A BEAUTY WITH BRAINS

by Sri Sangabo Corea

Sushila Gunasekera now Sushila Fernando, has been associated with beauty, roses and orchids. In sequence, beauty would come first because of her good looks and the fact that when she was single and Sushila Perera she was Miss Ceylon in 1961 and later built her illustrious career around luscious roses and orchids that earned for her fame as a highly respected horticulturist.

One has only to look back into the past to figure out how this happened at a time when women in general dared not venture into business. In Meegoda, for instance, the female of the species was confined to the home playing the role of a housewife and women in business was unthinkable !

Star performer

Sushila, was the 7th in a family of 8 girls and a boy. Her father Charlis Perera, was a landed proprietor and a businessman and the mother Eliza, was a simple housewife who devoted all her time looking after the family she was so proud of.

Charlis Perera, was a devout Sinhala Buddhist whose lifestyle was fashioned in keeping with his religious beliefs and the traditional Sinhala culture that ran threw the fabric of day to day living. Although he was a kind and understanding person no one dared to cross his path by breaking any of the rules that governed the Perera household.

When Charlis Perera was around his 8 children were flawless in their behaviour but the moment he was out the girls went to town celebrating their independence!

Of the 8 girls, the one who struck a close relationship with the father was Sushila because of her love for gardening, a habit she inherited through her father's love for planting.

She joined him in landscaping the garden and acquired a knowledge in manuring, watering and protecting every plant that was grown in the garden. The front garden had the flowery type while the backyard was full of selected vegetables. Both the front and back gardens were cared for with equal importance.

After a period of a combined effort the father and daughter decided to demarcate their individual plantations and put their skills to the test by competing with each other.

Obviously, the father wanted to motivate the daughter and give her the experience of facing stiff competition and emerging victorious. When it came to harvesting, the father conceded that the daughter was a clear winner and took pride in the fact that Sushila was blessed with "green fingers"!

Sushila, studied at Visaka Vidyalaya and the Principal, Mrs Pulimood labelled her as the "mischievous brat" because she was every inch a tomboy but still loveable in her ways. She excelled in studies and sports. In athletics she was a star performer both in the track and field events and was also a formidable swimmer and a tennis player.

She was outstanding in netball and captained the school team. By nature, she loved to try her hand at anything and everything and her determination to excel propelled her to the top. The trophies she won and still remain prominently displayed in her house is a testimony to her inborn talent in a variety of sports.

During one of her frequent visits to spend a few days with her sister Soma, she met Kirthi Sri Karunaratne, the well known fashion designer who was impressed with Sushila's striking good looks and pressurized her to take part in the Miss Working Girl Contest which she turned down knowing too well that participating in a beauty contest was tantamount to violating a cardinal rule that governed the Perera household.

Beauty contest were taboo for a daughter of Charlis Perera. Kirthi Sri Karunaratne however, did not give up and finally induced her to take part. When she won the contest and the pictures appeared in the newspapers Sushila's first deed for the day was to remove the pages before the father had access to them.

The mission was accomplished and Charlis Perera never knew that her daughter had been crowned Miss Working Girl ! Any person who did not know Sushila then will find it hard to believe that she had a thick head of hair that reached all the way down to her ankles, in a standing posture !

This gave added clout to her good looks and she was constantly requested to let her hair down for close friends and relatives to behold !!

Glamour world

With Sushila's initial exposure to the world of glamour and glitter she was pushed into modelling. Again, she parked herself at her sister's and walked the ramp with an air of confidence that she was visibly admired by the audience. More and more offers started coming and needless to say, the simple village girl from Meegoda began to enjoy every bit of the trappings that went with the fashion world !

Then came the Miss Ceylon Contest and although the anger of a conservative father was a threat she had the courage to defy and vie for the crown. When the moment of suspense came at the Galle Face Hotel on that D-Day in 1961 and she was on stage as one of the 3 Finalists, she was suddenly gripped by the fear that something terrible would happen if the father got to know that she was Miss Ceylon.

She started to pray to all the Gods she believed in to help her lose the contest and to give the crown to anyone of the two who were standing with her. When the master of ceremonies announced the second runner-up and it was not Sushila Perera she started praying with greater fervour to take the crown and the title away from her and give it to the contestant standing next to her.

