Features
A CHEF IN LOVE – Part 37
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca
A Romantic Ushering of 1978
Hotel Ceysands enjoyed a 100% room occupancy on December 31, 1977, and as the Executive Chef and the Food & Beverage Manager of the hotel, it was a very busy day for me. I enjoyed every minute I spent leading my teams to deliver an ambitious 133-item buffet and champagne service for the New Year’s Eve dinner dance. My partner for the dance, the hotel General Manager’s teenage daughter, reminded me a few times, not to be late ushering in the new year, 1978 with her. She seemed anxious to tell me something special by midnight. She was worried that I was still in my chef uniform carving meats for late comer guests at 11:00 pm.
Meetings and Partings
The entire management team of the hotel met for all three meals everyday towards the end of each meal service to guests. A table for ten was arranged for us. Seven managers and two or three manager’s wives joined the executive table with Shani. We hardly had any formal management team meetings but used the meal table to talk about urgent matters. It was like one big family. From early 1978, Shani always kept the seat next to her strictly reserved for me.
I worked the whole day from morning till night almost every day during the tourist season. After lunch service, I relaxed a little by going for speedboat rides, playing some tennis, walking on the beach or playing cards with Shani and her mother. That tourist season was memorable in many ways. Towards the end of the season, I was saddened to hear that Shani and her mother would be away for nearly six months from April, 1978. They departed on a European trip visiting family and friends, mainly in England, West Germany and Austria.
During the tourist off season, the hotel occupancy came down drastically. Walkers Tours arranged a familiarising tour in Europe for the General Manager – Captain D. A Wickramasinghe (Wicks) and the Hotel Manager – Alan Silva. They planned to be away for two months. Terrence Hopman (Hoppy) who was the Executive Chef before me, returned after six months of sick leave. Hoppy and I were promoted to Assistant Managers. I continued to manage kitchens, restaurants, bars and stores. Hoppy was in charge of the other operational areas – front office, house-keeping, laundry etc. Soon after that, Hoppy and I were appointed to be Acting General Managers in charge of the hotel for two months.
Two Acting GMs
Those two months were filled with a lot of fun, some new learning experiences and a couple of mistakes as well. Hoppy and I shared one office and we did our inspection tours together. We were a perfect team. At times, I over did some pranks that angered Hoppy. However, I was quickly forgiven and we became friends 
Captain Wicks was a good delegater. He entrusted Hoppy and I to manage several special projects while he was away. We were given many assignments. Most of our time was spent preparing a detailed salary scale for all jobs, drawing up complete lists of all supplies for the whole year, developing purchasing specifications for all small operating equipment plus coordinating maintenance projects. Having done all that work, I learnt some new skills. Gradually I became confident and convinced that I was now fully prepared to become a hotel manager.
One day, Samaranayake (Sam) took Hoppy and I on a tour of the boats and maintenance areas. He briefed us as to how he intended doing major repairs to the hotel pontoon which had a carrying capacity of 60 passengers. Having spent his entire career in the Navy and recently retired with the rank of Master Chief, Sam was very knowledgeable about such projects. Seven years later when I became the General Manager of the 260-room, 40-acre Habarana Hotel Complex (The Village, The Lodge and Keells Farm), Sam worked on my team as the Maintenance Manager of one of the hotels. Sam was a very loyal team member.
At the end of our tour, we sat on the docked pontoon to enjoy a beautiful sunset. Hoppy reminded me that the hotel had 0% occupancy that evening. “Let’s have a drink on the pontoon”, Sam suggested. I said, “OK. Good idea. I will ask the kitchen to make some devilled beef and spicy chicken wings for our bites.” I have a full bottle of rum and a half bottle of brandy in my apartment. I will ask a room boy to bring those to the pontoon.” Hoppy made a contribution to a boring evening that turned into a “fun-filled” booze party.
So far it was good. Then came the wrong decision when Sam said. “Let’s see who can drink most of the rum and brandy and still stand straight.” The moment Hoppy and I accepted that challenge, Sam threw the tops of the two bottles into a nearby garbage can. Around 10:00 pm we had finished all of the rum and brandy. When we tried to stand up straight both Hoppy and I couldn’t do it. The cool breeze of the Bentota river and the uneven floor of the docked pontoon were not helpful. That evening I learnt two lessons. Never get drunk at your workplace and never accept a challenge to drink from a sailor!
Our next project was a sober and religious act. As the Acting General Managers, Hoppy and I encouraged the employees to build a small but unique Vesak pandal on the river. We built seven floating structures in the shape of lotus flowers with Prince Siddhartha walking on them. During the low season, it was important to keep the employees motivated with exciting projects. This initiative was also well supported by the local residents who were predominantly Buddhists.
An Opportunity at Queens Hotel
In spite of my playful nature, since I was 20 years old, I was very responsible during the number of acting periods as Manager/General Manager at three hotels (Havelock Tourinn, Coral Gardens Hotel and Hotel Ceysands). That experience gave me the confidence needed to aim to be become a Hotel Manager. I was hoping to get a promotion within John Keells group, but there was no opening on the horizon yet.
