A tribute to Nihal Pancratius I was deeply saddened to hear of our dear friend Nihal’s passing. Nihal and I first met in primary school at St Patrick’s in Jaffna. He also happened to live in the same street as me. For as long as I knew Nihal, I was impressed by Nihal’s ability to maintain a close relationship to his friends and family which meant that he was constantly surrounded by a lot of people who cared about him. Nihal was a hard-working, intelligent, responsible and very thoughtful person. As we know, Nihal was also a talented musician. Ever since Nihal received his first guitar as a gift from his uncle in year 8, he was not able to put it down. He shared his passion for music by utilising his talents and bringing joy to all those around him. The Sri Lankan community has lost an amazing artist last week. Music leaps across language barriers and unites many. Through music people from different cultural backgrounds come together and make the world a more harmonious place – and Nihal did just that. Nihal started his first charity music event at ‘flag day’ when we were in year 10 to raise money for the disabled residents at Prethipura Children’s Home. His next event was much bigger and better. After completing his A levels Nihal attended the Acquinas College of higher studies to pursue his studies in accounting. It was during this time that he contacted some famous singers in Colombo and brought about 23 singers to Jaffna to perform in an open air theatre and fundraise money for St Patrick’s College. It was a very memorable event. Nihal continued to raise funds for charities and continued organising musical events in Sri Lanka and in the UK, which focused on education and religion, as well as other charitable causes such as orphanages. Even after Nihal lost his vision he remained determined to raise funds for charities by organising musical performances. Nihal was a positive person and he would not want us to be sad today. If he were here, he would tell us to cheer up, smile, and remember all the great memories we shared with him. Nihal’s life was taken away from us too soon, but he will remain in our thoughts as a dear friend, husband, father, son, and brother. "God saw him getting tired, and a cure was not to be So he put his arms around him and whispered “Come to Me”. With tearful eyes we watched him suffer, and Saw him slowly fade away. Although we loved him dearly, We could not make him stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands put to rest, God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best." Our heartfelt condolences go out to Nihal’s loving wife Antoinette, children and grandchildren, as well as Aunty Rani, the Rajakone family, Vetha/Shiranee and Niranjan/Jeeva.