Chat with Kavish’s father, Muditha Gunatilake |13 July 2021
Muditha Gunatilake
‘Failure is a lesson learnt not a judgement, so get back up and move forward’
Seychelles NATION: Mr Gunatilake you also had an amazing journey as a student, please tell us about that and some of your achievements.
Muditha Gunatilake: I started my education in Sri Lanka and moved to Nigeria when I was about 4 years old. I went to a private school there where I studied for about five years. I got promoted from grade 3 to grade 5. Then my parent moved back to Sri Lanka where I studied a couple of years and had to switch from English to Sinhalese again and when in grade 8 I moved to Seychelles. Because I was not given permission to join the National Youth Service on St Anne 2 directly, my parents told me to do O’ Levels at home. So I did O’ Levels privately with self studies and with the help of a few private tutors and evening classes. When I passed I was given admission to do A’ Levels at the Polytechnic. I did my O’ Levels at the age of 14 years and A’ Levels at 16 years and got the best A’ Level results in Seychelles. I was also in the first batch of students to take part in the Australian Maths Competition where I got the highest prize in the country.
At 17 years I went to University in the UK where I was also the youngest in my engineering group. My first degree was B.Eng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering. In 2004 I went back to do my MBA in the UK in one of the top business schools there. I was also elected president at the school.
I am grateful to all my teachers (including my mum), parents and everyone who encouraged and supported me.
Seychelles NATION: Now seeing your child growing and breaking your record, how do you feel about that?
Muditha Gunatilake: It is great to see that. I am very happy he managed to achieve this.
Seychelles NATION: What is the secret in bringing up a genius?
Muditha Gunatilake: To me Kavish is like any other child. Children need love, attention and guidance. They need to be given freedom to explore within limits and have fun. Sports are very important and Kavish is very keen on sports and that teaches discipline as well. He is not the type who studies a lot either considering he has training often after school and on Saturdays as well.
Seychelles NATION: Tell us about your routine as a parent to accompany your child/children in their journey
Muditha Gunatilake: My work has always kept me extremely busy and takes up a considerable amount of my time. However, I try to spend some time daily with my children and also play some games with them. But I keep an eye on their activities and school performance and take time to attend to these plus his sporting events whenever possible. During the weekends I take them out and we do family holidays visiting new countries during which I get to spend more time with them.
Seychelles NATION:Now what are you doing and what is your message to the young generation?
Muditha Gunatilake: I am now an entrepreneur and CEO of Doubleclick Group. Having done a lot of work in different sectors and in different senior positions locally and in Europe including starting Internet in Seychelles for the Atlas consortium in 1996, after returning from my Engineering degree, I am now doing things that I am passionate about and that promotes the country.
For the young generation, I believe what is important is to understand what you are passionate about and talented in and build your future in that domain. Every job is important and valuable, so no matter what you do ensure you do it properly with honesty and integrity and give it your best. If you do not try you will never succeed! Failure is a lesson learnt and not a judgement so get back up and move forward. Live your life for you and not for others.
Vidya Gappy
