Graduation in transport
Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya
Introductory note by Speedy.
This should spark a lot of discussion and will resonate with many of us. I, for one, associate many of my life events (and those of others) with the mode of transport we used at the time. Thank you Sanath for posting this. I shall post my own memories of transport as a comment. Over to you now Sanath!
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| Sanath 1962 and now |
When I was studying at Royal College, I sat for the 4th Form examination in December 1957. Out of 140 boys, I was placed first and was awarded the Form Prize, as well as the Gate Mudaliyar Tudor Rajapakse Memorial Prize, which consisted of a book voucher worth Rs 100.00. I went to the Caves Bookshop with my father and purchased several books. My father was so pleased with my performance that he offered me anything I wanted. I wanted a bicycle; my father took me to Hunters in the Pettah and requested me to choose what I wanted. I opted for a Raleigh bicycle with all the possible extras such as a dynamo, speedometer, milometer, bell, stand, etc. When I cycled to school, my friends were amazed by what they saw and lined up to have a ride!
I think the bike cost about Rs.
200.00. I used to cycle to school from my residence at Wellawatte, thereafter.
I used the bike after entering the Colombo Medical Faculty as well, for a few
more months.
I decided to write a long letter
to my father that if I had better transportation, I could devote more time to
my studies. My plan worked and I bought a Vespa scooter (4 Shri 955) for Rs
2050.00. In 1969. Petrol costs about Rs. 2.50 per gallon and I spent Rs . 5.00 per week on petrol. I continued to use it after joining the Colombo Medical
Faculty as a lecturer. In 1971, I bought a Triumph Herald car after selling the
Vespa scooter for Rs. 4000.00. The car cost me Rs. 10,000.00. When I went to
London in December 1971 on postgraduate study leave, I sold the car to Basil Abeysekera, whom I had met during the six-month course at the Science Faculty in 1961.
Basil entered the Peradeniya Faculty.
In London I bought a Ford Anglia
car for STG (Sterling) 60.00. Later I purchased a Vanden Plas car with luxury
fittings in the interior (wood panelling, picnic tables, snow tyres etc.).
When I returned home in December
1971, as car imports were restricted, I had to apply for a car permit from the
Central Bank. I had to submit evidence of my earnings abroad as well as all the
counterfoils of the cheques I had issued. It took one year for me to obtain the
permit. I had included a bicycle in my sea baggage and after it arrived I used
to cycle for work. As I used to arrive at the LRH in a bath of sweat and as
there were no facilities for a shower, I had to quit cycling and travel by bus.
During Mrs B's regime, only two
models of cars were available to choose from, a Toyota Corolla or a Nissan
Datsun; I opted for the latter. The car cost me about Rs. 60,000.00. After using
it for several years, I sold it for about Rs 80,000.00 and bought a Mitsubishi
Lancer for about Rs. 100,000.00. When I went on sabbatical leave to Saudi
Arabia in 1988, I sold it for a profit.
In Saudi Arabia, I purchased a Honda, which served me well. I drove from Al Khobar to Riyadh which was about 1000 km away, to visit the American Embassy to obtain visas to visit the US. After I returned to Galle in 1989, I bought a Mitsubishi Lancer Estate car. Later, after car permits were re-introduced, I purchased a Land Rover Freelander, which was the first SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) that I owned. Few years later I purchased a Honda CRV, which was a better vehicle. With the onset of the fuel crisis, I changed it to a Toyota CHR. As the queues for fuel became longer, I decided to buy an electric car, which was a Nissan Leaf. As I have installed solar panels at my residence in Gothami Lane Borella, the running costs are minimal. I travel to Ratnapura to teach students in the Toyota CHR and use the Nissan Leaf in Colombo. For the last several years I have had a resident chauffeur as I no longer enjoy driving at night.
Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya MBE
Hello Sanath
ReplyDeleteThank you for transporting us to your well written and nostalgic journey of personal transport. It is inextricably linked to the ebb and flow of our personal finances and the country’s economic policies. What stands out is your remarkable memory for detail.
