The Professional Diplomat

Deshamanya Vernon Mendis

Down Memory Lane

By Roshan Peiris

The office of the Director General of the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute Dr. Vernon Mendis is as neat as the man himself; his uncluttered table corresponds with his immaculate appearance.

Deshamanya Vernon Loraine Benjamin Mendis can lay claim to having been Sri Lanka's first 'Professional Diplomat' and he sees his present appointment as a mission to pass the message of professional diplomacy to the nation.

It was a giant step forward for the young boy from Moratuwa, who recalls that he had a very happy and blissful boyhood at home. He was eight years junior to his brother and sister, and hence 'somewhat spoilt', he smiles.

He studied at Prince of Wales College when the Principal was J.B.C. Rodrigo, the brother of Professor Dr. J.L.C. Rodrigo.

Vernon claims that he had his share of punishments for schoolboy escapades such as cutting classes.

"But I took it all in my stride, whether it was detention or writing lines, at the time the most popular form of punishment the teachers gave us."

He recalls that he did, as a young boy, show signs of brightness and then, as in adult life, his favourite subject was History with Literature as a close second.

"I excelled in the Ceylon Cadet Battalion as well. My focus in life as a youngster was the Holy Emmanuel Church, with the then tallest tower in the country," he adds. "As a good Anglican", he sang in the church choir and carried away prizes for scripture.

After obtaining a first class in the Matriculation Exam, Vernon left for Royal College to study for his University Entrance Exam and made friends with the now famous Christie Weeramantry.

Of girl friends at the university itself, which he entered gaining a scholarship, Vernon recalls, "I had too many, so I actually lost count! They were intelligent, gracious, pretty girls who were good company.

"I have always been drawn towards girls with a high quota of intelligence."

Vernon got an Upper Second in History Honours at the University. "Those days the dream of all mothers for their sons was for them to join the Ceylon Civil Service. So I dutifully sat for the exam, but I had a gigantic impediment in Sinhala being a compulsory subject. I got only five marks out of hundred and that in a competitive exam. So I did not come within the chosen first ten but came twelfth."

Vernon reflected for a while and then said, "It all happens for the best. In 1960 as Chief of Protocol (I was taken into the Foreign Service), I had the very sensitive and responsible mission of accompanying our first woman Prime Minister on a tour of India on the invitation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"The world looked on, as Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the first woman Prime Minister in the world, was almost a curiosity.

For one month they toured India and he was the only government representative accompanying her. They spent a few days at the Prime Minister's residence Tin Merti Mol.

"It is a memory I will never forget, especially listening to Sarvapali Radhakrishna, that golden tongued orator speaking. He kept all of us spellbound," says Vernon.

"I have some anecdotes to recall such as in Washington my second posting as a diplomat (the first was in London). I had to meet Sir John Kotelawala, then Minister of Transport and give him a letter from the Cabinet asking him to resign from his post! You can imagine how embarrassed I would have been, a young man at that. But Sir John showed his mettle and large heartedness by making me a friend when he became Prime Minister. He never held it against me, since I was only carrying out instructions."

Then in Moscow where he was posted as Charge d' Affaires in 1958 when G.P. Malalasekera was Ambassador, his daughter Anoma got married in a customary Sinhala Buddhist ceremony.

"The people at the Bolshoi Ballet erected the poruwa and the Russians, bewildered and curious, watched the Poruwa ceremony followed by Sinhala 'rasakavili' which the Russians enjoyed eating. It is something the Russians who were guests will never forget, I am sure."

The finest years of his life as a diplomat, he said were the five years he spent in Cairo.

He was the Regional Director of UNESCO with special responsibility, to work on Archaeology which is a subject close to his heart.

"The fruits of my stay was a book I wrote titled, "The Gift of the Nile".

Vernon going down an unusual memory lane recalls that he was never nervous with celebrities.

"In London, when I presented my credentials, the Queen was charming and graciously admitted that she had a soft corner for Sri Lanka after her first visit here.

"In Ottawa too the ceremony was colourful. It was an experience I won't forget, riding in a DPL horse- drawn carriage escorted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to hand over my credentials. I felt honoured for the sake of my country and excited for myself."

Talking of his marriage to attractive Pathma, Vernon said, "We had troubled times when we fell in love in Washington where I was posted. Her father D.W. Rajapathirane held a very high post there. We had problems and finally precipitated the marriage with a quiet wedding though Pathma was the only daughter.

The Embassy Staff feeling sorry for us young lovers, gave us a big party and we left for Tokyo (I was posted as First Secretary to help start our Embassy in Tokyo) that very night, spending our honeymoon on the plane!

"It was a very crowded life that I had and it all added up to enriching my life as one of the pioneer diplomats."

Talking of Paris, Vernon skipped commenting on his relationship with the notable Parisian women. "As a diplomat I should not talk about such experiences," he guffawed.

"I have been very happy and feel I have contributed much to the professionalism of diplomacy. So in the fitness of things now I am training others, so that they can establish the image of our small but proud nation."

Apart from training young diplomats who are recruits to the Foreign Service, he also does reorientation courses for those already in the service.

"It is not always that a person gets to do what he or she wants. I am happy to say I am grateful for that. I can still serve my country."

Vernon Mendis not only has a B.A. Hons. in History, but also studied at the School of African and Oriental Studies acquiring a Master of Philosophy in London.

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