Memories of a fellow journalist hunting for scoops and breaking stories

My memories of T. Sivapragasam go back to the late 1950s when we were both residents of Marrs Hall at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. By a coincidence, we also had another Siva: K. Sivapragasam. So, one was called T. Siva and the other was called K. Siva. Both were products of Royal College, Colombo.

After graduation, where we both specialised in Economics, Siva and I crossed paths again, this time at Lake House, one of the major newspaper publishers in the country. I was on the editorial staff of the Observer and Siva was on the Daily News.

Siva’s beat was politics and finance. He was regularly seen hanging out in the lobby of our parliament, chasing MPs and cabinet ministers, hunting for scoops and breaking stories.

Perhaps one of the legendary stories at the Daily News was an investigative piece he did on the shenanigans in the Bank of

Ceylon. Our news editor, who rightly believed in the right of reply, asked Siva to contact the General Manager (GM) of the Bank, an influential figure at that time, for his comments on the story.

When he spoke to the tight-lipped GM, he told Siva to call him around 2 p.m. that afternoon for his comments. As agreed, Siva called him sharp at 2. The GM asked him “Do you have a pen and paper”. When Siva said he did, the GM dictated to him:

“When the Daily News contacted the General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon, he said, he had no comments to make”..

But that did not prevent the Daily News from running the story on Page one. In effect, his colleagues said, it looked as if it was Siva who outsmarted the GM.

A longstanding journalist, Siva was Executive Editor of the Toronto-based 18-year-old monthly Monsoon Journal.