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| Sunday, 17 July 2005 |
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Poetic voice of a new intelligentsia Sunday Essay by Ajith Samaranayake Monica Ruvan Pathirana's rise to literary fame had all the drama of a meteor ascending the heavens. With the publication of "Api Denna Saha Thavath Keepa Denek" (her first anthology of verse) everybody was talking about her and the modest young graduate from Matara was being showered with encomiums emanating from all quarters of critical opinion. But "Api Denna......" was no flash in the pan. Since then, Monica Ruvan Pathirana with three other subsequent books of poetry has consolidated herself as the principle poetic voice of a new intelligentsia writing in Sinhala. Two weeks ago one evening I met miss Ruvan Pathirana in a Fort restaurant. She was after work. "This is my favourite corner" she said lowering herself into a chair at a table placed near a window. "Now we can talk". At the University Miss Ruvan Pathirana did not publish any poetry. Although her literary reputation was achieved almost overnight her first published poems were written over a period of four years from 1967 - when she passed out as graduate - to 1971 - when Api Denna ..." was published - she devoted herself with diligence to studying and practising the creative discipline of her choice. Monica Ruvan Pathirana who was born in the southern village of Malimbada, had her primary education at the village school in Galpamuna. There she contributed her first poem to a hand-written magazine . The poem was called Apey Seeya. As a schoolgirl she continued to write to the "children's corner" of Radio Ceylon (as it was then called). Once, for example Karunaratne Abeysekera who conducted the program, asked listeners to sent in a short poem in reply to the question, "Why is sea water salty". There is a touch of melancholic sweetness in what Monica Ruvan Pathirana wrote. Sea water is salty she replied because of the warm tears of mermaids who pine to come on shore and join their human brothers and sisters but are doomed to an existence in the sea. She is also grateful to Madawala S. Rathnayake for encouraging her by broadcasting some of her first poems over the radio when he was in charge of the "Yauvana Samajaya" youth program. But Miss Ruvan Pathirana's adult poetry really dates from the publication of "Api Denna...." which revealed her as a poetess with not only a tender sensibility and impressive technical prowess but also an acute social awareness. As a student both at school and at University Monica Ruvan Pathirana spent many years of her life in a series of boarding houses. The feeling of loneliness of a young woman living away from her home and parents for the first time in her life and the feelings of uprootedness usually attending on a sudden migration from the village to the city have therefore figured largely in her works. Particularly her maiden collection of verse. Subjective Much of the poetry in "Api Denna ......" was subjective on Miss Ruvan Pathirana's own admission. They sprang directly from her individual experience. But with the realities of the contemporary society increasingly impinging themselves on her consciousness her latter poetry became more and more an objective perception of that reality, Miss Ruvan Pathirana said . In her second and third collections of verse "Thahanam Desayakin" and "Angulimalage Sihina" particulary Monica Ruvan Pathirana was moved by the disparities and iniquities distorting the social structure, the insensitiveness and apathy of the affluent classes and humiliations and indignities that are the daily lot of the anonymous masses. Miss Ruvan Pathirana herself says that there was an element of social protest in this poetry but her better poems which combined a delicate sensitivity with tender lyricism were indicative of a very considerable, poetic talent. As the writer of an entire long poem on the role and position of the woman in contemporary Sri Lankan society. I asked Monica Ruvan Pathirana for her comments on the subject. Not assertive According to her the average Sri Lankan woman it still not sufficiently assertive. She is the passive victim of social attitudes which have managed down the years to keep her confined to a narrow area of activity. She has unquestioningly accepted the position imposed on her by society. If there were more and more women of outstanding ability capable of challenging this male-centred ethos there was really no need for "Women's liberation" Miss Ruvan Pathirana said. Monica Ruvan Pathirana is now engaged in writing a critical essay whose focus will be on the reader of Sinhala poetry. As one who nas written nothing but poetry Miss Ruvan Pathirana is naturally concerned about who reads poetry. The question is very much a matter of bread and butter for the poet because poetry by its very nature is not a form of literature that appeals to the broader readership. The Dichotomy besetting Sinhala Poetry is that although the poetry written by the younger writers is qualitatively far ahead what is popular among the general readership is the traditional "Siv pada" poetry identified with its modern-day exponents the Colombo poets. Monica Ruvan Pathirana is keen that this gulf should be bridged. Not only the critics but also the average reader must read and remember our poetry, she says. This article is a repeat of what appeared in the Sunday Observer of November 21, 1976 and carried in memory of the poet on her first death anniversary which fell on July 10. |
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