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Arts Opening doors
to Sinhala writers Another newcomer
- the 17th in the list - joined the list of winners.ß Deepthi
Mangala Rajapakse won the award for 2001 for her manuscript titled
' Athwela Bindi Gihin'. It was one among 36 manuscripts received
- the highest so far - even though the time limit to submit entries
was rather short. Generally the entries have been in the region
of 25. The organisers
- Lake House Investments Limited - are already planning to call
for manuscripts in September this year giving the new writers a
period of four months to submit manuscripts. The awards presentation
is being planned for D. R. Wijewardene day - June 13. Impressive
list The other winners
were Swarnalatha Kiriwaththuduwa (1986 - Isuru Soya), Jayatilleka
Kammelaweera (1987 - Ata Avurudda), Sarath Wijesuriya (1988 - Avindu
Andura), Piyadasa Ranpathwila (1989 - Diyata Handana Kedeththo),
K .G. Karunasena (1990 - Choranaga), Chandraratne Bandara (1991
- Vanasapu Mala), Langani Fernando Abeydeera (1992 - Kandak Gini
Avilenne), Sepali Mayadunne (1993 - Debeduma), Bhadraji Mahinda
Jayatilleka (1994 - Pavuru Bendi Rajyaya), Sita Kumarihamy (1996
- Aratu), J. C. P. S. Siriwardena (1997 - Pambaya), Shanti Dissanayake
(1998 - Vara Mal), Yasawardena Rodrigo (1999 - Vipiriyasaya) and
D. M. Dharmasena (2000 - Kamalalage Thaththa). Looking
beyond 'swabasha' In the course
of her address titled 'The Development of Human Relations and Creative
Writing', Professor Karunaratne stressed on the need look beyond
'swabasha' if we are to bring about a virtuous society through literature
and the arts and if writers and artists are to take leadership in
the transformation of society. They should not only imbibe new knowledge
but should also leave off taking a narrow view of matters. Taking a look
at the school system, she pointed out that our children are enmeshed
in an examination learning exercise. "There
is no interest shown in examining the knowledge which comes about
by way of understanding the relationship between man and environment.
Parents spend
a large percentage of their income on the education of their offspring.
Even though we have children who are able to score high marks in
examinations, we have to examine whether we have been successful
in moulding our children so that they can take the lead in developing
worthwhile human relations and are equipped to merge with civil
society. We cannot be satisfied with university students who resort
to violence instead of intelligent interactions," she emphasised. Professor Karunaratne lamented that with the advent of modern electronic media, the child is entrenched in a world of pictures and his interest in listening (which he did when he only could listen to the radio) and reading has greatly reduced. In learning, showing less interest in spending less time on reading does not lead to good results. Reading is not only for learning, but is also a means of appreciation and a prerequisite for understanding life. Frolicking in
French in years gone by It is interesting
to recall how this came about. Before 1949 a bare minimum of French
and Dutch, had been taught to students of history by the jovial
Canon Lucian Jansz. Professor of
English E.F.C. Ludowyk now decided it was time his students learnt
other European languages too and recruited Dr. Vally Reich, a Jewish
Austrian refugee domiciled in Britain, as Lecturer in French and
German. All four of us reading English for our degree - Nissanka
Seneviratne, Frederick Bartholomeusz, Victor Gunawardena and I -
opted for French, to the delight of Dr. Reich who (for obvious reasons)
preferred it to German. After preliminary skirmishes with the torturous
intricacies of French grammar and pronunciation, Dr. Reich threw
us into the deep end. As students
of literature she felt we deserved stronger meat, and soon after
we were chewing over Flaubert, Rimbaud and even Baudelaire! Tough
going, but we learned to appreciate French literature in French.
Victor and I were even bold enough to translate Rimbaud for the
University magazine! We became a
minor jewel in the crown of the newly established French Embassy
and were often visited by the elegant Cultural Attache M. Claude
Journot, resident in Delhi where he died tragically young. It may
be he who suggested we spread our wings by producing a play in French.
Dr. Reich suggested a short comedy by Tristan Bernard as within
our (limited) competence. After some initial embarrassment about
speaking French in public we enjoyed our rehearsals - great occasions
for fun and food in the University culture of that spacious era.
As policemen Nissanka and I were the only actors who needed costumes.
