By Anura Gunasekera

Big matches come and go; today they are numerous but the Royal-Thomian, the first of its kind in this country, stands apart as an eternal metaphor for tradition, style, charm, excitement and unpredictability. No other sporting encounter in the country, not even an international event, generates the passionate rivalry, the limitless appeal, the widespread social enthusiasm, the Bacchic revelry or the fervent anticipation, as does the battle between these two tribes. This writer does not mean any offence to other schools or to other sporting encounters, but does not see the need to entertain a dissenting view.

The match ceased to be a mere sporting event many decades ago. It has become a microcosm of the passage of life, mirroring the broader human experience. Over the decades it has shaped a generational continuity, with a new group stepping in to continue the tradition, an honoured legacy, as one generation exits. It fosters growth and change, whilst remaining anchored to a revered tradition rooted, albeit, in a colonial past. As much as individuals inherit legacies, values and expectations from their families and communities, the match has fostered a tradition which has remained a constant for one-and-a-half centuries.

The fact that its original spirit is still very much alive, despite the social and national changes which have evolved around it, and that its founding concept has been embraced and emulated by so many other schools, is testament to its relevance to life today, notwithstanding its antiquity, and its genesis in a British-imposed elitism and exclusivity- the latter an accusation frequently levelled against the event and the institutions which generate it. The Sri Lanka of today is unrecognizably different from the colonial Ceylon which birthed the Royal-Thomian, but that encounter remains the same, as it was 146 years ago. The actors, the locations , the institutions and the scope of the event have changed, but the founding spirit is untouched.

This iconic encounter has come to symbolize healthy competition, nourishing rivalry, the value of determination, preparation and team-work and the will-to-win, but all within an inviolable framework of fair play and sportsmanship. It respects history whilst enriching it with each successive encounter, finding ways, through exceptional individual and team performances , to contribute to and enhance an ongoing fable. It fosters a sense of belonging and pride, not just for individuals but for the larger community. It is no longer the exclusive property of the Royal-Thomian tribesmen but has embraced a massive extended family of supporters, aficionados, enthusiasts and well-wishers. It has become an inclusive feast.

The encounter teaches that despite differences and challenges, unity and collaboration from both competing parties are essential for success and growth. As in life, for both teams there is immense pressure to perform and to succeed in what is a high-stakes encounter, to meet the expectations of a society which has grown around it, and formed special identities linked to the competition- family, school, culture and country.

The match, in essence, is a cauldron which shapes triumph and failure, the joy of victory and the anguish of defeat, and the ability to accept both with grace and equanimity, coupled with the determination to make amends at the next encounter. It reflects the eternal truths of the human experience, that life is not always kind, that nature is not always fair, that despite your best efforts the other side will sometimes do better, even if it is not the best equipped or the more fancied. To use a highly over-used cliché, ” the race is not always to the swift”, and cricket proves it time and time again.

The 146th edition of this celebrated encounter reflected, in a multitude of ways, all the contradictions and commonalities described above.

STC, after winning the toss, sent Royal, the pre-match favourites, in to bat, on what appeared to be a typically friendly and placid SSC wicket. After an initial stutter which seemed to justify a risky decision by STC, Royal settled down and went on to post an imposing 319/7. Rehan Pieris crafted a majestic 158, watched reflectively, from the comfort of the “Mustangs” enclosure, by Ronald Reid, a batting genius of a different era, who compiled the identical score for STC in 1956. In doing so he erased the previous Royal-Thomian batting record of 151 by Norman Siebel of STC, established in 1936.

The writer, who, as a ten year old Thomian watched the Reid enterprise, can now claim the privilege of having seen two brilliant performances, separated from each other by a distance of 69 years; the quality in both so similar, despite the first being an elegant left-hander and the recent edition from an aggressive right-hander, that it was like being in a time-warp.

STC, undeterred by the mountain of runs confronting them, produced a decent response of their own. Dineth Goonewardene, with an excellent century- the first by a Thomian since 2016- scored at a brisk rate, made a major contribution. Royal, in their second essay , seemed very much in control with all features pointing to a comfortable draw, when the unpredictability of cricket reared its menacing head; out of the humid and burning-hot ether, Darien Diego, bowling a steady, but unthreatening line and length all afternoon, suddenly produced the feared hat-trick; according to statisticians only the third by a Thomian in the history of the series. Royal, perhaps compelled, and perhaps slightly befuddled, by the unexpected reversal of fortune, made what was a challenging but sporting declaration, throwing down the gauntlet, as it were.

