There is deep love and gratitude in this memoir
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This memoir of an unrepentant dark-skinned girl has captured a new vibe: social consciousness meets corporate zeal meets ohé! Miles Young, the former worldwide chairman of Ogilvy & Mather locates it in his foreword: ‘Neither overtly traditional nor modern, it is anchored in a Buddhist ‘via’ media’, ‘she defines womanism as a third legitimate territory between feminism and traditionalism’. Wow!
The back cover is peppered with intelligent appreciation, a rare expression by colleagues and even rarer by family members: ‘Sandya’s classic praxis approach’, ‘her zeal to confront the sorrows she finds in the world around her, even whilst partaking full of its joys’ and ‘Not many mothers say it as it is and do what they set out to do with all guns blaring’. As a reader, these reviews testify to what I look for in a memoir: not agreement but authenticity of the author’s voice.
‘Not just my good karma’strikes a chord with every young woman out there on the cusp of career vs. family as well as with every young man who plans a family with an independent-thinking woman. There are conversations to be had, decisions to be made in the light of the realities ahead. Sandya does not have a suththarey for this! She merely says sit down and have a conversation which begins with you and ends with your partner’s willingness to partner your life and dreams! Be honest and be unpopular, slay the stereotypical expectations which are beyond your capacities as you cannot do it all. Be happy with your decision, whatever it may be, that it is the one you took, not one foisted upon you by circumstance.
This is one of the few books written in English by a Panadura lady who is proud to say ‘my Sinhala is better than my English’. I couldn’t help chuckling as I contrasted this with others who would cringe from admitting their fluency in this glorious and versatile language. Sandya pays tribute to its irreverent humour reviving old headlines like ‘Ronnie Panee’ referring to the political crossover of a politician and a tavern-idiom of a payoff ‘Mendis gal, gehuwama mal’. Pure gold! Now would you place condoms besides a honeysweet campaign line ‘Punchi Pawula Raththarang’? An endearing aspect of this memoir is that Sandya steers clear of dogma and refuses to be a pedant, which makes for enjoyable and sympathetic reading.
Yes, this is a playground and workshop, this book. The artisans include beloved Brassiere Archchi, zealous brand managers, eccentric copywriters, bosses, friends, and the pathos-evoking Komali, the effeminate Buddhist monk. Captiva-ting illustrations in Annexure 1 bring to life the caricatures, caste and social issues, whereas the rural outreach work is very impressive for its sincere craftsmanship. Leprosy, Dialog, Ranawiru Real Star and the creative branding of Sunlight by building community wells, engages us as it does the villagers in the ritual of bathing at the well. Again, there is no dry strategic mantra employed here but something organic –a sort of Sandya-strategy spice – you may say. It leaves a light rather than cloying aroma with the reader long after the reading, for there is deep love and gratitude in this memoir.
Resonating with those who feel they flourished during the glory years, it also throws a challenge at the younger generation: winnow a bit of this if you please into your life! Today where there is greater gender equality and free-thinking, more fusion and appreciation of a life-work balance and social consciousness, Not just my good karma is a must-read for those who cannot fake it and loathe mediocrity.
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| ‘Not just my good karma’- by Sandya Salgado. Reviewed by Gayathri Fernando |