136th BATTLE OF THE BLUES
When I was invited to write an article on the Royal-Thomian by the Editor of ‘The Nation’ my thoughts went back to a Big Match supplement I was involved in a long time ago. That was in 2007. ‘The Nation’ came out with a special supplement. I remember it as the best Big Match supplement ever though I say so myself, having been part of that project. A bit of braggadocio, true enough, but that’s part and parcel of the Royal-Thomian, an event where there’s a bit of everything coming together to make a splendid entirety.What is the Royal-Thomian? Someone might say ‘one of about 100 big matches played in the months of March and April’. That someone would have to be ignorant. Sure, there are dozens of big-matches, but by and large the term has been robbed to get a bit of reflected glory. Sure, they all have cycle parades, papare bands, fancy dresses, souvenirs, flags and other frills. But there is only one Big Match. The Royal-Thomian. It was the first and it is ‘the only’.
It is not just three days of cricket between teams from two prestigious schools with long histories. It is in fact a week long feast of fun and frolic. When it comes to size (however you want to measure it) nothing compares with the Royal-Thomian. Talk of tradition, rivalry, entertainment, sportsmanship, spectacle and all round class, and you’ll note that nothing can beat the Royal-Thomian.
There are books that can be written about the Royal-Thomian. It is special to all Royalists and all Thomians for a countless number of reasons. This is why accounts of the Big Match tend to be ever fresh even though it has been played annually for almost a century and a half now. No, it’s not because of technological advances adding a bit more color and more pleasing sounds. It is because the Royal-Thomian is an anything-goes kind of event.
I could recall the ‘unforgettables’ of the particular year, talk of the cricket, the outstanding performances, the euphoria over victory and the bite-your-lip-and-bear of the defeats. But this time, the one thing that stands out is the unspoken gentlemen’s agreement, ‘what happens at the Royal-Thomian stays at the Royal-Thomian’.
That was one place where we could be truly free, regardless of the constraints and limits we encountered day in and day out elsewhere. We were free not just to be who we are, relive our schooldays etc., but more than that to rant and rave over anything and everything. Name, status and other distinctions matter very little. Outside the SSC, it seemed, there were some who could abuse and get away and others had to shrug, grin and bear. At the Royal-Thomian it was different. You were free to speak your mind. It was like an oasis in the middle of a freedom-of-expression desert. Things have changed quite a bit since of late, I am sure both Royalists and Thomians would agree. Today you can criticize anyone, anywhere. Inside the SSC and outside. In fact you can be in the Government and still criticize it, almost as though you are in the Opposition.
Every year, for example, you would see the then Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe spending some time in the Mustangs, Colts, Stallions and the Stables where he would be welcomed and his arrival announced to anyone who might be listening. Every year he would be the recipient of a bit of praise and the target of mischievous banter. Every year, he would respond with some choice observations relating to the two schools, lacing it all with political references that invariably prompted laughter and cheers. And then he would leave and everyone would get on with whatever they had been doing.
This year it will be different because he won’t be introduced as ‘the permanent Leader of the Opposition’ by some mischievous Thomian.
This year things are different outside the Royal-Thomian as well. This is the first time that Sri Lanka has a President and a Prime Minister from the same school, the former from Polonnaruwa and the latter from Kurunduwatte. In the larger political framework, one can argue that the Royal College attended by Ranil Wickremesinghe is but a branch of the Polonnaruwa school. We can argue until the last ball has been delivered on Saturday and well into the post-match revelry about who is whose subset, but one thing is clear: there are way too many Royalists in the Cabinet. I am sure this will be pointed out to Ranil when he makes his rounds at the Big Match this year.
He will be told, for example, that he could learn a lesson from the Royal-Thomian. The longevity of the encounter can be attributed to the fact that Thomians indulged Royalists year after year after year for almost a century and a half. Thomians will also argue that Royal’s biggest achievement is getting the opportunity to play against St Thomas! They will say that if he wants to go the distance or play a longer innings to keep with the metaphor of the moment then he badly needs Thomian support. They will remind him that without St Thomas’ College there won’t be a Royal-Thomian. Ranil will no doubt shoot from the hip and also hit his mark as he has on such occasions.
This is what is quaint about the Royal-Thomian. Politicians, whatever their persuasion, are indulged. They are not treated as larger than life personalities. Politicians for their part leave self-importance at the gate and behave like any other Old Royalist or Old Thomian. I might add that it is unlikely that any politician of any importance would feel as safe anywhere else.
In a sense the general understanding of what’s ok and what’s not that so defines the Royal-Thomian is something that is sorely lacking in the overall political culture of Sri Lanka. Perhaps only a Royalist or a Thomian could inscribe these tolerant, benign and cheerful ways of interacting with ‘arch enemies’ into the overall political culture. For those who are at the match and might be reading this or those who are taken to the SSC by the words and pictures on these pages, it won’t really matter. The Royal-Thomian is an equalizer. It lifts you up. And, if this is your choice or a product of your choices, you can go horizontal too. Your day, your match, your options. It is almost a different country.
Yes, that’s one way of answering the question, ‘What is the Royal-Thomian?’ In short, it is a different country. A different country in the sense of a different way of being and seeing which, if expanded, can turn the larger nation around. Whatever is wholesome about the Royal-Thomian can be projected to encompass the entire country. Just the wholesome parts, it goes without saying. –
