Extraordinary examples of altruism

Reviewed by Milinda Rajasekara

That Blue Thing - An engineer's autobiography
Author: M. G. Ratnayake

'That Blue Thing - An Engineer's Travel' is an autobiography written by M.G.Ratnayake, a Sri Lankan who had left the shores of Sri Lanka in search of better prospects for employment and higher education.

In this interesting story about his life, Mervyn Ratnayake recounts various events and incidents in the early period of his childhood in his ancestral village, Minhettiya in the Kurunegala District and the experiences he had gone through in different countries and different positions. He candidly describes his humble beginnings as a member of a family that lived under sub-standard conditions.

Mervyn shows his great affection and gratitude to his parents who, he says, had always been concerned about his well-being and welfare. Having first received his primary education at his village school he goes to Ibbagamuwa Central College on a scholarship.

He completes his education there and embarks on a series of jobs beginning as a teacher. He joins the Survey Department and thereafter the Public Works Department. In both these government departments he suffers discriminatory treatment from his superiors.

While working in the PWD, Mervyn finds his future partner in life, Chandra and subsequently marries her. Although he does not obtain parents' prior consent as required by Sinhala traditional customs, they approve of the marriage. Ratnayake next leaves for England for both higher education and employment.

There he goes through a series of experiences in finding accommodation and employment. In that country also he confronts people with narrow minds and selfish attitudes. He also finds people with genuine concern for the difficulties of their fellow beings. On one occasion he was in search for accommodation for his family of wife and two children.

He describes the meeting thus: "He asked me for 602 pounds, to my astonishment and dismay. 'Good Lord, man,' he said.'you are trying to buy a house with only 400 pounds! You don't realise you have to pay my fee as well as stamp duty and the deposit?' All I could reply was, 'Sir, I am married and have two children, aged five and three. Our present home is inadequate, and we can find nowhere else. I had no choice. I borrowed what I could.' "He sighed, raised his eyebrows, and looked heavenwards. 'Well, tell you what ... just pay what you can and we'll forget about the rest.' Mervyn says he was so relieved and happy that he could have kissed him. And he was determined to pay the balance. But when he went later with the money the solicitor had refused to take a penny. Mervyn says "Sometimes you do come across kind people."

Exciting incidents

Mervyn's account about his overland trip to Sri Lanka with his wife and two children in his car crossing borders of several countries with different travel laws and challenges is full of interesting and exciting incidents that would keep the reader in suspense over what would happen next.

He refers to an incident at a cafe in Turkey where the family had to spend a night. He had to arm his family with bottles of lemonade to ward off a gang of hooligans in case they resorted to violence. He also refers to the uncouth conduct of another Sri Lankan with whom he embarked upon the arduous journey to his homeland.

Instead of being true companions providing physical and moral support in passing through unfamiliar and dangerous territories, the friend's family, following Ratnayakes in another car, had turned out to be a burden to them. At one stage this companion's car rams into Ratnayake's from behind damaging the car.

After this month-long journey, the family arrives in Sri Lanka and reaches Mervyn's ancestral village Minhettiya where the parents, relatives and friends welcome them affectionately.

Later, the family visits Chandra's parents in Colombo where he sells his car and buys property. Soon afterwards he gets back to London leaving the family behind for completing his education and enhancing his financial prospects.

He engages in a series of assignments in several institutions while pursuing his courses of studies. Finally, he obtains his MSc having done research on the topic of the liquefaction of saturated sands.

His second overland trip from London to Sri Lanka accompanied by a couple of close relatives has been as interesting as his first one. It also had its quota of exciting and thrilling moments. Once he had to leave his family in Alexandroupolis and fly 600 miles back to Athens to recover his passport which he had inadvertently left at a bank in Athens. As in the first trip, an accident delays this journey too.

He describes it as follows: "While we were still in Austria, I found myself stuck for some miles behind a slow moving caravan. At last, an opportunity to overtake presented itself. I floored the accelerator, signaling to Sunil that he should not follow me and safely passed the caravan.

To my horror, I saw Sunil behind me, as an oncoming vehicle sped towards him. There was a head-on collision and then a further five or six vehicles ploughed into the wreckage. Cars were now scattered all over the road and into the surrounding fields."

British system

Although he was increasingly getting acclimatized to the British system, yet his love for his motherland remained undiminished. His thoughts of getting back to the country, however, were blunted by the continuing menace of terrorism.

Mervyn's interest in the country's affairs is evident from the short account of the country's history in his book. He recounts acts of terrorism that the LTTE had committed and records events leading to the final elimination of this terrorist gang.

The book gives a plethora of sources he has gone through to bring out these events with a high degree of accuracy. He seems unbiased and objective in his presentation of these details.

In the final chapter of his book, Mervyn gives an account of the social services he has launched in his village. He explains how he was motivated for social service thus: "Born to a Buddhist family, the moral precepts of this religion were reinforced when I joined the Boys Scouts.

As I have already suggested the scouting ethos of 'helping others at all times' was entirely in accord with what I had absorbed in the temple and what I had observed of my parents' altruistic hehaviour.

As an adult, my motto became 'to serve mankind', and central to this was repaying the countries that had benefited me. I felt that by working and paying taxes in the United Kingdom over several decades, I had more than compensated England for my higher education."

He then wanted to give what is due to his motherland where he spent his formative years and received primary and secondary education. He saw that poverty was the major problem in his village and he had to decide whether to help the young or the world.

Observing that there were many destitute elderly people without a roof over their heads or the means to get a square meal, he decided to build a home for the elders in the village. He proceeded with the project using his life savings and getting the advice and assistance of his friends and relatives in the village.

He, of course, had to circumvent various problems and obstacles presented by unscrupulous persons in the village before he successfully accomplished his objective by setting up a place complete with all amenities and facilities to accommodate up to 28 persons.

The 248-page book, 'That Blue Thing' gives a frank account of the trials and tribulations of a life lived in a remote village in Sri Lanka and those experienced in finding employment and pursuing education in a foreign land.

Written in lucid and simple English, the book is strikingly readable and the author's life and activities provide a good example for emulation by others who completely detach themselves from the affairs of their motherland and their obligations to the families that brought them up, when they leave the country.