From Mt. Lavinia to Colombo Fort and then to London in six years

74 not out – a personal memoir

Gamini Fonseka,
FCA, FCMA, JDIPMA(UK)

I was born four weeks after we won our Independence. In my infant days I did not know anything about life except that my father provided the family with everything we needed. We lived in Panadura. Later on I came to know that even a single rupee then had some value against dollars and sterling. My father used to take me for walks carrying me in his arms until we reached the Panadura bridge. I remember stopping at an ice cream parlor just opposite Panadura bus stand. My father was a Cooperative Inspector in the Public Service and was very proud of it.

When I reached school-going age, I was sent to St. Thomas’ Prep in Kollupitiya. We were a bunch of kids who played all types of sports, my favourite being cricket. There were very rich boys in our crowd and others who came from the middle class. There were Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, and other races. We did not have any racial animosities or rivalries among us.

Three years later my bouncing baby sister joined our family. I slightly remember 1952 where there was a Hartal which led to some deaths. My father used to tell me that the cause of this Hartal was the rice ration. I did not understand this as my mother ensured that there was a plate of rice for lunch every day while breakfast was kiribath or string hoppers. Lunch/dinner was always rice and curry.

As I was an ardent cricket fan, my father took me to my first Royal-Thomian which was played at the Oval. I remember this game as P.I Peiris captained St. Thomas’. Later on in life I met Peiris as he was the Deputy Chairman of Richard Peiris and Company where we (the accountancy practice I worked for) were involved in a major restructuring exercise. The next year the Thomian team was led by BAR Weerasinghe who later qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK. After his return from the UK he became a manager at Turquand Young (TY) where I was articled. I slowly came to learn something about the politics and the economy of then Ceylon.

In 1956 there was a Revolution in our Island with Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike coming into power on a Sinhala Only platform which I personally think was a curse on our nation. The old left at that time had, I think, a ‘no contest’ arrangement with SWRD but were not invited to join his government which had won enough seats of its own. The left leaders had returned to Sri Lanka after their education in England, NM Perera at the London School of Economics, and others elsewhere.

They were brilliant politicians who were never able to come to power on their own. SWRD fulfilled his promise of Sinhala Only triggering an exodus of Ceylon Tamils to far away countries such as Canada and USA and to our regional neighbors mainly Singapore and Malaysia. Our Burgher buddies immigrated to Australia. These people were welcomed with open arms by their adopted countries. Gradually the suddhas who ran the plantations, mainly tea and rubber, returned either to England or Scotland. Some went to Kenya which was opening virgin lands for tea plantations.

Unfortunately, SWRD was gunned down by a monk in his palatial home in Colombo-7. I was then a student at S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, that wonderful school by the sea. My father had by then built a house of our own at Templers Road Mt. Lavinia. I still remember that the land and house cost him Rs. 29,000. He funded this with savings from his monthly salary and a housing loan which he was entitled to as a public servant.

In 1957 a baby boy also joined our family. I remember waiting for his arrival at Durdan’s Hospital then headed by a doctor who subsequently immigrated to Australia. This particular boy was the pet of the family given the age difference between him, my sister and myself.

Thereafter, there were absolute chaos in the Island with governments changing hands like nobody’s business. Ultimately, we got a stable government under the leadership of Sirimavo Bandaranaike who was also tied to some left parties. She ruled the island for a period of seven years from 1970-77. In December 1963 I sat for my GCE O/L and after the exam we were free birds playing cricket morning, noon and evening. It was a great fun time for me personally but in January 1964 I met with a cricket accident which resulted in my deciding to do accountancy instead of law. I was Articled at Turquand Young (TY) and I left STC to join the corporate world.

TY was located at No. 59, Queens Street right opposite Central Bank. I can still remember what my father told me when he left me at the staircase at the entrance of TY on my first day there. He said,” Gamma you are now entering a new world which is the corporate world. This world will have so many jealousies, backstabbing, and other evils which you were not used to at college. However, always keep your head up, whatever obstacles you are faced with.” These words guided me throughout my life.

