Of giant changes, giant buildings and giant men...

by Padma EDIRISINGHE

'Great men involved in philanthropic and very useful work', says Bill Gates, the king of Microsoft Empire, 'are also human and once in a way need a pat on the back'.

Slave Island, is one of the disgraceful names in the city of Colombo or anywhere in the world for that matter.

H.K. Dharmadasa

Nawaloka Hospital

It is where "slaves" were quartered during the Dutch times (1656-1796) after a household African servant to settle a day time score crept under the bed of his master and mistress (a Dutch couple) and killed them both, at dead of night. He was a member of the workforce, who defying all norms of human dignity were ignominiously "imported" here from African territories as Madagascar and Mozambique to serve affluent Dutch families residing in Fort.

After this heinous crime orchestrated by above, all these "Slaves" working in Fort mansions were deported to this island then separated from the mainland by a stretches of water connected to the Beira Lake.

Ever since that it has come to be called the Slave Island. Mornings, they were paddled by boat to the mainland to work in the houses after answering a roll-call at Kafir Weldt (today the stretch before the World Trade Centre) and by sunset they had all to get back to the Island. The boat anchor was just opposite York Street.

However, a peculiar discrepancy was maintained that the locals never used the term Wahal Doopatha but the translation on the name boards in public places, both Sinhala and Tamil read Kompanna Vidiya, Street of companies. No one is sure what these companies were unless one can make a rough guess that they were Dutch companies going on to become British companies with change of administration.

Despite the retaining of the despicable English nomenclature the little Island's landscape has undergone much changes.

It is no more an island, no waterway around it is visible except where it springs to glimmering patches of water by famous city shrines as the Gangarama. Geographically there was nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the sprawling city.

Meanwhile grandiose buildings and exquisite hotels sporting modern splendour sprang up on it here and there.

With the steady drag of time in the mid 1980s, on the onetime slums and seedy side of Colombo a frenzy of construction work commenced. At first no one knew what was going to erupt finally. And then erupt it did.

Today, according to an information brochure Nawaloka Hospital boasts a total of 300,000 square feet within the city "thus making it the largest private sector hospital complex in the country".

The bustle around it as thousands throng is a far cry from the idyllic picture when Kaffirs sauntered to and fro amidst lush coconut vegetation.

The hospital also boasts a series of firsts to its credit, first to introduce CT scanners in 1987, first private hospital to conduct bypass surgery, the first mammography unit in 1992 and the first MRI Scanner in 1995. etc. The Pain Management Unit drawing patients can be reckoned as its latest unit.

Over the years the hospital has received various awards that include the SL National Quality award 1998, Baby Friendly Hospital award from WHO and UN Children's Fund. It is also the only ISO certified hospital in Sri Lanka, according to Deputy Chairman, Jayantha Dharmadasa. ,

And who was initially behind this massive venture? It was all conceived in the mind of one single man. Despite the simple beginnings from this trader from the South, known popularly as Nawaloka Mudalali, his vision for the future was extremely vast.

He played the correct note when he realised that the Government hospitals alone could not cope with the varied health issues of the country's burgeoning population.

He envisaged the attention to the various units that would compositely help in grappling the severe problems of health that would besiege the country in the future. His near and dear were to help him materialise the gigantic aim.

Ideologists usually with a veering towards Leftist politics never have a good word for the so called "capitalists".

For they are the ones who go on amassing the all important dough. The ones who do so, for the mere sake of "amassing" are not forgiven.

But those who use the accumulated wealth not only for their own advancement about to shoulder the country's welfare should never fall into the non-forgiven category.

They loom over us in their breadth of vision,in their innate cleverness in spotting where development is required, in their admirable determination to go with the venture once started despite all odds, their sincerity of purpose etc.

Bill Gates, quoted above, the king of the micro-soft empire could be reckoned as one of the strongest defenders of Capitalism when he coined the word Creative Capitalism and advocated how those who have amassed wealth can "Creatively" help ameliorate accumulating problems. Our own rich men who do not stop at amassing wealth but go on to divert it to useful purposes can be bracketed with the line of men like Henry Ford and Rockfeller of USA and PJ Jones of England (Founder of Robinhood Foundation) and Bill Gates himself who has now gone away from his Microsoft kingdom to dabble in social welfare work mostly in the African continent fighting their scourge of diseases as HIV. Gates puts it aptly when he states, "In these tough times, it is easy to forget that during the last century the world has got much better but billions have not been able to benefit from capitalism's miracle. Creative capitalism is not a big thing. But it is an answer to a vital query which is how we can most effectively spread the benefits of capitalism for huge improvements in quality of life.........."

Nawaloka Mudalali's creativity expanded in a novel yet very suitable and wanting direction. He was really very far-seeing in this respect.

The respective Units that get attached to the hospital gradually are evidence of the sensitivity he together with his son, H.K. Dharmadasa, who administers the hospital now, succeeding Dr. Wilfred Wijesinghe, display towards the health needs of the Sri Lankan populace.

It is also no secret that a good part of the profits of the hospital are invested in various ways for public health and for public welfare services. Any human, even well-to-do business need praise and pat of the back for their good deeds.

As the youth Dharmadasa made his lonely trek from Matara to the capital along the scenic South Road, some 70 or 80 years ago, it is not on record that a soothsayer squatting by the way side ever predicted that,"There goes one who would one day change not only the social and health arena of the island but the skyline of the Great City of Colombo".