She is a Symbol of Courage
[Updated :: 2011-04-27 19:10:15 Hours]

“Behind Every Successful Man There is a Woman” is a general saying known to all. However, this week CIMIC team met a Successful Woman running a holiday inn at Chunnakam.

This educated and elderly woman namely Anula Radalage Meier, unfolded her story before us with a smile on her face.

“I was born in Colombo but my father was a planter from Kandy and mother was from Baddegama in the south. I first entered the Christ Church Girls’ School in Baddegama and on our family’s migration to London I completed my secondary education in Southwest London.”

Their lands were nationalized by the then government and that very reason made them leave the country, according to Ms Anula.

“I got married while I was in London and later left for Switzerland. I have duel citizenship in Switzerland and here.”

She has four brothers and two sisters, all living in various parts of the world and her son Olvier Samantha is working as a bank officer in Zurich. Ms Anula arrived in the island about 24 years back to educate her son. With the migration of Olivier to South Africa for further education, Ms Anula visited Jaffna during peace talks.

With the support of ICRC and the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) she had first rented a house at Urelu and set up “Anuk Swiss Chalet”, a Guest House for the foreigners and officials of international organizations operating in Sri Lanka.

“For reasons best known to the LTTE, they killed my manager there. Then I left Urelu and went back to Colombo.”

Ms Anula recollected a horrified incident where she was once stopped and threatened by two LTTE cadres in Kantharodai area while she was taking a senior female administrative officer and her small daughter on a visit.

“I noticed a lapse of their attention and drove my car away directly to the Jaffna town. SLMM officials told me that they could not guarantee my security and airlifted me immediately to Colombo.”

The present place where she is running a Holiday Inn is an isolated bungalow built according to traditional architecture. It reflects a typical Tamil aristocratic residence with spacious rooms.

“After the war was over, I came back to Jaffna. I got this land and the house on lease and renovated the bungalow. Now I have guests coming for lodging everyday at my Margosa….”

We wish this courageous an exemplary lady Good Luck!

You can contact her through 077 3034532.