We were kitted out in blue uniforms, on loan from the Fire Brigade,
as the nearest approximation to French police uniforms. As the Inspector
I strutted in black Wellington (not Napoleon!) boots. Hoots of laughter
greeted me when I forgot the silent French 'H' in my very first
word and exclaimed 'Hein' in the Germanic style of 'Heil'! We had a very
distinguished audience at our one and only show. The Vice Chancellor
Sir Ivor Jennings, the French Ambassador, our professors and almost
the entire French community in Colombo - probably not more than
a hundred or so. Most of them were engineers from Socoman, building
underground water schemes, and their matronly ladies. They enjoyed
it - though not for our brilliant acting I am afraid. Our players
have now departed, blown away by the winds of time. The sultry Marguerite
Passe, handsome Shanti Kumar, earnest Lyster Pereira and gentle
Victor have now joined Professor Ludowyk beyond the sunset. Ethereal
Pat de Saram is in Australia, and Latin lecturer Roland Sri Pathmanathan
(who spoke French like a native as his mother was one) was last
heard of somewhere in Africa. Two greyheads remain, to recall those
faraway days when we were young and French was new (to us!). A broken man
still sings his songs of faith Subash Chandran
Ponnambalam, one time producer and a performer in the Tamil service
of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation now living in Norway,
faced the most traumatic day of his life on February 13, 2000. I first met
him during the Navarathri festival at the Sri Sivasubramaniyar/Murugan
Temple in Ammerud, Norway in November 1999. The Pooja on that day
ended rather late and Subash, as he is called by relatives and friends,
travelled back with me to the city centre in Oslo. Our conversation
brought back memories of what he called 'his good old days in Sri
Lanka'. The July '83 riots had made him leave the country. Having seen
my fondness for classical Carnatic music he virtually forced me
to hum a few pieces of classical melodies in the car. I did so,
and he then invited me to join in the prayer sessions. I promised
him I would, but this in reality happened two years later under
different circumstances with Subash turning out to be 'my guest'.
Following our
first meeting I kept in touch with him until the shattering news
reached me in February 2000. I rushed to the Lovisenberg hospital
in Oslo. At first, nothing seemed wrong. The news I had heard was
that he had been assaulted by two gangsters and had suffered a nasty
blow on the head. He had been unconscious for hours before being
hospitalized. I expected to see him bandaged but there was no visible
injury. I was relieved, but only for a moment though. He could not
recognize me at once. His face remained blank. It was then that
I realised the severity of the injury he had suffered. He could not
move but made a vain attempt to reach me. He tried to speak but
I could not hear him. I held his hand and waited until he gained
some strength to talk. His voice was feeble. It was indeed shocking
to see him in this state, having seen his vocal performances and
associated with him even for a short while sharing a common interest.
Later, he was
transferred out to a hospital away from the city and as months passed
his condition slowly and steadily improved. At an 'Arangetram' where
I was an invitee, Subash walked in assisted by a friend. Indeed,
he recognized me this time and was delighted to see me there. He
was able to move about slowly with the help of crutches. Despite
this, he missed his music. "I cannot sing and it is not my
voice," he said. Subash is slowly
recovering, thanks to his wife, a few friends and relatives who
were right beside him throughout this painful period. Inevitably,
however, he was confined to an apartment with a few outings to a
doctor or a gathering. Being an active worker as well as a music
producer and performer, his grief would still have been inexpressible.
As one Norwegian daily paper said, "When his court case was
over, the perpetrators received 21 months in prison. But 52-year-old
Subash ended up with permanent paralysis in his left arm and leg.
His eyesight has been reduced. He needs help in managing the most
basic things like changing his socks. He will spend the rest of
his life in a wheel chair.' In the same interview Subash admitted,"
My life is physically and mentally ruined completely. "I sit
in my apartment 24 hours a day. It drives me crazy". Almost exactly
two years after that disastrous day I arranged a pooja at the Sri
Lanka Hindu Temple and wrote to Subash inviting him to join us during
the bajan session. He was thankful and indeed, was present on that
day, well on time with Sarada,his wife. During the bajans he sang
a famous devotional song for Lord Murugan. He performed extremely
well and participated in the pooja. Subash, at
least on that occasion was not brooding over what happened. I saw
much bliss in his face. He might not fully recover physically, but
we sincerely pray that he makes a come back to the classical music
field for words cannot express the joy I feel when I watch Subash
singing the Murugan song on video. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
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