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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Book reviews Dealing with topics of enduring value by Prof. Jayadeva Tilakasiri It is indeed an exceedingly gratifying discovery to come across a book or rather a collection of writings in columns receiving acceptance for publication from a prestigious publishing house of the ANCL calibre. It is even more edifying and spiritually inspiring to reflect that the editor or the compiler of the columns is a venerable Buddhist monk who has chosen to comment, elucidate and narrate on topics of enduring value during these days of economic strain facing us. It is also recorded in the cover of the book, recommended by Ven. Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratna, that from his student days as a University undergraduate, the author showed great interest in writing notes and comments in the form of columns, a special feature in journalistic composition. It is no doubt due to his perseverance and dedication in this style of epigrammatic expression of ideas that his collection of the column 'harvest' reached the desired level of acceptability for publishing. Before commenting on the contents of the column articles of the book it would be necessary to remind ourselves of the exemplary sketches, notes or comments (as columns), quite impressively compiled by such brilliant editors as the columnists of the Lanka Dipa, sub-editors of the Aththa (Newspapers) and even Martin Wickramasinghe (writing and reviewing books and events of significance), about four decades ago. They not only wrote in an elegant style for easy comprehension, but incisively summed up the matters requiring attention and passing critical observations. Some of the columnists were never at a loss for words and often turned vitriolic in style. These exposures in the columns they wrote were duly appreciated and readable as they were, earned high commendation from readers. The practice of column writing, which has had a long and prestigious position in the development of journalism in the USA and the UK, requires adequate cultivation in the best of newspaper editions. It is also reported that the art of column writing necessitated the call for specialist writers covering such themes as politics, international affairs, sport, fashion, economic issues etc. whose views and observation would mould public opinion effectively. At a time when the modern media was not so developed, as today, their influence was beneficial in several aspects.This compilation is a collection of columns the learned monk has contributed mainly to the Dinamina daily of the ANCL, which has also appropriately chosen it for publication. It comprises two sections, first, being 'Advice and Admonition' and the second, 'Reflected Thoughts'. The author had conceived the idea of putting the writings together so as to preserve a more lasting record of the opinions, viewpoints and observations made by him during a long period of writing. During this period of tremendous strain and tension prevailing in the country, today, such advice and admonition is timely. It is also felt that the youth at present, facing the enormous difficulties and challenges should be reminded of the ethical and religious values that have guided the people to overcome crises and even catastrophes and lead them to a better life. The columns are presented in a methodical manner and as they are published in a popular daily, read by millions of readers, the statements made and the arguments following them to justify the deductions or observations, are clearly mentioned. The columnist, if I am allowed the use of the term to identify the author, has been very careful in his choice of language and a flowing style of writing in order to reach a wide circle of readers. In the first section on the subject of 'Advice and Guidance' the monk, in the characteristic role of an adviser to people, selects topics of academic and sociological value centering on wisdom, student-teacher relationship, social concepts, peace and harmony among communities etc. In a clear statement on the present-day ills of society, he calls for a re-examination and retrospective consideration of the desirable and 'good' objectives one has learnt and eschew the 'bad' and evil ways held before us. All the columns in the section harp on the theme of a well-mannered society offering guidance to unsociable types to shed their bad tendencies and become sociable in the real sense. If we look at today's contemporary scene in Sri Lanka, generally, not only youth but even the adults and the aged, find it to be extremely difficult to practise the traditional faith of their family. Therefore, the issues raised in the explanations of the notes in the various columns are valid reminders of the constraints in present-day living. Three articles/columns are of special interest in the present situation of student unrest, and challenge the authorities to provide solutions to the problems that arise frequently. The analysis of the problems the State and the student body are confronted with are brought into focus, thus offering the public information on the complexity of the issues involved. Of course student revolt is critically reviewed and in the other notes the age-old values of discipline, family harmony, respect for teachers and parents, the advantages of a proper education and the appreciation of the country's cultural inheritance are subject to relevant comment with salutary advice to the younger generation. The second section deals with more mature themes based on memorable sayings and idiomatic phrases for moral and social well-being. The language takes on a serious didactic tone in keeping with the meaningful exposition of didactic and thought-provoking content tersely presented. It is in the nature of a reference book to remind people of our age-old values and the gradual erosion that is observed today. These columns