The “Queen” has left the castle.
The announcement is not about Queen Elizabeth II of England leaving Balmoral Castle, but a Sri Lankan leaving the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Headquarters in Washington DC, United States of America, and fondly made by her own colleagues.
The “Sri Lankan Queen” who has left the “IMF castle” having served several of the IMF’s Managing Directors (MDs) as Senior Assistant is Delrene Boyd who retired in September.
Considered a legend of the IMF, it had been way back in 1984 “after a rather gruelling interview process” that Delrene had joined the IMF, climbing rung after rung before finally being selected to work for the MD at that time, Horst Koehler, who later moved on to become the President of Germany. Delrene had served many an MD for eight years.
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| Delrene at her desk with the Sri Lanka flag prominently displayed |
“Running” the MD’s office, Delrene had to organize and handle the MD’s agenda and set up a myriad of meetings while keeping track of pending deadlines and following up with the departments involved.
It was not just an internal office job but also entailed liaising with Heads of State and Finance Ministers around the globe and handling the social functions hosted by the MD, which included several black-tie dinners.
“When the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings were held outside of Washington DC, I had to arrive early in the host country to set up the MD’s office and make sure that everything was running on well-oiled wheels before the rest of our office staff arrived. I also handled the MD’s personal arrangements, such as banking, homes, health care, and children’s schooling and camps, if applicable,” says Delrene who supervised two other assistants in the MD’s office and supported the Advisors.
“I needed to anticipate and act on things before the MD or the Advisors even thought about it,” she states, for as her first MD Horst Koehler told her she was “the face of the Fund”.
Never-ever forgetting that and knowing that she represented such an important organization, however “tired or stressed I was, I tried to maintain my professionalism,” says Delrene.
After Koehler, the high-profile MD’s chair was taken by Rodrigo de Rato of Spain, followed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France and incumbent Christine Lagarde also of France.
Having heard of the “Queen” of the IMF from a close relative and intrigued by how a Sri Lankan ended on that “throne”, the Sunday Times contacted Delrene on e-mail to chart her life.
Recalling that at first it was extremely intimidating to walk into the IMF, as the building is very imposing and it was so easy to get lost, Delrene, however, felt very much at home among all these people from so many different nations. The IMF comprises 187 countries and she describes it as a “unique place to work in” as you meet people from all these different nationalities, even though the majority of the staff is from the US.
She had first applied to join the IMF in 1983, but due to the very low turnover at the Fund it had taken a year to get a job there as an assistant. “Even though I had over 10 years prior experience, I was required to begin at the bottom rung of the career ladder. But I guess the work ethic instilled in me by my parents paid off, as I got promoted and ultimately moved up to work as the Senior Assistant to the MD,” she says, going back to those early days.
Inexorably, her life changed……“all this meant that my life was no longer my own! I would be the first in the office at 7.30 every morning and the last to leave every night. This was no 9-5 job. I would be lucky to get home before 8 p.m. The work was extremely intense and stressful, but I truly enjoyed it as the people I worked with were all hard working and dedicated as well.”
The reality was also difficult to grasp for this little-town girl from Nugegoda in Sri Lanka who had more or less grown up in a sheltered environment with her three sisters, Shirani, Swinitha and Sharmini, and parents Vernon and Mary Gnanasigamony who ran an advertising agency -- Vernon’s Publicity Company and Ceylon Radio Advertising Services.
The third daughter in the family, with a significant age gap between her older and younger siblings, she concedes that “I was a bit of a loner” who retreated into the world of books and music. “I devoured whatever book I could lay my hands on. I also had a passion for writing and many of my articles and stories were published in the various school magazines. I also wrote a bit of poetry.”
Having attended Methodist College in Colombo and later the little-known Lakpahana Training School in Kandy, Delrene had continued her education at Spicer Memorial College in Pune, India.
