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| Sunday, 3 February 2002 |
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'When everyone is somebodee, then no one's anybody' by LALITH EDRISINHA One wonders if it was plain mischief that made Kumari Jayawardena pick on a quote from comic opera as her opening gambit to tell us the tale of those locals who were propelled by circumstance to play the gondolier and accept largesse in return from the English (not Brataria) Court, parading before the public gaze the medallions and encomiums they had won and the others the not so favoured ones, not content always with toddy aspired for Rhenish wine themselves and over the years prudently acquired wealth and station sufficient to upstage the courtiers and enter the centre stage at the turn of the last mid-century when the foreign yoke was lifted- the event we commemorate tomorrow. Kumari quotes the Grand Inquisitor in 'The Gondoliers' saying 'When everyone is somebodee. Then no one's anybody.' In the preceding lines the Grand Inquisitor masked by Kumari though, makes a mockery of the scenario if 'to the top of every tree, promoted everybody.' "Lord Chancellors were cheap as sprats, And Bishops in their shovel hats Were plentiful as tabby cats - In point of fact too many. Ambassadors cropped up like hay Prime Ministers and such as they Grew like asparagus in May, And Dukes were three a penny..." Nothing so anarchic and calamitous happened in our blessed isle, for the alien raj was acuter and ensured that the bounds of propriety were maintained. A juicy piece on how our own worthies conducted themselves in the presence of the invader, for all the pretences and airs they put on when in the company of fellow natives makes Kumari's account of 'The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka' which she titles 'Nobodies to Somebodies' excruciatingly titillating. "The Maha Moodliar is always resident near the person of the Governor. He never sits down in my presence, nor appears before me in shoes, but is in fact the Grand Vizier of Ceylon. Every order I give him is immediately executed and what takes place in the Island is communicated by him to me. The only pecuniary rewards which he and the inferior Moodliars look to from the Government are small accomodessans. Their great object is to gain marks of distinction, such as sabres, gold chains, medals etc. of which they are highly vain, and by which the Dutch Governors well knew how to secure their attachment". Governor North (p.23) It is no wonder then that some of these worthies would generation after generation ingratiate themselves with the rulers as the quote from a Legislative Council debate preceding that of Gilbert and Sullivan referred to above amplifies. In the unnumbered page at the beginning of the book Kumari quotes: "Half a dozen misguided, designing villains... have been trying to pose as leaders of Buddhists. Had it not been for this encouragement, these disturbances would never have occurred... the proprietary peasant villagers... have been deluded into this trap for the personal aggrandisement of a few who are nobodies, but who hope to make somebodies of themselves by such disgraceful tactics." - S. C. Obeyesekere As if to mock this preamble and in another display of piquancy Kumari has front covered a picture of (who appear to be) a group of barebodied country yokels who as the events unfold turn out to be Somebodies and are featured again properly clad on the back cover. In the group is a future Prime Minister, the first in fact. (see pictures) The five part publication now available in its second impression begins with petty accumulation as a result of the shift from what a Weslyan Missionary describes: 'leaving the old nirvana of inactivity and the betel bag has erected an extensive coffee store...' The beginnings of the bourgeoisie is traced to colonial times when the initial source of income of these worthies among whom were the pioneers of the temperance movement was as renters - of the paddy, arrack, fish, ferry and gaming rents Kumari tells us that by far the most lucrative was the arrack rent.'! Of the 'Nobodies' who aspired for upward mobility Kumari says: "In one generation there was a social transformation from tavern-keeper to gentleman planter and it was the arrack fortunes that made this possible!' There had been exceptions though. As the author records "Unconnected to the liquor trade, but making the money on plantation ventures was the Corea family of Chilaw..." Commenting on the Western Province Mudaliyars Kumari culls a few words from Yasmin Gooneratne: Although they had aristocratic pretensions, these leading "low country families had but recently acquired their 'nobility' under successive European administrations of the Maritime Provinces." Constraints of space do not permit quote of other embellishments. Illustrated, indexed and replete with appendices "this study, although about the past, is relevant in the context of some present-day questions: What is the nature of capitalism in Sri Lanka? Does the rentier nature of early capitalism in the country still prevail? Does class consciousness take precedence over caste? Why is caste still an important factor in electoral politics? Why does ethnicity and concern about identity overdetermine political and social life, even resulting in armed conflict? And how did women in Sri Lanka - the 'daughters of the soil,' fare under early capitalism and in the 20th century? These are questions which this book has raised and which are part of ongoing debates. This book has been an attempt to look into the rise of capitalism in Sri Lanka under British colonialism and to highlight the emergence of the bourgeoisie and especially the role of the few families that accumulated wealth and power. But for the mass of the people, in both the colonial and post-colonial periods, who were the real 'Nobodies,' the story has been one of persistent poverty and continuous rule by these changing layers of 'Somebodies,' in a situation of continuing ethnic strife." |
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