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All Round Applause for Rev.Fr.H.S.David


The photographic portrait of Rev. Fr. David was kept on a small table, which adorned the auditorium. Fr. David's image that was captured in a glass and wooden frame was even visible from the top row of seats. His penetrating eyes were looked as if they were gazing at each and everyone present there.


The commemoration day of Rev.Fr. David was celebrated at the Lakshman Kadirgamer Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) on 28th June 2013 in full attendance to mark respect for the eminent scholarly father. Elite people from all walks of life attended.


The front row of seats were seen with eminent special guests which included the distinguished Patrician and chairman of Union Bank Mr. Alex Lovell ,the senior partner Julius and Creasy and a walking dictionary ,Mr. J.M.Swaminathan, The president UNASL and Emeritus professor of law University of Windsor Canada,Mr. Lakshman Marasinghe,Former senior partner S.J.M.S. Associates Mr T.Someswaran ,Jaffna High court judge Mr. Visvanathan,The D.G.M. Bartlett Finance and President A.A.S.P.C. ,Mr. Anton Gerard, and immediate past president A.A.S.P.C. Mr. Mahen. Ponrajah, The retired Assistant General Manager and former president A.A.S.P.C. Mr.B.J.Vincent , Rev. Fr.A.M.Jeyaseelan representing the Bishop of Mannar , were few names to mention.


Father David's eyes were still gazing through the glass frame. His beloved brothers three sons Lakshman, Thushy,and Jeevan were in full swing .They had taken the initiative pains to form the Father David's Foundation which has taken a great leap forward, and in the forefront to celebrate their beloved Rev.Fr. David's birthday anniversary.


Amidst the invitees, many Patricians, Trustees, Mr.S.Anthonimuttu, professor J.C.N.Rajendra
Mr. T.Mukunthan, and members of the 'David's Family' were seen mingling with the crowd.


When the chief guest Mr. Vasudeva Nanayakara ,Hon .Minister for national languages and social integration ,and the Guest of honor Rev .Fr.Noel Dias ,vicar general at the Arch Bishop's house Colombo arrived they were received at the entrance by the chair man Brig.Lakshman David and accompanied by the trustees of the foundation Mr.S.Anthonimuttu Dr.Mrs Amirthanjali ,treasurer Mr. Gerard ,Mr.Mukunthan Professor Rajendra and the secretary Mr.MuttuGunaratnam to the head table in the auditorium. Thereafter ,along with the chief guest ,guest of honour ,Chairman , ,Mrs.Amirthanjali ,secretary, and the special guests Mr.Alex Lovell ,Mr.J.M.Swaminathan, the traditional lighting of oil lamp took place as a blessing and symbol of inauguration for growth of the Fr.David 's Foundation .


Father David's eyes were still gazing through the glass frame. His beloved brothers three sons Lakshman, Thushy,and Jeevan were in full swing .They had taken the initiative pains to form the Father David's Foundation which has taken a great leap forward, and in the forefront to celebrate their beloved Rev.Fr. David's birthday anniversary.


The compeers for the entire proceeding were Master Ajay David and Ms.Mithila Rajendra who beautifully narrated the events for the benefit of the invitees.


Then, as a mark of honoring, the gorgeous portrait of Fr.David was garlanded by Mr.Thushy David, the director of Deutsche bank Colombo and the eldest son of Mr. A. M.David the only surviving brother. It was followed by wrapping in ponnadi to the chief guest and guest of honor by the chairman and secretary respectively


It reminded the tradition prevailed in the ancient Tamil kings court to honor the poets for their act of exemplary genius in composing kavi or poem by wrapping in' ponaddi' and rewarding them with 'pot kili '.


The chairman Brig.Lakshman David, in his tri-lingual welcome address outlined the enormous work done by Fr.David on etymological studies and his unfinished research on ELU language, which according to him if Fr.David had succeeded; the possibility of unity among the two races will not be out of reach.


