Open the window, and let the wild waft in
Lilamani Ebell knew a wild Nawala, when a great dark green marsh covered the land beyond her backyard, and the animals included the delightfully skipping Black-naped hare and the elusive Fishing cat that padded about at night, a rare feline phantom who never let his presence be known, let alone left a visiting card unless in the guise of well guzzled prey.
Lilamani has lived nearly all her life in Nawala, and seen the dark habarala marsh being filled, and buildings and factories emerge. Yet she still receives wild visitors – only recently, on a rainy night, a thump on the door proved to be a full-sized porcupine come looking for refuge.
These suburban brushes with the wild are the subject matter of her latest ‘Gramps and Grammy of Thereabouts: Animal Happenings’- a book for children – which is published in all three languages. Thereabouts is almost a storybook house- neatly two storeyed with a grassy garden and a mango tree. Here live Grammy (Lilamani herself) and Gramps her husband, and often the grandchildren spill in.
M.T. L. (Lilamani) Ebell: Finding joy in the wildlife around Nawala. Pic by Priyanka Samaraweera
The book has eleven wild encounters that Grammy and Gramps with their grandchildren experienced, all in their home. It’s magical to share a neighbourhood just a hop, skip and a jump away from the heart of Colombo with mongooses, thalagoyas, tortoises, and egrets, lapwings, serpents and Red Pierrots who flutter in bringing ethereal exotica on wings.
A pleasure to talk to, with a short crop of hair and an elegant chunky onyx necklace over simple white, she breathes a lost gracious world. Her favourite books are the Bible and Shakespeare, she tells me, but she loves being embroiled in a good old whodunit. The wry humour of a self-deprecating grandmother in her anthology is the dash of pungent citrus in the pudding.
While most literary Goliaths often quail when faced with the task of writing for the young, how did soft-spoken Lilamani take up the challenge? How could she find that diction- so difficult for an adult to recapture? Well- she had always had children growing up around her, so their conversations are familiar patterns to groove into. Also, her childhood in the same neighbourhood is still very much alive.
If you were a reader of the Sunday Times in the early ‘90s you just may remember a vivid chatty column called Motherhood With a Pinch of Salt, in which she despaired and delighted over the baby-gone funny moments- the hilarious antics of her growing children.
In this book, she captures the conversation of toddlers and the older ones like Chaa who can tick off the bird checklist like a pro, but also the speech of the animals.
One particularly articulate feline was Jumpy the Cat who managed this dialogue:
“Jumpy: Ma maaa
Grammy: Hello!
Jumpy: wherearrrrooo?
Grammy: In the den. Where are you?
Jumpy: Inthehaaaarrl.
There is a tinge of tender empathetic pathos which makes the young reader feel keenly for the animals, many of whom though, meet with a sad end.
In a world where many children have moved to a parallel realm of I-phones where nature cannot impinge, the book urges you to just open the window, and let the wild waft in.
Gramps and Grammy was the only book of hers that ‘came with a purpose’ says Lilamani. Short and Verse, a collection of short stories and poetry, and Thus, She Grew, a biographical novel, were born of urgency- stories that were too smouldering to sit any longer in her mind- particularly the last- the sagacious story of her parents as gleaned from her father’s cryptic diaries. Both books were winners of State Literary Awards.
Gramps and Grammy in contrast was born out of a deep motive to inspire children- to open to them the delight and wonder of the secret heart of suburban wildlife. She has brought out the book in Sinhala and Tamil as well.
Lilamani herself translated the book into Sinhala, and the three publications have been released simultaneously- the vernacular versions just as pacy, exciting and brimming with the “call of Gaia”. They form a joyful trio- a special literary month gift for a child to hone the languages of her island.
Irushi Tennekoon’s quirky illustrations of grinning kingfishers, warring tortoises and somersaulting baby cats add joy.
As I tucked myself to my own suburban bed after the read, I thought with a thrill of the wildlife venturing out, under a blanket of stars in an eternally secret mysterious nocturnal world of backyards, and drifted, all the more snugly, into oblivion…
Gramps and Grammy of Thereabouts: Animal Happenings is a Vijitha Yapa publication, and is priced at Rs 400. The books- in Sinhala, Tamil and English are available at the Colombo International Book Fair.
(Please see Funday Times for an extract from the book)