Tuesday Aug 18, 2026
Tuesday Aug 18, 2026
Tuesday, 18 August 2026 12:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Harry Jayawardena (left) with the author Krishantha P. Cooray
When Harry Jayawardena passed away and on the first birthday afterwards, I wrote that not a day passed without me thinking of him. I wrote that I half-expected his almost daily phone call and the inevitably stimulating and hilarious conversation that would follow with each of us addressing the other as ‘Lokka’ or, to those who are not conversant in Sinhala, ‘Big Guy.’
It’s been more than a year and a half and the statement still stands true. Harry is unforgettable. But strangely, even though I did remember him, I forgot that the 17 August would have been his 84th birthday.
It was my older daughter who reminded me: ‘it’s Uncle Harry’s birthday tomorrow.’ That was one of several reminders for she does chide me often, as does her sister, for being negligent of parental duties. This time, it so happened that we are in two different countries. That a little girl thought it fit to remind her father about his late friend’s birthday is a measure of how close he was to the family. It is also a measure of his sincerity as a dear friend. He cared about who his friends cared about.
Harry Jayawardena left a mark. He left many marks. The signs of his being and passing don’t shout out to be remembered and appreciated. He was not into anything of that kind. He simply did what he was good at. What he created with his drive, passion and skill continues to thrive. This is because foundations were important to him. He built businesses and he acquired businesses, but in both cases he was never speculative. He is known to have been a shrewd businessman, but the truth is that he was a careful man who was meticulously diligent.
Such caution he exercised in the friendships he cultivated and this is one reason why I feel privileged to have earned his trust. He stood by me through all the storms that came my way. He would criticise me and then laugh about it.
What he created with his drive, passion and skill continues to thrive. This is because foundations were important to him. He built businesses and he acquired businesses, but in both cases he was never speculative. He is known to have been a shrewd businessman, but the truth is that he was a careful man who was meticulously diligent
I missed my daughter’s call, but she took the trouble to send me a voice message. She knows how much her ‘Uncle Harry’ meant to her father. She knew I was grateful. She knew that I would feel bad had I failed to remember his birthday. She knows me. She also knew Harry Jayawardena or rather a side of the man that not too many people have seen: a staunchly loyal friend who valued gratitude and attitude and who, in personifying such qualities, inscribed them on his friends. And their children.
I am proud that my children understand the true meaning of gratitude. They know that Harry J stood by me at one of the most crucial times in my life, and they have never forgotten it. That voice message made me remember all the good times, the laughter, the banter and respect come back to me. So too the immense void.
I miss him.
(The author is a media personality and a political analyst)
