Book Review

Ronithi's poetry bursts forth with joy and sensitivity

By Roshan Peiris

Ronithi Buddhiprabha Ratnakara, a teenage writer of poems has just published a booklet of 23 pages.

She dedicates it to "my loving grandfather" Professor Tilak Ratnakara. She also acknowledges her grandmother Sriya Ratnakara and her parents for helping her to launch into the arena of writing poetry.

Ronithi's poetry bursts forth with ebullient joy that leaves the reader with a sense of great satisfaction.

Ronithi who has recently passed her O/Levels shows an almost implacable belief in destiny. Her poems are not contrived but simple with always a message in them or a moving description of life sometimes in the raw.

In her poem "Destiny" she writes -

In a street with ragged clothes,
A mother and a father, with nowhere to go,
Left silently finding a place to spend the night.
The moon appeared, couldn't find a place to sleep
In a street with beggars as usual they slept.
In the night they thought how they did raise their children.

This shows her caring attitude. "Oh My Friend" is also a moving poem:

You were my sunshine on rainy days,
You were my wind on sunny days,
Oh my friend there is nobody for me,
Like you my dear friend.
I hope you will be there for me in the future
Which I know will be very difficult to handle.

In "A Gift to My father" Ronithi says:

A father is a person who gives his child the small finger to hold and walk,
When they grow up he gives his hand and full strength. And I know you will give me your hand and full strength till my life lasts."

Ronithi shows a depth of talent and a fertility of imagination. Manel Abhayaratna says in her foreword "Ronithi's poems cover a wide range of topics. She shows a skill and artistry."

The illustrations in stylised form are by Kusala Wettasinghe who has also drawn the cover. They are striking and reminds one of Kusala's talented mother Sybil Wettasinghe.

The book is printed by Dasis Printers (Pvt) Ltd.

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