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by Sudat Pasqual

The 124th Battle of the Blues between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia will be played on March 13, 14 and 15 at the SSC Grounds.

As all of Sri Lanka and some parts of the more enlightened world know, this is the mother lode of all school big matches. No other school cricket fixture comes anywhere near the Royal-Thomian in terms of tradition, ceremony and fanfare. Eventhough it is given that in the greater theatre of life that all big matches are of equal importance, we Royalists and Thomians know that our big match is more equal than the others!

As an alumnus of Royal College who had the honour of representing and captaining the school's 1st XI, my views on the subject is bound to be biased. Still, I am confident that even the readers of this article who had their primary and secondary education at other distinguished institutions will not find fault with me for stating the obvious with regard to the importance of the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter.

To the present and past boys of the two schools, nothing is more important than this annual cricket fixture between the two schools.

This is the time for the old, the not so old, the young and the young at heart of both schools to get ready for the big one. The young will have flags to make, bicycle parades to attend, get their match wardrobe ready, figure out the seating and plan clandestine meetings with the fair sex during the big one.

For the older, not necessarily wiser, this is the time of annual get-togethers and stag nights.

The planning and execution of events that surround the Royal-Thomian is of great, if not greater, importance than the match itself. I am sure that many a Royalist and Thomian will recall (with fondness) at least one big match that they attended but cannot recall the result.

It should come as no surprise to learn that many a Royalist and Thomian plan their yearly calendar and their annual vacation around the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter. I know of some old Royalists, my brother Ajita been one, who consider the week of the Royal-Thomian to be the holy week. For him and many like him, the week of the Royal-Thomain is the week of Sabbath; God has decreed that no work or play outside the Royal-Thomian will take place during this week.

The fervour that is generated going into the big event is such that in certain cases marriages that seem as solid as the rock of Gibraltar during the weeks prior to the Royal-Thomian, undergo a week of marital uncertainty that border on the insane.

It is not uncommon for a husband to go that whole week isolated from his family; the man will eat at the match, drink at the match and most certainly sleep at the match.

In many a case, most of the wives understand enough to look the other way with regard to the behaviour of their husbands during the big match. They know that it is temporal and their dominance in family matters will return within a week of the big event.

This is also a time of uncertainty for adolescent boys attending either Royal or S. Thomas and who have sisters. I say this because in many a case the sisters have, consciously or unconsciously, undertaken the dangerous task of supporting the cricketers of the dreaded other school. I personally have come across instances where sisters of Royalists were carrying Thomian flags and sitting on the Thomian side of the pavilion.

The acts of Judas Iscariot pales in comparison to such treachery! The fact that I have precocious three year old daughter who will be attending the same school as the daughter of Jerome Jayaratne doesn't really give me reason to sleep in peace, either.

In addition my wife's best buddy Chamindri's whole family is as black and blue as they come (believe me, I have no problem with colours black and blue as long as you are referring to the physical condition of my Thomian friends, but it's not the case here). Maybe I am been paranoid here but as a Royalist the above scenario is giving me heart palpitations. I will have to have a serious heart to heart chat with my daughter Solana about the perils of every day living very soon.

Having said all of the above, the Royal-Thomian is a time of camaraderie, fellowship and general good fun for all concerned. My most cherished memories of the big match have been in the company of my pals from S. Thomas. I remember the 1999 match which Royal lost so vividly.

I remember sitting at the Colts tent shell shocked and tears brimming my eyes, for this was the first Royal-Thomian I had attended that was won by the Thomians. To say I was disconsolate would be the understatement of the decade.

It so happened that at that momentous moment I was flanked by two Thomian ex-cricketers: Aruna Gunawardena and Kabir. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the sense of utter despair written on my face threw some cold water on their sense of jubilation.

Those two Thomians sat with me for good one hour consoling me before sauntering off to join the celebration. I will always remember the oneness I felt that day with my Thomian brethren (I am planning on returning the favour on March 15, 2003; just so that my Thomian friends know that Royalists are gracious in victory, too).

That is the spirit of the Royal-Thomian. That is why it is such a colossal event. Our celebrations of victory are always tampered by the feelings of empathy for the momentarily vanquished. One hundred and twenty four years of battle have taught us to take both victory and defeat in stride; for today's victors will be tomorrow's vanquished.

We have learnt of books and learnt of men that the spirit of brotherhood transcends school barriers.

True on those three days each one of us will cheer, scream, curse, cajole and praise our team till our voices are hoarse and we will not give in one inch to the other side on the field, but once the stumps are drawn we will shake each others hand, give each other a brotherly embrace and retreat to the safe environs of home (maybe not for some); with the unspoken promise of meeting in one year's time.

The Royal-Thomian has always been above and more; this year's should be no exception.

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