Books
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players piece together the peace process The
most valuable lessons of peace making are learnt from failures of
peace building and in that sense, these two books are a repository
of knowledge of past peace making processes not from the point of
view of external commentators and academics but from those who had
hands-on involvement. The launch of the books, particularly Volume II, was significant and timely as it coincided with the resumption of peace talks between the government and the LTTE in February, after a lapse of three years. But more so, ahead of round II set for April 19-21. Much has been said and written about Sri Lanka's peace efforts, more by "peace pundits," than those who have been involved in the process. Irrespective of their literary quality, these accounts in the form of papers, memoirs and diaries are crucial to understand and document history on one hand, and comprehend the complexities of an intractable conflict as ours is, on the other. Volume I originally published in 1998, offers an insightful examination of past attempts to bring peace to Sri Lanka from 1985 to 2000. The first volume was republished with additions of several new chapters, concentrating specifically on President Chandrika Kumaratunga's regime. The original volume is re-arranged into three sections, each encompassing a different phase of the peace process initiated by Presidents J.R. Jayewardene, R. Premadasa and Chandrika Kumaratunga. Ring-side
view The
focus here is on peace efforts initiated by the United National
Party (UNF) government under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,
the co-habitation arrangement with President Chandrika Kumaratunga
from December 2001 until the new United National Front government
was elected to office in April 2004. Similarly, the volume also failed to rope in the so called "peace detractors," particularly the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Jathika Hela Urumaya, the strongest critics of the Norwegian-backed process. Theirs is a necessary view, without which, experience has shown it would be difficult to proceed on any path toward a negotiated settlement. It would have been sufficient if at least a chapter could have been added by a contributor who articulates the views similar to that of the JVP or JHU. However, it's this second volume that veers more to the present and can be a tool for the latest peace initiative under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, currently aimed at strengthening or revamping a ceasefire agreement signed under the former UNF government. The book espouses the tenets of conflict resolution drawing parallels from conflict nations like Northern Ireland to Guatemala. This may have been unthinkable in its application six months ago, but recent moves indicate greater attention being paid by the present regime to learn from these processes. Insider
moments There are some interesting accounts of what happened behind the scenes, some revealed for the first time. Weerakoon, who as the premier's secretary and spearheading work connected to relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in the north and east, spells out his side of the story about the controversy over communication equipment imported into the country by the LTTE and the subsequent storm it raised. Peace
envoy Solheim, who has been intrinsically involved in the process
since 1999 and most fiercely criticized, in an interview vehemently
denies that Norway has any stake or intentions in Sri Lanka and
goes on to elucidate how he came about to do what he does here and
weathered the storm. Points
to ponder The book comes out as championing the UNF's peace bid but at the same time the authors also highlight where the parties were deterred and what potholes to avoid in future. The critique provided on these issues though is unmistakably sympathetic and will remain an important missing link in the volume. With all its shortcomings _ and undoubtedly there are shortcomings -the CFA is largely considered the bed-rock of the peace process and a watershed from which efforts are made to transform it into a sustainable peace process leading to a negotiated settlement. Efforts
to this end have failed so far, which makes the book all the more
important. The book can also be viewed as a database or glossary
of the UNF peace bid with a comprehensive chronology at the conclusion.
So much has been written on Sri Lanka's peace efforts, here and
overseas, but it wouldn't be an overstatement to say there is much
to learn and reflect from this book. Compact
book on literary works and literary giants Reputed poet, lyricist, translator, prose writer and literary critic W.A. Abeysinghe's latest work is "Literary Essays", a collection of presentations he had made at colloquiums, articles written to journals and extracts from other publications. This is his 144th book. In the essay "The Sinhala Novel as a medium of Cultural Expression" W.A. Abeysinghe submits that literary creation is a social activity because it is guided both consciously and unconsciously by the system of ethics and culture in which it is rooted. As such the novel is a vehicle of society's cultural expression. Novels like "Yali Upannaemi", "Hevanella" and "Aprasanna Kathavak" were not realistic because they went contrary to our cultural ethos, whereas later novels like K. Jayatilleke's "Charitha Thunak", Leel Gunasekera's "Pethsama" and "Athsana", Eva Ranweera's "Sedona", A.V. Suraweera's "Heiyyammaruwa" and Jayasena Jayakody's "Aswenna" were a portrayal of our social life, reflecting aspects of our indigenous culture. In the chapter dealing with realism in literature, Abeysinghe emphasises that presenting a work naturally and authentically is not realism. The artist unveils realistic life in a complex pattern and in the process he may even resort to circumlocution and exaggerations such as Leo Tolstoy's "How much land does a man need". In Akutagawa's "Rashoman" even the dead man's soul speaks out. He adds that one who dismisses Jathaka stories as nonsense sees only the exaggerations in the stories and is blind to the subtleties of human behaviour portrayed. In the essay "The Sinhala Poem - Some random Thoughts" the author refers to the clash between the Colombo poets and those of the Peradeniya School. He observes that both groups squabbled over the mere superficial elements of poetry rather than over the substance. Abeysinghe is happy that the controversy has submerged and young poets today have succeeded in communicating their feelings and ideas not only through traditional rhymed verse, free verse and lyrical verse but also through many other vehicles. In two essays on Anton Chekhov, W.A. Abeysinghe discusses how his short stories and short novels have considerably fashioned the theme, mood and fashion of our short story. Coming to our own Martin Wickremasinghe, Abeysinghe places him as an intellectual giant in the 20th century. Martin Wickremasinghe has produced nearly 2000 pieces of writings both in Sinhala and in English, including nearly 90 books. W.A. Abeysinghe categorises Martin Wickremasinghe's writing into three groups namely journalistic, creative and academic. As a journalist he was an erudite personality who wrote on a variety of subjects ranging from Sinhala culture to Indian Vedanta philosophy and Western rationalism. As a fiction writer he was responsible for the emergence of the realistic novel and shaping novels and short stories into a serious form of art. Through his critical works and academic essays he proved himself an intellectual par excellence. Abeysinghe hails W.D. Amaradeva for being able to create the correct idiom in musical expression. Although in the quest for a form of true Sinhala music he drew inspiration from his pioneers, Ananda Samarakone and Sunil Santha, it was W.D. Amaradeva who fused the Indian Raghadhari form into the traditional Sinhala folk music. In his review of "Seegiri Gee Siri" by W.J.M. Lokubandara, Abeysinghe finds that the author has selected 127 verses of Siigiri graffiti and has classified them into carefully planned 14 topics. Lokubandara then discusses various aspects of Sigiriya poetic tradition that Abeysinghe finds are deep, rich and incisive interpretation of Sigiri verses. This book contains material on literature and literary giants that one would have to gather by reading many books. Abeysinghe has presented most of his works in Sinhala, though he has an equally good command of the English language. Little
book that shows what to say and how to say it It
has been used by thousands of tourists and expatriates since 1998.
It is invaluable because it gives the English word with the pronunciation in the Sinhala script and the Sinhala translation with the pronunciation in the Roman (English) script. Themes include 'shopping', 'describing people', 'vegetables', 'hospital', 'hotel', 'on the road', 'numbers and quantities'. The reader can effortlessly find a phrase he needs and pronounce the Sinhala words and expressions often surprising the listener! Language companions are popular because they make conversation and understanding of cultures and customs easy. Not everyone is a linguist and can speak the language of others. A knowledge of the language of the other shows a respect for him or her and opens doors to hearts and minds. It
gets one out of many a crisis and adds humour to verbal exchanges.
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