By the time I joined the Irrigation Department in 1972, Sarath had left the Department, but was a regular visitor to the Irrigation Department Recreation Club in which he had been a popular figure. It was at the IDRC that I met him for the first time and from then onwards we became very close friends. In fact, it would be more correct to say that we became brothers. Though Sarath had a host of friends to whom he extended the same degree of love and kindness, he regularly moved with a close circle of "buddies" with whom he went on trips and enjoyed life the way most young men used to do in those days. I was very fortunate to have been one of those selected few with whom Sarath kept a close friendship.

Sarath was far too clever, innovative, and imaginative to continue working under others. This resulted in his bidding good bye to the State Engineering Corporation and accepting an assignment in Brunei. On completing this assignment of two years he returned to the Island and started his own firm of Design Consultants. Being an Architect, par excellence, it did not take much time for him to prosper in his new venture. To construct a house designed by Sarath was a dream many people had because there was something unique in everything Sarath did. Even a straight line drawn by Sarath was different to a straight line drawn by another. This was Sarath’s specialty.

Gradually Sarath extended his practice to the field of house construction because he felt that he alone could create the final product of his design in the manner he had imagined when drawing the Plan. His business prospered day by day due to his commitment and above all the manner in which he was able to build a rapport with his customers. I too was fortunate enough to construct a house designed by Sarath.

While business prospered, Sarath was getting older and religious. He started taking a keen interest in the activities of the Temple in his home-town Nawala.

Sarath was not only a good friend but was also a very good family man. He loved his wife Irene immensely and it was she who was his guiding star. His four children were immensely lucky to have had a father like Sarath who gave them all the love, and affection that a father could possibly bestow on his children.

The passing away of Sarath has left a huge void in the hearts of all his friends and loved ones. Irene has lost a loving husband and the two sons and two daughters a beloved father. While extending to them my deepest sympathies, may Sarath attain the bliss of Nibbana.