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| Sunday, 25 August 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Reminiscence of a Jamboree: 'Worth paying Rs. 50,000.00 to see Kannangara in shorts' - SWRD to NM In 1957, forty seven scouts, rovers and leaders perhaps the largest contingent that left the shores of Sri Lanka to attend a World Jamboree participated in this Jubilee under the very able leadership of Gate Mudliyar Lee Dassenaike - the Deputy Chief Commissioner at that time. The Deputy chief was keen on taking a unit of 32 scouts with 4 leaders. The National Headquarters had made an application to the then government of Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike for a special grant of Rs. 50,000.00 to enable the association to participate in this unique event. During the debate in Parliament Dr. N. M. Perera had very vehemently objected to this grant. The story goes that Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike on that occasion had quipped "I say N. M. it is worth paying Rs. 50,000.00 to see Kannangara in Shorts". Every one had a good laugh and the grant was approved. The uniform even for leaders at that time was khaki short sleeved shirt and shorts. Very many of the civil servants of that era were used to wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts with stocking and shoes to their office. we embark on the journey in early July that year the contingent paid a courtesy call on Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, the Chief Scout and a few days later amidst the pomp and pageantry of conch shells and magul bera with parents and well wishers of the Jamborites, we embarked on the journey on an Italian boat named "S.S. Sydney". It was a thrilling experience when the boat left the shores of the Colombo harbour, around midnight. I still remember my parents were not at all happy because I was going abroad without them for the first time. We did not get much sleep that night but we slept during the day. Our first stop was at Cochin Harbour, but we were not allowed to get out of the boat because of a chicken pox epidemic in town. The following day when we left Cochin harbour and entered the great Indian Ocean we started our misery. The boat started to rock and almost every one got sea sick. One of the Italian sailors got so annoyed with one of our boys because the latter had vomited on the floor, that he threatened in Italian to poke this boy's face in the sink close by. I could not stay in the cabin because I was so sick. One of the leaders who had paid the full Jamboree Fee of Rs. 3000.00 threatened to commit suicide attempting to jump through the port hole because he could not control his vomiting. This gentleman who later became a District Commissioner is still around. Someone suggested sleeping on the deck and that was a very useful remedy. But not so for Ramasamy from Galle who had continuous vomiting for a number of days. We took him to the ship's Hospital. There the Doctor told him "Ramasamy you very weak. You not eat, tomorrow you die" To our great surprise Ramasamy stopped his vomiting and started eating. After seven days of water all around us what an exciting sight to see land. Having gone through the Suez Canal where some Egyptian traders tried to entice us to buy a kind of medicine for prolonged sexual experience, we landed in Egypt. On land we saw mosques big and small, dark turban headed big men with slimy looks in long white robes which made us frightened, largely because it was night when we went ashore. Our next stop was Malta, where we saw boards at church entrances that men wearing shorts were not allowed in and we were all in shorts in our uniform. Eventually we landed in Naples, also at night. A member of the Sri Lankan High Commission was there to meet us. He had arranged 2 buses for the journey overland to Rome. When everyone had got into the 2 buses, there was no room for the entire lot of luggage. Our man from the embassy got us a van into which we loaded all the baggage and the Baggage Master was asked to travel with me. The driver of the van did not speak English and we did not know Italian. Naples Naples was a beautiful city at night. We stopped at a way side restaurant to buy our dinner. The cost of each dinner packet was ten thousand lires. The boys had a whale of a time thereafter talking in thousand and lakhs for their expenditure. IKG and I had the dinner in the van and then suddenly we realized that we had lost sight of the 2 buses. We began to get agitated. We tried our level best to communicate with the van driver but he did not understand a thing we were saying. We travelled a good distance like this. Finally the driver got mad himself at our behaviour and started shouting back at us loud as ever. We were both very worried and started talking to each other in Sinhalese. Where will this man take us? Will the man take us to our destination or will he take us down an alley somewhere and get rid of us. He had a van load of goods in those suite cases to benefit - not to mention the money that would have been there. The van stopped and we could see Army or Police personnel checking documents from vehicles ahead of us. The van driver said "Passports" and IKG and I looked at each other. We did not bargain for this. The passports were not with us. But the sight of the two buses and our Sri Lankan scouts a little distance away near a restaurant with the sign board "Expresso Coffee" relieved us. Mudliyar visibly concerned came to meet us. For the night we went to a campus in Rome and we slept the night there. In the morning 2 large buses that accommodated the contingent and the luggage were sent to us and were on our way to see St. Peter's Square, the Cathedral, the Coliseum, the different churches and chapels, the Gate Way to Rome and what not. We were unfortunate in that we could not have an audience with the Pope. Being summer the Pope was on holiday. At the end of the sight seeing trip we were dropped at the Rome Railway Station where Mr. Hulugalle, the then Sri Lankan Ambassador in Rome was there to meet us. A few words of niceties, and we were on the train to Calaigh. Boat trip from Calaigh to Dover and we were on English soil. We saw the white cliffs of Dover and from Dover by train to Victoria station in London. In addition to a few scouts officials there were a few personal friends at the station to meet us. Another hostel for the night after a fish and chips meal. The following morning by train to Birmingham in a special Jamboree Train, that carried nearly 2000 scouts from different parts of the world. On the platform at Birmingham Railway Station, we were asked to line up in fours to go on a road march to the Jamboree grounds in Sutton Coalfield. Our baggage which had to be labelled in different colours - Green for the Jamboree Red for the Moot and Yellow for the Indaba, had to be handed over to an official on the platform. Mudliyar as Contingent Leader was to lead the march through the streets of Birmingham to Sutton Coalfield Park. He was carrying a travelling bag which he did not want to part with. Someone politely told him to drop the bag in the heap of Sri Lankan luggage. Mudliyar didn't say a word. He waited till the man moved off, then he came to me in the middle of the platoon and said "Bring this with you. No one will notice it." opening of Jamboree We started to move and half way through the march a hulking big commissioner shouted at me saying "Don't you understand English, No bags to be carried on the march." He plucked the bag from me saying "This bag will be on your campsite when you get there." Though I was angry at the manner in which he took the bag from me, I accepted that it will be on the campsite. Next day was the official opening of the Jamboree. 