Godage takes it in his stride

Last month was Drama Month. Recognition for dramatists came in the form of the State Drama Awards. October is the Sahitya (Literary) Month. The annual literary awards were presented last week. This is another eagerly awaited event in the annual cultural calendar.

"We don't really publish books with awards in mind. Service is our motto. If awards come our way, it's well and good," says leading publisher Sirisumana Godage who bagged nine awards this year. He puts out over 300 new titles every year. This year too - for the 13th successive year - he became the publisher to have published the highest number of titles during 1997. The tally is over 360 - he can't remember the exact number.

Clad in his simple white national dress, he spends most of the day in his austere office in Godage Poth Medura down Maradana Road, traditionally the book centre with so many schools around. Doors are open for anyone with a manuscript to come and discuss terms. He doesn't mind if the writer is a well-known figure or a novice. His aim is to help someone if he has written something interesting. From small beginnings, Godage has come up to the position of being a much loved patron of literature.

When I met him, the awards had just been announced. He could barely keep the phone down. There were so many inquiries as to how many awards he had won. And he would patiently explain with much humility and in his own simple way. Success has not changed this quiet, typical Sinhala individual.

The best of them all

Leading the Godage list of awards is the Best Novel of the Year, Tidasa by Sepali Mayadunne. A newcomer among writers, this is her third novel and she has been publishing a novel a year during the past three years. Her first novel, Debeduma (1995) won the D R Wijewardena Award in 1993 (in manuscript form). It also won the Jayashankha Award at the 1995 independent literary festival. Sepali's second novel was Asmeemana (1996). She has also written two books in the juvenile literature category -Sellamkale (1990) & Sittara Puncha (1994). Parvata is a collection of short stories she published in 1993.

The best children's book, Saman Saha Handaya by Bhadra Marapana, the best in juvenile literature, Denagama Siriwardena's Punchi Gopalla , the best drama script, Jayalath Manoratne's Guru Tharuwa , the best translation (verse), Narawila Patrick's Rigvedi Geetavali, and the best prose (non-fiction) in English, G S B Senanayake's Gleanings from Buddhism are also Godage publications.

Winning the best cover design is Sinhala Kele Pattaraya, an exhaustive research study by Peradeniya University don Vibhavi Wijayasiriwardena. The book was also among the best miscellaneous works. The cover design is by Susantha Perera..

Best translations

Two of the four awards for the best translations have been won by two Dayawansa Jayakody publications. One is Kusum Disanayaka's Hunting Grounds and the other K G Karunatilleka's Rupa Viparyasaya.

Kusum decided to translate Dambane Gunawardhana's Dada Bimen Dada Bimata when she found "the sincerity the original work contained - a sincerity which could not be conveyed by an outsider to the way of life it portrays (Veddah life) and which, I fear, gets lost in any translation."

Rupa Viparyasaya is a translation of Czech writer Frank Kafka's The Metamorphosis and other great stories. This is the fifth time that veteran Karunatilleka has bagged the award for the best translation (short stories).

Winning the award for the best translated novel is Ariyawansa Ranaweera's Vanapetha Andagasai. Incidentally, being a top official of the Cultural Affairs Ministry, Ranaweera has decided not to accept the cash award (Rs 25,000) because he feels it's not the 'done thing".

Best design

A Vishvalekha publication, Rosiyi Renui has won the award for the best book design. Nimala Thiyabarawatte Abhayajeeva's maiden children's story, the book has been pleasingly illustrated by the well-known newspaper cartoonist Vinnie Hettigoda.

A product of the then Radio Ceylon, Nimala developed her writing skills under the guidance of Madawala S Ratnayake. Vinnie who earned his basic degree from the University of Aesthetic Studies later did his master's at the Baroda University and developed his own style.

Feelings are important to him

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

An artist will betray himself by some sort of sincerity, said the author, G.K.Chesterton, a long time ago.

Kolitha Samarasurendra certainly lives true to this. For him, his art is not so much paintings as it is his feelings put down on canvas, he says.

One of the paintings close to his heart, is one of a dilapidated house, which he has chosen to call Ruins. He painted it right after his mother died. "Its walls are all breaking down, and that is what I felt was happening to my family after my mother died. I felt the family had lost its bond and strength, just like the old house."

Sitting in his office, where he works as an advertising consultant, he is wearing a long sleeved, typically "arty" red shirt. He is full of true artistic passion as he talks about his forthcoming art exhibition, Moods and Moods, to be held at the National Art Gallery on October 3 and 4.

The philosophy behind his art is simple. His work, he says, is something in-between the realistic and the abstract. "Most contemporary artists paint things which have absolutely no meaning for anyone else who would look at it. The artist calls it something, and that is what the people are forced to see, whether they like it or not. I paint for the people, so they can understand my art as well as I can."

His soft spoken ways, and the emotional way he talks about his art, almost as if his feelings are so intense he has to literally drag them out, are all indications of this man's one passion in life- art.

The only formal training he has had is the classes he took for his degree in Fine Arts at the Kelaniya University, but he says he has been painting for as long as he could remember. Seeing his talent, his mother encouraged him all the way.

