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Premadasa was not only a man of the masses but also a leader with a sense of gratitude. After attaining exalted positions he did not forget even the commonest man who had helped him to rise to such heights. During the election campaign of 1960 there was a poor woman in a thatched hut along the Anuradhapura main road who used to raise a green flag in her humble abode. He remembered her so well that in 1978 after becoming the Prime Minister he visited that woman with his family carrying a load of gifts. On another occasion while traveling in Tissamaharama with his family he stopped by a wayside small house that was neatly kept. He spread a mat that was in the vehicle on the compound and had his meals there. He was talking to a small girl in that house and after finding out details about the family decided to build a new house for them.

After returning to Colombo he got the Housing Development Authority to build a house for that family. Later we were sent there to take pictures and collect information to prepare a booklet in colour about that family. That was the beginning of the ‘Sevana’ Fund that later grew into a massive project with donations from rich benefactors.

He remembered a person even after fifty years. He never ignored such a person even if he happened to be very poor. Even if he spotted someone known to him in the crowd at public meetings he sent word to bring that person onto the stage. I remember an incident that I experienced personally. It was April 29, 1978. I remember the date well as the first of May that year happened to be the day on which the statue of A. E. Goonasinghe was unveiled at Goonasinghepura. Premadasa had gone to Galle with Mrs. Premadasa to attend a wedding as the attesting witness. I had to be with their son and daughter till they returned. I returned to Temple Trees around 8.00 in the night and he looked very tired. We were on the ground floor. In a few minutes he came down and asked “What news?” “Sir, there was a telegram. I kept it with me as I thought it was a private message to you.” I said. The message was as follows. ‘Father seriously ill. Wishes to see you’ and the sender was Paranavitana, Kuppiyawatte.

He read the message and thought for a moment. He repeated, “Paranavitana, Kuppiyawatte” and turned to me and said, “If you are smart tell me where Kuppiyawatte is.” I rang up the central Post Office and inquired about the place. There were two places with that name. One was in Ragama and the other in Maligawatte. I told that to the Prime Minister. He went upstairs and returned refreshed and dressed in white. He sat at the dinner table and asked me to join him. A waiter placed a plate before me. While having dinner he inquired whether I came in the official vehicle. Then he said “Let us go to Kuppiyawatte without a fuss. We can go in your car.” Finishing his dinner he called Police Superintendent Weerasekera who was his personal bodyguard. He had been his bodyguard from the time he was a minister. I went out and asked the driver of my vehicle to be in readiness to go out with the Prime Minister.

“Weerasekera, you come alone. Don’t bring the others” said the Prime Minister. We left Temple Trees around 10 p.m. The Prime Minister was seated in front and I sat behind with Weerasekera. On our way we inspected the erection of the Goonasinghe statue due to be unveiled in two days time. The Prime Minister was giving directions. We went past Khettarama.

We could not take the vehicle to the house we wanted to go as the pathway was narrow. We had to walk alongside drains and huts to reach that place. The Prime Minister was walking as if he was going to his own house. I felt he had been there earlier. There was a drizzle and he held the sarong he was wearing with one hand. Noticing the house he was going to I went before him and announced his arrival. It was shanty dwelling. We heard a woman crying inside the house. “Where is Paranavitana?” Premadasa asked the sick man’s wife. We were taken inside. The roof was covered with a zinc sheet. There were two kerosene oil lamps burning in the room. They were electric bulbs converted to lamps. The sick man was an elderly person. He was very weak and lying on a camp bed. The Prime Minister stood close to him. “Paranavitana, I am Premadasa. Can you recognize me? I received a telegram from your daughter that you wished to see me. So I came.” The elderly woman was speaking with her palms placed together.

The sick man was gaping silently as if in amazement. A slight smile creased his face and a drop of tear dripped down. His lips were quivering as if he was trying to say something. He spoke with difficulty. Words came out one by one. “I knew you would come sir. How nice to see you. I am only worried about my two children. If you can do something for them that is all I want. I will not live. I am nearing my end.” “Where are the children?” asked Premadasa. A young boy and a young girl came forward with deference. The Prime Minister looked at me. “Take down all the details. Their names, address, education qualifications, everything.” I always carried a note book and a pen when going out with him. I took down their personal details. The girl had passed the GCE O/L. The boy also had passed the GCE O/L and he had no job.

Premadasa turned towards the sick person. “Don’t worry Paranavitana. I will get them jobs soon.” “Why didn’t you enter the hospital when you are so sick?” Before he could speak the woman intervened. “He doesn’t like to go to the hospital sir. If he can get into a paying ward he might agree. He knows how we lived although we are like this now. He prefers to die at home to languishing in a government hospital.” I was wondering why she was harping on a paying ward when the situation was so serious. “Alright. If he wants to go to a paying ward I will arrange that” said the Prime Minister. We took leave of them and left. On our way back the Prime Minister related the story of Paranavitana. “Evans, that man has helped me a lot during my election campaigns. He was an Executive Officer at Brooke Bonds. He supported our party from the days of D. S. Senanayake. I am sorry to see him in that condition. I came at this time of the night to see him because I knew the value of that man.”

If Premadasa makes a promise its fulfillment is as certain as an inscription in stone. It was close to midnight when I left Temple Trees. The telephone started ringing as I was entering my house. It was the Chairman of the Housing Development Authority. Within that short time the Prime Minister had contacted him and the Colombo Municipal Commissioner and had asked them to employ the two children in their departments; the boy as a Flat Warden in the Housing Development Authority and the girl as a Traffic Warden in the Municipal Council. I gave the necessary details about the boy to the Chairman of HDA and replaced the receiver. It started ringing again. This time it was the Municipal Commissioner. He wanted the details about the girl and I gave him that.

The boy and the girl were employed in the Housing Development Authority and the Colombo Municipal Council as instructed by the Prime Minister. Early next morning I spoke to the Director of the Colombo General Hospital Dr. Joe Fernando and conveyed the Prime Minister’s instructions to provide a bed in a paying ward to Paranavitana. He told me that it was not possible to get a bed instantly and he would tell the Prime Minister about it. He suggested admitting the patient to Ward 54 in the afternoon without waiting for a bed and he will be there at that time. I went to Paranavitana’s house in the afternoon in my official vehicle. It was only then that I realized his real condition. He had a festering bed sore as a result of lying in the bed continuously for a long time. It was impossible to transport him in my vehicle. I therefore contacted the Municipal Commissioner and requested an ambulance. The patient was taken in the ambulance accompanied by his daughter and I followed in my vehicle. Dr. Fernando was there and the patient was admitted to Ward 54. I finished my part of the job and reported to the Prime Minister. I knew that he was pleased.

I could not visit Paranavitana in hospital on the next day, as I had to go out of Colombo on official business. A week later I had a call in the night from the Prime Minister. “Evans, did you hear? Paranavitana has died. I was just informed by the hospital.” “See me at Temple Trees on your way to office. The following morning I was at Temple Trees and walked straight into his bedroom. He was going through a file dressed in a sarong and a shirt. He stopped his work and gave me ten thousand rupees to be given to Paranavitana’s wife for funeral expenses. He rang up the Director of Jayaratne Florists and asked him to help the family in any possible manner.

I went straight to Paranavitana’s house and handed over the money in front of my driver telling them that it was from the Prime Minister. I have only related the story in brief. My language lacks the poignancy to bring out its real emotion. Many a tale of this nature forms part of the life of Ranasinghe Premadasa. People of his calibre are a rarity in this small island. (Excerpted from the book authored by the writer titled “Janasetha Sadu Janapathy Sevane “in the shade of the President who worked for the welfare of the masses)

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