Old Thomians who rallied round the boss

by ECB Wijeyesinghe

Old soldiers, they say, never die. In the same way youthful old Thomians, during the days when D.R. Wijewardene was the Boss, had a way of stepping into Lake House for a look round, before slipping into more lucrative jobs. For the fact of the matter is that the Boss had a magnificent obsession. Having been educated close to nature under the banyan trees in Mutwal, he seemed to think that Thomians had something that boys from other schools did not possess. When he came to choosing the staff for his growing newspaper empire he set up some priorities.

If I am not mistaken, two of the earliest recruits to journalism when D.R.W. appeared as the Child of Destiny in the newspaper world, were E.B.Wikramanayake and R.R.Crossette-Thambiah. Both of them were Thomians and being endowed with more than ordinary intelligence they soon bade goodbye to printers’ ink and started climbing up Hulftsdorp Hill till they discovered the golden fleece made of silk.

EXQUISITE

Crossette’s literary style was as exquisite as his calligraphy. I believe he was inveigled into the Wijewardene circus by his school-friend Herbert Hulugalle. Unlike the two others, Hulugalle was probably destined to pay for his sins in a previous birth. He could not do without Wijewardene and Wijewardene could not do without him.

Hulugalle had an uncanny news sense which had been fostered by reading widely between the lines about the private lives and times of Northcliffe, Beaverbrook, C.P. Scott and A.G. Gardiner. A.G. Gardiner should not be confused with the local celebrity, Sir Abraham Chittampalam Gardiner, whose name adorns the board on the highway leading to the Regal Cinema. He is now remembered chiefly as the uncle of Cyril Gardiner whose name, too, will no doubt some day be remembered in the name-boards of roads leading to the Galle Face Hotel.

Hulugalle’s hero was the Gardiner of the London “Daily News” whose pen-portraits of the men of his time are unsurpassed. He once described the cricketing genius, Ranjitsinghi, as the Prince of a little state but the King of a great game. When I slipped into Wijewardene’s pay-roll the Establishment was virtually honeycombed with Thomians, and more were on the waiting list. All old Thomians who went to English universities and failed to get into the Civil Service were ideal grist for the Wijewardene mill.

One of the first such men was the late Manicam Saravanamuttu who had secured every conceivable prize for sports as well as studies at St. Thomas’ College and had gone with high hopes to Oxford University after winning the Science Scholarship. Fate played a dirty trick on Manicam. After a few years he was back at home among the hacks at the “Observer” enlivening the Editorial room with hilarious stories of his youth.

AN AUTHORITY

He wrote vigorously under the nom-de-guerre of “Authentic” (cricket) and “Riding Boy” (racing). In both subjects he was an authority, but Ceylon was too small a place for his multi-purpose personality. He emigrated to Malaya and soon became a power in that land. He wound up his distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service as Ceylon Minister in Indonesia and Malaysia.

A similar case was that of the late Douglas Tertius Wijeyeratne, another old Thomian University Scholar who came from Oxford to Lake House to be a sub-editor and leader writer. His profound knowledge of the classics helped him to solve at one sitting, the London “Times” crossword puzzle which was the only thing he did with zest. His pleasant personality was strained to the limit by the demands of the Boss. He not merely wrote editorials, but he had to re-write them so often that he himself could not recognise the first draft. Eventually he sought refuge in a less strenuous and more rewarding field and became the Principal of a leading Buddhist school in the South.

After a couple of years I got the eerie feeling that there were too many old Thomians to the square foot at Lake House. There were Thomians to the right of me and Thomians not only to the left but at every point in the compass. At my table was Alex d’Alwis Seneviratne, a courtly man in a beard, who would dash off a Latin verse for the asking. He was a Proctor and took to journalism merely to relieve the congestion at Hulftsdorp.

There was also Mick G.P. de Mel, the son of a high Church dignitary who was prepared to spend with us his Purgatory on earth. The reporting staff was led by the muscular Stanley Morrison, a nephew of the famous Thomian master, C.V.Pereira. Though Morrison was a physical culturist and food faddist, his digestion was often upset whenever he was asked to make a courtesy call on his employer to explain a minor mistake.

The other enthusiastic Old Thomian in the Editorial Department was the late L.P. Goonetilleke of Colombo Plan fame whose canvas covered everything from shipping to art. He eventually became a connoisseur and was the most sought after Art Critic of his time.

INCOMPARABLE BOBBY

On the other side, in the “Daily News” besides the great Crowther, was a real ‘character’ who might very well have emerged from a work of fiction. The only son of his father, a senior Civil Servant, D.E. Weerakoon, better known as “Bobby”, was the hope of his family. He went to England and galloped through his patrimony, not only visiting every racecourse in England, Scotland and Wales, but using his capacious brain in a mighty effort to beat the bookies. He failed; and when he precipitated to Lake House he was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable racing man in Ceylon.

He had the pedigrees of horses running here and abroad at his fingertips and with his impeccable literary style, which he had acquired at St. Thomas’ College, he became the punter’s vade mecum. The then Radio Ceylon paid him Rs. 75 (a big sum in those days) for his racing commentaries which good judges said were up to international standard. Before the day was out, he had drawn the money and spent it treating his friends, most of whom were as impecunious as himself.

When he fell ill there was no one to replace him. Everybody who had a fairly good voice and a nodding acquaintance with turf topics was given a chance but without success. One of those who tried his hand at this difficult game was Mr. Anandatissa de Alwis, the present Speaker. Bobby was generous to a fault. He would share with a poor friend his last shirt, provided he had not put it on a horse.

The only time he backed a real winner was when he gave his daughter in marriage to the grand Old Thomian captain, Bertie Wijesinha, cricketer and gentleman. At the risk of exceeding the space limit I must mention the names of Percy C. A. Nelson and Earle Abayasekera, the two pillars of prudence on the managerial side, who acted as soothing buffers when the Boss showed signs of hypertension. Earle’s brother, Ronnie, was perhaps the only journalist sent to England for a journalistic training at office expense. Ronnie made good, so good in fact that he was snatched up by the rival “The Times of Ceylon” which he edited with distinction till he retired. Ronnie, however, always had a warm corner in his heart for his Old Boss.

One last word. When the idea of a photographic studio as an appendage to Lake House was mooted the perspicacious boss could think of only one man who could run it efficiently. There, too, it was a Thomian. He was a camera artist, pianist, wit, aesthete and a man who was described as the brightest spirit among Ceylon’s cultural elite in his day.

Long years ago, Dr. Lucian de Zilwa was regarded as “the most civilised man” Ceylon had produced. Now there is another claimant to the title: Lionel Wendt. I would have included Ananda Coomaraswamy in this gallery, but Coomaraswamy is not exactly a Ceylonese. He is more – he is a citizen of the world.

(Excerpted from Men and Memories an anthology of articles by ECB Wijeyesinghe first published in 1977)