Memories of 'fair punters'

Down Memory Lane

By Roshan Peiris

Going down Memory Lane with Iswari Richards one finds her very aware of and sensitive about her roots. Her father was the well- known lawyer Samuel J.C. Kadirgamar.

"I was the only girl among five boys. I was the second in the family and the target for my brothers, especially the elder four. Lakshman, now the Minister for Foreign Affairs and a reputed lawyer was the youngest and hence not upto mischief."

She remembers with gratitude her parents who gave much time and thought to their children especially when planning holidays. "They were not over- indulgent for they believed in discipline but were at the same time very accommodating and understanding," she said.

"For example, my friend Norma Tennekoon and I went to the Nuwara Eliya races as a special treat and the Daily News published our picture on the front page calling us the fair punters."

"My parents took it all well, and laughed about it but not my Principal at Ladies' College, Mrs. Opie who left a note on my desk asking me to see her at the office. When I went there she said, "So, you have been to Timbuctoo and back." I was coached by my parents not to explain or talk back and so with that in mind I got over the problem."

For holidays they went to Kodaikanal.

A poignant memory was of her mother dying of an undiagnosed illness after just two days. "I gave her my promise that I would look after my brothers like a mother. It was what she requested of me, on her death bed."

"So I recall keeping Lakshman on my lap and feeding him. He was a very poor eater but somehow I petted and told him stories and fed him. It was a trust. Lakshman also liked animals and birds and took it to heart when the turkey my mother reared for Christmas was killed. He never forgave her nor us, for killing the turkey. He was a kind-hearted boy."

"My mother on her death bed asked me not to mourn and not to wear white when she died," she said, her eyes misting over at the recollection.

Iswari's days at Ladies' College were happy ones. She had friends from all the communities.

"When I was elected prefect my friends congratulated me but can you imagine my chagrin when I came back to class and my class teacher punished me, not even an hour after being appointed prefect and sent me out of class for a whole period for talking in the Assembly line.

"In class I wore the Thavani and the girls would pull the 'tail' called Pinchoruku until it hung down! So I began pinning it firmly.

"I must admit I was very lively in class and a veritable chatterbox. I used to pass down funny notes to friends in class. It was all good fun.

One of her most treasured memories is of meeting Indira Nehru before her marriage at the Tamil Women's Union.

Iswari's was an arranged marriage. "It was arranged by my father. He was a chest specialist named Tharmama Richards. The first time he came to see me I liked him for he was full of good humour and jokes and said 'I hope you don't mind meeting me,' as if I had any option.

"We married during the Second World War at the Kollupitiya Methodist Church and held a reception at my father's home in Queens Road which my elder brother later occupied. All the windows had black curtains due to the black-out and it was romantic though rather dim. That house is never dated by the way. It is now sixty five years old and at the time of my wedding was just seven years old.

Iswari Richards has a talent for handicrafts. A decade or two ago she painted beautiful clay pots and sarees as well. 'No one taught me, it was I think an inborn talent that I had and cherished very much. Some of my painted sarees were exhibited in Japan when Herbert Tennekoon was Ambassador and I sent some painted sarees to Switzerland as well on request.

Iswari still drives around in her red baby Ford car. A simple person she guards closely the very many traditions and memories of an old aristocratic family .

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