SAVITHRI RODRIGO: THE FACE OF INSPIRATION TO THE SRI LANKAN WOMAN

…by Gopitha Kiribandara

As Helen Keller once said, “When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.” Renowned journalist, reading enthusiast, entrepreneur and aesthete Savithri Rodrigo is one such source of inspiration to all women that want to grab life by its lapels. Speaking to Esteem Prime, Savithri shares her innermost thoughts on what it means to live life to its fullest.

The clock turns all the way back to 1987, as she deliberates her humble beginnings; asserting that she started ‘quite by accident’ at the age of 21, Savithri recalls that her initial response to the bundle of joy in her arms was to be a stay-at-home mum. However as the best laid plans of mice and men rarely ever work out, she too realised that she wasn’t cut out to be just at home. “I preferred juggling domesticity with a career!” Opting for the more challenging role of working-mother, Savithri applied for an advertisement in the Daily News which asked for English News Readers for Rupavahini in 1987. “I jumped at the idea as did my husband, who poor man, was faced with a ratty wife every evening!” she jokes.

This ability to laugh at herself is perhaps one the most disarming features of Savithri’s personality. Like a poet she encompasses a holistic view of her life and doesn’t allow the appearance of things to affect her reality. Being recruited as a News reader with some of the best known names in the business such as Ravi John and Jerome de Silva, Savithri recalls, “My first foray into journalism was in television which was unusual in those days… and there was no turning back.” Whereas most women would have backed away fearing the workload and the bloody repercussions of the period of unrest of the 80s and early 90s, Savithri held her ground amidst a collapsing world. “I worked through some harrowing times during the 88/89 JVP insurrection despite numerous threats… I was the only civilian working with the members of the forces who were brought in at the time to read the news.” Her words mirror the courage and boldness that lies beneath her quirky sense of humour. Rising quickly through the ranks of her profession, Savithri’s success was ensured as she wrote and produced TV news, documentaries and aired several radio programmes for SLBC. Speaking of her entry into print media, she says, “I started with profiles and reports for corporates… the Managing Editor of LMD asked me if I would like to write a story or two for LMD and that’s how that part of it began.”

Spreading her influence further, Savithri began working at the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce in addition to her stints at the SLRC and SLBC, and was part of the organization as it planned the first ever Women in Business Trade Fair. The rush of a busy schedule, instead of zapping her strength, fuelled Savithri to work harder. Never the woman to shy away from her lot in life, Savithri’s innate desire to remain occupied is evident in the words, “I can’t sit in one place for too long. When our daughter Saashya was born in 1990, I was into a thousand things including sitting for my UK exam finals five days after her birth. In fact I was due as the talk show host on Good Morning Sri Lanka with my co-host Premakeerthi for Sinhala and Kamalini Selvarjaha the Tamil co-host, the morning she was born.”

A doting mother and a caring wife, Savithri carries a great sense of duty to always do her best for her family. Despite an increasingly busy schedule, she stands as the ideal role model for all women who wish to balance their careers and their home life. Speaking further she adds that she loves to prepare the family meals, because it helps to ‘ground her’ in reality. “The children always had me around as my work times were quite flexible or even if I had to go to SLRC or SLBC, I would take them with me,” she expresses quietly, adding that she is lucky to have a husband who was supportive of her career moves. “My husband is surely my rock…not forgetting the numerous times he has dropped and picked me up from assignments, including hiding in the car with our son, who was just three during the insurgency, waiting to pick me up after reading a news bulletin, as the whole newsroom was under threat at the time,” she voices with gratitude.

The conversation turns towards Stratyx Promotions & Media Concepts and it is with a rare sense of satisfaction that she speaks of how it all came to pass. Wishing to create a business of her own so that she could spend more time with her children without compromising on the excitement of a career, Savithri claims that Stratyx Promotions & Media Concepts (Pvt) Limited and Stratyx Write (Pvt) Limited was the brainchild of her husband. The companies, which were launched 24 years since, aim to maximizes a client’s exposure in financial, administrative and corporate social responsibility spheres; their services include Integrated Public Relations and Media Services in mass and social media, Management, supervision and coordination of events which include total logistics, entertainment and networking, Internal Communications, Community relations, Corporate Training and the conceptualisation, formulation and writing of annual, sustainability and integrated reports and other corporate image building electronic and print avenues. The company collates the experience of two decades since its establishment, and is Savithri’s proud legacy to the world.

Her words carry the power to make a person think, to sit back and take stock of life, and ponder the worth of human existence. Her success, which she credits to hard work and determination, is grounded on a never-say-die attitude that strengthens Savithri to strive for the best; winning numerous awards acclaims for her achievements, she attributes it thus; “Each award I’ve won has been exciting but it has also driven me to look inward and see what I need to do to improve. I don’t compromise on the quality parameters I have set for myself so no matter how luring a project is, if it means compromising my values or the quality of my work, I would rather stay at home and read a book.”

Reading has indeed played a pivotal role in shaping Savithri’s views as an individual. While her passion lies with people and work, the introvert in her loves to dwell in the world of arts and literature. A self-professed fan of the theatre, Savithri spares no expense in her appreciation of a good stage play. In her own words, “An unforgettable moment has been Shakespeare in the Park at a performance of The Tempest last year at Central Park with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sam Waterston and Charles Parnell.” The witticisms never cease as she affirms that Broadway and The West End shows have left her ‘as poor as a church mouse sometimes, but well worth it!’ A travel enthusiast, she also loves to hop on a plane and wander where her heart takes her. “I enjoy walking around places, imbibing ways of life, the architecture, art, culture and the music. Nothing like it!”

Regarding the twists and turns that life has had to offer, she is eloquent and forthright in her revelation that even though the road has rarely been a smooth one, the speed bumps have nonetheless allowed her to grow as a person. She recalls a harrowing experience regarding her son who was suffering from a neuro problem at the age of 12; “His survival in the next few days was a 50:50 chance. The day our son was getting a lumber puncture, which was traumatic enough given that we didn’t know what was wrong with him, my father in law, who had been paralysed for about two years with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, passed away. We had to organise a funeral and contend with a sick child who was at death’s door.” This chilling tale has a happy ending however, as Savithri learnt the value of keeping her faith in dire circumstances. A month of trauma suffered only strengthened her faith in God; she believes that a miracle ensued as her son was cured of all symptoms. “To this day as Sashan shows no sign of any of what he experienced and has made us proud with a degree in engineering and a double Masters,” she gushes, adding her heartfelt gratitude to the people that made it possible, Professor Stella De Silva and Dr Colvin Samarasinghe. The realization that materialistic values can wither away in a second, leaving nothing except faith in one’s heart has strengthened Savithri as an individual.

As a career woman and journalist, her mantra in life is to “Work hard and enjoy what I do. If you don’t like what you’re doing give it up and start something that makes you passionate and joyous. Most of all, be happy and don’t try to change what you cannot change, instead, adapt and make the most of it.” Ever the optimist who believes that the glass is always full, Savithri regards each day as a learning experience. “Never think you know everything. Hard work, doing your homework and not making a mistake twice is the trick. Learn everything you can about the subject you are dealing with.”

She also considers gender equality as a concept that needs to be used for the benefit of women; addressing the issue from her clear perspective she states, “On being a woman, I always believe there’s a ying and yang and we need men in our lives too. Women and men together make a whole. Work with the men to get what we want would be my ethos.” Her views thus expressed, Savithri continues to make the world a better place. Her story is one of a kind, her words weave magic and her personality creates confidence in others… with a zeal for life that can be envied by women half her age, Savithri Rodrigo is truly the face of inspiration to the modern Sri Lankan woman.