The target of 233 in 42 overs was daunting but given some measured adventurism, not unattainable. STC did exactly that, achieving it with an over to spare. Jaden Amaraweera and Mithila Charles provided early stability at the top with calculated but quick accumulation and Sadev Soysa, in the middle, with a short but fiery knock, reduced a demanding run-rate to manageable proportions.

One outstanding feature of the Thomian victory was the nerveless batting of 15 year old newcomer, Reshon Solomon, a somewhat disputed inclusion in the team, at the expense of coloursman Abeeth Paranawidana. Solomon, despite having had only two previous outings and both in friendly matches, justified his selection for the big stage with a brilliant half-century, scored alongside the first innings centurion, Goonewardane, matching the latter shot-for-shot. The pair batted with such composure that a seemingly elusive target soon became a certainty.

Irrespective of the reasons which prompted it, the early declaration by Royal made a decision possible. One must not forget that losing three batsmen in three deliveries and with two wickets left, they could have, quite justifiably, opted for the safer option of batting till the end and closing down the game. Royal obviously declared with a different result in mind but cricket is capricious, which is also a feature of its allure.

This writer first attended the Royal-Thomian in 1955, and has witnessed all the matches since, barring a brief hiatus in the early 19-seventies. Memories of individual matches, however exciting, are now vague though, the details lost in the fog of excessive merriment, generated in exclusive but boisterous enclosures like the “Colts”, “Stallions” and, latterly, the more sedate “Mustangs”. However, one Thomian victory which still remains indelible in memory is that of 1964, when STC, under the late Premalal Goonesekera, clinched victory in a nail-biting finish, providing a decision after ten consecutive drawn matches ( ’54-’63). That match is also remembered for Sarath Seneviratne’s brilliant 96, breaking Thomian hearts by falling short of a century, a tragedy he re-enacted in the very next Royal-Thomian as well, losing his wicket at 97. In a parody of fame, Sarath is recalled more often by Thomians for the centuries that he failed to score, than are other batsmen who actually did.

The 2025 Thomian victory too will similarly remain in the writer’s memory, for the much shorter lease of life now left to him. But more than the Thomian win, which will eventually become a statistic, the unforgettable feature of the game was the generous spirit, the fierce but fair competition, and the genuine respect which the competitors displayed towards each other. Those are life-lessons, far more important than the end-result, for all to take away, emulate and cherish.

The 97^th Academy Awards ceremony presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, LA. A total 23 awards popularly named Oscars were presented to selected actors and films of those released in 2024. Doubt existed about holding the ceremony live or on-line since forest fires were into Hollywood itself and calling for stars to vacate their homes.

An article on Merle Oberon sent me finding facts about a notion I had that the Academy came in for criticism as being racist; only white stars were nominated for awards ignoring Black Americans and actors of other races like Indian. In the early years of Hollywood, actors who had foreign blood flowing in their arteries hid this fact assiduously. If even suspected, they would be suspended from stardom.

Merle Oberon (1911-1979, born Estella Merle O’Brian Thompson) was an acclaimed star in Hollywood from 1934, starting her acting career in silent films and moving on with great effort and painstaking training to look like and speak like an American. She used bleach heavily to lighten her skin. After her origins were known, she was recognized as Hollywood’s first South Asian star. Sri Lanka or rather Ceylon has a claim here, since Merle’s grandmother was born in Ceylon, a Burgher, it is said.

Charlotte Selby, born in Ceylon, moved to Bombay and married an Anglo-Irish tea plantation foreman. Her daughter, Constance Selby, was raped by her stepfather, the foreman, when just 14 and gave birth to a child – Merle – who was brought up by her grandmother Charlotte Selby. Her biological mother was to the world her older sister. When the child was three, the family moved to Calcutta. There Merle won a scholarship to an upper grade private school.

It was known she was of mixed racial birth – an Anglo-Indian – looked down upon by both the British and Indians. Merle was unhappy and took refuge in watching movies. In 1939, an English jockey she was in a relationship with, offered her the opportunity to migrate to England; thus on the pretext of being married to him, Merle moved to London. There she met Hungarian film person Alexander Korda, who promoted her entry into acting. She married him later.

