The Full DNA : Ranjit Fernando
Anusha David spotlights the hottest styles and statements in and around Sri Lanka – from political leaders to celebrity CEOs, masters of the game to fashion icons and stars of the silver screen and stage. Here are society’s leaders talking about the determination, vision, smarts, competence and professionalism. Today, she speaks to Ranjit Fernando.
Ranjit Fernando needs no introduction. Gentleman cricketer, ruggerite, marketeer and businessman, Ranjit heads the 'R' family - which is how he fondly refers to wife Ramani, children Rashika, Rishen, Rehan and Rakhil, not forgetting dog Rocky! Born in Kotahena (during the glory days of that famous town) to the late Edward and Florence Fernando, he has a sister Manel and brother Sunil. Ranjit, a staunch Benedictine, captained his school both at cricket as well as rugger, and aside from his prowess on the playing field is one of the first qualified marketers in Sri Lanka. A charming and distinguished personality, Ranjit Fernando is certainly one who should be emulated.
Growing up, what were your ambitions and aspirations?
My parents wanted me to be a doctor following in the footsteps of my paternal and maternal uncles who were successful specialists and I was keen initially to pursue that path, but then came to playing cricket for school, where for a good part of the year, I stayed abreast in studies with the leaders, but when the first term came, my grades plummeted and I changed my mind to joining the private sector as a management trainee which was the next best option available. The tea sector was my preference and at a time when management jobs were scarce, I was fortunate to have been absorbed by Mackwoods to do exactly what I wanted. Playing top level cricket for my country was one of my foremost ambitions but at the same time my aspirations were to mix sport with a career, because during that time playing cricket needed a financial base from elsewhere, for support.
What was your favourite subject in school?
English was my pet and I also liked Physics and Chemistry. Botany and Zoology were a challenge because at practicals I could not draw to save my soul.
What is the most significant difference in the life of a schoolboy today as opposed to your school days?
Having spent my entire childhood and youth in Kotahena which was such a memorable period, I am convinced that it cannot be compared with what kids have for company and things to do in their neighborhoods today. It was then a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious environment with no differences whatsoever in any form, and one had friends at one's beck and call, who were always there when in need. Anyone at anytime was entertained in any home and you in theirs. Sport of all types were played in whatever open spaces available, which were far more that now. The meeting place every evening was the KCYMA which was a gathering place for all young people and we indulged in sport and fellowship. Although the two main schools were St. Benedict's and Good Shepherd, girls and boys from many leading schools mixed as one community. Parties were galore particularly with the high percentage of Burghers and any excuse was good enough to have one. With life revolving around the temples, churches and mosques, every feast or festival was celebrated by all, in grand style.
Every Benedictine cricket match played at Kotahena had a packed house of anything between 8,000 - 10,000 supported by the people of Kotahena, and my friends from other school teams would say that playing at Kotahena was like playing cricket abroad and at most times had its challenges. The Bens were very strong at football, hockey and basketball too at that time, and most of us, used to be a traveling cheering squad, going from place to place supporting the school team or the old Bens. This life without doubt would be so different from today which in comparison would be more regimented and far less carefree with less time on one's hands.
You captained St. Benedicts both at cricket as well as rugger, how did you manage to excel in both sports?
At St. Benedict's, I started rugby in my last year at school and since the game was new to most, the powers that be in school thought my leadership experience would help us through in the first year. We did reasonably well.
Given your background of sports in school, what led you to doing a marketing course?
Once I started playing serious cricket, life was all about juggling my work at Mackwoods with cricket. I had no time for anything else. I started my training as a tea taster / trader and in keeping with the company policy was rotated around the departments and moved to estate management in the agency side and finally went into marketing at the retail marketing arm of Lewis Browns. I got a thorough practical training all round in marketing from my boss Elmo De Alwis who was a marketeer par excellence with plenty of practical knowledge having started from the bottom at Lever Brothers. He was the pioneer of formal Marketing Education in the country and introduced the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK Examinations in Sri Lanka. Having experienced the practical side of the subject, it was always my desire to obtain a qualification to keep moving in my career and when I retired from international cricket I took to my books again and graduated from the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK. A very little known fact that has been shadowed by my involvement in cricket was that I was among the first few CIM Fellows in Sri Lanka.
When and where was your initial foray into the corporate world?
