Nalin’s days at the races, back to London to qualify in teaching physiotherapy

(Excerpted from Memories that Linger: My journey through the world of disability by Padmani Mendis)

Nalin, from his days at university, had an interest in horse racing. In his bachelor days he would, with a group also of bachelors go often to the race meets at Colombo and Nuwara Eliya. Times spent with them I could see had been great fun. The fellowship they enjoyed together continued even after our marriage.

It was a Saturday morning ritual that they would meet at Sidath (Sri Nandalochana’s) bachelor home at Asoka gardens. This was strictly a “men only” thing. Talked not only of the horse meets that were to be held that day and the horses that would run but also of the condition of the favourites and the chances of the trainers and jockeys. From this I could understand that discussions invariably extended into the political happenings of the week and the state of the economy. Besides Sidath and Nalin, participating in the first part of the discussion there was Archie and his brother Dougie; to join the second part were Bandu, Nada and Willa.

To the surprise of my family and friends, I always encouraged Nalin to pursue his interest in the horses. His approach was a scientific one. He studied each horse that stood a chance from breeding to form. To do this he would obtain somehow the latest issue of “Time Form”. If not the latest, an old one would do. With the advent of internet and the web, the study of horse racing became much easier and even more scientific.

Nalin’s interest was not gambling – the bets he placed were small. It was the enjoyment of the sport. His enjoyment came from picking the winner, not from how much he won at the races. I still encourage him to pursue this interest. I believe it keeps his mind stimulated. I can see the difference in his level of activity generally when the UK Racing Season is on and when it is taking its winter break. Last week he told me with glee that Royal Ascot was on. We talked of the time we had been there and saw the Queen. He said that he had picked a 66 to 1 winner. Because of covid and lockdown he could not place a bet. But that did not seem to bother him.

In Search of Fulfilling Work

My work atmosphere at the DPM Special was very pleasant and there was a mix of physios here. A few seniors with many juniors from different batches. We all got on very well and had much fun playing jokes on each other. But however pleasant it was, if I was to have an impact as a physiotherapist in Ceylon, I thought it would be more fulfilling to teach physio to those potentially new recruits. When a vacancy occurred for a tutor at the school of physiotherapy, I applied for it.

The Health Department required that an appointment as Tutor Physiotherapist should have the Diploma in Teaching Physiotherapy or Dip.TP awarded by the Charted Society of Physiotherapy or CSP, UK. To do that diploma course, one needed to be a Member of the CSP which I was. So when I was accepted at the school it was on the understanding that I would have to go abroad sometime and obtain the diploma.

This coincided well with the news Nalin received from his employer, the Department of Inland Revenue, that he was to be sent to Queen Elizabeth House or QEH, Oxford for one year in October 1974. I secured a place at Guys Hospital, London as a Student Teacher for the course starting in September of that year. This course led to the Award of a Diploma in the Teaching of Physiotherapy. I then obtained unpaid leave from my employer, the Department of Health and was ready to proceed with the next stage of my career.

Preparing to Take Off on Another Journey

Nalin’s travel and the course at QEH were all paid for by the British Council. He would even receive a monthly stipend which was more than adequate for his stay in the UK. I would receive a monthly allowance as a student teacher at Guys and that would enable me to live comfortably in London. But I had to meet the cost of my travel to London. Once I got to London the situation would ease. I had a little money in an account in a London Bank saved from my time as a student. This would see me through to my first pay packet from Guys.

The cheapest route to London was on the Soviet airline Aeroflot. This required a flight change at Moscow airport but that did not matter. I booked my flight on Aeroflot. But we had no money to pay for the ticket. So what were we to do? Without so much as batting an eyelid, we sold our car. With the dire state of our country’s economy and the severe restriction of imports, prices of motor vehicles had sky rocketed. So we were able to raise four or five times the amount that Nalin had paid for the car. But this was not enough.

With the closed economy had come also a good second-hand market for household items. Abans Corner Shop had opened for the sale of second-hand goods. Auction rooms had opened their doors for the same purpose. We approached these sources and got the best price we could for all our electric utility items. These could always be replaced. I am a little sad now that we also gave to the Auction Rooms our Queen-Anne Style Drawing Room Suite from Apothecaries and some Corning-ware dishes, a wedding present from London friends. Both items I could never replace. A little bit of regret just there.

