A surgeon with character
Dr. B.J. Masakorala FRCS, retired consultant surgeon fondly known as
'Mas', is turning 86, and completes 60 years of medical life this week.
Starting his distinguished medical career in Galle in 1956 as an intern,
he has served in, Deniyaya, Nuwara Eliya, Maharagama Cancer Hospital,
Castle Street Hospital, Borella, Kegalle, Matara, Galle and then retired
as the senior surgeon at General Hospital Colombo in 1990.
Born on March 23, 1930, Dr. Masakorala hails from Hikkaduwa.
Dr. Masakorala was the youngest among three in the family, and the
only boy. 'My father who was a traditional Weda Mahattaya died when I
was very young and my mother took care of us during our childhood. I
attended Hikkaduwa Sinhala School and then moved to the Hikkaduwa
English School. This was during the British rule where I won the Denham
Scholarship in grade five by becoming the first in the entire Galle
district in 1939 at the scholarship examination, and was able to join
Richmond College, Galle. I got Rs. 10 for a month as scholarship fee
which was subsequently increased to Rs. 20. One of my classmates at
Hikkaduwa Sinhala/English School was Prof. Indraratne who is a
well-known senior economist.
Those days there was no electricity. I can remember the railway was
behind our house and the Galle road in front of our house and bullock
carts travelling to Colombo used to break rest near our house. I can
also recall as a child seeing black African people around the area who
were brought by the British during the 2nd world war. We were very
scared of them.
Hikkaduwa had a beautiful beach in the late 1930s when I could
remember it, the whole area was covered in pandanus (Vetakeyya). I
became an expert swimmer as I was always in the sea after school. Today,
I'm sad to see Hikkaduwa as it has lost its glory and the beauty because
of unplanned construction. My children and grandchildren have not seen
the Hikkaduwa that I knew. No one has seen the beauty of those corals
that I used to see those days. "I have seen turtles hatch eggs and the
hatchlings forming a straight line to the sea. I have been observing the
behaviour of those creatures along the Hikkaduwa beach and the reef as a
10-year-old boy", they have been destroyed to build hotels and
restaurants", Dr. Masakorala says, stressing the need for tough laws and
regulations to protect the country's rich coral wealth.
'Bicycle was the main means of private transport. Ninety percent of
medical students used it. Dr. Nandadasa Kodagoda was my batch mate at
university. Dr. Austin, Dr. ATS Paul, Dr.P.R. Anthonis and Dr.
Bartholomeus were some who taught me at the medical college.
'Primary FRCS was done at Colombo General Hospital and I later joined
Castle Street Hospital where I worked with Prof. Henry Nanayakkara. It
was he who guided me to be a surgeon. In 1966 July 6 I left Ceylon by an
Italian ship named Fairy Star to UK and arrived on July 24 in the port
of Southampton and after a while in London I joined Royal College of
Surgeons in Edenborough to complete my FRCS.
After completing my FRCS in 1968 and came back to Ceylon and started
work at the accident service Colombo, from there, I have served in many
parts of the country as a surgeon, which included Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle,
Matara, Galle and finally back again ended up in Colombo South and then
general hospital before I retired'. |