When I left school, jobs were very scarce at Management Level. I was picked to tour India with Michael Tissera's Ceylon team just after my last season at school and although I did not make the eleven in the 3rd Test Match, we beat India (I was the baby of the team) and there was quite a lot of hype about the fact that Ceylon had beaten a fully-fledged test nation captained by the great Pataudi. I was soon offered a Management Trainee job at Mackwoods. It was an outstanding program and the competition was intense with the best from the leading schools in the fray. The owner of Mackwoods was the legendary N.S.O. Mendis and he had a policy of employing the best brains in the country to run his companies. They were some of the best civil servants, and the best business brains around. Names like M. Chandarsoma, Victor Virasinghe, Adrian Wijemanne, Ivor Ferdinands, Johan Leembrugen, T. Vittachhi, come readily to my mind. Working and learning from them was like being in the best business school in the country. N.S.O Mendis was a true lover of sports, and amongst the recruits were some of the most talented in the country. It was a disciplined but happy environment, full of fun. We developed fast with intense competition and guided by people who expected the best. I thought I knew my English, but with some of the bosses coming from a background of classics honors, I went back to learning from scratch.
Could you describe some highlights of your early working days at Mackwoods, Lewis Brown, Delmege, etc.?
The working environment at Mackwoods was outstanding. The ethics were very high and those standards were expected throughout the group. Sportsmen were given time for training but the responsibility of completing one's work was his responsibility. Some of my peers were Tony Sirimanne (captained Sri Lanka at rugby), Gamini Fernando (worked at Van Rees whose agents were Mackwoods and captained Sri Lanka at Rugby) Mahen Dayananda, Chanaka De Silva, Srinath Sirimanna, John Fernando all of whom have made a name for themselves in the business world.
How successful was the Mackwoods Record Bar? What were some of its milestones?
It was the Lewis Browns Record Bar and Recording Studios. Tony Fernando who was a wizard in electronics managed it. In those days, with everything imported being on license, records were scarce and the demand was very high. Consequently Lewis Browns which was one of the major importers was popular amongst music lovers. Tony was married to Mignonne Fernando who was one of the best known female vocalists in the country and was the lead female singer in the country's leading musical group at that time, the Jetliners, which was managed by Tony. With band practicing at the Lewis Brown studios, it was always a hive of activity.
How does today’s corporate world differ to that of the time when you first entered it?
In those days, as much as the bottom line, one’s standing, class, style and corporate responsibility were paramount as a rule, amongst the top-level corporates which were managed by sheer professionals hand picked for the jobs. In the present day making money appears to be the primary consideration and not the exception.
Who has had the most influence on you in the corporate playing field?
All my bosses led by example and they were a great inspiration and an example to me. I always found reading a very rewarding pastime and my favourites were autobiographies and biographies of great men and women of all walks of life. I found that almost every one of them has had an influence on my life and aroused my emotions. I found that I could extract something special from each one of them.
You started your own business – Union Commodities with Chanaka de Silva. What led to that decision?
During my time with Lewis Browns which was essentially an import and distribution company, with foreign exchange dwindling in the country and a policy of limited imports and licensing prevailing, import companies had to look for alternatives. Government too encouraged exports of non traditional exports and Rikki Mendis who was running LB and was very much like his father, N.S.O Mendis, was quick to respond and set up a company called Union Exports which handled every conceivable commodity other that the traditional tea, rubber and coconut. We exported oil seeds, millets, coffee, spices, fish products, grams, frozen foods, handicrafts and were very much in the forefront, taking on some of the giants. Chanaka De Silva and I were entrusted with the running of this company. After many years of success, Rikki Mendis very generously handed over the business to us, which we ran as Union Commodities. In addition to the non trads, we started adding value to tea and in a few years were amongst the leaders in tea bagging. We divested our interests to a leading conglomerate a few years ago.
When and why did you stop playing cricket?
I believe I was one of the early victims of political meddling in cricket. It was in 1979 before the second World Cup. I was around 35 and still playing active cricket, very successfully. Having been vice captain, regular wicket keeper and specialist batsman in the national team, holding a regular place in the National team, my place for the World Cup 1979 was almost assured and had the full backing of the selectors. However, there were some who had ulterior motives to get their favorites in and made strong lobbies with those in power and cleverly manipulated to place an unofficial age limit on those to be selected for the World Cup, a policy never heard of before. They then found that some of the leading bowlers too would have had to be omitted as well and due to the dearth of bowlers they could not do so. In the end another outstanding legend and I who were batsmen were the victims. I decided then to retire and to coach with a focus on seeing that everyone got a fair deal without any other consideration. I never had any hard feelings or wanted to be the victim and used that drawback to do whatever I could for the betterment of the game. In hindsight, I found that experiences such as that gave me the character and strength to always stand by what I thought was right, and fight for the underdog.
