Our mother, Sakalakalavathy Manickam – known as Kala – was a consultant anaesthetist at Newham hospital in east London from 2003 until her death, aged 60, from a pulmonary embolism. She loved her work, the camaraderie of theatre staff and the fast pace of life there.
She was born in south Sri Lanka, though her family were from Jaffna, in the north-east. Kala was educated at Stanley college, Jaffna. In 1973 she went to medical school, the first pupil from the college to do so, and made many lifelong friends there.
Kala experienced the same struggles and complications as many Sri Lankans, forced to emigrate by escalating violence in Jaffna during the civil war. She married our father, Velaitham Umachandran, in Kandy in 1982 and they travelled to Britain, initially for a year, while he undertook postgraduate training. They decided to make the move more permanent after the birth of their two daughters. Kala then received the news that her father and her youngest sister had been killed in crossfire in Jaffna.
At Newham Kala organised her department's morbidity and mortality meetings and hugely enjoyed teaching junior anaesthetists. She had a real calling for medicine. This would seep into life outside work, as friends would come to her with health issues that she would patiently and earnestly try to solve – or at least alleviate with conversation and good food. She was devoted to her friends and family.
She believed in quality as a key to living well, be that beautiful bed linen or a punchy coloured lipstick. Her elegant and feminine style dazzled, whether she was wearing saris or hospital scrubs. Kala also loved flowers, filling her garden with unusual roses and her conservatory with jasmine and tropical flowers. During her short illness, her positivity rang out with all manner of plans for when she got better.
She is survived by our father, ourselves, and her mother, sister and four brothers.