Upward to riches from a cleaner's job at Hotel Ceylon-Intercontinental

The third among siblings, and three years younger to me in a neighbouring family near to us in down Wedikanda Road in Ratmalana was Rohan who took life easy. School was, for him, a vacation from the more interesting mission in life of playing cricket. Rohan did not realize that truancy was going to cause him and his family grief in later life.

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Life sailed by for him and at age 24-years in 1973, it took a turn for the worse. His fondness of gambling on the horses led him to a dire situation. His private sector employer did not take kindly to his taking an unauthorized break from work at regular intervals to visit the bookie nearby and his job as a wharf clerk at the Port of Colombo was on the line.

Also the horses he backed led to losses from his paltry pay packet.

After many verbal and written warnings, Rohan was laid off in February 1973. His dismissal, and the anxiety he caused the rest of his family, ultimately became a responsibility to his eldest brother Suresh, my good friend, who started job hunting for him. While on this task, Suresh spotted an advertisement, in early March, in the "Ceylon Daily News" inviting handwritten applications for the first ever five star hotel in Sri Lanka - 'The Inter-Continental'.

Prior to this hotel coming up, European travelers arriving in Colombo stayed at one or the other of the two big colonial era hotels, the Galle Face Hotel or the Grand Oriental Hotel.

Lesser mortals and less affluent Westerners stayed elsewhere, like the Bristol, Lord Nelson, Globe, and others, which since the departure of the British after Independence, had become taverns mostly serving local clientele. The rooms in these ex-colonial era hotels, with few overseas guests were let out to the oldest profession. And also, for locals who were in a hurry. Such occupancy was by the hour.

I, as Rohan's neighbour, was drafted in as an 'honorary elder and advisor" by Suresh. Rohan's brother who was six months my junior to what collectively became the Council to get Rohan a new job.