Senaka Weeraratna

Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, 

President of Sri Lanka 

Dear Ranil

It would be tantamount to an amiss if a friend from your childhood days both in the primary and secondary schools and subsequently at the Colombo Law Faculty, did not stand up and say 

‘ Thank you’ for having served as the President of Sri Lanka. 

Whatever the verdict of the people at the hustings, which change from time to time, nothing can prevent your rightful place in history books. It is a remarkable achievement. Only a very few are privileged to have access to such high positions. You are one of them. 

The Buddha identified Gratitude as an ennobling and rare quality. 

In one of his finest discourses in the Anguttara-Nikaya the Buddha speaks as follows: The sum of all that makes a bad man is ingratitude; the sum of all that makes a good man is gratitude .

” These two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do an act of  kindness, and the one who is grateful and thankful for an act of  kindness done.” 

In so saying the Buddha placed a heavy emphasis on the need to treasure and value people who do kind deeds and cultivate good virtues.

It is in the spirit of gratitude that I am penning this little note as you exit from the office of President. It is free of moral Judgment.

I have no doubt that your  former classmates at school (1960 group) and former colleagues at the University and later at the Bar will endorse this unreserved note in the same spirit of sincerity that it is written in.

Keep well as you charter your unique and unparalleled life into the next phase of Sri Lanka’s unfolding saga. 

Best wishes 

Senaka Weeraratna