Rampala and the CGR

I was inspired to write this after reading the excellent article by Rohan Abeygunawardena published in The Island on 17 February 2022.

Mr. B. D. Rampala was my father’s younger cousin and they were pally from childhood. Both were studious, but my father had to interrupt his education due to the premature demise of his father. He joined the CGR at the age of 17; Rampala was very clever and went on to become an engineer. Once he too joined the CGR, effectively he was my father’s boss. Those days the CGR was one big family and once you joined, you were in it for life.

My father was very fond of Rampala who reciprocated with kind. We used to visit his family every New Year. As kids we looked forward to this visit as we were fed to the hilt by the very kind aunt. But my father was very keen to keep the lines of kinship and work separate. He never asked Rampala for favours (for himself).

Rampala was a legend and we heard a lot of stories about him from my mother, who obviously received them from my father. So, I am fairly certain that they are true.

Rampala had a reputation for being a very strict administrator. He did not tolerate apathy or sloppiness. He cared deeply about maintaining standards and had full control of the network. He collected and looked at all the time-keeping sheets every morning. If a particular train had been inordinately late in arrival the previous day, the driver was summoned and had to give a valid explanation to him in person. This was a dreaded encounter which all drivers were keen to avoid. They knew that they simply could not pull wool over his eyes.
The result was that the trains ran on time!

He noticed that one particular engine was frequently breaking down. Repeatedly it was despatched to the Yard and repaired, but after a few days broke down again. This particular type of engine usually had a good reliability record. Rampala gave instructions to the Yard to let him know promptly the next time it came back for repairs. Very soon it did. Rampala went down to the yard straightaway, put on overalls and got down to business, getting his ‘hands dirty’. Soon enough he found the cause of the breakdowns. The driver was sabotaging the engine so that he could get time off! The engine continued its run without further interruption. The driver did not!

As a CGR employee, my father was eligible for free railway warrants for the whole family (and the servant!). So, we used to travel frequently by rail during our holidays. On one occasion, our train had to wait at a station to give way to an oncoming train. Usually, when a train is due to arrive at a station, there is a sense of expectation and activity among its staff. On this day it was fever pitch as if they were expecting the Queen of England. My father got down and chatted up the staff to find out the reason for this beehive-like activity. He came back beaming and shaking his head. What?
‘Mr. Rampala is on the oncoming train’.

If there was something that he hated even more than apathy and sloppiness, it was dishonesty and financial misappropriation.

A lot of money goes through the CGR from ticket collections. Thus, there is always the temptation to bag some. Rampala had devised a comprehensive system of checks and balances. The Station Masters were required to maintain a clear and up todate record of the ‘takings’. Flying Squads of audit officers operated to check these.

One day one of our distant relatives came to see my father. Their recently acquired son-in-law was a booking clerk and had been nabbedby the Flying Squad as some figures did not add up. He was suspended pending further investigations. They swore that it was a genuine rounding error and asked my father to plead for clemency from Mr. Rampala. Somehow, they knew of the relationship.
This was something my father had never done. With great reluctance and against his better judgment, genuinely believing what he was told, he agreed.

He visited Rampala at the latter’s home. As usual he was received with much fondness. After the usual pleasantries, my father brought up the subject matter gingerly, requesting Rampala to have a look at this case and if possible, treat it with some sympathy. Rampala said, ‘Weerakkody, I don’t have to look. I know all about this case’.

His next words were telling. In his booming voice he said, “KO OYA HORA?”

My father profusely apologised for even mentioning this and made a hasty retreat. I can remember he was frothing wild with the relations who had misled him and make him do something he normally wouldn’t. ‘Never again!’ he said.

Why is it that the standards of the public services have deteriorated so badly nowadays? Because we no longer have such upright public servants of the calibre of Mr. Rampala.

If there were, they wouldn’t last very long under the current system.

Dr Asoka Weerakkody