A rising star, she moved to the US in 1934. Samuel Goldwyn spotted and promoted her.

She was nominated for an Oscar the next year for her stellar role in The Dark Angel but lost to Bette Davies. The racial prejudice was worse in Hollywood than in Britain, so Merle had to be extra watchful and diligent in hiding her South Asian origins. Apart from central government rules against immigration and bias against migrants, Hollywood followed the Hays Code which declared inter-racial marriage, sex as crimes. Merle invented she was born in Tasmania and thus untainted white.

Doubts and rumours surfaced about her non-whiteness in spite of her face appearing white with heavy bleaching; her learning to speak Americanese and cameras specially designed to film her which showed her skin to be fairer, she felt under threat until conditions eased. The truth about her parents was revealed publicly with the publication of Charles Higham and Roy Moseley’s 1983 biography Princess Merle. Earlier when her nephew, Samuel Korda,

wanted to write her biography, she threatened to sue him and cut him out of her will. She died of a stroke at age 68 with her secret not publicly punctured.

All white Oscars invaded by colour

Even after the likes of Merle Oberon, racial prejudice was severe. The first coloured actor to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of the loyal nanny in the O’Hara family who tightened daughter Scarlett’s corset strings to near-non-breathing tightness in the 1940 film Gone with the Wind. There was uproar and objection to an African American, then called Black, winning an Academy Award alongside Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

McDaniel was a singer and film and theatre actor who suffered intense racial discrimination throughout her career. Atlanta held the premier of the film since its author Margaret Mitchel lived and wrote in Atlanta. Hattie was debarred from attending the all-white premier. At the Oscars ceremony in LA, she had to sit at a segregated table at the side of the room. She gave her reason for suffering these indignities: “I can be a maid for $7 a week. Or I can play a maid for $700 a week.”

She faced discrimination even within the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) whose leader, Walter Francis White, looked down on her and other actors as “Playing the clown before the camera.” However it did force Hollywood to give more opportunities to African Americans in film roles. More help was given, probably, by outstanding stars of the likes of Sydney Poitier.

In 2016, after another all-white set of acting nominations, the #OscarsSoWhite protest movement gained global attention. Yet, the next two years also saw all Oscars being awarded to white actors. Things improved after that: more non-whites winning acting awards but also for other sections like Best Director. Mira Nair was nominated for her direction of the films Namesake and Mississippi Masala and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film Salaam Bombay in 1989.

Non-White stars

Plenty in this category and increasing. I will however write about two of them.

Sir Ben Kingsley

was born in Snainton near Scarborough in Yorkshire to a Gujerati father from Jamnagar and an English mother, in 1943, and named Krishna Pandit Bhanji. Within five decades of his acting career he received accolades and awards including Oscars, Bafta, Golden Globe, Grammy and Primetime Emmy. He won one Academy Award and was nominated for three more and the Britannia Award in 2013. He was honoured by the Queen by being appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for his service to the British film industry.

Kingsley began his acting career by joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and continued in it for the next 15 years. The year he joined he acted in As You Like It and subsequently acted in many Shakespeare plays He was also into television roles.

The role he is best known for is Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s feature film Gandhi (1982). Those who saw it were suitably stunned by the close resemblance between the real Gandhi and Ben Kingsley portraying him. What I remember best are the actor’s eyes, deep and shiny showing great kindness, humility and determination too.

The film won eight Oscars including Best Actor; Best Director, Best Picture, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design and Best Screenplay. It was also named by the British Film Institute the 34^th greatest British film in the 20^th century.

Incidentally the highest number of Oscars won in a year – 11 – are shared by three films: Ben Hur 1959; The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 2003; Titanic 1997. West Side Story 1961 won ten Oscars. Two films won nine each: The Last Emperor 1987 and The English Patient 1996. Five films that won eight Oscars each are Slumdog Millionniare, My Fair Lady, Gandhi, From Here to Eternity, Cabaret.

