|
|
|
| Sunday, 2 October 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
An evening of literary excellence by Ranga Chandrarathne It was a gathering of the literati of the country at the British Council Auditorium to celebrate the literary work in English. The Book Buzz as it is labelled, is a series of literary events exclusively featuring Sri Lankan writers in English. The literary event dedicated to Sri Lankan writers in English, features two Sri Lankan writers whose work were featured in the British Council sponsored Web site www.writeclique.net. In the previous Book Buzz the literary works of Ashok Ferry (Author: Colpetty people) Ameen Hussaine (Author: Zillij), Madhubashini Ratnayaka (Author; Tales of Shades and Shadow and Lal Medawattegedara (Author: The Window Cleaner's Soul) were read out followed by a question and answer session. Elmo Jayawardana told the Sunday Observer, "I learnt English in Singhalese and I never spoke a word of English till 18.In school I wrote five sentences on a policeman in English. Eventually I became a pilot and then I started to write for the fun of it" Elmo was candid when he told me that he had never entered a University and had only passed his O/Ls. He is an old boy of St.Sebestian College; Moratuwa.He did various odd jobs before becoming an Airline Captain flying Singapore Air Line as a pilot instructor. He trained pilots. However his main occupation is heading a Humanitarian Organisation known as AFLAC International (Association for Lighting a Candle). It is an approved charity engaged in helping needy people. All the money generated by his writing goes into this worthy cause. As he is comfortable with the income he earns as a pilot, he founded the organisation, which has now grown into an International Humanitarian Organisation with 19 branches worldwide. He believes that his helping needy people, is more important than flying or writing books. He won the prestigious Gratiaen award for his maiden book " Sam's Story" in 2001 and won the State Literary Award for his historical novel " The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay". In Sam's Story, the author tries to describe the phenomena of circumstantial hatred between the Tamils and Sinhalese, i.e., the Singhalese are supposed to hate Tamils. "I had a cook and a house boy. One was a Tamil and other was Singhalese and how they hated each other and the poverty of this country. Sam's Story basically tells the absurdities of war. And how the poor people became soldiers and are fighting the war. The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay " is a historical novel set against the Kandy period. The story revolves around two characters; John Doyle, a Cambridge graduate who learns Sinhala in Sri Lanka and becomes a colonial administrator and his friend Thera Ihagama, a penniless priest from Hasrispattuwa.They were very good friends and they fought on two sides and John Doyle never went back to England and was buried in Kandy. Ihagama was banished to Mauritius by the English. To tell a story about Kandy, I have to go back to 2500 years history of the country and that's why it took 860 pages. Now it's being translated to Sinhala as Sinhale Avasan Rajadahana and Sam's Story was translated as Samige Katawa said Jayawardena. Nihal de Silva speaking on his books said that he started his literary career after retirement from business. "I was a product of the Colombo campus. When my two sons graduated I handed over my business to them and retired. Thereafter, about two and half years ago I started writing. It happened that the first book Elephant Pass became popular and won the Gratiaen Prize in 2003 and the literary State Literary Award for the best novel published in the year 2003. The Second book was The Far Spent Day, which is about political thuggery and a Minister. The third one is about poverty and campus life. I did not really start out to write stories; I wanted to write about social issues about which I felt very strongly. In the first place, I believed that you couldn't reconcile two communities by changing the constitution. So I believe that you have to allow the ordinary people to contact each other. In the present set up, people are kept apart and the politicians are trying to change the constitution. When I tried to write my ideas they became like sermons and I tried to put the message into a story" said Nihal. Nihal de Silva is a product of St. Joseph's College, Colombo and the University of Ceylon. He runs his own business in environmental pollution control. He has turned to writing to keep himself occupied in his impending retirement. The author is a keen amateur naturalist. His other interests include golf, which he plays badly and angling, where his companions always seem to have better luck. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