Coming back to our political situation Mrs. B called for a General Election in 1965 and was defeated at the polls. The Dudley Senanayake government which followed introduced the Poya day calendar, an arrangement under which we were on holiday when the rest of the world was at work. We lost track of the Monday to Friday week and thought in terms of P1 to P5 and pre Poya and Poya. I thought that this was a ridiculous way of doing business. We suffered this ordeal for five years. Senanayake’s agriculture policies brought us close to self-sufficiency in rice. I respected him for his honesty and integrity and gentlemanly qualities which we are taught at our School by the Sea.

Dudley was routed at the General Election of 1970 where Mrs. B together with her Marxist and leftist allies came into power on a socialist platform. She suffered a youth-revolt in April 1971 when so many young people sacrificed their lives to no purpose and anarchy prevailed. With this uprising Mrs. Bandaranaike was pushed leftwards from middle ground and the land reforms and the infamous Acquisition of Business Undertakings Act was passed creating several Government Owned Business Undertakings (GOBUs).

In 1970 I qualified as a Charted Accountant at the age of nearly 21 years (exactly 20 years, 11 months and three weeks). I was able to cut short my articles by one year thanks to my GCE ‘A’ level qualification. Thereafter in November 1971 I was sent to London for six-months at our London office. It was a novel experience to me as from Mount Lavinia I came to Colombo Fort and thereafter went to London within a period of six years. All my uncles, aunts, grandfather etc. came to see me off at the airport and I flew to Madras and then to Bombay for an overnight stay and early next morning boarded an Aeroflot flight to London via Moscow.

It was freezing cold when I landed at Heathrow. Fortunately my mother had arranged for one of her closest friends living in London to meet me at the airport and I stayed with them initially until I found my own accommodation.

It was fun living in London all by myself. The apartment I occupied was very close to the River Thames, and it was freezing cold outside at that time of the year. The landlord showed me how to insert coins into the gas meter to make the room warmer and more comfortable. They gave me my meals for the first week. He and his wife worked as civil servants for the British Government. The landlord took me to TY’s Coleman Street office where I had to meet the Office Manager, Mr. Pinfold who briefed me on office procedures and told me to meet Mr. Turner Green, who had worked in our Colombo office and moved later to the London office. He was one of the finest gentlemen I have met in my long career in accountancy. We had a chat for about an hour; he authorized an advance payment of my salary to be claimed from Mr. Pinfold.

I remember my first audit which was WM Coopers Wine Merchants in North London. I was in charge of the audit and my deputy was a raw articled clerk who had just joined TY. He was later posted to Hong Kong and covered the firm’s entire Far East practice as the Managing Partner.

It was a long ride by London Underground and then overground train to the furthest point on the northern line. Mr. Pinfold told me that I could claim the travel expenses up and down for which he gave me a reimbursement claim form. We had a fantastic time during this audit as we were provided with a buffet lunch and plenty of wine. I enjoyed the desserts, especially the trifle dessert.

The only communication I had with my family in Mt. Lavinia was through letters which I wrote very regularly especially to my parents. I went most days to have my dinner at the Ceylon Students Center which was very near Hyde Park. I read the newspapers from Ceylon on these visits so that I was up to date with what was happening in the political scene back at home. It was then Springtime and soon in late May it was Summertime in London.

Throughout my stay in London, I was most concerned with the Ceylon scene. My assignment in the London office was over by end June. Once I was free, I took a coach tour to Europe which cost me £79. My work colleague, a Malaysian of Indian origin and I, toured Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France returning to Victoria Station in London. My friend had completed his Chartered Accountancy exams in the London office and was returning home. We had a wonderful time traveling together.

I was back in Colombo in early August 1972 and within 10 days of arrival became engaged to my wife of 49 years. I came into a tightly closed economy and saw for myself the benefits and the disadvantages of such a setup. Even though the plantations were controlled mainly by the suddhas, there were many of our Ceylon planters who took great pride in their work as did the Agency Houses and Broking Firms.

(To be continued next week)