What was the most memorable period of your tenure as Manager of the Sri Lankan cricket team?
I had many spells as Manager, Coach, Asst. Manager of various National teams and junior National teams. There were two under-19 tours that Sri Lanka undertook to Australia and England in consecutive years, just after we attained full member status. In the first I was Asst. manager cum coach to Manager Neil Perera, and the second to England the following year the same position to Manager Abu Fuard. I had just stopped playing cricket and the experience was challenging handling these very talented lads, who had hardly been exposed to any serious cricket overseas, and that too in two of the most competitive and hostile cricketing environments. Some of them like Aravinda De Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinghe, Harshan Tillekeratne, Don Anurasiri, Gamini Wickremasinghe, Marlon Von Haht, Chandika Hathurusinghe, Roshan Jurampathy played for the country and were leading lights and shouldered the country's cricket in the early days, but the most pleasing factor was that almost all of them went on to make a complete success of their careers outside cricket too. Some of the others being Jerome Jayaratne (present coach), Mohan Ratnayake, Kapila Dandeniya, Sarath Asoka, Mevan Ballale, Priyalal Rodrigo. That experience and grounding made a difference to dream big.
The other unforgettable experience as Manager was when cricket stood still for 17 minutes in the middle of an International game in Adelaide, between Sri Lanka and England, when Murali was no balled for "Chucking" by Australian umpire Emerson and Arjuna Ranatunga stood by his mate and walked away with his team. There was mayhem and panic in world of cricket. I was in the thick of it as Manager. Cricket was in crisis. The highest to the smallest were involved in the episode with many cricketing greats including Tony Greig, who were not Sri Lankan strongly supporting Murali. Maneuvering and handling the negotiations was an ordeal, probably unseen before in cricket after the body line series. The Foreign Minister, Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, too played a consulting role. There were sleepless and stressful nights with some of the best sports lawyers from Australia in our box. Finally, the day was won when Arjuna came almost totally unscathed. It was a nervewrecking time and was a tremendous experience but I would rather not be in that situation again.
What was the highlight of your time as a cricket commentator?
The World Cup of 1996 when Sri Lanka won the World Cup. It was really at the time that Mark Mascarenhas of World Tel revolutionized cricket on TV. I shared the commentary box with some of the greatest all time cricketers the world had known in the final in Lahore. It was an honor and a privilege to be called upon to take over the mike and join Richie Benaud outside roster, in describing the last stages of the memorable final. How could I not put that down as my number one cricket commentary experience despite doing years of international cricket commentary.
Why is sport no longer a sport both here and abroad?
Sport is now a huge business and I have no quarrel whatsoever with that, if it is properly controlled. I however see that big money brings in undesirables, and with that corruption. This has to be sorted out and managed without delay. Even now, I am not too sure whether it has already got out of hand. If those in power in each country do not identify these problems and act swiftly with responsibility, sport would be doomed and that would be a disaster.
Describe your tenure at the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation under Gamini Dissananayake?
Just after my playing days, I served under Gamini Dissanayake on the Cricket Board. He was a charming, caring but a no nonsense personality with charisma oozing. I have hardly ever had much contact with too many politicians, but the three I have known very well were Dr. N.M. Perera, Gamini and Rukman Senanayake. They were outstanding human beings and people to emulate. When SriLanka was admitted as a full member of the ICC in 1981 there were very little funds in the Board coffers, to put into effect the programs required of a full member. He set up the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation, with the participation of 20 leading private sector companies funding it. Mahinda Wijesinghe was its first Secretary who did all the spade work and must be credited for putting the organization on its feet. I took over after him, on the invitation of Gamini Dissanayake and despite my heavy responsibilities of work at Lewis Browns, my bosses nor I could have had the heart to turn down that request I worked 2-3 hours each morning starting early at the Foundation on a totally honorary capacity and went to Lewis Browns for the rest of the day. I did this for six years and believe me, this was my next best opportunity to develop myself in administration. For a greenhorn like me, to work with so many highly eminent champions of industry and commerce such as Trevor Moy, Gilbert Jayasuriya, Ronnie Weerakoon, Chula de Zoysa, Ruzli Hussain, Daham Wimalsena, Lionel Madugalle, and earn their respect was the biggest reward. It was a learning experience and I soaked up everything and anything I could. I could have gone on for longer, but I needed to be fair by my boss Rikki Mendis who was so generous, and sought their permission to pass the task on to someone else after six years.
