in the girl. Guard A couple of years later Bernard was employed as a guard in the Railway Department and the family of the girl moved to Payagala North where the railway station was less than a hundred feet from the sea. The girl was also employed as a teacher in a school at Moratuwa and travelled to school by train. Thus the stage was set for a drama which became a legend that is still evocative of a past that never can be. One day Bernard was in the train in which his lady love was travelling. He was travelling in the guard's van at the very end of the train. But he was not the guard of that train. The guard of the train was a willing accomplice of his brother officer. When the girl who as planned earlier travelled in the last compartment of the train got down onto the platform, Bernard took her in his arms, ran to the sea shore and deposited her tenderly on the shallow waves. Having done this he cooly returned to the guard's van. It all happened in a couple of minutes. Except that the beauty was fully drenched. Versions Within a few minutes different versions were going round. One had it that the couple had wanted to commit suicide together but changed their minds at the last moment. Both being Catholics they did not relish the idea of everlasting hell, even if they could be there together and forever. There were many other theories, quite interesting but wide off the mark. Whatever the motive was, the girl was called "Samudra Devi" and this ended all her chances of marriage. Whenever a suitor came to see her she sent Bernard his name and address and the prospective bridegroom got a letter containing a photograph showing Beatrice being dumped into the sea. After another year or so the parents accepted defeat and told the girl she could marry anyone she wished. She lost no time in getting married to her long suffering lover. This story is substantially true. The two lovers are now dead. I have recorded their story so that such a heart warming romance should not be allowed to fade into the limbo of the forgotten. |
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About sixty years ago there was a very pretty girl in Maggona. She was
several years older than I and so I was not in the fray. But this did not
prevent me from taking an 'academic interest' in her affairs. There were
many Romeos from several villages who were trying to win her heart. But
though Beatrice (not her real name) was a beauty she was not a flirt. All
the young gallants soon fell by the wayside. But one persevered and his
perseverance was rewarded at last and a full scale romance began to bud
between the two.
