ECONOMYNEXT – The title was a dialog piece. He was often called ‘Lenin,’ however that was really an afterthought.
Born Hirohito Edward Jayasinghe to a radical communist—Jones Alexander Jayasinghe—and his Eurasian bride, Myra Nesta Crutchley, my father underwent a reputation substitution simply two days earlier than his first birthday in October 1937.
His dad and mom dropped “Hirohito Edward” and changed it with ‘Lenin’ and ‘Lindbergh.’
What was Lenin like? How did he affect his household and pals? Did he observe the nice Russian chief? For a lot of his life, he was sympathetic to the communist state.
He embraced leftist commerce union activism all through his profession within the postal division. He additionally grew to become a defence counsel, a authorized consultant for public servants going through disciplinary motion and constructed a substantial apply. Within the true socialist spirit, his companies have been free—the one payment was the ‘batta,’ the official stipend, he collected as a public servant and an enormous reservoir of goodwill.
My brother, Lakal, and I grew up in a house imbued with egalitarian values. Essentially the most impressionable time of our childhood was throughout Mrs Bandaranaike’s rationing regime when every family had ration books—one per individual. Amongst different objects, everybody was entitled to 1 / 4 pound (100 grams) of sugar a month. Lenin was a real leftist and embraced the bitter austerity as a crucial hell for a greater future.
Early of their marriage, my mom, Latha, feared that Lenin would use all his names within the order they got—Hirohito Edward Lenin Lindbergh (HELL). Theirs was a love marriage made in heaven, however ‘HELL’ being a part of it was not what my mom had bargained for—or so she instructed us.
My father grew to become higher recognized by his new first title, Lenin. On his first birthday, he was photographed carrying a beret adorned with the hammer and sickle, the image of the world communist motion.
This was thought of an act of defiance at a time when communists weren’t tolerated in British-ruled Ceylon. That was six years earlier than the launch of the Communist Social gathering of Ceylon in 1943. Jones Alexander Jayasinghe was reportedly arrested for defying the colonial authorities.
How he escaped bother is unclear, however household images place Jones Alexander within the firm of many figures on the forefront of Ceylon’s independence motion. Jones Alexander was a good friend of the then-young Pieter Keuneman, who went on to grow to be the Secretary of the Communist Social gathering of Ceylon in addition to commerce union stalwart H. G. S. Ratnaweera.
Lenin was initially named ‘Hirohito,’ apparently as a result of my grandfather admired the Japanese emperor.
I’ve been unable to confirm claims that he was among the many first to make use of a Japanese-made Datsun mannequin ‘DB,’ a 722cc petrol-powered automobile that was notorious for its lack of reliability, not like the Western-made automobiles dominating the British Empire on the time.
The second title, Edward, honoured the UK’s King Edward VIII, who had ascended the throne in January 1936, ten months earlier than my father was born. The 2 later names, Lenin and Lindbergh, have been substituted a yr later, although the explanations for this variation stay unclear.
This was probably as a result of Jones Alexander Jayasinghe had begun to insurgent towards colonial rule and opposed imperial Japan. The substituted names mirrored his leanings in direction of Purple Russia and the worldwide human curiosity story of Charles Lindbergh after the homicide of his child.
The title ‘Lindbergh’ referred to the American aviator who accomplished the primary solo transatlantic flight in his plane, Spirit of St. Louis. The kidnapping and subsequent homicide of Lindbergh’s 20-month-old son in 1932 had shocked the world and was extensively recognized in Ceylon on the time of my father’s beginning 4 years later.
My mom may be the exception that proved the rule that marriage received’t make a person change. A promise to surrender alcohol if she married him was saved, and Lenin by no means touched spirits—till I cajoled him into having fun with a glass of white wine. Giving up alcohol underscored my mom’s spirited dedication to instil some self-discipline in him.
A nasty motorbike accident that noticed him flying over the Dehiwala roundabout (which has since been changed by a fly over) and narrowly escaping dying shortly earlier than his marriage ceremony may have contributed to his temperance.
Nonetheless, my father’s biggest failing was his incapability to surrender smoking. Unable to make him give up cigarettes, my mom, in a tit-for-tat transfer, threatened to chop off her lengthy hair—one thing my father was prepared to simply accept in trade for persevering with to smoke two to 3 packets of ‘Three Roses,’ the favored filter-less cigarettes, every day. After a life-changing coronary heart bypass surgical procedure in 1999, he lastly gave up chain-smoking—at the very least in public.
Lenin’s coronary heart and kidney-related well being points later in life have been blamed on cigarettes. Neither my brother nor I developed any curiosity in smoking or consuming.
With my father being a postmaster and my mom a arithmetic instructor, we discovered to be frugal and depend our blessings. Given the nation’s financial circumstances on the time, with import restrictions being the norm, there was little stress to purchase issues and nobody was spoilt for alternative.
Most Sri Lankans endured the identical miseries.
Changing a headlamp on my father’s outdated English motorbike, which he had purchased second-hand earlier than his marriage, required hours in a queue on the State Buying and selling Company.
Even then, it was solely attainable after accumulating approvals from a number of native officers to show that the Velocette MAC motorbike had a fused headlamp.
Even in powerful occasions, my dad and mom instilled in us the significance of serving to others and sharing—a apply they continued till their dying days. I additionally owe my driving abilities to my father, who would place me on the petrol tank of the 350cc single-cylinder motorbike and let me take the controls once I was simply 10 years outdated.
20 years later, he repeated this with my son, Navin on a more recent, sooner Honda 250N. After an accident that resulted in each my dad and mom fracturing their limbs, my father reluctantly gave up his beloved two-wheelers for the security of 4 wheels, although he was by no means comfy driving vehicles.
Wanting again, I’m amazed at how I used to sneak out the heavy motorbike for joyrides, even when each my toes couldn’t attain the bottom. However these have been quieter occasions when there have been few personal automobiles on the highway, and a 10-year-old on a bike didn’t pose a lot danger to himself or others.
Because the youthful of two sons, I rebelled by pursuing a profession path that didn’t align with my instructor mom’s expectations of educational excellence.
“My youngest son is a reporter on the Each day Information, however my different son is a graduate,” she would inform her pals and colleagues, underscoring each her disappointment and delight concurrently.
However as years handed and I grew to become a international correspondent, she got here to phrases together with her youngest son’s high-risk however low-paying profession, taking consolation in an astrologer’s not fully correct prediction that I might be a “author recognized abroad.”
Even after her retirement, she continued to show neighbourhood youngsters as a part of her social work till Lenin’s passing in January 2018. Together with her beloved companion gone, she steadily declined and handed away in her sleep three years afterward November 15, 2021.
On 10 January 2025, we marked the seventh dying anniversary of Lenin Lindbergh Jayasinghe – a steadfast egalitarian, devoted public servant, and a person whose affect left an indelible mark on all who knew him.
Amal Jayasinghe
