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| Sunday, 25 May 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Dip into the legacy of Kandyan women Women in the Kandyan Kingdom by Kapila Vimaladharma Published by Varuni Publishers, Kandy The author was a batchmate of the reviewer at the Peradeniya campus who has via the media had glimpses of the rising fortunes of his career cum the many responsible posts he held during the long intervening years. Anyway it was a gift of his book "The women in the Kandyan Kingdom" that imparted the information, that he had gone on to follow a course for the MA degree of Women's Studies almost substantiating the rather hackneyed saying that there is no limit to what a human can achieve in his or her limited span of life if one has the determination. In the preface Vimaladharma states that his production is a revised version of a dissertation submitted by him to the Colombo University as a partial fulfilment of this course. "Revised", he says and one is tempted to conclude that had he revised it to make his content less concise and less "Tight-capsuled" it would have appealed more to the average reader. To the more academic reader (to whom elaborations could be superfluous) of course the style of presentation fits to a T. But the average reader beguiled by the eye - catching title may sometimes find himself lost in the maze of facts pocketed tightly in English of an above average standard. A simpler diction and a more explanatory style would certainly have led to a bigger demand of the book. The field he touches on is a very attractive field especially due to its obscurity. Perhaps Robert Knox is the only person who had opened a window on this hidden field. However Vimaladharma seems to be rather harsh on Knox by saying that he generalized on the whole Kandyan Kingdom from what this white man observed within 20 miles or so around Gampola and Kandy. He seems to overlook the fact that as a vendor of knitted caps that Knox traversed over a good part of the Kandyan Kingdom collecting much a social data with or without the hope that he may be able to record it later. While Knox's book covers only Rajasinghe 11's reign and touches on women and aspects of their lives incidentally among a gamut of varied other topics "Women in the Kandyan Kingdom" targets women only covering women in four reigns, i.e. Vimaladharma Suriya 1 (1594-1604), Senarat (1604-1634), Rajasinghe 11 (1634-1684) and Vimaladharma Suriya 11 (1684-1706). His emphasis is mostly on the 17th century, as in the case of Knox. It is obvious that the myriad posts the author held has facilitated his perusal of much relevant data. Perhaps another work of his "Directory of the office holders of the Kandyan Kingdom" for which his official capacity would have helped him has been an extensive source of material other than the vast number of primary and secondary sources by erudite writers and scholars. The background work gone into is simply laborious leading to an extremely valuable addition to our academic literature. The dichotomy that marks the author's attitude to Knox seems to encompass his attitude to the position of women in Sri Lankan society too. The permeation of the Buddhist influence that gives respect and honour to the woman as a mother and a wife he dwells on almost nullifying the notion that Lanka in common with other Eastern countries regarded the women as inferior. But a whole host of facts he presents substantiates the other side of the picture i.e. that they were certainly a marginalized lot. Only four women act as sovereign heads of state in a long line of 190 plus dynastic rule and the meagre minority of women in other posts also gives credence to this fact. The woman's very close role in reproduction and then her immediate concern with her products, i.e. the two functions of child bearing and child rearing, undeniably has led to this state of affairs in any country and it is the more adventurous and the more persevering woman who has broken the natural barriers imposed and entered domains that naturally became enclaves of males very fortunately rid of above shackles. A handful of females get thrown by circumstances to the open space where they often excel. The author however does not limit himself to this aspect of women's progression but deals with varied aspects of a Kandyan woman's life ranging from foreign accounts, references in our own literature, concept of a woman's different periods of life as childhood, adulthood, motherhood, widowhood, sexual mores, pativattaha principle, personal appearance, women as entertainers, land inheritance and women, and deviant behaviour to forms of marriage as the monogamous marriage, the polygamous marriage, binna marriage, women at the palace, recreation forms of women, and women in productive labour and idealized women. Extremely interesting data that have hitherto been hidden in dusty documents festooned with cobwebs have been unearthed on the subject of women at the palace.The meticulous care that the author has invested in to give a gestalte or total picture of his topic is reflected by the annex which is a cumulative list of Land Transfers to or by women in the Kandyan Kingdom in 17th to mid 18th century. If one were to lay a hand on the crowning glory of this book it is the section titled "Neluma: a celebration of the Kandyan women." It is as if the Kandyan man kindly conscious of the daily unsung drudgery of the womankind very gallantly has carved out this ceremony of Neluma for the woman to queen over it and exert her maximum