Darling we aren't too old, though we pass the Jubilee Gold

A double life

with 'Theodolite' and Beatrice :

by Lakmal Welabada

Little Yashodini Madara hugs her great-grandparents one after the other. The two-and-half-year-old would then try to help her Seeya Pappa to move as he walks with the help of his walker.

Other than the slight difficulty in his legs, Wijendranesthrige Henry Nelson Costa has no other ailment to complain of. Dr. Roshini Perera, Physician of Ragama Hospital says that this century-old-man has the heart beat of a 20-year-old. No diabetis!

No so called blood pressure! Just nothing! Touch Gold and Touch Wood! He is enjoying this great fortune. Hundred years not out with good health and a happy marriage! Wow, how great! This is his story.

Nelson retired as the Chief Artificer of the Survey Department after rendering an immense service to the nation for 33 years, from 1935, to 1967.

"I lead a double life," he laughs. "Oh, oh! don't mistake me. I spent my life mainly on two lines; with Theodolites, and with Beatrice. Theodolite is an instrument the Surveyors use for survey measurements.

And Beatrice is my wife," he laughs. Little Yashodini joins him not knowing what Seeya Pappa is talking about. Many years will take her to realise the logic hidden in his joke. She tries to jump on to the window sill.

Seeing this Nelson recalls his past, how he climbed up and down 180 steps at the clock tower to wind it at Chatham Street twice a week every Wednesday and Saturday before 9 o'clock in the morning.

"I could see the whole Indian Ocean, Colombo city and the many mountains against the eastern sky. It was a very lovely sight in the morning," he remembers. Handling the two 'big Bens' at Chatham Street and at the office room of the Governor at the Queen's House were the two duties entrusted to him and he engaged in this continuously from 1940 to 1960.

"Unlike today those days wrist watches, wall clocks and radios were a rarity. And there weren't that much places to get the accurate time as everything was manual unlike the fast and frequent digital technology of today," recalls the old Artificer.

Born on October 29 in 1906 to W. Romeal Costa, and W. Roslene Akmeemana at Kotahena, Nelson, the eldest of three younger sisters had a childhood filled with joy. "Unlike today, children were not forced to go to school at the age of 3 years.

Seven or nine years would be the time to enter school. So I was nine years when I entered school. I studied at the Society for the Proposal of Gospel (SPG School) at Kotahena. At present it is called Cathedral School, Kotahena. I was there up to the 8th Standard," he says.

From his childhood Nelson loved tiny hard things like pieces of wires, nuts, bolts and buttons. After leaving the school his father thought the best place for his son would be the PWD (Public Works Department or popularly known as the Government factory).

"The work was interesting. I joined as a mechanist on April 23 in 1923. It was at Norris Road, Colombo 1 (now Olcott Mawatha), and I used to cycle from Kotahena, my home to the working place.

We handled mainly the repairing jobs in things like heavy drilling machines. The thirteen years of mine spent there provided me many experiences which later helped me immensely to build up my career at the Surveyor Department," he recollects.

Nelson joined the Surveyor Department as an assistant mechanic on June 1 in 1935. "I went up to being the Chief Artificer and when I retired I was assisting Mr. O. H. F. Peiris, the Superintendent of the Surveyors," he says. "I must state about Mr. E. H. Tabor, my Guru in the Surveyors. He taught me about every nut and bolt of a Theodolite, precise levels, survey measuring chains etc." he smiles.

Talking about his love for the other 'Theodolite' he says, "My uncle Edwin Costa accompanied me to his relative's place at Kandana one day. Beatrice was there. Until they introduced me to her I did not know my uncle's plan.

She was slim and had long hair. Just very pretty! I felt she would be the perfect partner for me. I just felt. And so I was right," he grins. "And tell you frankly she was the 40th girl friend or proposal I either got involved or went to see, heh! heh! heh!," he laughs.

"I had a crush with my first cousin," says Mary Beatrice de Costa (He is Costa and her maiden name was de Costa - a perfect match, indeed!). "My parents and relatives were dead against it as we were blood cousins. It was hard for me, but I had no other choice other than agreeing to them.

And Nelson's proposal came in between, and my elders were almost forcing me to go ahead with it," she reminisces. "Our wedding took place after a very short time after our first meeting as my elders were too worried about me and my crush with my cousin. They might have thought I would take a stubborn decision," she laughs.