You are identified as the Business Head of RF Salons. What is the secret of its phenomenal success?
With all my experience, I must admit that I cannot do what Ramani does. Ramani and Ramani alone is the secret behind whatever success RF Salons has achieved. She moves everything in the organization and at least for now, everyone requires her endorsement for things to move. I do as I am told.
You had 2 salons in Bangladesh and India which are now closed. What led to this?
They were extremely successful but the host government policies in bringing Sri Lankans to work in their countries were tightened and getting approvals were stressful and also not productive. The salon at Bangladesh is still in operation by our friend and partner to whom full reins were handed over under the name Total Care, where the original staff of two who went to Bangladesh are still with them, now married to Bangladeshi girls.
What are your plans for the expansion of RF Salons?
There is tremendous scope for opening of branded salons of quality in the suburbs of Colombo and the major towns, with most people all over Sri Lanka are now fully aware of the need to be healthy, look good and groomed. The availability of trained staff and locations are the main impediment and finances come way down on the priority list. We have never had a planned growth program and additions of Salons take place when Ramani feels its right for a salon to be opened. No amount of persuasion would persuade her. She has just opened a large one at Kohuwela and has a plan to open a MEN ONLY salon at Hameedia's ENVOY MANSION in Colpetty and another in Negombo soon.
How many staff do you currently have and how do you manage a group of predominantly young people?
The staff count is close to 175 with RF salons and two Franchises. Ramani enjoys her work and looks forward to it. Of course issues do stress all of us, mainly Ramani. Working with young people keeps Ramani young at heart and every member of staff must take their problems to her. She does have a special way in dealing with people.
When and how did you and Ramani meet?
We have been married for 44 years and the exact details of our first meeting are sketchy. I think I spotted her at a party and we were introduced to each other by a mutual friend.
You and Ramani are doubly blessed with a successful marriage as well as business partnership – what would you say is the single most important element in your personal as well as business relationship?
The children and I can all disagree with everything and anything Ramani says or suggests, but ultimately as a family we all end up doing exactly as she wants. Once again, her special way of dealing with people always prevails.
What is your advice to your children and grandchildren?
Ramani is their favorite and I don't attempt to give them much advice except to instill high morals and values at any cost. We have allowed them to follow their dreams and make their choices and backed them to the hilt in all decisions they make.
Name 3 people who have influenced you the most in your sporting career as well as generally.
In the beginning, it was my father and mother who in a very unobtrusive way were my keenest fans. They never interfered, never asked too many questions, and my father always watched me and my brother play school matches standing on the road. Their influence and example fashioned me in the early days. The late Harold De Andrado - one the leading Cricket journalists of his time, who was one of the first Ceylonese who covered the Ashes tours and also ghosted articles for the great Keith Miller, a personal friend of the great Don Bradman - influenced me a great deal. Harold, an old Joe, lived close to our house and was a stalwart of the Nondescripts Cricket Club and guided me through the early part of my club career.
Later in life, I was my own teacher. I was a good listener and through reading learnt a lot. I tried to emulate the good things in anyone I met or knew, but was not blindly influenced by any particularly person. I never suffered fools gladly and was never prepared to compromise on anything I felt was wrong, even if it meant disagreeing with my best friends. My philosophy was not to have enemies and the best way was to make everyone my friend, despite any disagreements.
If you were to become the Minister of Sports, what are the first 3 measures you would implement / do away with?
I can't imagine myself ever being a Minister, and I think that Sport is probably one of the toughest ministries to handle now with all the meddling that has taken place over the years. The culture has to change and that is the first step to take. Another important measure that can put sport right to my mind is to have laws to make sure that people with high integrity and stature, having played or know the sport and those with high administrative skills are only made eligible to hold office in sports bodies. Of course, a good mix of this is vital and it must be remembered that having played the game only does not guarantee a good administrator. I also believe that a body of Trustees made up of reputable people having specified qualifications must be appointed to approve and pass annual budgets and release monies to each sporting association. This will ensure transparency and control.
Once a good team of respected and reliable officials are put in place, we need to give them a free hand to run the affairs of the sport. The Ministry should NOT entertain the players directly, side tracking and undermining the officials. If the tail is allowed to wag the head, one is courting disaster. This has been one of the major reasons for discipline breaking down and the players falling out of line. I have a lot of confidence in Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekera, the current Minister, and I hope that he would be able to clean up the decks and get things moving once again to bring Sri Lankan sport back to what it was in the glory days.
Interviewed by Anusha David
.jpg)
0 Comments