When the first runner-up was announced and again it was not Sushila Perera she shut her eyes tight and all she visualised was the picture of an infuriated father standing at the entrance to the house with a gun in hand. In that brief moment while the first runner-up was sashed and applauded the new Miss Ceylon died a million times.

She felt her knees giving way and the butterflies in her stomach were criss-crossing and creating havoc to her system ! When she opened her eyes she realised that she had to come to grips with the reality that she had emerged victorious.

When her name was announced and there was a deafening applause she plucked up all the courage she could muster and walked to the edge of the stage displaying all the poise and elegance that should go with a beauty queen.Sushila was crowned Belle of the Year and the contestant who will represent Ceylon in the Miss World Contest to be held at the Waldorf Astoria in London.

With the taste of vistory there was also the fear of not knowing how the father would react to this turn of events. The next day her picture was splashed all over the front pages of all the newspapers.

It was crystal clear that the very thought of her daughter parading before a live audience was unforgiveable and if the father only knew that she also had to parade in a swimsuit it would have only provoked him to pull the trigger of the gun she had pictured him carrying ! The father, after cooling off released the funds to purchase Sushila's wardrobe.

At the Miss World Contest, out of 62 contestants Sushila came within the first 15 and apart from a load of expensive gifts and offers she received was a contract from Metro Goldwyn Mayer to appear in a Hollywood film. She turned this down on the advice of her sister and accepted instead an offer to be trained in Hair Dressing and Beauty Culture at the Richard Henry Academy in London.

She came first in all 12 tests conducted by the Academy and received the licence to operate as an Instructress in any part of the world. With so many attractive offers in the pipeline and a promising future assured, she received a desperate call from her sister in Sri Lanka informing her that the mother was seriously ill and requesting that she take the next flight home, which she did.

At the airport to greet her was the sister with the mother who was supposed to be "dying". She was furious that she had been tricked to return but shortly afterwards everything was forgotten. The father, greeted her with a warm welcome that was full of emotion, seeing his daughter after a long absence and affectionately referred to her as "rupa sundari" when the villagers came to see her.

From then onwards there was a flood of marriage proposals and after a process of elimination Gamini Gunasekera from Ambatale was accepted. Although the in-laws had different views about a beauty queen and a fashion model and frowned at the long and manicured finger nails, cutex, lipstick and mascara that were alien, within a few days they were surprised to discover that Sushila was an expert at milking cows, weaving mats, pounding rice, preparing kavum and kokis and everything else that went with village living.

Thereafter, she blended harmoniously with the in-laws and became a much loved integral part of the Gunasekera family. "It was Gamini who gave me the impetus to start the nursery and encouraged me in every way to forge ahead and make a success of this venture. He gave me a free hand to do it My Way". For giving her the initial support she is eternally grateful to Gamini.

Solid foundation

The next person she has to thank is Rohan Fernando, Finance Director of the Upali Group to whom she is now married. Being a wizard at figures he has guided her and shown her the way to find export markets and adhere to international standards adopting stringent quality control procedures and growing in the business.

His advice has in no small way shown her the mechanics of managing the finances efficiently. "He has certainly been a tower of strength to me" and gives him all the credit for introducing a new dimension to the business. Sushila, currently owns two well equipped nurseries, the orchid nursery in Kaduwela and the rose nursery in Lindula located in the Nuwara Eliya District.

Her business is built on a solid foundation of honestly and credibility. She does not serve her customers with any flowers that do not measure up to quality standards.

She proudly claims that together with Claire Adams, her manageress for the last 19 years, she has entrenched Supreme Orchid on a firm footing. Her daughter, Veena has inherited her love for the trade and is running her own business named Supreme Flora. "

We are not in competition" she insists on saying. "On the contrary we help each other whenever the occasion arises. My sons, Vajira and Sanka, will rise to any occasion when I need their assistance".

Sushila, is currently the President of the Orchid Circle of Ceylon which was founded in 1937. She has earned valuable foreign exchange exporting cut flowers and foliage mainly to Europe and the Middle East. As a grower, she uses her own flowers and has built up a loyal clientele she constantly keeps in touch with. Sushila's simplicity, her kindness and her caring nature are winning ways that have in no small way contributed to her success !