18th March 2001
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Kala Korner by Dee Cee
A pioneer's biography
The mild, soft-spoken man in white national dress taught science at Nalanda Vidyalaya in the fifties. He gathered a few teachers and some students and discussed how they could be of help to others, particularly to uplift the rural folk. That was in 1958. Today the movement has blossomed into a massive organisational complex embracing nearly 15,000 villages in rural areas throughout the country including the North and East. The man, A. T. Ariyaratne is synonymous with Sarvodaya. He has gained worldwide recognition for his community development activities. Many are the international awards he has won. Our own Sri Jayawardenapura University conferred a D. Litt. on him. So did Amelio Aguinaldo College in the Philippines.It was no easy task getting things into shape. Many were the obstacles and hardships. Yet he did it. Dr. Ariyaratne discusses the difficult path he trod in his autobiography to be launched today amidst a distinguished gathering at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. Susiri de Silva, Managing Director Sarvodaya Vishwa Lekha (the publishing arm) says it's not merely Dr. Ariyaratne's life story. He describes it as "an analytical cross section of the social, cultural, economical and also political developments that shaped the history of our country during the past five to six decades."
Having listened to Dr Ariyaratne on several occasions, there is no doubt the publication will be good reading material. In fact, what is being launched today is only the first of five volumes. Titled Bhava Thanha, it is being simultaneously released in all three languages - Sinhala, Tamil and English.
More awards for her
The D. R. Wijewardene Award winner Shanti Dissanayake from distant Raja Rata continues to grab awards for her literary efforts. Her 'Vara Mal', which won the Wijewardene Award for the best manuscript of 1998 was adjudged the best among 423 published novels in 2000 at the Vidyodaya Sahitya Awards organised by the Sri Jayawardenapura University. And her later work, 'Agni' was chosen the best manuscript at the NCP Arts Festival. Sinhala readers can enjoy both 'Vara Mal' and 'Agni' now since they are out as Sarasavi publications.Shanti's forte is chronicling the trials and tribulations of the dry zone colonist. Hailing from Senapura, a colony several miles away from Anuradhapura she has a first hand knowledge of the hard life in the village and shares it with others in her simple readable style. When she won the Wijewardene Award, the judges were impressed not only by her style and presentation but also by her interpretation of the inner feelings of the average villager.
They depart
We lost three leading Sinhala writers in the past couple of months. K. G. Karunatlleka, Sarath Ariyaratne and C. Ananda Grero were no strangers to Sinhala readers.Karunatilleka was among the few writers who opened the doors of world literature to the Sinhala reader. A State literary award winner, several of his translations were best sellers. 'Bimgeyi Sirakaruwa' led the list. He also introduced the Tarzan series which became very popular.
Making his presence felt with the much-talked about novel 'Hattewe Coloniya', Sarath Ariyaratne hailing from Hingurakgoda soon became a popular writer. He also authored 'Minihiri Deviyo' based on the life of King Mahasen. Retired Judge Ananda Grero wrote several books in Sinhala particularly on subjects related to law.
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