The key note address was delivered by Dr. Mrs. ,Amirthanjali sivapalan of Jaffna university ,Who rather presented a very impressive and in depth study of Fr.David's linguistic ability in 33 languages ,his achievements ,the research papers submitted to the Asiatic society and Tamil culture journals .she also went on elaborating the academic link Fr.David had with professor Fr. Xavier Thaninayagam and the admiration Fr.Thaninayagam had on Fr. David's Etymological research .


The Guest of honour Rev.Fr.Noel Dias in his speech touched his close association With Fr.David and praised his unique characters; he has observed in him .He also appreciated and compared Rev.Fr.David's wisdom by reciting a kavi in Sinhala.


There after launching of the website for the Rev Fr.H.S.David Foundation was inaugurated by the chief guest Mr.Vasudeva Nanayakara and the mode of operation of the web site was explained in detail by the web master Mr.R.B.Prashanthan.


Immediately after that the souvenir book "Life sketch of Rev.Fr.(Dr)H.S.David "was released as the first publication of Rev Fr.David Foundation to the special guests. Then Mr.Anthony muttu pioneer and pillar of forming Fr.David memorial committee at his birth place Thumpalai reviewed the book "life sketch of Fr. (Dr) H. S.David "released on that inaugural day .He reviewed the academic value of the five chapters in the book, excluding the chapter 1 which was written by him.


The star speaker and the chief guest of the day, Mr. Vasudeva Nanayakara in his speech praised
Fr. David's scholarly work on languages, and went on posing thought provoking questions for the failure in social integrations. He emphasized that the suspicions hidden in the minds of the communities to be eliminated to bring the social integrations. Impressed by the keynote address presented by Dr.Amirthanjali he suggested to translate her speech to Sinhala news media to bring awareness of Fr. David's service to humanity. He also assured to provide any assistance for the Foundation to promote its goals, as the scope of the Foundation is somewhat similar to his ministry.


The secretary, in his vote of thanks said that 'we have bounden duties to pay tribute to Fr. David for his services to Tamil language and humanity". He thanked the chief guest, guest of honor, special guests and the invitees for gracing the occasion in spite of tight programs in their agenda. He thanked the chief guest for his inspiring and thought provoking speech and also thanked other speakers for bringing to lime light the humble services of Fr.David to the humanity and bringing the richness of the Tamil language by his research studies. A Special reference was made by the secretary to Mr .Antonymuttu for his invaluable services in promoting Fr.David's visions at Thumpalai continuously for the past 30 years. He also delivered the vote of thanks in Tamil language, highlighting the importance of honoring the Tamil language as it was dear to the heart of the eminent scholar Fr.David.


He thanked the media personnel and the printers for their support and cooperation.


The session came to the end with the fellowship participation of the invitees, guests and the trustees of the Rev.Fr.David Foundation.


The Fragrance of jasmine flowers that was spreading from the garlanded portrait of the beloved Fr.David remained in the auditorium for quite long time. The Penetrating eyes of Rev .Fr.David will also remain in the hearts of those who looked at his portrait which was pondering a question.


"WILL THERE BE ANYBODY TO TAKE OVER MY UNFINISHED, RELENTLESS SEARCH OF TAMIL LANGUAGE AND TO GLORIFY ITS RICHNESS TO THE ENTIRE WORLD?"


Secretary
Rev.Fr.(Dr).H.S.David Foundation



Commemoration Ceremony - 2013

Rev Fr (Dr) H S David Commemoration Ceremony 28th June 2013


The Fr H S David Foundation celebrated the inaugural session of the establishment of the Foundation on Friday the 28th of June 2013 at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relation and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). This was held under the patronage of the Chairman and members of the Foundation of Rev Fr (Dr) H S David. The Minister of National Languages and Social Integration Hon. Vasudeva Nanayakkara was chief guest while Vicar General Rev Fr (Dr) Noel Dias from Archbishop House, Colombo was the Guest of Honour. There were Eminent Lawyers and Learned personalities from all walks of life were present at this occasion


