"NU Jayawardena —— the first five decades," is perhaps one of the most fascinating books I have had the privilege to read. The story of NUJ’s life has been written by his daughter-in law, Dr. Kumari Jayawardena and Jennifer, the wife of his grandson Milinda Moragoda. Despite the fact that the authors are close relatives of the subject, they have been unbelievably objective. They have certainly put distance between themselves and the subject they were writing about. The high quality of the printing also deserves mention. An enormous amount of research appears to have been done and the book contains information which would be of interest to every Lankan who cherishes our history. I should also make mention of the photographs reproduced in the book - not only those of the family - for they tell their own story.

The story of NU is of a life well lived. It is an inspiration to the youth of this country. I would urge those who brought out this book to have it translated into Sinhalese and Tamil. The book should be in ‘Paperback’ form to make it affordable to students and the larger reading public of this country. This is the story of a man who was blessed with a brilliant mind. He was a visionary, pragmatic and a man of action He was also a man with indomitable courage and a burning ambition to succeed in life against unbelievable odds. From relatively humble beginnings through his love for learning and sheer hard work he was able to reach the pinnacle of success. His life is an inspiration to us all.

The book is packed with extremely useful information particularly on the South and the Hambantota District and the conditions under which the people of the district lived in colonial times. Considering the state of the infrastructure in the district, credit must surely be given to those English Government Agents such as Leonard Wolf and others like Forbes who endured great hardship and hostile conditions to serve the people of such an undeveloped district. The book also mentions those horrible men who called themselves ‘sportsmen’ and came to kill big game such as elephants, leopards and bears. There is a picture of one such barbarian, Franz Joseph of Austria, sitting on an elephant he had killed.

NU’s father had been the Rest House keeper at Hambantota and the book contains an interesting note on the ‘Rest House culture’ of this country. In 1911 there had been 193 Rest Houses in the country. In colonial times they were essentially for government officials on circuit. They were always well maintained, affordable and the food, almost without exception, good. Even in the 1950s and 60s the Rest House served an important purpose not only for government officials but also for the local tourist and casual traveller and the RH keeper or the Aarachchi as we referred to them was a respected person in the district. Even Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip once stayed at the Polonnaruwa RH but today Rest Houses have become taverns mainly frequented by our politicians.

Of particular interest to the reader would be NU’s education and the contribution made by Christian Missionaries, particularly the Jesuits, which NU has acknowledged with deep gratitude. The chapter on NU’s education has been appropriately titled "Emancipation through Education.’’ Considering the fact that we had not, even in the 20th century, shed our feudal past, NU’s rise to one of the highest offices in the land speaks not only for the tenacity of purpose and determination of the man but also for his courage to face up to the social barriers he would no doubt have faced throughout his life. NU had commenced his education in a small missionary school in remote Hambantota; from there he had been moved to a another missionary school, St. Servatius in the larger town of Matara and later to the prestigious St. Aloysius College in Galle. He was twelve years old at the time.

The book records "the reverence for education in Sri Lankan culture which is reflected in the traditional ceremony of writing the first letters, it is an initiation ceremony into the process of learning". NU’s education had begun at the age of three with this ceremony. During the four years that NU studied at St. Servatius in Matara he walked three miles to school everyday. He had carried his shoes in his hand as he was more comfortable walking barefoot. He had of course to wear his shoes when in school. At the age of twelve he had been moved to St. Aloysius in Galle. This was where life began for NU. To quote NU himself from the College magazine "So my life from rags to riches, from elementary education to self acquired knowledge, from shattering adversity to rewarding accomplishment, is an epitome of the determination, the tenacity, the purposefulness and above all the cultural values inculcated in me as a Buddhist, by the teachings and the example of the Christian Fathers and Teachers who moulded my upbringing in the impressionable age of my youth. I then learned never to take no for an answer".

When at St. Aloysius NU traveled by train from Talpe to school in Galle town. Train schedules regulated NU’s life. He had to leave for school hours before classes commenced and returned home only after 9.00pm because the train was invariably late. Though he had experienced much hardship traveling between home and school he had spent his time studying in the ‘waiting rooms’ at the stations and on the train.

St. Aloysius had left an indelible impression on his life. He states that it was St. Aloysius that moulded his character, this was where he claims he learned the art of writing, the elements of sound reasoning and logical sequence and above all ‘precision’and the importance of detail.

In notes reproduced from NU’s diary, it is said that NU claimed that it was the rigorous training and wide experience he received at St. Aloysius and the dedication of his teachers that gave him the ability and determination to face the future.

The authors discuss "the lure of government service" in a most interesting chapter which serves as a prelude to NU entering government service. His first salary as a government clerk had been

Rs. 27.50 a month! After that he had passed the General Clerical Examination in 1926 and had been posted to the Department of Public Works on a salary of Rs. 75. Though NU joined the clerical service he had not abandoned his ambition to study for a Degree. How he pursued this ambition is quite inspiring. He had followed a correspondence course from Woolsey Hall in London and completed the BSc (Econ) degree as an external student of London University. He was at that time the highest qualified clerk in government service. His pursuit of knowledge and education did not end there. He continued to take correspondence courses and registered for a post-graduate (MSc Econ) Degree, but for reasons beyond his control he was unable to achieve that goal. Coincidentally his reading for the MSc was on Central Banking!

NU’s rise from here on is a fascinating story. He held a number of interesting appointments, but perhaps his biggest break came when Mr. Peri Sunderam, Member of the State Council, recognizing NU’s talents, appointed him a Assistant Secretary of the Banking Commission in 1934. The Secretary was Professor Das Gupta who was unable to travel with the Commission when it sat in every provincial capital of this country. This enabled the Assistant Secretary, NU, to obtain a comprehensive overview of the problems of banking and credit in this country. NU never looked back from then on, and he ended up as the first Sri Lankan Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon. The story of his working life after his stint as Assistant Secretary of the Banking Commission must be read to be believed. I commend it to everyone interested in the history of this country, particularly our youth, for it is as inspiring a story as that of Obama for he too had to surmount many obstacles to reach his pinnacle of success.