Telecom Lady Officers strengthen bonds of friendship

By Thulasi MUTTULINGAM

The Past Telecom Lady Officers Benefit Association (PTLOBA) celebrated its Silver Jubilee at the Concord Grand, Dehiwela recently. Founded in 1985 by retired lady telephone operators of the Sri Lanka Telecom as a means of continuing and celebrating the bonds of friendship formed over long years of working with each other as one big, happy family, the association is still going strong in its 25th year.

Most of its 'girls' are still very close and active in the organisation. Many of them joined Sri Lanka Telecom as teenagers, straight after school, and worked long years with each other over 30 - 40 years or even more, being there for each other through marriages and births of children as well as grandchildren, before they retired.

It's no wonder that many of them share a special bond, which they take care to keep intact - that's where the PTLOBA comes in. "We still call each other 'the girls', grins Manga Mahendran, a member. "I set out ever so often, telling my family I am going to meet the girls and then they get all excited and ask 'which girls?' and when it turns out I am referring to my retired friends, they burst out laughing."

But if the adage 'We are as young as we feel' is true, then most of these sparkling and fun-loving ladies are certainly girls. Though all of them are elderly going by age alone, they exude a sense of joie de vivre which is uplifting and contagious.

Spirit or long years

Whether it is because of this spirit or the long years of experience they had as telephone operators, they also have bell-like voices. I didn't notice it consciously until the treasurer, Pushpam Fernando related an anecdote of booking a hotel room for herself recently. "The receptionist on the other side said I should come with my parents. I said I didn't have any parents so she said I should come with a guardian as underaged girls were not allowed alone. I told her I was a senior citizen."

Pushpam retired in 1995 after 41 years of service, and it is her voice you hear in Tamil whenever you dial an incorrect number or a number that is unreachable. When most of them joined in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the telephone system, was vastly different from the telecommunication system most of us enjoy today.

As one of a newer generation, I found myself enthralled by their stories and anecdotes of their working lives - a now bygone era of telephone usage when these 'girls' were the backbone of the system.

"Even Presidents, Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers had to depend on us to make calls, it's we who connected the call," said Manga. It was only around the mid seventies that telephones became a regular appliance in most households - at which time it cost Rs. 15,000, a small fortune in those days. And if telephone poles were not available in the vicinity, then there was the added cost of putting that up as well, on the customer. But even before that, people used to go to shops and post offices to make calls, at which time interaction with the operator was necessary to make the calls.

For those of us used to the mobile phone, the anecdotes these ladies have to relate is like looking back into a whole new world. There were times when you had to 'book' an outstation call because the lines were busy. The operator would then give you a time to call back. If the weather was bad, or some lines were down, the customers' tempers might ignite but the operators had to keep their cool. "I still remember having to say "'Calls to Jaffna will be delayed by seven hours' and the customers would erupt, 'Seven Hours?'" laughs Pushpam.

There was no direct dialling in those days, you apparently had to dial 01, give the operator your number as well as the number you wished to dial and then wait for her to connect you. And if it happened to be an outstation call, you would have to wait from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the traffic and other factors such as the weather.

'Cardinal points'

President of the PTLOBA, Rani Jegasothy, who joined Sri Lanka Telecom in 1946 as a 17-year-old and retired in 1989 as a Superintendent , Telecommunication Traffic said that the work taught them a lot about discipline, management skills as well as leadership skills. They had to undergo three months of intense training and a written test before being given work. Once on the floor, they had to religiously follow the four 'cardinal points' of Accuracy, Courtesy, Tact and Speed.

A supervisor in a remote observation room would plug into their conversations ever so often to check in on them and see that they were doing the job properly. They worked in shifts of 7.00 am - 2.00 pm and 11.00 am to 6.00 pm.

'Time was time' recalls Manga. "It taught us good discipline. A supervisor would be standing next to the register as we entered. A five-minute grace period was allowed but anyone coming in at 7.06 or thereafter had a big X marked next to their names. Three Xs in a month spelled trouble for the person."