The Commemoration ceremony of Rev Fr (Dr) H S David started with lighting the traditional lamp. The Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour were wrapped with traditional Ponnadai by the Chairman and the Secretary of the Foundation respectively. With this the Chairman Brig (Dr) H L David delivered his welcome address. This was followed by Dr Amirthanjali delivering the Keynote Address. She stressed the need to research further on linguistic studies which will open many eyes of the origin of languages


The book on the life sketch of Rev Fr (Dr) H S David was released followed by Mr Anthony Muttu, a retired lecturer from Thumpali did the honours by reviewing each Chapter of the Book. The next was the launching of the Foundation website. Mr PB Prashanthan, an ardent patrician and the webmaster explained the details of the Web. Chief Guest in his elaborated speech thank the Foundation to bring forward the contributions of the scholar, Fr (Dr) H S David and expressed his gratitude and further mentioned the ministry wishes to work along with the Foundation as both have similar objectives. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by secretary of the Foundation Mr Muttu Gunaratnam.


The Footage of the above function is hereby attached for your perusal. Foundation urges each and every one of you to be a part of this venture by generously contributing with cash kind. You could go through the website and make your choice for the future of those needy.




Our Messages

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Message from the Chairman

Welcome All,

The Rev Fr (Dr) H S David Foundation will celebrate their inaugural session of the establishment of the Association on Friday the 28th of June 2013 from 06.15 pm onwards at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relation and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS ). While commemorating our beloved Father, Linguist and Scholar, who above all a humble human being. We need your support to take his noble vision forward.

First let me congratulate all those responsible for the initiative which led to the formation of Fr H S David Foundation Trust to celebrate the birth of the great intellectual, linguist and a scholar of 20th Century. I appreciate that "The aim of the committee is to reclaim the legacy of Rev Fr Dr H S David and probably his work towards the mankind".

Some time ago Colombo Tamil Sangam honored Late Rev Fr. Dr H S David for his services to the Tamil language and the culture at its annual session. His Photograph was unveiled and has been placed at the Sangam as a mark of respect and remembrance. Other than this as far as I know, Mr. Anthonymuttu from Thumpalai (retd as Lecturer from Kopai Training College) and late Roche master (teacher SPC) were instrumental to commemorate annually Rev Fr. Dr H S David's death anniversary. Mr. Phillip Neri (Mariathas Annan), a nephew of Fr David, when he was here in SL discussed various proposals with me and wanted me to take over this task.

Today we have come together and formed a Trust for us to take the Foundation forward in their activities. Also with the inaugural commemoration function in Colombo, the Foundation will annually mark his birth with reviewing contribution. The lively web which is launched at he function will keep you update with many timely information. The Foundation will preserve the single advice of Fr David and I quote, "Reach the unreached".

I hope this Foundation which is established will receive all good wishes and blessings from all and that it will grow from strength to strength and nurture those needy with wisdom and insight to handle some of the critical issues and bring about goodwill and true understanding.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust,

Thank You

Message from the Secretary

Welcome All,

It is indeed a privilege and pleasure to inform the establishment of Rev. Fr . H .S.David Foundation on 28th June 2013 at Colombo under the able leadership of the chairman Brig(DR)H.L.David with the view to promote Fr.Davids unfinished research work on etymological studies and to take caring the deserving children to excel in their education .

Those who were in the prestige St. Patrick's college of Jaffna during Fr. David service as teacher were fortunate to know the unique personality of Rev.Fr.David who was affectionately called as priest of the poor .His linguistic knowledge on various group of languages had inspired him to deeply involved in the etymological research on Tamil language .

The immeasurable services he had rendered to Tamil language and Tamil people should not be left unattended halfway.

Your co-operation and unstinted support is much needed to take the flame of Fr.David to go forward .

Foundation's future plans and special projects that had to be implemented will be informed in detail in the next news letter

Thank You