Page 30 - Ganesh Arunasalam

His amiable ways and unassuming manner won him many friends wherever he was. He was neither pretentious nor pompous. He was simply simple.
Friends
I want to thank you sincerely for giving me the privilege to say a few words about our dear friend Aruna. My choice of the words “our friend” is deliberate because he was such a likeable person.
Aruna had an analytical mind and always reasoned before coming to a conclusion. Had he still been in active practice I honestly feel he would have been an excellent attorney-at-law. And had he stayed in Sri Lanka, he would have been one of those rare things — an honest politician.
I first met him in the early 1980’s when he dropped by our house and we very quickly realised that we could click. And clicked we did. Even when we argued we knew it would end amicably with the click of the glasses. I will not mention as to what the contents of the glasses were. I’ll leave it to your imagination.
Aruna is just a year younger and has always been a brother to me. There have been times when he was the elder one, and other times, when I’ve been the elder one. Our roles reversed according to the situation.
When he practised in a place called Small Heath in Birmingham, we invariably finished work at the same time and a slight detour on his journey home to Stourbridge took him past our house. We spent many an enjoyable evening putting the world — and particularly Sri Lanka — right. His knowledge of Sri Lankan politics was beyond my reach.
Aruna was not only a personal friend of mine and Malar, he was also a close friend to my children Sumi and Niru. My son on hearing of Aruna's demise wrote, “I have fond memories of uncle. He struck me as a kind, thoughtful man. Growing up as a second generation child here meant you met lots of your parents’ friends. Many had a passing interest in what the kids of their friends were doing — what jobs they wanted to do and so on. But Aruna uncle was genuinely interested and would listen. It was clear to me that he was a proper friend to my father who seemed totally at ease in his company”.
Aruna enjoyed a good sing-song and parties. He was always on the dance floor whenever a baila was played. His rhythm and timing may not have been perfect, but they were of his own creation, and he enjoyed it.
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