Moving to the now, I include among Indian stars who have made their mark worldwide – Frieda Selena Pinto. Born in 1984 to Catholic parents from Mangalore, Karnataka, she was raised in Mumbai and schooled at St Xaviers’. Her mother was the principal of a school in West Mumbai and her father a senior branch manager for the Bank of Vadga in Bandra, West Bengal. Frieda was determined from a young age to be an actor. She turned model for two and a half years and appeared in many TV ads for products like Wrigley’s Chewing Gum. Promoted to Television producer, she visited many countries. Then she got the boost she needed to fulfill her dream: acting. She was selected to play the female lead role in the 2008 production of Slumdog Millionaire opposite Dev Patel who was selected in Britain as he was already in films. Slumdog … was directed by Danny Boyle and filmed in India, much of it in the Juhu slums which is its backdrop. It swept the awards board: Oscar, Bafta et al.

In 2020 Frieda starred as Usha Bala Chilakuri, Stanford law student and special girl friend of JD Vance, the film being about his life until he enters politics. I watched Hillbilly Elegy (2020), much about the Vice President’s mother’s battle with addiction to drugs and was struck by how closely Frieda resembled the young Mrs Vance; notwithstanding film make-up. Frieda is still very much in films, seeking roles in both Hollywood and Bollywood.

Lessons from my career: synthesizing managementtheory with practice Part 7

Fitting into a New Culture

There was a massive contrast in the managerial style at the Tyre Corporation compared with my experience at State Engineering Corporation. At Tyre, the top management was more elitist, many of whom had come from the private sector at the start of the Corporation. Most of them were bridge players and would engage in bridge during the lunch break. Even the middle management was more polite and disciplined and would greet each other politely every morning. Phrases such as “please,” “thank you,” and “may I” were frequently used.

In contrast, I recall the time at State Engineering when we would send notes to others and often to the Administration. I would use very polite language; it was seen as unusual behaviour. Once, the Chief Clerk told me, “Your notes are so polite, your language so kind”. So, in a way, I was more at “home” at the Tyre Corporation. I wasn’t a bridge player and hated card games, so getting “accepted” to the elite group took me a while. This was a good lesson on how culture differs vastly from organisation to organisation and how one needs to fit in.

Everything at this Corporation ran smoothly, and the management was more relaxed. In contrast, at State Engineering, it was always a crisis or fire fighting. Initially, while studying each factory unit to understand the process, I also wanted to collect statistics for the past 10 years. Naturally, this meant going to different departments and collecting data, which I would analyse and compile later. Some had watched my bubbling energy in this exercise, and one manager even told me, “No one works so hard here, so just relax”. Thereafter, I decided to be more discreet so as not to engage the wrath of my peers and bosses. I had to fit into the culture.

bias cutting

The performance-based financial incentive scheme

As the Industrial Engineer, my most important responsibility was administering the “Performance Based Incentive Scheme”. Although I had studied financial and non-financial incentive schemes in theory, it was my first experience handling one so complex. My boss, who had a master’s degree in Industrial Management, was the master who had formulated the scheme. I realised how robust the scheme was. Every year, the scheme was reviewed and improved in such a way that the new targets were more stringent in quality standards, higher in productivity, better in safety, higher in machine utilisation, lower in waste and rejects and higher in morale. It was meant to drive performance forever upwards.

Even the administration units were kept on their toes with document flow targets and penalties. The whole system worked with clockwork precision. There was no need to even remind people about deadlines because the penalties for delays were automatic. Even in my subsequent positions in the public or private sector, I never came across any incentive scheme that was more comprehensive than this. Being responsible for administering and improving it, I was very keen to understand the reaction of the workers to any amendments.

Every time a change was made, I would send my faithful peon to the canteen to find what comments were made about the changes. Thereafter, I would visit each section to explain further and clarify their concerns. Adequate communication was paramount without leaving a vacuum for mischief makers and saboteurs to capitalise on.

The new MIS with Japanese expertise

I was fortunate to be involved in an experimental Management Information System (MIS) developed by Japanese experts as a model for Sri Lanka. I believe it was an Asian Productivity Organisation project. The Tyre Corporation was selected as the experimental source for the model because of a recommendation by the Ministry as a well-managed Corporation. The developed model was presented at a workshop to improve the performance of the entire manufacturing sector of Sri Lanka. The Tyre Corporation decided to modify it slightly and use it as a standard MIS. We called it the “The Action Oriented Performance Evaluation & Feedback Report”.

The name is self-explanatory. It would analyse the previous 24-hour production daily, analyse the losses of capacity utilisation and rejects, calculate the loss of contribution to the organisation, loss of incentives and recommend remedial action. This was an eye-opener to many heads of units who were determined to achieve better performance in their own units. Of course, some would disagree with me on the “recommended remedial action”. However, this new MIS scheme became a significant performance improvement factor.