independence and garner her maximum enjoyment. Perhaps the dichotomy lies not only in the writers attitudes but in the very peculiar position women all over the universe find themselves in. To try to unravel the knot to a certain extent is indeed a laudable attempt. The cover page presents a wall painting from Mulkirigala Rajamaha Vihara, where women perform as musicians. ########## Vivid frames of some aspects of life in India Thursday's Child by Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen 'Thursday's Child has far to go' were the prophetic words of the nurse who helped in the delivery of baby Gopal, now a man of position and wealth whose wife Mohini is on the verge of giving birth to their first born as the festivities of their second wedding anniversary come to a tiring close and both retire to their canopied four poster bed and 'flake out'. The story unfolds in a Kaleidoscope of dreams of Gopal's beginnings, living inside a disused cast iron-pipe four feet in diameter, eight feet long but more fortunate than neighbours in cramped damp unventilated conditions! 'Thursday's Child' is Gopal's story of how he was tossed about and lashed on rocks in stormy seas as it were but bobs up again and again never to be submerged long enough to drown in the turbulent waters. The story is short enough (98 pages) to hold the interest of the reader and long enough to recount Ninety-one episodes of life in India where the story is set. Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen born and bred in Sri Lanka, employed in Dubai for over a decade has been deeply moved by the multifaceted life of the downtrodden in India however comparatively short her stay there has been. Her work is about the millions who live under squalid conditions but take it in their stride in a world where the gap seems to widen and the privileged few are quite unmoved by the state of things that appear to be pre-ordained and cannot be changed. Gopal the narrator emerges from squalor and obscurity to have a new life. "A doctorate. Prestigious IAS employment. Solidly constructed modern house with landscaped garden down a private road in a residential area. Car of prestigious make. Live-in maid, cook, driver and part-time gardener. Wife, homely, yet accomplished, the darling of an exclusive social circle. A passport. A birth certificate. Years of study at night school, subsidised by part-time employment paid dividends. Graduating from university with distinction, I furthered my education aided by scholarships and grants. Being a 'late-developer' proved an incentive rather than a deterrent". Gopal narrates to the world that side of life in India which may not be known in such detail to the outsider or even the detached, within. The cover photograph is authentic and captures a contemporary scene of the constantly mobile tribe the gypsies. Gopal is able to identify himself and his sojourns with these wanderers and having escaped the limitations of their life and recounted for the benefit of the reader the episodes he encountered now attempts to establish his identity in a wide world where he is akin to a dot in the ocean. "A full moon hung low in a cloudless sky, casting its silvery sheen on the empty fields and our encampment. Cool breezes circulated gently, chasing shadows of swaying willows. changing shapes gave a semblance of misshapen figures playing hide-and-seek. A lone dog sat upright, baying at the moon and barking at shadows while others curled in sleep. The sound didn't disturb the gypsies, asleep after trekking the last lap of their journey, pitching tents and cooking. I lay stretched full-length on my back, arms outstretched above my head. Thursday slept beside me, nuzzled into the crook of my elbow. Gazing up above at zillions of stars twinkling in the sky, I remembered I was the beneficiary of my parents' savings account. I had that to fall back on - whenever I'm ready to do something more with my life. Right now, I am on a discovery trek - in search of my identity". An interesting read with a glossary revealing the nuances of culture bound words that abound. FACTOTUM ########## Compendium of historical material Directory of office holders of the Kandyan Kingdom, Sri Lanka Compiled by Kapila Pathirana Vimaladharma Varuni Publishers, The Constitution of the ancient Sinhala Kingdom has often been referred to as that of the Kandyan Kingdom and its office bearers called Kandyan chiefs and officials. In fact, they were office holders of an independent Sinhala Kingdom. Some coastal areas had been taken over first in the Jaffna and Mannar areas by the migrants and remnants of the Tamil invaders and migrants afterwards, along the western littoral, by European colonial powers. However, in the central hills and plains, Sinhala independence survived political vicissitudes, and an independent Sinhala kingdom emerged to continue the history, culture and religion of the Sinhala people, who had for over twenty centuries preserved their political sovereignty and cultural tradition. Kapila P. Vimaladharma, a distinguished former public servant, has presented a veritable Kandyan Civil List of the officials of that kingdom. With commendable assiduity he has marshaled together a large volume of information, some of which had escaped the attention of earlier scholars. His efforts have provided a valuable compendium of rich historical material that reveals the administrative structure of an independent Sinhala Kingdom, and the genius and capacity of the Sinhala people for effective grass roots self-government and balanced management