Having paid for my ticket, the next matter of concern was that I would have to travel via Moscow with not a penny in my hand. This I was certainly not going to do, I was not going to take that risk. Exporting foreign exchange was not allowed, and anyone caught taking foreign currency out of the country was subject to arrest.

But this currency was available freely on the black market. I bought a five pound sterling note. I had in my possession a hand mirror with a screw handle. The handle was hollow. All I had to do was to unscrew the handle, roll up the note and push it inside. Once re-screwed, no one could find my five pound note. I was now ready to take off on my journey.

But I was unusually nervous. I am generally one of those people who took things in my stride. This situation was different. I had heard a story recently of someone being arrested at the check-in counter for having foreign dollars on his person. Another had been taken off the flight just before it took off for a similar reason. And I had my five-pound note. For safety I was carrying this in my hand luggage and clutched this firmly to my side. Finally, we were on board and the plane left the runway. Relief – my five pound note and I were safe.

I opened my hand luggage to retrieve it. I gasped. The mirror was shattered. The Romans believed a broken mirror brought the person who owned it seven years bad luck, and Sri Lankans followed the Romans in this belief. I was not superstitious, so when I was off the plane the incident was quite forgotten. It came to mind later only to be related to amuse my friends. The next seven years, and indeed all the years thereafter brought me more good luck than I could have hoped for.

An Unexpected Experience of Moscow

Travelling to London on the Aeroflot flight were two close friends, Mervyn and Therese whom I have written about earlier. Aeroflot was a popular airline because of its low cost. The flight was always full. This in spite of the bad reputation it carried of flight delays and missed connections to London. We heard that this delay happened almost every week. And it happened also to us. Which meant we would have to wait almost another 24 hours for the next connection. Our fellow passengers were sleeping anywhere and everywhere, uncomfortable though the hard benches were.

I was fortunate that I was travelling with Mervyn and Therese. Because the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the Soviet Union at the time was a good friend of theirs. As soon as the time was reasonable enough to make a call in the morning, Mervyn did so and told him that we were at the airport. The ambassador sent an employee to meet us.

As instructed, the accommodating employee took the three of us on a sightseeing tour around Moscow. Then for a late meal at the residence of the ambassador before he brought us back to the airport to wait for our connection. The accommodating employee told us that invariably the weekly flight would carry a passenger or two who was known to the ambassador. So this was a task he had to carry out regularly. He quite liked doing this and meeting different people from home.

So this unexpected, but really expected, stopover in Moscow was quite an adventure. We had the opportunity of travelling on Moscow’s underground. The stations were incredibly beautiful in their architectural design and decor. Attention to detail with much colourful drawings and artwork. This was quite in contrast to London’s dull and boring underground stations. Everywhere was very clean and the trains were modern. Seemed to run on time unlike the airline.

The opportunity we had of spending all the time we wanted in the Kremlin was sheer good fortune. Just a fascinating colourful place with so many domes and picturesque rooftops of the very many centuries-old cathedrals and palaces contained within. The intricacy of their design was to be appreciated when one was up close. Our accommodating employee had by now learnt something of Russia’s history and shared this with us. The Kremlin dated back from the 13th century.

Another place that is yet clear in my memory is the museum illustrating the Battle of Borodino. It is a large circular hall depicting the battle on its walls as a panorama. We learned that the Battle of Borodino is where, in 1812, the Russians are said to have defeated Napoleon. Napoleon had entered Moscow, but the Russians forced him back and kept their city. Why I remember it so clearly is because the panorama looked very real. One could almost feel the battle actually being fought. This is a popular tourist site. And then a walk across Red Square was a must do. We did so much walking that day. We were young then. And hungry for adventure.

Being Apart

I was leaving Nalin for the first time in our married life. Almost all through our engagement we had lived apart so one may say this was not new to us. It was still difficult to foresee how lonely it would actually turn out to be. Until he joined me in London we used the postal service and the blue air letter forms were useful once again. Previously they were an indispensable tool enabling us to get to know each other. This time it was to maintain the companionship we had nurtured during our first five years of marriage. The postal service had improved and our contact with each other reached us much more quickly than it had previously.

Looking further, although we were both in the UK, we would not be together. His work was in Oxford and mine in London. Let’s leave that for later – we will jump that fence when we came to it. For now, we would next meet in the UK.