Ships of the old block

THE recent appointment of Roshan Goonatilleke as Sri Lanka’s airforce chief is the first instance in world aviation history of a son following in his father’s career flight path, even though it has been a while since Harry Goonatilleke commanded the skies over Ceylon. If Harry had commanded the Sri Lankan navy and Roshan had followed suit, the latter could even have been called not just a chip but a ship of the old block! Since Roshan is flying as high as his dad did, they could more logically be termed as birds of a feather. Given south Asia’s degree of dynastic politics, sons and daughters taking over the mantle of national leadership from their parents is far more common. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first woman PM, was followed a few decades later, as Sri Lanka’s leader by her daughter Chandrika. India not only had a father-daughter national leadership combo in Jawaharlal and Indira but even a grandson PM in Rajiv.
Not too many eyebrows are raised when such things happen in sports where it’s assumed that the player has not just the skills but the character for the role. The Nawab of Pataudi donned India’s cricket captaincy on the 1946 tour of England and was followed 16 years later by son Mansur Ali Khan. All-rounder Mohinder Amarnath never captained India like father Lala but shared with him a contempt for those who chose the national cricket team without quite having the required experience. Mohinder even gave an interview, calling the selectors “a bunch of jokers”, something Lala never did, though, he would have had quite a few things to say after being sent back from the 1936 tour of England! Getting back to politics, if Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy emulates his father by going on to become the PM, it would be the first instance of the self-perceived humble son of a farmer being followed by the son and grandson of a farmer into No 7, Race Course Road!