Musings:

Lanka's first local air pilot

by Padma Edirisinghe

Vasantha de Silva, was a female I almost met by chance. She was introduced to me as a VIP. Huh, I exclaimed, not much acquainted with that species.

Then, I was told, she is the widow of the late IGP, Indra de Silva. More VIP connections to follow, she is the daughter of Lanka's first local air pilot, name Paulis.

One would expect sky flying characters like him to hail from Colombo 3 or 7 where usually the elite of Colombo live, but he hails from a remote village off Attanagalle and his long name is Paulis Appuhamy. He is replete with a konde and his apparel consists of a cloth or sarong and a shirt.

No. You cannot fly a plane in that kit, the officials at Ratmalana airport told him, but he did, topped with the konde and still in his original dress. The story entailed is rather long.

Sri Lankan society or any society for that matter consists of different levels and strata.

The society around Attanagalle sported such a peculiar strata, that of a high class with money and fame, but steeped in the rurals, and far from celebrated spots.

However, the affluent Paulis household was known as Sirimedura Walavwatte. In fact, the father of Paulis was a go-ahead figure, keen to sprout new business ventures in colonial Lanka. Plumbago industry was the only ongoing business then, that perhaps earned him the friendship of the Kotelawala family, easing Paulis' way to the skies. Paulis' father, however, had much less ambitions and began the coir industry as the family owned acres and acres of coconut. Meanwhile, Paulis disliking formal education spent a short stint of post primary education at Ananda College and left.

Adventures

Then, he concentrated on a glaring hiatus in transport and began the first private bus company of the area, the Sirimedura company. Inheriting a palatial mansion, he cultivated the friendship of famous families, as the Senanayakes from Botale off Mirigama and the Kotelawalas, a branch of which now come to the northern fringe of Colombo (Ratmalana) from Raigama.

Paulis further inherited the father's passion for new adventures. From an early age he was fascinated by modern paraphernalia, such as, cameras and airplanes. The affluence in the family facilitated frequent visits to the capital, and on one of these, he visited the Ratmalana airport and was entranced by the sight of a plane taking off.

"I will one day do the same," he said much to the amusement of the others. The impediments were many. The long manual of instructions was in English and he was yet to master it. The konde tied behind hindered the fixtures of the headphones a pilot was expected to wear, and the sarong or cloth he wore disturbed the free movement of his legs. But, he was determined to fly.

And fly he did, helped by family associates who wrote letters asking for patronage to the potential pilot, Captain Amarasekera who headed the Ratmalana airport and was particularly helpful. It was via the mediation of Dixon Kotelawala, cousin of John Kotelawala that an approach was made to him to provide an opportunity to Paulis to fulfil his lifelong ambition of flying a plane.

Meanwhile, the bus transport business too went on in full swing as population became more mobile. Passenger payments were made in cents and the wife of Paulis, Annette de Saram burnt the midnight oil counting all the cents that comprised the daily income of the Sirimedura buses. Married to the ambitious entrepreneur at 17 years the young woman (of the village of Kaleliya, Mirigama) certainly served a dutiful wifely role encouraging her life-mate in all his whims and fancies.

Boasted

Paulis's whims carried him far. On October 3, 1953, he obtained the licence of a private air pilot No. 139 from the hands of Sir John Kotelawala himself. He had boasted that he had got his licence, despite a knowledge of high flown English nor sacrificing his konde or sarong. His flights extended as far as Palavi airport in Puttalam, going beyond the radar limit, but he had returned safely.

Paulis had caused a sensation in his home area at a function in the village temple, the Udugaha Walpola Sri Sumanaramaya, in the adjoining primary school of which, he had had his first learning. A sensation was created when Paulis flew the airplane over the temple, sprinkling myriads of jasmine flowers over the premises. It was the talk of the area for many, many years. Some even mistook it to be a miracle.

But, really it was a miracle of human endeavour, testifying to the ability of a human to achieve what he wants through sheer grit. But, Paulis did have a sad end, not through a plane accident but through sickness that engulfed him as the years wore on. In 1958, came the bus privatization policy depriving him of all the income derived from the proliferating private Sirimedura buses. Then, came the land limitation policies of the Bandaranaikes that restricted the amount of land a person could own. Socialism was in full swing. Amassed wealth was out of vogue.

So, it was not the planes that crisscrossed the Lankan skies carrying Paulis at the helm, but it was high blood pressure that finally killed Paulis Appuhamy, perhaps responding to the earthly travails of humans.

He was indeed a heroic figure while he lived, proclaims his daughter, Vasantha.