of their resources. The ruling concepts and operational structures of the old system were so deeply rooted in the minds and practices of the people, that the colonial rulers had perforce, to continue the key features for some time longer. Once firmly entrenched, the alien incursions succeeded in subverting the forms of government and patterns of cultivation to benefit the foreign investors and metropolitan masters, to the detriment and eventual destruction of the native peasantry and rural leadership, that were once the country's pride. To understand the present, one must know the background of the past. Kapila's work helps towards this understanding and provides a rich source of education. In the past, government officials, both foreign and national, especially those who served in the outposts of the country, saw institutions and people different to those they knew, but which had a similar fascination in their strangeness. They recorded their observations meticulously and many did so with great understanding and sympathy. The empathy that inspired them helped to bring out significant works of historical and ethnological value. Among the pioneers were John D'Oyly, Sawers, John Still, Turnour and Parker etc. followed by Woolfe, Codrington, Paul Pieris, Neville, Brohier, Spittle etc, and in recent times by Sumanasekera Banda, and H. A. P. Abeyawardhana and a few others. To this illustrious tradition of administrator-scholars, Kapila P. Vimaladharma, is the latest addition with this compilation of the Kandyan Directory and the yet unpublished studies on the Kandyan kingdom. All these scholars realized that, the ultimate subject of their writings were human beings with human interests and feelings. To them, the people they encountered were not mere strangers, but sensitive fellow beings. For his sympathetic understanding of a past Sri Lankan scene in its pristine form, we owe a debt of gratitude to Kapila, whose untiring research has helped to rescue valuable information before it is buried in time. Nissanka P. Wijeyeratne, (Foreword to the book) ########## Travellers' guide on Lankan birds "A photographic guide to Birds of Sri Lanka" By Gehan De Silva Wijeyeratne, Deepal Warakagoda and T. S. U. De Zylva Published by New Holland, London Strikingly beautiful colour photographs of over 252 species of Lankan birds in their natural habitat; distinctive thumbnail colour tabs outlining each family group for quick identification of the subject; a well written text backed by authoritative information, and a compact format small enough to fit any pocket. What more does a bird enthusiast tracking down some of Sri Lanka's 233 resident birds want for quick reference when he suddenly spots one of them while trekking through mountains and jungles ? No wonder well-known British Publisher, New Holland, decided to print a second edition of "A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka" stating that the reason he has done this is due to a serious demand from a growing readership both here and abroad. Authored by three of Sri Lanka's staunchest supporters of eco-tourism, Gehan de Silva Wijeratne and Deepal Warakagoda, with the bulk of photography by veteran cameraman Dr. T. S. U. de Zylva, the book is as expected, a very professional work of photography cum writing. It is also an extremely useful, easy to use and comprehensive guide to any bird lover. Packed within its 142 pages is a wealth of personal observations, knowledgeable tips on bird watching and detailed descriptions of the birds themselves, which provide gems of information about our feathered friends. In order to woo birders from abroad, the authors have highlighted Sri Lanka as a bird watching destination "with much to offer, a good network of roads and national parks combined with an infrastructure that places the twenty six endemic birds within easy reach of bird lovers." They have also listed in detail where these and other resident birds can be found. Where does one generally see these birds? In National Parks like Yala and Bundala, Uda Walawe, the Talangama Lake, Morapitiya. What is the best time to visit these places? Generally during November to April, say the authors who go on to list precise locations to where certain species flock birds during these months. "If you are after endemics make it a point to visit a lowland rain forest like Kitulgala or Sinharaja. Seventeen of the twenty six endemics have been recorded in Sinharaja", is their advice to readers. To see the montane specialties birders are advised to visit sites such as Hakgala or Horton Plains. "Endemics such as Dull blue Fly-catcher Sri Lanka Whistling thrush and Sri Lanka Bush Warblar can be found here", they state. This advice is backed by authoritative information, much of which is based on actual hands on experience by the author is themselves, lends credibility to the text. The full colour photographs of each of the bird species shown in this pocket sized bin all are accompanied by brief, colour tabs outlining each family group to enable quick identification. Despite its small compact size, the fact that the authors have managed to depict as many as 252 birds with comprehensive notes about each of them and has even included a fairly detailed introduction to bird life in general in Sri Lanka as well, makes this mini reference book and traveller's guide different from the usual guide to bird life, and an ideal travelling companion for any bird lover anywhere in the world. Available at most leading bookshops. |
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