Compound making

Collaboration with BF Goodrich of USA

In 1979 following the new policies of the new government the Corporation signed a technical collaboration agreement with BF Goodrich of USA, a giant tyre manufacturer with factories in many parts of the world. We would retain the Kelani trade mark, but the branding would say something like “in technical collaboration with BF Goodrich”. I had to work with the BF Goodrich agent in preparing the “Inter-firm Comparison report”.

This was my first experience with a comprehensive international inter-firm comparison. My task was to calculate the performance indicators and ratios and submit them. These were then telexed to the BF Goodrich Headquarters. Later in the month, we would receive, by post, the International Comparison Report, a table of performance indicators of all the factories in which BFG was involved. I remember the BF Goodrich agent asking me to compare our performance only with Peru, the Philippines, and Portugal. If you compare with more advanced countries such as Japan, you will get very depressed, he said.

Even looking at Peru, the Philippines and Portugal, I was depressed because we came out badly. The Tyre Corporatioj was a very profitable and well-managed corporation, but there were several areas where we performed below the others. There was a separate report called “Pounds Per Man-hour”, which indicated that our labour productivity in each process was found to be very low. After analysing these reports, we prioritised the action we could take immediately.

An example was our high consumption of compressed air compared with the production of tyre kilograms, which was found to be well above other countries. When I studied why it was so, I discovered that the workers constantly used many compressed air outlets in the factory to dry themselves by inserting the compressed air hose inside their shirts and drying themselves. This was a very common feature. In addition, there were several unattended leaks.

However, perhaps the most interesting use of compressed air was cleaning suede shoes, which was a fashion then. Even I was guilty of it. Almost everyone in the office wearing suede shoes would use compressed air to clean their shoes daily. There was no doubt that compressed air was the most effective method to clean suede shoes. These extra compressed air outlets were closed, leaks were repaired, and other modifications were made, so we were finally similar to the different factories regarding compressed air consumption per kg of tyres.

Storage of tyres

Similarly, many inferior performances were gradually remedied, and we came close to the comparative performance of Peru, the Philippines and Portugal. Unfortunately, the low labour productivity would not improve because over-staffing was not within the control of the management. The Board of Directors decided that the solution was to stop subscribing to the “Pounds Per Man Hour Report” as it would give a negative message to prospective investors.

Even then, I argued that with our low labour wages, where direct labour was only around 10% of the cost of production, we need not have worried. Rather than being a frog in the well, the Inter-firm Comparison opened our eyes to the practices of better companies outside.

The liberalised economy and a new culture

In July 1977, a new Government took over with a landslide victory, and the economy was liberalised. A new Chairman, Mr Justin Dias, arrived. He was a very dynamic person and was also hands-on. The top management initially found this new management culture very unsettling. Earlier, they were the decision-makers and handled all operational matters. The “new norm” was somewhat irritating.

It was a far cry from the D G Dayaratne style. Where Dayaratne hardly crossed the factory gate, Justin Dias would walk through the factory several times a day initially. He did not believe in the hierarchy and engaged with workers directly. He was effective ultimately, and the performance of the organisation improved. Still, for many people, the culture change took some time to digest.

The new open economy created new challenges and also some benefits. I was involved in an exercise to design a new finished goods storage facility with optimum space utilisation because our production was more than the sales. With the economy’s opening, the demand surged, and we were selling up to the previous day’s output, eliminating the need for more storage. The influx of the hi-ace vans with a small rim size caught us by surprise. It took a year to design and test this new size before releasing it. The earlier method of designing new tyre sizes based on the statistics of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles wouldn’t work in this situation.

The workers’ aspirations also changed. Senior officers bought new cars, and motorcycles came in. Milo, Ovaltine, and similar imported products were selling like hotcakes from the Welfare Shop. All this ultimately led to higher demand for pay and incentives when the workers’ standard of life improved.

The next episode will feature my life-changing course in Japan.

Sunil G Wijesinha

(Consultant on Productivity and Japanese Management Techniques

Retired Chairman/Director of several Listed and Unlisted companies.

Awardee of the APO Regional Award for promoting Productivity in the Asia and Pacific Region

Recipient of the “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays” from the Government of Japan.

He can be contacted through email at: bizex.seminarsandconsulting@gmail.com)