35,000 scouts, leaders and rovers had to march past the dais where her Majesty the Queen, the Chief Scout of the Commonwealth and other high-ranking officials were. We were asked to line up outside our campsite and as the procession of scouts moved up from their different campsites we were to join the procession that would lead us to the arena for the opening. It must have been about 9 or 10 in the morning Mudliyar was not to be seen. He had gone to the Sub Camp Chief's tent to find out any news of the lost bag. He was in a foul mood when he came, by which I knew that there had been no news of the bag. Some of our boys were still having breakfast while some had lined up outside. Mudliyar came running because the procession was heading our way. Next thing we heard and saw was that plates went flying out of the kitchen and those who were having breakfast were nearly man handled. His sense of discipline was very high. After the official opening, people were trying to calm him down. Though I was the cause of all his misery, he would still listen to me when I said something. He knew I was equally sad about the whole affair. Then I told him "Sir, let us get to a telephone and inform Thomas Cooks in London about the loss." Thomas Cooks were our travel agent, who attended to our passports, the visas the boat tickets, the bus tickets, the train tickets, trips to various places of interest, sight seeing tours. They were all arranged by them. There were telephone booths all over the Jamboree site. While Mudliyar was telephoning, I was standing by outside the booth. Suddenly I spotted our "Thomas Cook" walking towards me. Senanayake from Matara one of the leaders of the Indaba could not pronounce Thomas Cook correctly. He could only say "Thomaas Cook". So we nick named him that, but what was significant was Senanayake was carrying with him the lost bag. I beckoned to Mudliyar. He dropped the receiver and in a jiffy was out of the booth and holding Senanayake by the waist. This was after the third day of the loss and Mudliyar thought that Senanayake had it with him all the time, but did not disclose it. "Thomas Cook" broke down and explained how he found this bag in a corner of their tent at the Indaba. We rushed to Walker, the sub camp chief and told him very embarrassingly that the bag was found at the Indaba. I did not forget to point out to Walker that though the bag was with Mudliyar's name and the green label, he should investigate how it went to the Indaba, which had all yellow labelled bags only. Mistakes could happen but the important thing was that the bag was found. Everyone forgot the whole episode after that. But Mudliyar, "Thomaaas Cook", Senanayake and I will not forget it. While at the jamboree we went to see a Gang Show in Birmingham for which we had bought tickets 6 months ahead. Both PSR and I were interested in the production of Gang shows in Sri Lanka and we were glad that we witnessed the spectacular event. What a massive stage show with huge number of scouts and leaders - both men and women, colourful costumes with appropriate lighting and sound systems. We picked up ideas for our own shows. There was rain with thunder after the show. We had to walk back in the rain. Next day's newspapers said that Birmingham had not experienced rain like that in the past. end of our stay in London The closing ceremony of the Jamboree held at night was another spectacular event with fireworks and lights. The singing of the Jamboree song and Auld Lang Syne and other marching songs with hearty cheers, yelled all round really moved the Jamborites. Scouts embracing each other, wishing good byes promising to meet again at future Jamboree was indeed emotional. Parting with Scouts of other countries with whom you had made friends during the Jamboree, was so difficult. At the end of our stay in London we took train first to Switzerland - Geneva, the United Nations Office, Lake Geneva with the fountain shorting very high in the middle of the lake were all interesting sights. I went to Nyon to see the parents of a Swiss friend of mine working at the Galle Face Hotel. Then we went to Kanderstag, the Swiss scout chalet up in the mountains. We also climbed the snow capped ice mountains where we saw a whole house with furniture, piano, fridge, cupboards all cut out of ice. We stayed 3 days in the chalet at Kanderstag on bunk beds, very much like the Christopher cabin at Pedro - but much colder. We went on a bus ride through Loussane, Berne and Basel. to Lourdes From Switzerland we moved on to France to gay Paree and the Pigale. At the Paris Railway station three of us Don, Herbert de Mel and I being Catholics decided to go to Lourdes. With a handbag each we took train to Lourdes through Lyo. We travelled overnight and landed in Lourdes in the morning. We had breakfast at a restaurant. For breakfast they gave us a long piece of bread and a soup cup of thick black coffee. We walked around, went to the shrine bathed in holy water from the springs and took holy water from the sprouts to take home. We were there till afternoon when we saw a beautiful sight of patients being brought from the nearby hospital in crutches, some in beds, others in wheel chairs and some walking with the assistance of relatives and attendants. They all had lit candles in their hands and were singing Ave, Ave, Maria - Prayers for the sick concluded we went back to Paris. On the way back we stopped at Gibraltar and Aden. When we came ashore in Colombo it was night. It would be of interest to record here that while a few paid the full Jamboree fee of Rs. 3,000 each, I did this entire trip for only Rs. 800 and Mr. D. Manamperi a Rover did it for only Rs. 300. Others paid different amounts and the Scout Association paid the balance. |
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