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Trinity College Kandy - Respice Finem

Trinity College Kandy - Respice Finem

Trinity College, Kandy Respice Finem

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Trinity College, Kandy
262, D S Senanayake Veediya, Kandy 20000, Central Province, Sri Lanka

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THE TRINITIAN
3RD EDITION

Website Admin
Monday, 09 December 2019 / Published in Chapel, Choir, College, General Articles, History, News

Barnabas Alexander – A legend in his own time

It seems to be the natural thing that we remember the lives of people on their deaths or memorials. Ten years have gone by since the death of Mr Barnabas Alexander. But the life he left behind still continues.

When Barnabas Alexander of Trinity College, Kandy died on December 15 2009 he was in his home, listening to his electronic Bible. He was steadfast in his Christian beliefs and maintained his daily routine in an orderly manner.

Mr Alexander was blind. He had lost his sight in his childhood due to an accident. In spite of this at no time did he allow himself to be limited by this handicap. Being an accomplished musician he played the piano, organ, cello, and guitar by memorizing the music notes written in Braille. He learnt music from Mrs Ellen Jorden and Mrs C. Ekanayaka while studying at the Ratmalana School for the Blind.

He joined Trinity College in 1961 as a telephone operator in response to an invitation by Mr C. J. Oorlorf, then Principal of Trinity College and also Manager of the School for the Blind.

There were three things that struck those who met Mr Alexander: that he single-handedly manned the school telephone switchboard, that he was a markedly musical person, and that he was blind.  He would greet telephone callers with the words “Good morning, Trinity College” or “Good afternoon, Trinity College”. He would recognize voices years later, and startled callers by addressing them by their name.

Trinity students typically encountered him through his great gift for music. Those of us who began in the junior school remember seeing him being escorted to the lower school hall for the weekly singing class. Upper school students heard him at the piano at morning assembly, when he played charming background music until it was time for the assembly to commence. Countless students at Trinity learned to sing the school song, the School Hymn and the National Anthem, thanks to Mr Alexander.

Those in the school choir had the privilege of being accompanied by Mr Alexander. His dedicated playing on the chapel organ was an integral part of the regular Sunday services and of weekday morning worship. For several generations of students and those who prayed at the Trinity Chapel, the invitation to worship came with two distinct sounds: the pealing of the chapel bell and the strains of the chapel organ, with Mr Alexander at the keyboard.

From his first days at Trinity, Mr Alexander lived in quarters on the school premises. Students will recall holding him by his hand and escorting him from the school office and up several steps to his room near the Ryde Boarding House. In his room, he would accommodate requests from students to play the piano or to listen to the commentary for international Test cricket matches on his radio. We discovered that his disability did not matter in the least in our dealings with him; the fact that he was blind taught us to think positively about the blind.

Around 1980, Mr Alexander married Sujatha, who had partial vision, and she moved into his new living quarters, just above Ryde House. They were a devoted couple, and she was a dedicated spouse and a gracious hostess. Her demise in November 2008 was a devastating blow to her husband. Although he recovered his stride, it was partial. Those close to him sensed he was pining for her, right to the end.

For those who had a closer association with Mr Alexander, it was a lesson in life. He was a great conversation maker. It was amazing how he kept in touch with the world around him mostly by listening to his radio. BBC World Service was one of his favourites. He had a well tuned sense for what was right and wrong and always showed by example the meaning of duty, responsibility and commitment.

He believed in certain standards of conduct, and bristled with indignation when formalities were breached or courtesies not followed. Above all, going beyond his genial demeanour, the cheerfulness that he extended in his life, even after having lost his sight, filled many with wonder.

Even in his final year of life, the Chapel and the Organ was inseparable from Mr Alexander. Such was his attachment to the Chapel and music. During the final months of his life he once came on a Saturday evening to play for the Sunday morning service and returned to the hospital where he was admitted.

Choristers used to bring him in a wheelchair, carry him to the organ stool where he played till his fingers could move no more. The spirit and desire to play the organ even with his continuously failing physical being was inextinguishable.

Those who knew Mr Alexander will miss him. He was a landmark individual in the school. We have only to think about the music he played to bring back wonderful memories of the school chapel; its murals, pillars and carvings; its picturesque surroundings; the distant Hantane by day, and the glow of candles at dusk at the Carol Service. When he finally bade goodbye to life, he left whatever the worldly wealth he had in a scholarship fund for the students of Trinity.

Mr Alexander was lovingly remembered at this year’s Carol Service. The service booklet carried a small article and the Choir paid its tribute by singing ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’, one of the pieces he used to play often.

We all make a LIVING by what we get. But we make a LIFE by what we give. It could well be, that life may have not given a good deal to Barnabas Alexander; but most definitely Barnabas Alexander gave back to life a lot more than he got from it.

