Lalith Athulathmudali:

Emotional intelligence of a true people’s representative

S V D Kesarralal Gunasekera

First part of this article was published on Saturday, December 11

Late Lalith Athulathmudali was mostly known among the public as a great politician, a skilful orator and a pragmatic leader. One thing known only to those who had close interactions with him is the unique ability he had in dealing with people

Although in today’s context politicians are hesitant about decentralizing autonomy and tasks, Athulathmudali was an expert in the matter. This is one reason why he was so efficient in multi-tasking. He trusted his team to do the best on his behalf. I remember one day when a Buddhist monk came to his office with a problem. The monk was narrating a long tale of woe.

I knew that time was of utmost importance to Athulathmudali. But he was not willing to tell the monk that he was getting late. He would never make any person feel that their problems are not important.

Honestly, their problems were very important to him. He listened to the monk and said ‘ The ideal person to handle this is Lal Gunasekerre’ and called me in. He handed over the monk and the problem to me and instructed to find the best solution. I attended to the problem and resolved it before long.

Two weeks following the incident, I attended a bana sermon at a friend’s place and the same priest attended. He mentioned the incident and thanked Athulathmudali for his prompt action. This shows that decentralizing authority and tasks only made him more popular and not otherwise.

Athulathmudali carried only his diary and a pen. Pen was his weapon. He did not require to carry piles of files with him.

His ability to resolve issues was such that he only needed a pen to write what action to take. With one stroke of the pen he would give instructions to one of his competent staff. He knew how competent the staff were and made sure that they knew it too.

Legal officer

I believe that all his staff enjoyed working for him as much as I did. Shyamila Perera was his Co-ordinating Secretary and Legal Officer. She was one of the most trusted persons of the Minister.

Preethi Jayaratne was his Senior Assistant Secretary who also wrote his speeches.

One day the Minister arrived early and none of the members of his personal staff including Preethi and Shyamila, were around. The Minister declared ‘Tell all of them that they are sacked’.

We all arrived and heard this news and waited. We all knew that we would be required to be at his service before long. He was such a team player and he would be rather lost without the team.

Around 11 am, the Minister called his private secretary Upali Gooneratne and said, ‘Please tell Preethi to attend to this speech, I need it by afternoon’.

This was conveyed to Preethi who very casually stated that since she has been sacked, she is unable to perform the given duty. Gooneratne conveyed this to Athulathmudali. ‘All right, All right’ said the Minister, ‘tell them that all are now reinstated!’. It was a pleasure to work with him.

In this situation both the sacking and refusal to work was done in jest and that is the culture that prevailed in his office. The staff was also free to make jokes.

Trade unionist

It goes without saying that there was no one to beat his wit. Even today I cannot think of a single politician who can even come close to, in terms of his wit.

At a Heads of Departments meeting at the Ports Authority I can still recall a conversation he had. Leslie Fernando who was a Working Director at the Ports Authority and a veteran trade unionist, exclaimed that the identity cards worn by staff were illegible due to the small print.

Since it was a time where the Port was under threat, all staff were required to wear ID tags in order to be identified at sight. “Sir,” Leslie said, “Even when you come bosom to bosom, it is difficult to read the name”.

The quick response from the Minister was, “Leslie, you must understand, when you come bosom to bosom, the name is immaterial.” Everyone present were in fits of laughter, including Leslie.

Athulatmudali never carries a purse or money with him. One day a group of students walked into his office on a flag day to sell some flags. He called me in and asked me, “Lal do you have any money?”, I reached into my pocket. I too did not carry a purse. But I had some money. I pulled everything out; both notes and coins and handed over a 100 rupee note to him. “What is this?” Don’t you have a purse’ He asked me. “Sir, you need a purse only if you have a lot of money. I do not have a lot of money and that is why I keep everything in my pocket’ I explained.

He took the 100 rupee note and put it in the till. That, I thought was the end of the story. After about three weeks he went on an overseas trip and upon his return handed over a beautiful leather purse to me. I was truly surprised that he actually remembered. I still have that purse. It is more a souvenir now than ever before. To me it is a symbol of how much he cared for his staff.

Interactions with staff

Moving on to yet another story about his interactions with staff I recall this. We all knew he never carried any money with him. Jayasena Perera his Coordinating Officer once said in jest Sir langa rupiyal dekak wath ne athey (sir does not even have two rupees with him). Although this was said in his absence, the news has reached Athulathmudali. One day, Athulathmudali called Jayasena and gave him a two-rupee note. Jayasena was non-plussed and asked why? “I heard that you said that I don’t even have two rupees with me’. Jayasena quickly took the two rupees and said thank you. Then he said ‘ Sir, can you give me another two rupees?’ Athulathmudali could not help laughing, for he did not have any more money with him. Jayasena also laughed. He has proved his point.