There were 57 positions for operators on the floor where they worked, into which no males were allowed. The supervisors had strict schedules for everything including how the girls exchanged positions when changing shifts.

"Everything had to be neat and orderly. While the outgoing operator had to slide out from her chair on one side, the incoming one had to slide in from the other side and put on the equipment in a well practised move.

If the supervisor was not satisfied with how a particular pair were doing it, she made them do it again," said the Assistant Secretary of PTLOBA, Pearly Paranavithana.

"But we had good times as one big happy family", said Mrs. Jegasothy. "We exemplified unity in diversity. Women from all walks of life, all religions and all ethnicities worked harmoniously as one. There was always a big headache if birthday parties, marriages or even funerals of family members came up.

Everybody would want to take leave and show their support and it was really hard to find some volunteers willing to stay back and hold the fort.

One of the most challenging roles they had to take on - on a rotating basis was handling directory inquiries. Having no computers back then, they all learned to handle the directory quickly as well as memorise several important numbers. "We can still remember those numbers - we gave them out so many times", said Manga.

'Hello Girls'

Known popularly as 'Hello Girls,' they were even immortalised in a popular song by that name by well known Baila singer M.S Fernando. However, they didn't really say 'Hello,' corrects Mrs Jegasothy. "We always gave our names and exchange location. We were not supposed to say hello."

Although trained to be polite and courteous, they were discouraged from being overly friendly with callers, always a danger with the over friendly Sri Lankan public. The supervisors marked them on time management as well so it was imperative to conclude their business and move on to the next caller.

But.... "Many a marriage took place because men fell in love with the voices of the operators", said Pearly. "I remember a friend of mine called Jenny had to regularly connect calls for a planter from the outstation areas; he fell in love with her voice and arranged to meet with her. They fell in love and eventually got married. There were many such marriages."

"Love of course can creep through anything" said Mrs. Jegasothy. In this case, it crept under the vigilant eye (and ears) of strict supervisors and superintendents.

And then there were the incidents of the telegrams. In transcribing messages for telegrams, some remarkable errors took place and the girls have collected them to reminisce and giggle over again. Some noteworthy ones include sending 'Patient is singing' instead of 'Patient is sinking' and 'Father perspired, send towels' instead of 'Father expired, send flowers.' They were all highly trained but human error did creep in.

Enjoyed the work

"The headsets we had to use were huge and the mouth pieces were like horns. The old telephones also had the 'dialling' system where you had to use your finger to dial the numbers in an arc, not just press buttons as you do today", said Manga. "We suffered from pain in our fingers as well as neck and back but we still enjoyed the work."

The PTLOBA has about 350 members, islandwide. They are all very close knit in the way only people who have worked together for decades can be. One of the members, Sumana Perera died just over a month ago, of cancer. Her one last wish was to attend the Silver Jubilee celebrations but it was not to be.

Apart from their Annual General Meetings and get-togethers, the PTLOBA also runs what is called a 'Happy Home' - a four-bedroom home built on a land donated by a member for the benefit of other members who might be orphaned or in need of help. Apparently until 1958, female telephone operators were not allowed to marry. They were also not given any off days, including over the weekend.

It seems a shocking human rights violation now but it was accepted then. Later, the rule was changed to not marrying within four years of employment before even that was done away with. As such the PTLOBA Happy Home was built for a much older generation of women, who didn't have the chance to marry and have a family of their own. But it also keeps its doors open to any and all members who feel a need for it.

Their silver jubilee celebration was held at the Concord Grand last Sunday with the lighting of 25 lamps and awarding recognition to achievers after retirement. The Chief Guest was Shehara Vara, partner of a law firm, F.J.G. de Saram and the organisers while thanking all their members and guests for helping to make the event possible also thanked Wimala Fernando, Secretary PTLOBA for her untiring work.