Ananda Abayaratna and Lasantha Tennekoon

 

2019 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
2019 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A staff photograph with Mr Alexander seated on the left corner

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SPORTS NEWS

  • Trinity Under 20 football players emerged victorious in the pre-quarter finals against Isipathana College, ColomboJanuary 24, 2023
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CLUBS & SOCIETIES NEWS

  • Sri Lanka Festival of Music, Dance and Speech 2022January 22, 2023
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Trinity College Kandy
Registrations are now open for those interested in Registrations are now open for those interested in participating in TOUR DE VILLAGE!Participants can now register via https://bit.ly/RegisterTDVThis event is open exclusively to the Grade 10 and above students of Trinity College Kandy.

Read more: https://trinitycollege.lk/events/tour-de-village-2023/#trinitycollegelk #cycling #club #tour #de #village #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka
Trinity Under 20 football players emerged victorio Trinity Under 20 football players emerged victorious with a score of 05 – 00 playing against Isipathana College, Colombo at the Sri Lanka Schools’ Football Association Tournament. The football match was held on 18th of January, 2023 at the Pallekele Rugby Stadium.Read more on our College website!#trinitycollegelk #football #sports #under20 #team #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka
The 17th Kandy Trinity College Scouts Troop organi The 17th Kandy Trinity College Scouts Troop organized and held AVENTURA ’23 , the inaugural inter – house competition hike, which took place at the Dunumadalawa Forest reserve on the 7th of January, 2023. Five observation teams from the junior houses and five challenger teams from the senior houses took part in the hike. Each team consisted of 8 members.Read more on our College website!#trinitycollegelk #aventura #inter #house #hike #competition #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka
SAVE THE DATE!02nd of March 2023 - We are comin SAVE THE DATE!02nd of March 2023 -  We are coming to Colombo.#trinitycolllegelk #trinitycollegekandy #savethedate #colombo #srilanka
Adding more victory to this Victorious year of the Adding more victory to this Victorious year of the Trinity College Western Music Society, they once again showed their outstanding performance in a National arena at the “Sri Lanka Festival of Music, Dance and Speech 2022”, organised by the International Institute of Music, Speech and Drama (IIMSD).Read more on our College website!#trinitycollegelk #western #music #society #trinity #college #kandy #SriLanka
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වෙස්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වෙස්මුහුණු කලාවට ඇත්තේ ඉතා දීර්ඝ ඉතිහාසයකි. විශේෂයෙන් යාතුකර්ම හා ගැමි නාටක සදහා ඉතා දියුණු කලාත්මක ලක්ෂණ සහිත වෙස් මුහුණු අතීතයේ සිටම භාවිතා කර ඇත.ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පහතරට ප්‍රදේශයේ ප්‍රචලිත ගැමි නාටක විශේෂයක් වන කෝලම් තුලත් මෙම වෙස් මුහුණු පූර්ණ ලෙසම භාවිතා වේ. ජන සාහිත්‍යයට අනුව මහාසම්මත රජුගේ බිසවට නාට්‍ය දැක සිනාසීමට ඇති වූ දොළදුක සංසිදුවීම සඳහා ශක්‍ර දේවේන්ද්‍රයා විසින් විශ්ව කර්මයා ලවා වෙස්මුහුණු නිර්මාණය කළ බව කියැවේ.කෝලම් ගැමි නාටකයේ අපර රංගයට අයත් නාගරාක්ෂ , ගුරුළුරාක්ෂ , නාගකන්‍යා  යන අධිමානුෂ චරිත සඳහා ඉතා විචිත්‍රවත් වෙස් මුහුණු එහි භාවිතා කර ඇත. නාග හා ගුරුළා අතර ඇති  සටනක ස්වරූපයකින් මෙම නර්තනාංගය කෝලම් තුල ගොඩනැගී ඇති අතර බඳ කැරකැවීම ආදී ශිල්පීට දක්ෂතා වලින් සමන්විත මෙම අංගය විද්‍යාලයීය ජාතික නර්තන කණ්ඩායම විසින් වේදිකාව මත නර්තනය තුළින් රඟ දැක්වූ අයුතු විස්මිතය.(සැකසුම: යොහාන් පියතිලක)#trinitycollegelk #rangawali #kandyandance #dance #magulbera #trinitycollegekandy #kandy #srilanka
Rev. A. G. Fraser is one of the most prominent per Rev. A. G. Fraser is one of the most prominent personalities in Trinity history. It is said that “If Rev. Ireland Jones founded Trinity, it was A. G. Fraser who made it the best school of all.” Such significance deserves to be remembered. Accordingly, the Fraser Memorial Oration is held annually to show the school’s gratitude and appreciation towards the man who gained for Trinity its popularity and quality.Read more on our College website!#trinitycollegelk #fraser #memorial #oration #trinity #college #kandy #srilanka
We are pleased to announce the appointment of the We are pleased to announce the appointment of the following students who will take leadership of the Athletics Team for the year 2023.Captain – Master Umar ManzilVice Captain – Master Sawan AluvihareVice Captain – Master Thidas BandaranayakeRead more on our College website!#trinitycollegelk #trinitycollegekandy #athletics #teams #leaders #students #kandy #srilanka
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