“We feel so privileged that you left your mark on us. Your footprint will never fade. If anything, it will only magnify what we do,” said Tamara Ekanayake, who grew up at Clarke’s Colombo home and whose family he adopted. 
“I do not think we will see another like him for another million years,” said teacher Munawwar, who travelled from Sri Lanka’s east clutching a signed copy of one of Clarke’s books.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who this week called Clarke a “prophet”, asked Sri Lankans to observe a minute’s silence. Clarke left written instructions that his funeral be marked by “absolutely no religious rites of any kind”. For his tombstone he asked for the words: “Here lies Arthur Clarke. He never grew up, but didn’t stop growing”.