Page 6 - Ganesh Arunasalam
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Mathavan completed his undergraduate degree and PhD in chemistry at Imperial College, London, and is a patent attorney with Syngenta, in Basel, Switzerland. He is married to Dr. Zorica Dragic, originally from Croatia, who is now the Head of Cell Line Development for biologics at Novartis, Basel. They have two adorable boys, Vedran, who is five years, and Milan, who is sixteen months. The boys are immersed in a world where English, German, Croatian and Tamil are spoken around them, often simultaneously.
Kannan read Psychology at Cambridge University, and went on to qualify as a media and human rights lawyer, working for Biddle & Co, London. He later obtained a masters degree in International Human Rights Law at Oxford University. Twelve years ago he moved to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and changed career to work as an independent documentary filmmaker, making films for Al Jazeera, BBC and The Guardian. He is married to Sweta Velpillay, an international peace and conflict expert currently working for CDA, a Boston-based peace-building organisation.
Aruna always felt strongly the call of his homeland, to reconnect with her people and politics. After he retired, he began his ambition to build a home in Jaffna, shuttling between London, Basel and Jaffna. The house was completed in 2015, and he found himself entertaining a steady flow of family and friends. Aruna enjoyed relaxing on the veranda, reminiscing about the old days, forging new memories and sharing stories with all those who joined him during his visits.
He who lives truly in his own heart lives in the hearts of all the people.
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