The courteous response

Ayubowan. Vannakkam. Welcome to the High Commission… A recorded message greeted me when I rang the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra. I wanted to talk to the High Commissioner – a dear old friend of mine. After listening to the instructions I pressed number 5 and there was a prompt response from the HC’s secretary. Very politely she told me the HC was away in Sri Lanka having gone for his mother’s funeral. She told me to call on Wednesday. (I had called the previous Friday). I was most impressed with the concern she showed and the courtesy she extended. I hope this is common to most, if not all, our embassies.

Early this week I dropped in at a Sri Lankan grocery shop in Sydney (there aren’t many unlike in Melbourne where possibly the Sri Lankan population is more) and picked up the latest issue of ‘Pahana’, the trilingual paper published in Melbourne. Its target readership is the Sri Lankans. The cover in the current issue carries a picture of High Commissioner Somasunderam Skandakumar handing over credentials to the Governor General, Sir Peter Crosgrove at the Government House. Having lost contact with Skanda (as I always fondly called him – with no disrespect to the post he now holds) for quite some time, it was nice to see him as smart as ever.

On Wednesday I telephoned him but he was constantly getting calls obviously friends and associates expressing their sympathies. The Secretary was kind enough to ask for my number and call me back. He was free to have a chat. We talked about the old days and then about his new assignment. Though he has only been here for a few weeks he sounded confident and happy with his posting. 

With the accent on ‘economic diplomacy’, he is ideal for the job. His long stint with the pioneering British firm George Stuarts for over three decades, his private sector experience is tailor-made for what is required to meet the ‘need of the hour’.  In the latter part of his career he served as Managing Director and then as Group Chairman for over a decade.

It was cricket that brought us together. I had never played cricket but always loved it. He had played for Royal, for Tamil Union and for the country representing the Board of Control for Cricket.  I came to know him in the 1980s during my CTC days when we were the only company to sponsor cricket.  Most of the matches were then played at P Sara Oval where he was a live wire. In addition, he was secretary to the Board of Control for Cricket, as the national body was then known. 

We had close contact with each other when it came to international games being played in Sri Lanka. In return for our sponsorship we got advertising and selling rights at the venues. Bristol advertising was planned in a way where both parties benefited. These included route markers, ground signs, block identifications, and the like. The score boards at the venues were given a facelift. Often brochures were printed with team and match details. Though with my retirement from CTC, the close contact between both of us ended but our friendship continued. 

Shortly he is expected in Sydney where Sri Lanka has a consular office. I am waiting anxiously to meet and have a long chat.