But we never saw the great capacity for destruction within the tradition we were enshrining. Swami, as was typical of him, defended Bandarana-ike's policies and expressed the view that the Sinhalese still have to fear the Tamils. Mahen countered that Swami was only responding to myths about cultural engulfment. At this, Swami grew angry, insulted his host even further by sneering at his liberal views and stormed out of the house, no doubt in part to avoid receiving one of Mahen's dreaded verbal 'throwing-outs'. To be so ejected from Charles Circus was the ultimate, although not necessarily permanent, disgrace.
Intellectual scepticism has no place anymore.
To be in favour of detached inquiry and intellectual freedom, to be in favour of fundamental political rights regardless of ethnic background or to support the accurate writing of history has become an unpatriotic act. But I am the kind of person who wants to discuss ideas, who can't stop doing so. Just as Mahen was brave in the fullness of his life in going against the flow, dancing to the beat of a different drum, kicking over the traces, or however one wishes to term it, so was he near the close when he had to contend with his impending death due to his own excesses. He was the valiant Vaithianathan to the very end. Dr. Jane Russell, the English academic, author and long-term resident, who was forced to leave Sri Lanka under unfortunate circumstances several years ago, was one of Mahen's legion of friends.