Marry Beatrice de Costa was born on May 11, 1924 at Kandana as the third in a family of one brother and three sisters.

Thomas Raymond de Costa, school building inspector and Sera Angeline Abeyratne of Kandana were her parents. Beatrice started schooling at St. Sebestian Convent, Kandana and ended at Ave Maria Convent, Negombo where her aunty was the Sister Superior. The convent disciplined lass had been a well obedient daughter and gave her consent to take the hand of the groom proposed to her.

The wedding of Nelson and Beatrice took place at St. Sebestian Church, Kandana on January 31 in 1945. Beatrice was bewildered. "How am I going to live with a stranger for the rest of my life?" she thought. "Oh, God! give me strength, wisdom and patience to live with him," she prayed continuously since she made up her mind to marry Nelson.

They spent a few days at the Ja-Ela Rest House, and then went to Kotahena, his house.

"My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were gems. For the first time in my life I felt I was blessed. My prayers were answered. And he was the most compassionate husband a woman would ever expect to have....and..," she tries to continue. "..And from the very first day of the Honeymoon itself she realised what a wonderful man he was," butts in their son-in-law, Victor de Mel.

Nelson has faint memories of World War 1 in 1914, but remembers well World War 11 in 1942. "During the Second World War I was a member of the A. R. P. (Air Raid Precaution), a voluntary organisation.

Our duty was to help victims who suffered from air raids. I saw so many Japanese Jet planes flying in the Sri Lankan sky who apparently bombed the lunatic asylum at Angoda where several patients were killed on the spot. Unlike today in the 1940s bombs and killings were very rare and was a headline story".

There's a very special thing that Nelson mentions of his career. "Cob-webs! We used cob-webs for our surveys," he recollects. "You know, there were no accurate machines to cut the diaphragm and mark the centre cross of the Theodolite.

To come over this difficulty we got a special spider cob-web. I reared this spider in my backyard, and collected the cob-web from this spiders which contained some sort of adhesive gum. Whenever we repaired the lenses and marked the centre cross line I used to paste a cross on the lens manually.

It should be a neat job. A tiny decimal error would give wrong measurement to acres and acres. This old conventional method was carried out by the Survey General's Department at that time. The credit of this method should go to Mr. G. H. Tabor who was my master. He gave me all his knowledge and guidance to succeed in my career and to improve my skills," explains the Artificer.

"He loves music. Though he couldn't play, Tabla and Serpina were the main music instruments played at our place. Every pay day and weekends were filled with parties. He had a set of friends who chucked in for them, and it was they who played the music," recollects Beatrice with a smile.

"And cricket is his other craze. He still bats and backs the Sri Lankan Team sitting in front of the TV. No matter how long he has to sit there, he won't get up until it finishes. And then he gets up asking, 'when is the next match'. He is a marvellous guy though he has crossed the century boarders," laughs Victor, Nelson's best son-in-law.

"My first pay at the PWD was Rs. 1.72. And at the Survey Department it began with this amount and went up by every five years and I got Rs. 350 monthly by the time of my retirement as the Chief Artificer in 1967," recalls Nelson.

"He used to give me Rs,3 every morning before he set off to work for daily expenditure. It was he who prepared tea in the morning for us. He helped me in everything in the home front.

Unlike the common in-laws who could not stand with their 'son' or 'brother' helping his wife, my in-laws were encouraging this. Sometimes, my mother-in-law used to ask us to go for a walk or a movie, and she looked after our kids during our absence. She was a wonderful mother!" says Beatrice.

Nelson and Beatrice were the patrons of the feast at St.Francis Xaviour's Church, Waikkala, Negombo for 30 years until. Five years back they handed over the holy feast to the villagers on their request. "His dream is to get a life size statue of St. Francis Xaviour from Italy, and renovate this old church. He wants to spend his money for this. So we are trying to fulfil it for him very soon," advocates Victor.

Nelson and Beatrice were blessed with two daughters and two sons. Their unmarried son who died at the age of 56 two years ago gave them a major set back in life. The agony was immense, so the couple sold their Kotahena house, and moved to live with their elder daughter and Victor at Agaradaguru Mawatha, Thudella, Ja-Ela.

They spend their old age among their eight grandchildren. Yashodini, daughter of their eldest grandson has made them great-grandparents.

"He is a gentleman, who has looked after me well," she says. "She is a wonderful wife, God Bless her!" he concludes.

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