‘A feel for the frail and fallible people’

“A Tale Of Two Sisters” – 12 short stories by Nimal Sanderatne (Kandy Books, Rs.395). Reviewed by Anne Abayasekera

“I write short stories because I like to write and am impelled to write”, confesses Dr. Nimal Sanderatne in the Introduction to this, his second book. We are fortunate indeed that the erstwhile banker yielded to a felt urge and took up his pen (moved to his word-processer, would be more accurate), to create the credible characters and often ironic situations he draws so memorably in his stories.

Sanderatne gives the reader more than a glimpse of the subtle humour that informs his writing and his quick perception of the hidden motives, conscious and unconscious, behind human behaviour.

A Tale of Two Sisters

The first story, which gives the book its title, is a good illustration of this. Two sisters, both approaching middle age, lead a blameless if rather dull existence on their late father’s coconut estate in the little village of Madampe which constituted their whole world.

They are intrigued when a distant relative, a married man named Simon Appuhamy, starts visiting them and offering them advice on how to improve the yield of their coconut trees and on related matters pertaining to the running of the estate.

At first the sisters feel some apprehension about possible village gossip, especially as the visits become more frequent, but the wily Simon disarms them when he comes up with a proposal – not of marriage to one of them, as they had thought might be in his mind – but with regard to their leasing the land to him for Rs.5000 a year.

For his part, Simon would do all that was needed to enhance the value of the land and this he undertook, he said, purely in order to help them and not for any benefit he would derive from such an arrangement. Being illiterate, Malini & Mallika placed their thumb impressions on two documents which the Notary brought by Simon explained to them.

With the signing of the lease, Simon Appuhamy’s visits turned into almost a daily occurrence. He became fairly intimate with both women and, whenever he had the chance, started to behave flirtatiously with Mallika who was not averse to his playful familiarity with her, while keeping it a secret from her sister.

As luck would have it, an identified fever overtook both sisters and they succumbed in quick succession. Before any nosy relatives could ask questions, Simon took possession of the house and property, including 20 acres of paddy land – the sisters had unknowingly put their thumb impressions on a deed of sale for these, too. It would spoil the story for readers if I gave away the unexpected ending to a tale which seems to show that in this life, dishonesty may sometimes prove to be a shrewd policy!

Similarly, the story about “Dr. No” delightfully portrays a brilliant civil servant who in course of time perfects the art of never making a decision on controversial matters.

He tells his puzzled subordinate, Ben, who tries to spur him to take action regarding a certain File that has lain untouched for over two months, “Young man, sometimes the best decision you can make is to make no decision at all. We’ll just let the file gather dust and the problem will resolve itself. An `yes’ may get us into problems. A `No’ may get us into even more problems. So it’s a No Yes, No No case.” Not surprisingly, Ben bestows on his boss, Richard, the nickname of “Dr. No”, which is soon accepted and adopted by everybody in the office.

When he is eventually confronted by a furious Richard who charges Ben with being the originator of “an insulting nickname” given him at the end of his career, Ben thinks fast and is able to outwit the senior man by ingenious means. He almost convinces Richard that, far from insulting him, he had actually paid the boss a big compliment. While Richards has his doubts as to that, he is filled with admiration for the younger man’s resourcefulness.

Most of the tales have a surprise ending and the suspense is well built up and maintained. As in the very true-to-life story of the “Missing Condoms”, Sanderatne’s sly humour again comes to the fore in the enjoyable account of the “Marmalade Oranges”. Here he has a gentle dig at politicians and also at the hypocrisy practised by ordinary citizens who, while generally loud in their criticism of politicians, yet manage to put on a good act of being among their friends and admirers when it comes to seeking a favour from one!

The Best Kept Secret

“The Best Kept Secret” tells of a devoted and happy couple who celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary quietly with a special dinner in the intimacy of their home. The tension builds up gradually in the course of friendly conversation during which the husband, Brian, confesses to his wife, Yvonne, that he is sure the reason why his boss has been exceptionally kind to him is not entirely due to his (Brian’s) being an asset to the firm, but to the fact that they are both members of the same fraternity. Trouble!

Yvonne pricks up her ears. This `fraternity’ is a kind of secret society whose doings must on no account be revealed to a wife and Yvonne has long wanted to find out what it was all about. She persists in trying to worm the secret out of a very reluctant Brian, totally insensitive to his pleas to leave it alone as he is honour bound not to divulge it and if he does, he will have to leave the society. The reader can guess what this esoteric exclusively male society is and my sympathies were certainly with the undortunate Brian as I read on. He does finally weaken and promises to tell all on the following night and, of course, Yvonne, with her thick hide, doesn’t let him off the hook the next day. The ending, to my mind, is too melodramatic, but other readers may think differently. As the author points out in his Introduction, each reader’s response to a story is different, depending on her/his own perceptions, discernment, sensitivity, etc.

The only `period’ story in this collection focuses on the arrival of that first flotilla of Portuguese ships in “the famous Island of Taprobane” 500 years ago, their first encounter with the natives and their favourable reception at the King’s court in Kotte. One adventurous Portuguese sailor named Fernando, stayed back unnoticed when the rest of the party returned to their ship. His acceptance by the people at the court and his popularity with the ladies, led to his eventually becoming a fixture in the hamlet of Kohuwela where the King had ordered that he be provided with a modest house.

So Fernando became Pranandu and had a great time with the locals, siring a number of fair-skinned babies and teaching the friendly community to sing and dance to songs which he called Baila. He settled down with an 18-year-old maiden, gave up wearing pants in favour of the comfortable sarong, and looked set to live happily ever after inour tropical isle. But an unforeseen fate sadly overtakes the amiable foreigner. The story, as Sanderatne writes it, rings so true that I thought it might be factual (which it is not).

You feel that “The Guru” is no fictional character, but a flesh-and-blood teacher who had made a lasting impact on the author at some time. One warms to the man and his unconventional method of imparting knowledge and holding the attention of his class, and the rapport he establishes with his students.

An ambitious new teacher, a former principal of a Government school, who joins the staff of this “elite Colombo school”, is a different kettle of fish altogether, but he too comes across as a real person. The boys react to this master’s amusing mispronunciation of English words with the expected mockery that is at first lost on the man.

But eventually he suspects that both boys and masters are laughing at him and he feels humiliated. Resentment spurs him to think of a way of attaining the post to which he secretly aspires.

He had been a `big shot’ in village society as a school principal. He also had the ear of the Minister of Education to whose personal friendship he owed his position in the big Colombo school. An act of treachery – even against the one staff member who had been sympathetic to him and who had advised the boys against making fun of the man’s poor English, - was quite within his modus operandi.

The surprise ending, here, comes in the way in which the mean, underhand act of the interloper is only revealed in the quiet, unemotional tones in which the Guru talks to the boys on what is to be his last day in the school he loved. The episode that must have caused him deep pain is simply related, without rancour or self-pity. The Guru remains true to himself and to his ideals, to the end.

Here is a writer with a “feel” for ordinary, frail and fallible people in a Sri Lankan context and the skill to present them in a non-judgemental manner. Dr. Sanderatne’s keen perception, his understanding of the complexities and contradictions of human behaviour, and his undoubted gift for telling a story in a way that holds our attention, must surely offer his readers a more insightful appreciation of the human comedy.