18/07/2026
Kalukanda House history. Dad was a handsome young man, and the oldest of 7 siblings all living in Jaffna. They weren’t born with a silver spoon, far from it, but he dreamt of being a Doctor, put his nose to the grindstone and worked damned hard to make his dreams come true. When his own father was lost during WW2 for a while, dad became the father figure to his siblings - that’s tough for a young kid. Managing household duties while studying late into the night, Aceing his exams, always top of the class. Taking the boat to Britain who was clamouring for help in it’s hospitals, dad had a long and eminent career covering Edinburgh, London and then finally Bletchley (home of the code breakers).
Looking back, I reckon dad was a feminist. He knew that prejudices he had faced could only be overcome by education. He probably knew that gender bias is a fat problem to overcome too. Dedicated to educating his 3 daughters, and a strict disciplinarian, maybe his eldest might have given him a tough time because she couldn’t see what he could 😅
I returned to Sri Lanka in 2016, we had no direct family left. Mostly scattered around the world by war, I’m the first to return and drop those roots back deep into the ground. My parents were the first visitors to Kalukanda House before we officially opened our doors in 2018, before he became too ill.
There is something in lineage. The story of Kalukanda House reaches back long before 2017 when I built her from the ground up. This isn’t a renovation. This isn’t a refurbishment. This is a brand new build. Brick by brick, tile by tile….built by a daughter reconnecting with a past she’d never known.
History is a funny thing. It catches up with you eventually.
RIP dad. Thank you for passing on your grit and determination. We’re proud of everything you did for yourself, us and all the people around you. Kalukanda House is your legacy as much as mine.
Love, your eldest, Dini x
Dr. Ratnam Jeyaratnam, 13.8.35 - 24.6.26
