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| Wednesday, 24 November 2004 |
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A. W. Dharmapala : gentleman par excellence
One of the most remarkable members of the public service of Sri Lanka whom I had the pleasure of knowing and the privilege of working with was who retired from the public service in 1964 while holding the post of engineer outside Broadcasting Service of the Department of Broadcasting after a long period of 42 years in public service '1922-1964'. The satisfaction he derived from a job well done was a characteristic not very common in the public service. I first came to know him in 1937 when I was posted to the Radio Division of the Post and Telecommunications Department having returned to Ceylon in 1936 after three years of study and training in Telecommunication Engineering in London. Dharmapala was then a young officer in charge of the Technical Section of the Broadcasting station which included outside broadcasting. In addition he was also involved in announcing both in Sinhala and English when necessity demanded. Dharmapala was recruited to the department much earlier and had been associated in early experiments in broadcasting in the country, with the Chief Engineer of the Department of Post and Telecommunication, Harper and later with Shillito and a few others. The most remarkable things about Dharmapala which attracted my notice were his firm qualities as a perfect gentleman, unimpeachable integrity, fine sense of duty and painstaking attention to detail in his work and duties. His charming manners and ready smile earned for him the friendship of all persons including the distinguished visitors from abroad. He always made a pleasant impression in their minds about himself, his work and the department. This was a very great asset earned for the department's public good-will. He contributed in no small measure to the success of the department's work and undertakings. He had also the knack of getting the full cooperation from his staff and also members of the public. He also had the great good fortune to be intimately connected with the events that went into the makings of the country's history, for it was his work which enabled speeches, proceedings, commentaries of all such events to be broadcast so as to reach the ears of hundreds of thousands of people-many miles away. Dharmapala revelled in the hard work he had to put in. It was his meticulous attention to detail and resourcefulness with the limited equipment that was then available that made the outside broadcasts of the period the success they were. There was not one instance where the execution of work in which he was in charge was found wanting. I came to the conclusion that he worked not so much to please others but to please himself. He enjoyed every aspect of his work and brought into it so much careful thought, attention and precision that in all cases the results were excellent. He seems to have been always content that he had the opportunities to serve his country. I was delighted to find most of Dharmapala's original work documented and some of them in photos taken in the 'good old days' and the Radio Times of 1938. I also listened to a very old recording of his voice regarding early broadcasting recorded by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (S.L.B.C.) in 1971. Mr. Dharmapala's was the first Sinhala voice to go on the airwaves - 'Colombo Calling'. He was also a connoisseur of antique furniture, porcelain, art and so on. He had a very rare collection. It was very characteristic of him never to mention in official circles any matters concerning his domestic life. His nine children, being well educated at C.M.S. Ladies College, Colombo 7 and Colombo schools were excellently brought up. It becomes quite evident that while being an exemplary member of the public service, he was also a effect parent. In his efforts he no doubt enjoyed whole heartedly of his wife Mrs Violet Linian Dharmapala, the daughter of landed proprietor, who was indeed a noble lady. - D. P. Jayasekera |
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