All through medical school I was totally dependent on the CTB and the generosity of my friends for transport. I must mention Lucky Abey (Honda 50) , Revo Drahaman (BSA Bantam), Tilak Dayaratne (Moto Guzzi), Douglas Mulgirigama (Vespa) and DBM Collure (Vespa) who provided lifts, free of charge with some hair-raising moments on their two wheelers without the safety of helmets.
Perhaps I must include the cruising I did on a lorry with barrels of Toddy and Arrack on that eventful day of the Law-Medical. I have never travelled in a lorry thereafter. Honestly, I behaved impeccably as always!!! The coach journey on our final year trip I did let my hair down. I can still hear the strains of “the carnival is over” sung by Lucky Abey. Ah! Where have those years gone??
In retirement in London, I don’t own a car. I’m again dependent of public transport. The metro and the London Transport are excellent modes of transport in the big city. Further away to far distant locations I use the surface train service which is reasonably priced and is comfortable. The London Black Taxis and Uber are used on special occasions.
Many thanks for your most interesting post Sanath. I am sure all of us have “Graduation in transport” experiences which are fun to look back to. My first car was a two-tone (green/white) Triumph Herald which I bought from my elder bro when he left Sri Lanka (4 shri 3895 I think). My first car in the UK was also a Triumph Herald (154 OBP- Blue and white for £150! The first brand new car I bought was a blue Fiat 128 sport. Boy, was I proud of it! But cars came after becoming a doctor. Before that I was driven to school by my Cousin (Artie Aiya) who lived with us. Later I used Bicycles, for example at Royal and then at Med Fac. I used to cycle back from the Med Fac in a group consisting of Lubber Wijekoon, Chanaka Wijesekera and myself. I was living at Edward Lane, Kollupitiya at the time. I did use Public transport but not as a regular commuter.
ReplyDeleteI associate people with mode of transport. E.g., Prof Kotte/Audi, Earl Fonseka/ fancy 2 door Sports Car (was it an Austin Healey), Patchaya/Merc, Dawne De Silva/Holden, Sigar/Black Opel Rekord, Nana/ Lambretta, Bertie Nana, Satchi/BSA Bantam, Kari and Ranjit Damabawinna (MotoGuzzi), JC, Lucky, Viswesh, Easwaran K/ Honda 50, Patas and DBM Collure(Vespa), Russel Paul, HN, Jimmy Wicks/ Lamberetta and so on!
My memory of importing a car after returning to Sri Lanka in 1977 was not a pleasant experience. I imported a silver metallic Toyota Camry and the hassle of getting a permit and organising payment was awful. In general, the way the Health dept treated returning doctors left much to be desired. It took me months to get my proper pay and every time I went to a Govt Dept, I never felt welcome and never had anybody trying to help in a friendly manner with one exception- a clerk who, once he heard I was a Neurologist at Kandy, became very effusive and friendly and then asked me whether I could see his cousin who had a headache at one of my clinics!
Prof. Sanath, Your ability to recall the minutiae of this journey including prices of your purchases at this point in time is amazing . Hope your memory serves you well to eternity - Regards
ReplyDeleteMahendra, thank you very much for posting my article; thank you Mahendra, Nihal and Rohini for your comments especially regarding my memory. Quite often when I meet some of my former students after many years, I not only remember their names but their initials as well!
ReplyDeleteIn 1971, the MRCP (UK) Part 1 examination was held in Ceylon for the first time. The venue was the Lecture Theatre in the Administrative Block of the Faculty of Medicine ,Colombo. About 60 of us sat for the exam. Sharp at 2.00 pm a representative from the British Council (white Caucasian) dressed in a full suit, looked at his watch and opened the bundle of question papers. The timing was important because the identical paper was being released in other countries, worldwide. The paper consisted of 60 MCQs with a stem and five True/False responses, with negative marks for wrong answers. This happened to be the second occasion for me to answer a MCQ paper, the first being the ECFMG. The duration of the paper was for three hours. After about 90 minutes, one candidate who was also dressed in a full suit, left the hall. He was senior to us and I have not seen him since! After about another 30 minutes, I left the hall and I happened to be the second person to leave. Lots of others stared at me when I was leaving! Most certainly I did not attempt to answer all 300 questions, as negative marks were given for wrong answers.