also remind us of the tendency and consistent practice of our religious scribes and story narrators of the Sinhala writing tradition who never failed to indulge not only in striking narration of events but in epigrammatic rendering of the moral or message of the composition. Our writers were also influenced by the didactic and ethical ideals set before them by early Indian models of verse and prose. The book is based on the writings for the Dinamina, and therefore, uses a flowing style free of pedantic idioms and incomprehensible vocabulary. Copies should be available in many a bookshop at a small price or even free, if the publishers are generous. The Associated Newspapers and its Chairman, who readily agreed to publish the collection of writing deserves our thanks. My task of writing this essay has been lightened by the very factual and succinct account of the origin and growth of column writing in the West by Dr. Ranjith L. Abeywickrama of the Silumina staff, which is quite instructive and stimulating to read. My girlfriend from Bengal by Aditha Dissanayake I am not quite sure if Neil Wijeratne will be pleased with my translation into English, of the title of his book "Bengali Yeheliya" as "My Girlfriend from Bengal". He has every right to insist yeheliya does not necessarily mean girlfriend and that he does not say that the yeheliya/girlfriend is his particular yeheliya/girlfriend. But I would not want the title to be translated into English, in any other way, if only because the book, in more ways than one reflects the author's love affair with India, and is bound to be shared by all other Sinhala and English readers (once the English translation is out), with similar sentiments. It's no secret that you can never read and enjoy a book if you know that after you reach the last page, you have to write a review. Instead of immersing yourself totally in the text you are on pins trying to figure out the themes, the flows, the peculiar metaphors, the ordinary or unusual use of the language etc. But with Bengali Yeheliya I quite forgot myself as the Reviewer and read the book, travelling for five hours on the Colombo Thalawakelle road, in a semi-luxury bus, with a bundle of Siri siri bags hanging over my head and music even Cacaphonics in the Asterix cartoons would have been ashamed of, blaring over the loud speakers, as if I was in Neil's shoes travelling from Chennai to Bangalore, Mumbai to Delhi, Visakhapatnam to Kolkota, with the loud horns of Ambassadors hooting in my ears and the smell of Karaikudi Sappadu in my nostrils. So, my fellow passengers turn into an assortment of Indians in an aircraft bound for Calcutta via Visakhapatnam. The couple seated next to me is on their way home from Chennai. The wife tells the pretty air-hostess that her husband has had an operation and has to take some pills, could she kindly bring him a glass of water. They are looking forward to meeting their children at the airport. "The son from Gujarath is sure to come" says the old lady. "Did you remember to pack the mangoes we bought for the Gujarati daughter-in-law"? asks the old gentleman. Next, I am in Calcutta - travelling from the Subash Chandrabose Airport to the city. The sky is laden with clouds. Even though the time is 2 o clock in the afternoon it looks and feels as if its 6 or 7 in the evening. Time passes, and, I (in Neil's shoes) find myself in the home of Satyajit Ray, talking with Ray's son Sandip, while eighty-six year old Mrs Ray walks in the corridor in front of us, and feels a tad bit sheepish when Sandip says "Satyajit Ray" is not the right way to pronounce his father's name. In Bengal the name is pronounced as "Shoththojith Raye". Through the forty articles in the book Neil shares with the reader, the ordinary experiences he encounters in his travels. The descriptions are vivid enough to make one's mouth water at the clinking sound of glasses banging against each other from the stall of a sugar-cane juice seller or at the food served at the Traffic Jam Restaurant. From the white clad police officer who hits the vehicles with his baton in heavy traffic, to Ritu with her "tock-tock", to the lights of a plane landing at the Santa Cruse airport in Bombay on a dark night, Bengali Yeheliya is a good companion to all those who believe like James Michener, "Next to people and books, travel is the most important thing in the world". The modern day 'Ladybird' trend by Dr. Vidhura Mahendra It would be a hard task to find a reader who has not associated with the famous 'Ladybird' books. The legendary book series has not been a boring passage or at least the 'Well-loved tales' series which has pulled millions of young readers worldwide. So why would I want to mention this popular series today. Well, it may be a fascinating phenomenon that I thought I should share with you fellow readers. Time and time again we tend to dwell in the beautiful, romantic, brave or witty world of children's literature associated with great examples of Walt Disney, Brother Grimm or Hans Andersen's imaginations. It would not be a cliche that most of us had those stories tucked away in our mind when we were kids and still linger on that vivid imagination of good overcoming the bad or the evil at the end. Needless to mention, after so many years of the first stint of that magic taste of literature, I searched for the trends in the Ladybird books with special reference to the most read tales of all time e.g. Cinderella, Beauty and the beast, Dick Whittington and his cat, Sleeping beauty and the three little pigs etc. My intention was to accumulate a mini collection of these fabulous 50 paged marvels for myself. But the task proved to be more than just an easy one as the original Ladybird books printed and published during late 1950s and 60s turned out to be somewhat of a research. Such research can only be going down as a pleasure seeking than anything else. I roamed around a few London, reading bookshops