One day, I saw a large newspaper advertisement for the post of Manager of Queens Hotel, Kandy with a good salary scale between Rs. 1,750 and Rs. 2,250. They also advertised the post of Executive Chef. Queens Hotel in 1978 was managed by the government owned Ceylon Hotels Corporation (CHC). Although leaving John Keells within one year of service to join CHS was not wise, I applied for the post of Manager of Queens Hotel any way. I had two goals for that action. I wanted to get some experience doing a hotel manager interview and to also send a signal to my employer that I was ready for a promotion.
A Strange Interview
Around late October in 1978, I was called for an interview by the owners of Queens Hotel. The interview was held in Colombo at the CHC head office. When I arrived for the interview, I was surprised to see 14 other candidates for the Hotel Manager post had all been called at the same time. Although I did not have very much experience with interviews, common sense told me that it was a mistake, as there was no confidentiality for the candidates. As I knew all of the short-listed candidates, I commenced talking with them.
I was the most junior and youngest person among those 15 candidates. Some of them were many years my senior from the Ceylon Hotel School including a former lecturer of mine, who always resented my pranks and guts. Most of them were hotel managers of properties less prominent than the Queens Hotel. They looked surprised that I was called for an interview and competing with them. I felt that I had no chance in outperforming them but nevertheless, I wanted to go through the interview just for the experience. My plan was to finish the interview and rush back to Hotel Ceysands by mid-afternoon to prepare for the evening barbecue. After waiting two, long hours in the waiting room, I observed that only a handful were called into the boardroom where the interviews were held.
At that point, I went to the secretary who was seated outside the boardroom and in charge of calling the next candidate. When I checked where my name was on the list, I realized that I was number 15. I would be called last! “Miss, I did not budget six hours to wait here for an interview. I must get back to Bentota to work this afternoon. Please remove my application. Good bye!” I told her firmly. She was concerned. “I am very sorry to hear that, please don’t leave. I will call you next.” Immediately she changed the order.
Five minutes later I was called into a smoke-filled boardroom where seven older gentlemen were seated around the board table. I knew of a few of them. They were board members of two organizations – Kandy Hotels Co. Ltd., and CHC. As I was there mainly for the experience and had no chance of competing with all the other mature candidates, I was strangely relaxed and not nervous at all.
After a series of the usual questions about my experience and current duties, the Chairman of the selection board asked me an important question. “What is the salary you have in mind, if you were selected as the Manager of Queens Hotel?” he asked. Without batting an eyelid, I said, “Rs 2,250.” There was total silence among the seven distinguished gentlemen.
After a lengthy pause, the Chairman of the interview panel asked, “Do you realize that what you are seeking is the highest point on the scale?” When I said ‘Yes”, I was asked to justify why I should be paid at the highest level on the salary scale. I had to think quickly to give an intelligent answer with a justifiable rationale.
“I see that you are also looking to recruit an Executive Chef. The average guest stay at Queens is two days and most of the guests are on a full-board or half-board meal plan, I showed that I have done my research. Therefore, Queens Hotel requires only four good rotating menus. If you hire me, you won’t need to recruit an Executive Chef. As the Manager of the hotel, I would be happy to supervise the kitchens. With that the company will save Rs. 1,200”. When I made that remark, there weren’t any more questions from the panel. After a quick round of firm handshakes, I left.
Creative Negotiations
On my way to Bentota I was convinced that I would never hear from that board, as I felt that I had been too arrogant at the interview. A few hours after I had returned to Hotel Ceysands, I received a telegram which read: “Congratulations! You are selected as the Manager of Queens Hotel. Please confirm a date to commence at your earliest.” A couple of days later, I received the contract letter confirming my salary of Rs. 2,000. That was an excellent salary in 1978. I was only 24 years old and ready to negotiate with John Keells Group.
That evening I broke the news to Captain Wicks. He was shocked and said, “That’s a very good job, but we cannot let you go.” I smiled and replied, “Captain, I will stay if you can match the position and the salary.” Next day early in the morning he left for John Keells head office and came back in the evening with an offer. John Keells had decided to promote me to the Manager of Hotel Swanee with a salary of Rs. 2,000 within the next three months. There was one condition – until a successor was recruited, I would overlook the Hotel Ceysands kitchens until the end of the tourist season on 31st March, 1979, while managing Hotel Swanee. Of course, I agreed. I liked the challenge of doing two jobs concurrently, something I eventually did for most parts of my long career in hospitality.
A Proposal for the Future
When Shani returned from her European tour, I was surprised that she had learnt to speak German and did her first job when in London. She was pleased that I had decided to be the Manager of nearby Hotel Swanee instead of Queens Hotel in Kandy. In spite of a busy six months, we spent without seeing each other, we felt that our souls have gotten closer than ever before. We decided to take our love affair to the next level.
With some courage I approached my boss, Captain Wicks and asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. He was speechless for a few minutes, and then said, “Chandana, Shani just turned 18, and is too young to get married. She is our only child. I need to consult my wife.” After some further negotiations we agreed that Shani and I will get engaged in 1979 and marry in early 1980 when Shani is 19 years old.