The next morning I recollected all 300 questions, which I gave to the others who were sitting for it the following year. Later the billiards marker in the common room, got hold of the paper, cyclostyled it (no photocopiers at that time) and minted a lot of money by selling it to others who were sitting for the exam as there were no question banks at that time, When the results were released , more than 50% of us had passed ,including myself.
When I retired from Colombo on the 30th of September 2008, I was gifted a Festschrift by my junior colleagues. In an article contributed by Carlo Fonseka, he has referred to my memory power and called me a bank robber!
Dear Lama. you do have an amazing memory. i marvel at it each time when we meet, be it at social gatherings like our forever 62 lunches or at meetings like COMSAA executive meetings or SLMA meetings Your ability to recall cricket scores or jokes from the past or incidents during our life in the block are truly amazing
ReplyDeleteYour son Harshana the world's Scrabble champion must have an incredible memory. I wonder where he inherited it from!!
Thanks Lama for being our friend. i truly enjoy your company!! your ability to recall incidents from the past are absolutely amazing
Hi Lama, this is Suri
ReplyDeleteYour Blog entry Graduation in Transport made a very interesting read.
Your recollections of the details of the Price, date of purchase of the vehicles and their registration number is absolutely astounding! Your amazing gift of recollection must have been a terrific advantage in your studies, in school, in under graduate and post graduate studies.. While we poor mortals had to read a page over and over again to absorb the facts, a glance through would have been sufficient for you !!
Unlike you I have a real problem about remembering my car registration number. I remember once I was driving home from Kings College rather late , when there was a road block.The Police were asking every motorist for their car registration number, and what was in the boot of the car. They may have been trying to spot a stolen vehicle. When it came to my turn I started stammering an answer,when the cop spotted my Doctor Car Pass from Kings and he smiled and just waved me on .I was so relieved!!
You have obviously passed on your memory genes to Harshana.
Your recalling the MCQ paper is also great ! I sat for my part I of the FRCA in the UK, and as you say there were no memory banks those days, so coming home to Farnborough in the train from Queens Square, I jotted down as many questions as I could recall. Luckily I didn't need them cos I got through, but I passed them on the my Sri Lankan friends.
Lama do you have short term memories loss. ? It's such a pain not to remember if you've taken your medication for the day or where you have left your cell phone !
Lama
ReplyDeleteYou are great to remember the date of purchase, name of vehicle, the price and the registration number of all the vehicles you have purchased. I must admit that I cannot remember most of it.
I cannot imagine how you were able to remember all 300 MCQ questions next morning.
Your son Harshana must have inherited your memory power to become the Scrabble Champion.
Wishing you all the best.
Chira
Thank you very much Pram for your very complimentary remarks. There is absolutely no doubt that both of us have inherited these genes from my father. My father's parents had not been affluent and therefore he had left school after the JSC. He had studied at Christ Church College, Tangalle. He had been offered a place at St Joseph's College, Colombo, provided he became a Roman Catholic, which he had refused to do. He was mainly self-educated. He used to read the English newspapers very thoroughly, starting from the 1st column of the front page, to the last column of the last page. He always had a pocket dictionary with him so as to verify the meaning of new words. I remember him completing the crossword puzzles in the newspapers on a regular basis and posting these to his close friends.
ReplyDeleteHe sent my three elder sisters and myself to the university. My third sister retired as the Chief Pathologist of the General Hospital, Colombo. He never owned a car, but built a house at Wellawatte in 1940.I think my father got his priorities right.
Suriyakanthi, thank you very much for your very sincere sentimental remarks regarding our son Harshan and myself. My memory for past events is better than for recent events. One way of overcoming the problem is to get used to routine practices, such as leaving the car keys at the same place. By teaching students on a regular basis, my memory for academic matters is refreshed on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Chirasri for your complimentary comments. In my previous post, I have commented about inheriting my father's very valuable genes and passing these along to Harshan and not Harshana !
ReplyDeleteSanath
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post and an amazing memory; it's all in the genes.
The Billiard Marker had a lucrative practice, providing lecture notes and past exam questions to medical students for a fee.
During a ward class when the Prof asked a studious medical student what text book he read, the prompt reply was "Medicine by Prof Billy Marker.
Bora, thank you very much for your comment. I remember very well the story regarding the book by Billy Marker
ReplyDelete