It was in 1983 that she arrived in the US with her two sons, Sohan and Dinesh, from her first marriage. “The boys were just 8 and 4 at the time. Now I am the very proud mother of two fine young men. Sohan (36) works for ADT Security Systems and Dinesh (32) is a Deejay at 98 Rock,” she says.
Romance was in the air for Delrene when she met her current husband, Dwayne Boyd, at an Easter dinner hosted by sister Sharmini in 1997. “We’ve been married for 10 years,” she says and through all the long hours away from home, he has been very understanding and supportive.
“As many career-oriented women can attest to, at times I felt torn between my marriage and my career. Though I know that Dwayne disliked seeing me put in such long hours, he understood. For that, I will always be grateful,” she says.
Often Delrene could not believe that she was holding such a highly-sought-after position. “Sometimes sitting in meetings in the MD’s office, I had to almost pinch myself to believe that I was not dreaming. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would have this honour.”
Working so closely with the different MDs, she not only saw their “official side” but was also privy to a very different side -- the humane side. “I have the highest regard and respect for each and every one of them. It is also heartwarming to know that even after they left the Fund we have continued to maintain a friendship,” says Delrene, gently declining to respond to the Sunday Times queries about the Dominique Strauss-Kahn fiasco, citing the “confidentiality clause” she has signed with the IMF.
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| Delrene with MD Strauss-Kahn when she received an award for “Extraordinary Effort”
earlier this year |
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| Delrene at MD Koehler’s black-tie farewell dinner with Mrs. Koehler and husband Dwayne |
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| Delrene with MD Lagarde at the first press
conference since she became MD |
Responding to the query how she took up the challenge of dealing with different personalities, she says that there were similarities and differences to each MD. It was a matter of finding out from each one how they wanted their office run and setting things up in such a way that they found that they were in a comfort zone. They come in and have so much to do and must hit the ground running work-wise. I needed to make things easy for them and the transition as smooth as possible, she explains.
“Delrene is the heart and soul of OMD (Office of the MD),” is how a senior official had paid tribute to her at her farewell, adding, “She takes everything in her stride and her calm and good humour are contagious. So is her thoroughness and attention to detail. Nobody in the office dares to make a mistake, since Delrene never makes one, and you might get ‘the look’.”
The highlights of her career, according to Delrene, have been intense and interesting mission travel -- about 40 missions, visiting countries she would never have done otherwise. “You get to meet some very interesting people and learn their cultures,” she says going back to her first mission which was war-torn Uganda in 1986.
All the hotels were destroyed, so the entire mission had to stay at the IMF Resident Representative’s home. Water was trucked in twice a day, and sometimes one of the mission members would run out of water in the middle of a shower, she says, pointing out that it was hilarious to hear the frustrated shrieks from an otherwise serious-looking economist!
“The second night we were there machine-gun fire erupted very close to the Resident Representative’s home. This was quite nerve wracking. One of the mission members crawled under his bed in fright, and then could not get out as he was stuck! As you can see, one needed to keep a sense of humour at all times.”
The lady who moved with the mighty and the powerful, royalty and heads of state, but never lost the common touch, still thinks of Sri Lanka as her home and even visited her mother and other relatives in August, also spending time on the beach and touring“our beautiful” country.
Away from the busy schedule of the IMF after she has admitted that she would like to “take a hammer” to her alarm clock, Delrene now in retirement, is relaxing and trying to decompress at her Rockville home. Feeling good to have time not only for herself but also for her family, she hopes to dabble in Spanish-language classes and “learn to do something with my hands -- like pottery”.
Cooking has always been a passion of mine, and it’s nice to experiment with some new dishes or types of cuisine, says Delrene, while cherishing the fond memories, great friendships and world of experience that being part of this very important organization (IMF) has afforded.
Looking back at her IMF career, the most poignant memories for Delrene are of meeting former South African President and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and the Crown Prince and Princess of Spain.
Talk about an adrenalin rush! exclaims Delrene. |
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