"Imitation" Ralph Waldo Emersion once generalized, "is suicide". Demonstrating that generalizations are generally false, we have Ivor Denis who has immortalized himself in the world of modern Sihala song simply by imitating his revered guru Sunil Santha to absolute pefection. So much so that on one occasion at least, Sunil Santha himself truly believed that he was hearing his own recorded voice on radio, when in fact it had been Ivor Denis who was rendering one of Sunil's songs. Sunil Santha who at that time was living in a village called Dehiagatha near Ja-Ela made inquiries and was delighted to learn that Ivor was a schoolboy in the neighbouring village of Seeduwa. He got in touch with Denis and thus was established a bond between the two which has persisted to this day, some 26 years after the guru passed to his eternal rest. This day, the 28th of May happens to be Ivor Denis's 75th birthday. And Ivor will no doubt celebrate it by imitating his guru one more time to the delight of his near and dear ones.

This little note is written to wish Ivor Denis many happy returns. Also to thank him for enabling Sunil Santha devotees like me to cling fondly to the illusion that Sunil Santha is not dead. Last month at the Namel-Malini Punchi Theatre, Ivor Denis as Sunil's living avatar, spread the treasure of his pitch-perfect, velvety voice over a range of Sunil Santha's best loved songs. For a little while he thereby transported me to a world without homicidal lunatics who are hell-bent on desecrating this blessed isle; where every prospect pleases... and politicians have gone wild.