Home-made tyres from Raja Rata

by Aditha Dissanayake

Which of these statements is true?

A. There is no such thing as a good tyre made in Sri Lanka.

B. There is no such thing as universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people.

If you answered B your knowledge in economics needs brushing up. Grab the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and reread his theory on Supply and Demand.

If, however, you are a driver who wishes to be in total control of your vehicle whether you are commuting in the city or roaming on a mud-track in the depths of the countryside and want your vehicle to take the smooth and the rough equally, you would have straightaway known A is the right answer, because the chances are you would be using DTH Superdag tyres made in Polonnaruwa in your vehicle and would know there ARE good tyres made in Sri Lanka.

A positive thinker who believes anything is possible if you set your mind to it, P.H.G Dharmasiri, Chairman of Dharmasiri Tyre House (Private) Limited, sees nothing strange in manufacturing our very own brand of tyres in a factory in the ancient capital of Polonnaruwa.

Not only does he make what is popular among some drivers as "dak tyres", but in keeping with his environment friendly policies uses paddy husk to run the machines in the factory. "At first I used wood as fuel.

Then I realised how harmful this is to the environment. On the other hand, Polonnaruwa is abundant in paddy husks during the harvesting seasons. I put two and two together and decided on generating energy for my machines from burning paddy husks."

Like all breakthrough thinkers Dharmasiri believes in the motto "Think smart, not hard". The origins of Dharmasiri Tyre Works, therefore, can be traced back to the day Dharmasiri went on a short holiday to Manampitiya in Polonnaruwa, searched for a tyre shop and realized there are no shops where one could buy or repair a tyre in the vicinity.

The very next day he resigned from the post he held in the government service and started to hang around the tyre shops in Colombo.

With the knowledge he gathered by observing the business activities in these reputed tyre houses, often standing in front of them from dawn to dusk, he returned to Manampitiya and opened a shop of his own. He used as his capital, every rupee he had diligently saved from the day he first started to earn a living by teaching English to the village children after he passed his exams.

"It was more a hut than a shop" recalls Dharmasiri. "I could afford only one assistant and at the beginning even paying his salary of Rs.3000.00 was not easy. But gradually around five or six vehicles began to stop at our shop during the course of the day and by 1995 we could open a branch at Kaduruwela".

Today Dharmasiri owns the largest building in the Polonnaruwa town. "It's not as big as the buildings in Colombo", says a modest Dharmasiri. "But it's the biggest in Polonnaruwa and houses several reputed banks." He also owns the DTH Mineral Water Company and has a staff of around 250 workers employed in his numerous business ventures. "Some are from Kandy.

Some are from Colombo. But all the rest are from Polonnaruwa". Dharmasiri attributes his success mostly to the cordial relationship he has with his banks, to the support given to him by his wife, Hemalatha, and to his belief in the Power of the human mind. Like Henry Ford, he too believes "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you are right".

But, Dharmasiri also believes in moderation. He begins his day at five in the morning, spends his time overlooking the work in the office and the factory, and calls it a day by nine in the night. He claims to have only one hobby. "Creating new things". Such as? "Right at the moment I'd rather keep it a secret. I haven't finished working on it yet".

He pauses and asks "You understand?"

Yes. Though it is not hard to guess that this must be another new tyre, let time reveal how Dharmasiri turned yet another brilliant idea into a road worthy reality.

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For more revealing details about this modern emperor's tryst with tyres among the breathtaking ruins of Polonnaruwa, watch Situ Medura tonight at 9.05 on ITN.