SARAS – THE MIGHTY SIX

by ECB Wijeyesinghe

Wherever two or three Mustangs gather together, the conversation naturally turns to Royal-Thomian giants of the past; and the names of the de Sarams, Gunasekeres, Saravanamuttus and others are recalled with a nostalgia which cynics may say are worthy of a better cause. Today, let us bring into focus one band of brothers that has, during the greater part of this century kept the blue-black and-blue flag flying. All of them were great sportsmen, all six-footers and, needless to say, they were all Thomians.

When Sir Andrew Caldecott set foot in Ceylon in 1 938 as the Governor of the colony, the first man to welcome him at the old passenger jetty opposite the GOH was Dr. Ratnajothi Saravanamuttu. He was the Mayor of Colombo, and the eldest of the fraternity that has made history in our bright little, tight little, island. When His Excellency went to the State Council to attend a special session and to be sworn in, Lady Caldecott was received by Dr. Saravanamuttu’s wife, who was then the only woman member of that august body.

That day also happened to be the day the MCC Test team was in Colombo on their way to Australia. A one-day match had been arranged to be played against All-Ceylon and the CCC ground was packed to overflowing. Sir Andrew, a great lover of sport, went to see the match.

As the Governor stepped into the pavilion he was received by P. Saravanamuttu, who was the president of the Ceylon Cricket Association. His Excellency then, as a matter of courtesy, went on to the field to greet the teams and, lo and behold, there was another Sara there to do the honours. It was S. Saravanamuttu (Tambiraja) who introduced the players because he was the captain of the All-Ceylon XI who were engaged in the big match that day.

Sir Andrew, a man with a keen sense of humour, who had heard of the family when he was in Malaya, is said to have remarked, “Ceylon seems to be made up of Saravanamuttus and a few other people.” But the most celebrated of the brothers, Manicam, was not in Ceylon at the time because he was in Penang, where he was destined to play a dramatic role when the Japanese steam-roller moved into the Malay peninsula.

MAYOR

Dr. (later Sir), Ratnajoti Saravanamuttu was the most popular medical practitioner in Colombo North 40 years ago and became the first elected Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council, after the British civil servants released their hold on the reins of local government. The absence of the communal virus was manifested by the fact that a Tamil was elected the first citizen of the island’s premier city by an assembly which was predominantly Sinhalese.

When Japanese bombs fell in Colombo on that fateful Easter Sunday in 1942, one of the men who kept up the morale of the city was Dr.Sara, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, the Civil Defence Commissioner, and banished alarm and despondency. In the chaos that followed the air raid, the port services were disorganized, but the Mayor put them back on an even keel and the food ships sailed in and out of Colombo harbour to feed the populace. That is probably one of the chief reasons why he was knighted.

FIGHTER

The doctor had a younger brother who became a proctor. He made his name at St.Thomas’ College, not owing to his cricket or academic achievements but for a fight that he waged under the shadow of the old Christ Church Cathedral (Gal Palliya) in Mutwal. At that time the boarding-house at STC was dominated by the sons and nephews of Kandyan chieftains, who came down from the hills and brought with them the fighting spirit of their forefathers. The leader of this brigade was A.H.E. Molamure, a cousin of Sir Francis Molamure, the first Speaker of the Ceylon Parliament. The Molamures are famous for their elephant kraals, and at St.Thomas’ the Saravanamuttu brothers, all of whom were like giants, looked like a good herd for a schoolboy kraal.

But the Saravanamuttus broke through the Molamure stockade and the resulting battle that ensued is still the subject of good-natured comment whenever old Thomians foregather. Warden Stone’s intervention brought the battle to a close with one of his characteristic admonitions, but inwardly feeling that the seed of Thomian grit which he had sown had not fallen on stony ground.

ACTOR

Of the six valiant brothers, the third was T.V. Saravanamuttu, who rose to be Excise Commissioner after joining the Department soon after he left school. He was a splendid specimen of manhood –tall, broad-shouldered and handsome. One of his handicaps in life was that he oozed sex-appeal. A lover of the arts. T.V. made drama his speciality, playing the lead in most of his productions. In the title role of “The Wandering Jew” he gave a virtuoso performance. T.V. was also the chairman of the committee that staged the gorgeous Pageant of Lanka when the Duke of Gloucester came to Ceylon in February 1948 to restore our freedom.

One great disappointment in T.V’s life was that he had no sons. When his fifth daughter in succession was born to him in the house in Kollupitiya now occupied by the Bible Society, he sat in gloomy silence on the verandah, until an old aunt approached him gingerly and said, “You are fond of girls, so God gives you girls.”

P. Saravanamuttu, whose name is commemorated in the beautiful stadium at Wanathamulla, is perhaps the best known of the brothers. He passed into the Civil Service and, owing to his unimpeachable integrity, Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake made him his trusted friend and confidante. He was president of the Ceylon Cricket Association for 14 years and the Sara Trophy will not allow his name to be forgotten. His foray into politics was unfortunate and he died a disappointed man after two unsuccessful efforts to enter the Ceylon Parliament. In short, he was not built to be a politician.

JOURNALIST

His younger brother, Manicam, was probably the most brilliant member of the family. A charming amalgam of brawn and brain, he won almost every worthwhile prize at STC, whether it was for mathematics, the classics or English. He capped his school career by securing the University scholarship. He went up to Oxford where he won the authentic colours in cricket. But that was his undoing where his University career was concerned. Manicam celebrated the occasion so well that he and a friend were spotted by a Varsity proctor staggering down the High and reported to his college authorities. His friend, being an English lad was “rusticated” for a term but Manicam was asked to go to a University “nearer home.” The letter that informed him that a passage on a Colombo-bound ship had been booked for him was signed by Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for the Colonies It is probably an heirloom now.

But Manicam could not be suppressed like that. He returned to Ceylon, joined the “Observer” as Sports Editor and made his mark. Later he proceeded to Penang, where he revived the “Straits Echo” and played a memorable role when the Japanese conquerors arrived.

Subsequently he was appointed Ceylon Commissioner in Singapore, where in a newspaper referendum he was chosen as the most popular personality in Malaysia and given a trip round the world. Manicam was “a fine sportsman, an able journalist, resourceful diplomat, a merry drinker, jovial but also serious minded.” That is how Malcom MacDonald described him.

The last of the Saras was the most distinguished cricketer in the family. Though he was the terror of Royalists he did not break any records in the Big Match. Once he scored a century in 18 minutes for S.T.C. against St.Anthony’s College, Kandy. On the old Tamil Union grounds in Campbell Park he hit 16 sixes that day and established a record that is not likely to be broken for a long time to come.

(Excerpted from The Good at their Best first published in 1979)