His talent, however, may not come as a surprise, when one learns of his family background. His mother was an artist, so is his wife, and his brother is an art director at LDB Lintas, the advertising agency.

One would think that for Kolitha, who hails from Kandy, the beauty of the hills would provide an ample source of inspiration for his work. But this is not so. "The hills are far more beautiful than anything man could ever produce. I don't feel I would be able to do their beauty justice, if I were to paint them, so I prefer to just admire them."

So how does he find the time to paint, with his work? Kolitha only works two days of the week in Colombo. The rest of the time, he is at his home in Kandy, indulging in his hobby, or looking after the handicrafts shop he and his wife have set up there, named Kollage Creations.

His work adorns the walls of places such as the Societe Generale Bank in Colombo But he is modest about these achievements, preferring instead to talk about the message behind his work.

What Kolitha tries to portray through his art is the positive rather than the negative side of any situation. For, example, he says if he were to paint Jaffna instead of painting the suffering, the pain and the destruction, he would bring out how beautiful Jaffna could be if there was peace. "No true artist can ever appreciate gory scenes, full of blood and violence," he says.

His subjects vary with his moods, as do the colours he uses. He says he can't do detailed art when he is angry, preferring instead to paint with oils, using long brush strokes.

Dying art comes alive

Ninehearts (Pte) Ltd, will present an exhibition of black and white "Portrait" photography, the work of two well known veteran photographers, L.E. Samararatne, and L.H.R. Wijetunge. Both are members of the Institute of Sri Lankan photographers and The Photographic Society of Sri Lanka. The exhibition will be at the Lionel Wendt Memorial Gallery from October 3-6.

Mr. Samararatne is presently the President of the Institute of Sri Lankan Photographers, while Mr. Wijetunge does photography as a hobby.

A common factor in both is that they are interested in black and white "Portraits", a dying art in this age of colour photography.

The exhibition will be declared open by Acting British High Commissioner Peter Gregory Hood on October 2 and would be open to the public from October 3- 6.

Point of view

Why have we chosento ignore the truth?

According to the recently published re port on a survey done on "Races be coming extinct from the face of the Earth," the Sinhalese race has been placed only above two other races. This is an appropriate time to think about such a finding, as we celebrate the 50th independence of our motherland.

This will help us in correcting the mistakes we have been making in the past. The betterment of our community would help us in improving relationships with other communities as well.

It's true that our ancestors have excelled in many different areas such as agriculture, civil engineering (building dams, sky-high stupas), arts, sculpture and also as the protector and benefactor of Theravada Buddha Dhamma.

With a backdrop of such advances, modern day findings can be used as an impetus to reflect back on our present behaviour as a community. Even in the past there were some circumstances where selfish ambition of individuals had resulted in incidents that marred our otherwise proud history. It will be important for us to ask ourselves how our behavior helps us fare as a community. Very frequently we hear stories that revolve around disharmony within Sinhalese communities, not only from Sri Lanka but also from all around the world.

As some people speculate, are these problems in the Sinhalese community due to the work of some unexplainable mystical power? Or, is it because we have ignored what the Buddha taught, the very thing our country wins admiration and veneration of the whole Buddhist world for safeguarding.

What did the Buddha teach in making a decision to find right from wrong? In "Singalovada Sutta" Buddha preached, "By which four motives does he do no evil actions? Evil actions are done from motives of Chanda - Partiality; Dosa - Enmity; Bhaya - Fear and Moha - Ignorance."

In order to make a wise decision one should not make judgement based on these four factors, as detailed below:

i) Partiality - Making judgement on a situation based on personal preferences (such as the person involved is a friend of mine, he belongs to the same class etc.) rather than on facts, comes under this category.

Should we agree with our friend even though it is the wrong view, without considering facts? Sometimes, we ignore facts simply because the person been involved (in a wrong deed) is a friend or a relative, rationalizing that we are helping him at his mishap. Instead we should make him understand right from wrong and help him to correct it.

Otherwise, he will continue to follow the wrong path and get into deeper trouble.

ii) Ill will or Enmity - Making judgement on a situation based on emotional tendencies, such as anger rather than facts.

When we base our actions on hatred, it is impossible to be beneficial to oneself and/or the others.

iii) Fear - Sometimes we opt to side with a person who has done wrong for reasons, such as, obligation for favors granted by him, fear of losing favours or fear of vengeance, retaliation or harassment.

iv) Ignorance - Taking decisions with delusions, i.e., consider facts but side with the wrong view due to ignorance.

When we do not think wisely about our actions they are overpowered by delusion.

It is important that we do not get carried away by these four dark forces in order to utilize our full potential as our proud ancestors did.

Our enemies are not external entities, they are within ourselves. If we correct our actions by being more rational and impartial, by becoming a little bit more wiser every day, by having loving kindness ("metta") and compassion towards each other, and by becoming more fearless, we would do ourselves a favour, as well as serve the rest of the world better.

- Bandula I. Jayathilaka
Houston, Texas, US.

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