SIR JOHN LOOKS BACK WITH PLEASURE
When the Secretary of our Souvenir Committee
wrote to Sir John Kotelawela, one of the oldest Royalist
coloursmen for his reminiscences of the Big Match, he received a
prompt but polite reply suggesting that his Captain Dr. G. W.
Karunaratne of Kandy would be the most suitable person. Sir John
was not aware that we had already written to Dr. Karunaratne but
was also keen on seeing in print a colourful personality and an
ex-Premier and above all a keen promoter of sport. As one who
has known Sir John quite well for over a third of a century, and
as Co-Chairman of the Joint Souvenir Committee, I undertook to
beard the lion in his den. It was not so courageous or rash an
exploit, as I meet Sir John frequently sea-bathing and at the
Colombo Airport Recreation Club of which he has been the
President from its inception and I have been a member of the
Board of Management and am still on the Board with a short
break.
When I met him at his residence at Kandawela on a Sunday
evening, we sat out in the spacious well-kept lawn; over cakes
and tea I drew him out gradually, the ale was to follow later.
He began in his bluff and hearty manner, "What have I to write
man? I can't remember anything worth writing about; besides, if
I were to write I would have hundreds of fellows writing to me."
Then sensing my determination, he obligingly took his mind back
to his school days. He said in 1914, he was about 16 or 17 years
old and trying for a place in the team. On the morning of the
Cricket Match against Wesley College, the First Eleven was as
usual having tea with the Principal, Mr. Hartley at his
residence. Quite unexpectedly, he inquired whether there was
anyone amongst us who was over 20 years old. There happened to
be one unfortunate, whose name Sir John could not remember.
"This boy was dropped from the team and I, who was first
reserve, got his place." "In fact, I had even to borrow his
blazer," said Sir John with a merry twinkle in his eye, but with
genuine regret for the fate of his team mate, whom he thought
was a Goonetilleke. "This is how I got into the team" said he
laughing heartily.
Finding him now in a reminiscent mood I refreshed his memory
with details of his team mates and their performances, from S.
S. Perera's "Fourscore Years And Ten 1879 - 1969," which I had
taken along with me. It all came back to him in a flash. He said
"In my first year Willie Karunaratne was Captain and R. Banajee
and R. G. de Silva were among the top scorers. Manlcam and
Thambirajah Saravanamuttu were in the Thomian team and 1 was
caught out by one of them in the first innings." He said
regretfully, "Oh yes, we lost that match."
He remembered playing under Banajee in the
match In 1915. As he was stepping out of the Pavilion to bat
somebody in the crowd shouted "Just Like Kaludodol." He could not
see the relevance of the remark at the time, but was most amused
when it dawned on him later on that it was a pun on his initials,
"J.L.K." He went on to say that it was usual for both teams to wind
up with a Buriyani feed at the Bombay Hotel in the Pettah. That
year, as a result of some provocation by some boisterous members of
the teams, the staff of the Hotel set upon them with poles and
sticks and threw them out on the street. Realizing that discretion
was the better part of valour, they beat a hasty retreat before the
school authorities or the Police could come on the scene.
If he had been in school the following year
1916 he would have captained the team, said Sir John. But as his
uncles, F. R. and D. S. Senanayake and the Kotelawelas had been
locked up in jails during the riots of August 1915, he had to leave
school and assume the responsibility of managing all the family
affairs. He later persuaded his uncles to send him to England where
he joined his old team mates Dr. Karunaratne and Dr. C. H.
Gunasekara. He entered Christ College, Cambridge and won his Cricket
Colours there. At that time the Indian Gymkhana was formed in
England, with the nephews of the famous Ranjit Singhi and the Nawab
of Pataudi being prominent members. Dr. C. H. Gunasekara and Sir
John had the distinction of playing for this prestigious Club. He
returned to Ceylon in 1919 and the rest is history.
Meanwhile the evening shadows had fallen and we
had moved into the bungalow. I was sipping Scotch and Soda while my
genial host drank Vichy water In the interests of his health. He
said he felt much fitter that way. Finally, as I was about to leave
he said, "There is nothing like organized sport and military
training to inculcate a sense of discipline. I am bequeathing
Kandawela for a Military Academy. I hope they maintain it well." May
he enjoy his health and retirement for many more years.
