False strokes of original faker

By Udena R. Attygalle

Shaking, sweating, but not drunk, the man stumbled into the boutique. He bought what he wanted and ran. The hundred-rupee note he placed in the hands of the unsuspecting mudalali was a counterfeit, forged by the man himself.

The man whom we will call 'Silver' is a self-confessed drunk and counterfeiter. In his sober moments he is an innovative artist. These days the "moments" are far and wide. Sitting on the open rear of a van, I spoke to Silver during such a moment.

"Most are not artists, they just buy artists," were the words with which he greeted me. Throughout his life, Silver's talents have been bought and bought cheaply. For Silver can claim notoriety for forging most of the paintings in the highest places in our country. "They come with their escorts to pick me up and then I am given plenty to eat and drink."

Later he would be locked up in a room and given the unenviable task of meticulously forging valuable paintings. Sometimes he would have to "create" an "original", just by looking at a photograph of a masterpiece. It usually takes Silver about a month to copy a masterpiece and then a couple of days more to "age" the painting and give it a "centuries' old" look, by carefully rubbing dirt and cigarette ash on it. He then uses gold foil from a cigarette pack to burn and scar the painting.

"Sometimes the painting comes out so well that even I can't believe that I drew it," he says with a faint smile. But the next question wipes it off his face. What is the satisfaction you get? I ask. "What satisfaction, no value, no value for me," he mutters with a contorted face. Yes, copying a masterpiece may be as hard as creating one, but obviously the artist's pride is hurt.

What of his original paintings? He has only a few as he does not seem to have the energy nor the conviction to create his own masterpieces. "People won't buy what we like to draw, people buy when we draw what they like," he consoles himself.

He recalls how he forged an old and valuable goat-skin manuscript. Copying the text was not difficult but the hard part was creating an artificial goat-skin that looked old. "I used bristol board, pasted another paper onto it and then added a coat of pulp." After copying the text he used his cigarette tricks once again. For the finishing touches, he laboriously tore off the edges, making it look like the wear and tear of age.

Counterfeiting is dangerous business and Silver knows it. "I did it mostly because my friends wanted the money," he says. Silver recalls looking at currency notes through a magnifying glass and wanting to take up the challenge of copying them. This was 30 years ago, long before computer forgeries came into being. Then the water mark was the biggest trap.

"I would get 'press paper' -used to print money - and use a brush with an ultra thin point and thread to make counterfeit money. Using binder gum where the water mark should be and painting it over was the answer," says Silver.

He is also an expert at forging signatures. His technique is simple. He takes an earlier document with that particular signature and with the help of a flashlight and glass pane, copies the signature in reverse on to the paper. Turning the paper the right way up, he practises forging it a couple of times. Later the signature that was not there on the paper appears.

These days Silver is retired and stresses he did forgeries with a lot of pain. "It is because of the alcohol that I was able to endure it," he adds his hands quivering. Time to have another quickie to calm himself down.

"An artist is somebody who draws with a delicate brush isn't he? Can't draw with a handle," he digresses. And that's what his life has been. An exceptional artist digressing, going the wrongway. A wasted experience.

Little drops of kindness that helped a big project

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

A poor person can go without luxuries, but a lack of funds seems unbearable when it is a matter of life and death. When more money could mean a life saved, being poor really hurts.

Barely a day goes by without an urgent appeal for funds to save little Dharshika or mother of four Hemalatha or breadwinner Sirisena who need to go abroad for treatment.

Many of us comfortable in our own little world, brush off these appeals. Sometimes we make a note to send a donation, but never quite get round to it. And every year, thousands die in Sri Lanka because they have no money to get the urgent treatment required.

While the National Hospital is equipped for kidney transplants among other more complicated surgical procedures, waiting lists sometimes extend to six months or one year, which patients can ill-afford.

One of the most pressing needs in Sri Lanka has been a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner, which helps neuro-surgical procedures or surgery relating to the brain and spinal cord. With the MRI scanner, it is possible to obtain three-dimensional pictures and information about brain or spinal cord tumours, disc problems, congenital problems such as malformations in the brain or spine and brain aneurysms.

Until now, those needing scans had to pay anything between Rs. 7,500-15,000 at private hospitals in Colombo. Those who can afford it flock to Colombo from the outstations, but poor patients have to undergo alternative and not so effective procedures for diagnosis of their condition. Some undergo angiograms, where a dye is injected into the part of the body where a tumour or blockage is suspected, to determine whether there is such a problem.

Though this test helps to ascertain whether there is a blockage, surgeons cannot detect exactly where it is. Therefore, they have to open up for surgery and then only look for the blockage. This procedure is also painful.

According to Dr. Colvin Samarasinghe, who spearheaded the project to collect funds for an MRI scanner, the rate of success in procedures using these scans is definitely higher than in surgeries without them.

In about six months Sri Lanka will have an MRI scanner, at the National Hospital's Department of Neurosurgery and with about 15 to 20 people needing scans daily, it will not only ease the demand on the private scanners but also help reduce costs.

What is heartening is the generosity and humanity behind the donations which funded the Rs. 75 million scanner, not a small sum by any standards. While large donations poured in, from Rs. 3 million to the Rs. 1 million sent by a woman who had sold a piece of land, many farmers from rural areas sent in their mite of Rs. 100 by money order with the note, "Please accept my humble donation". One instance, of a farmer with an income of Rs. 2,000 a month donating five percent was particularly moving.

Just as little drops of water make the mighty ocean, little drops of kindness in the form of Rs. 100 and Rs. 50 had gone a long way in achieving the target of Rs. 75 million.

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