in getting clues to the whereabouts of these books. Occasionally I was lucky enough in obtaining some news where these might be available to purchase. Apart from few second hand book sellers who have stocked in some tatty torn or with spine completely ripped it was another bad day at the office. The art of reading a book is not just to flick through the leaves of the book but to feel the actual aroma or the essence of the book, something that had dwelled in my school days. It has often been my down side in this respect so I was really determined to scoop another path to obtain it. One of the sellers offered me the later version of the Ladybird series printed in the 1990s which had less vibes in comparison to the 60s. The Eric Winter illustrations were missing though the text of Vera Southgate was still intact. It was Winter's vivid pictures that stole millions of young hearts in the 1960s, not the modern day sketches of coloured pencils. The 1960s copies were sold for about 15p or 30p an equivalent to modern day 2 to 4 sterling pounds or little higher. Now that the internet, is a profound tool in many cases, I took to the computer and surfed the internet in search of Ladybird books. There was very interesting news about how the young generation adhered to these classic children's literature. In a period where the youngsters have the privilege of playing with 'play station' and other computer games there's still a considerable amount of Ladybird lovers around notably those of the 'well-loved tales' series. The excitement was just the tip of the iceberg as I was searching for more information on where to purchase those books. The internet users may well be aware that there are a number of online auction sites where you can actually buy the Ladybird books upon bidding within a particular period. The most significant part of this quest is what types of Ladybird books are available for sale and what editions they belong to etc. Being a Ladybird enthusiast I was in desperate measures for hanging on to mint copies of the olden days, but the task seemed remote as the mirage in the desert when I saw the slow mounting of the final price in the auction! Nevertheless, I managed to pocket a few copies of those magic tales despite the price which went through the roof. Gladly that was money well spent and no quibble about it as that was just the cherry on the icing. This may sound a pleasant surprise but there's a growing culture of yesteryear Ladybird collectors in the UK. The trend seems to be popular among the age group of 30-40 years who apparently buy those books from the online auction sites for hefty sums and equally a number of sellers who would not mind pocketing a decent dosh for their valuable assets after all. ([email protected]) Tilak and his Red Bicycle by Indira Wickramasingha Tilak is back on his red bicycle. Children of the sixties knew him well. Rathu Bicykalaya was one of their favourite books. They are parents now, some with children of the same age as they were when they read Rathu Bicykalaya. They remember Tilak and his red bicycle with nostalgia. Some have been searching for it in rain in bookshops. "I enjoyed it so much and I wanted to buy it for my son. It was not in any bookshop". A frustrated young mother had once told the author. "Why don't you re-print it?" I asked Sumana Saparamadu. I don't have a single copy of the book; not even the manuscript. It is sad and frustrating. Here were keen and ready buyers and I had no way of re-printing it". Sumana Saparamadu wrote Rathu Bicykalaya when she was editing the children's page of the then Janata, the sister paper of the Evening Observer. She wrote many stories for children in the late fifties, and her first book for children was published in 1958 or 1959, the publisher paying her Rs 250 - then quite a sum! for the copyright of the book. It sold well and so did her second book. Encouraged by the sales of these two books, she ventured on her own, printing and publishing Rathu Bicykalaya, 5000 copies were printed on the advice of the printer. The book sold fast and booksellers paid her regularly deducting the prevailing discount. "Was it 20% or 30% I cannot remember" says the author. Working full-time on the Silumina, Janata and then as Editor of Tharunee, and more importantly due to lack of financial resources, Rathu Bicykalaya never got re-printed. About a year and a half ago, a fellow journalist told her that during a panel discussion a psychiatrist had referred to Rathu Bicykalaya and commanded the punishment meted out to the story's hero Tilak, as an example to parents with disobedient offspring. The story, says Sumana Saparamadu, was inspired by the antics and ready wit of Tilak, the 12-year-old son of a school friend. Much water has flowed in the years between the publishing of Rathu Bicykalaya and this panel discussion which apparently had kindled a curiosity in the book. The author had changed residences many times and in the course of moving house had lost, misplaced, or damaged many of her papers, including the manuscript of Rathu Bicykalaya and the original illustrations done by Aubrey Collette, the foremost cartoonist of the day for this and its companion book Vikata Anduma (Fancy Dress). "I was sad and angry with myself. But early this year something most unexpected happened," says Sumana Saparamadu. "I was having tea with some colleagues when a new acquaintance casually said, "My husband still has some of your books he had read as a child". What are the books I asked and choked when she said Rathu Bicykalaya was among them. She brought me the book her husband had kept all these years, its cover half gone, the much thumbed pages dirty and torn, but the text and the illustrations were in tact. Thanks to Sarasavi Publishers, Tilak has come back to the bookshops riding his "Rathu Bicykalaya'. Originally priced at 90 cents it is now Rs 90/= Alas!! |
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