Another quality that I and many others who worked with him truly admire is the fact that he NEVER reprimands or humiliates his staff in public. He never had to shout at people or publicly humiliate them to show that he was the boss.

Everyone knew it and everyone respected him for the way he treated staff. Some days when I knew that he would get late to reach office, I would be late too. One day I was late in arriving at the office, to find that he has already reached office and started work. Not only that, he has given instructions to his chief security officer Muthu Banda not to allow anyone in. So I had to wait outside with his security men.

He was meeting members of his constituency that day and I knew that before long he would need me for I knew the background to all the issues that were being presented to him. “Where is Lal? Where is Lal?” I heard his voice, in great urgency. Someone may have informed that I was waiting outside, he said Enna Kiyanna, Enna Kiyanna (Tell him to come) as if nothing was wrong.

I was summoned immediately and without any questioning I was allowed to perform my duties. However, by keeping me locked out of the office, he sent a subtle message that I needed to arrive before him every day. He never spoke about it. But I still do, because he was such a great boss to work for.

Hilarious stories

On another day I was late for a meeting. I decided to take a side entrance, so that he would not notice me walking in late. I was wrong. He had noticed me walking in stealthily like a rogue. I was expecting some kind of remark. To my sheer humiliation, he just looked at his watch. I could have sunk in my seat. But by not pulling me up in front of a crowd, he taught me to be punctual.

Athulathmudali was someone who could relate to people from all walks of life. During the time he and Gamini Dissanayake created Democratic United National Front, there was a huge following behind them. Once we were travelling to Polonnaruwa for a meeting and stopped on the way to get diesel for the jeep. Athulathmudali got off the vehicle and spoke to about two people. Within two to three minutes, there was a crowd of over 100 people around him. That was the charisma he had and to this day, people remember him for being a true representative of the people.

I want to end this tribute with two stories which are both hilarious and also show the wisdom he had in dealing with people. A gentleman from Ratmalana (I will not reveal his identity) once came to see him. It was very clear that the person was drunk and was looking for an argument with the Minister. The issue was real but Athulathmudali did not want to argue because he did not want to reveal certain facts which could be damaging to other persons concerned. But most of all he did not want to argue with someone who was drunk. He told the gentleman.

Secretary’s office

“Today is not a good day for me, because I am drunk. So I am not in a position to argue or resolve this issue today. So, why don’t you come tomorrow?”. Since the Minister was not willing to have an argument, the gentleman was compelled to leave. He never returned. Athulathmudali did not hurt his feelings either.

This happened when Athulathmudali held the portfolio of Trade and Shipping Minister and his office was located on the Seventh Floor of Rakshana Mandhiraya. His faithful office aide the late Sasana Perera, had accidentally left the small tap in his office room half closed on a Friday. When we returned to office on Monday the whole office was flooded.

The Minister was compelled to operate from his secretary’s office. The carpets had to be removed and cleaned. The cost was so high. The enquiry revealed that since it was Sasana Perera’s responsibility, the cost of cleaning should be deducted from his salary. The cost would have been a few thousand rupees which was a huge amount at the time. When this was communicated to Sasana, he was upset and angry and stormed in to Athulathmudali’s office saying:

“Sir mage padi kappanna hadanawa” (sir they are trying to cut my salary).

Athulathmudali, as if he knew nothing about the incident, enquiry and the final decision, retorted.

“Apo! Padi kapanna denna behe. Eheme karanna kaatawath behe” (Cannot allow salary to be cut. No one can do that) Sasana then explained what has happened and whined that the Secretary has made a decision to recover the cost from his salary. Athulathmudali still pretending not to know the issue, asked the enquiry file to be brought. He read it carefully and told Sasana:

“Sasana, you must go and thank the Secretary for only deducting the cost from your salary, because according to the inquiry recommendations, you must be sacked. So the Secretary sir has been very kind to you and has reversed that decision. Isn’t it better to have a salary cut than to lose your job?”

Sasana was more than happy to pay the cost of damage from his salary, than to lose his job. To this day, I marvel at the way he handled people. Such emotional intelligence. A friend of mine who listened to all these stories said, ‘You are a very fortunate person to have worked with such a great man.’

Indeed I am. And on his birth anniversary, all I can say is that I am truly glad that he was born in this country and allowed us to witness and learn from his great leadership qualities and leave a legacy behind as a genuine representative of the people.

Concluded