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| Sunday, 29 January 2006 |
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Tikiri Menike dragged down to sausage culture Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake In the midst of the dark clouds and the silver lining of talks being resumed, the Government had reason for added satisfaction by Wednesday evening, with Mahinda Chintana impressing two leading members of the UNP to accept portfolios in the Government, while still remaining in the UNP. It was an acceptance by them of the need to protect cultural norms too. Tikiri Menike Ambula... These apart, I am repeatedly reminded these days of the deliberate and increasing erosion of cultural values, by the processed meat and advertising industries. Mohideen Baig, wherever his body has been interred, must surely be doing spin turns in his grave at the gross sacrilege committed to his very popular song of yesteryear, Tikiri Menike Ambula Genalla which described a long held tradition of the rural cultivators of this country with Tikiri Menike Sausage Genalla. Not long ago we were treated to another piece of crude and definitely insensitive advertising, also for the same sausages, when shown what passes of as a "mod youth" forcing one's self into a star rated hotel and demanding a place to eat what he claimed was his staple food of sausages. He cared two hoots for the hotel not allowing food brought from outside to be consumed within its premises. The creativity of the ad agency must have been at its highest when this yob of today said that sausages were the staple diet we were all brought up on, and the others at tables in the hotel began to crowd round his. It is a fine line that separates what is decent, allowed and culturally acceptable in advertising and that which is not. This particular advertisement was definitely in the latter category. The outcry against it in the media gave it a very short life on TV screens. It angered people whose staple diet remains rice, and have been brought up on it, to be told that we have been brought up on sausages. That must be true in the fancy world of the rich to whose children pizza, the Big Mac and KFC are the fast foods they are brought up on, but is certainly not true of the vast masses being wooed into making sausages part of their regular diet. One would have thought that was a good lesson for this sausage manufacturer that keels over towards the vulgar and the uncultured, to think twice about harming the traditions of our people in the zeal to sell one's product. No such lesson has been learnt, and Tikiri Menike of the rural paddy field who Mohideen Baig immortalised with his song has been dragged into the vulgar traditions of an unhealthy sausage culture and the nadir of creativity in advertising. No one who bothered to research the copy for that script, knew that the Ambula brought to the paddy field by the cultivator's wife has no meat in it at all. Ambula with sausages So how come sausages in the ambula? It is largely vegetarian, possibly having a dry fish curry as a departure. The ambula is rice brought in a woven reed basket often served on plantain or lotus leaves, and accompanied with a polos curry a healthy mallung and other vegetables of the village. The ambula is not served as short eats or bites at parties to celebrate a house-warming or the arrival of relations young or old. But all this is of no importance to the sausage manufacturer and the advertising agent. All that matters is the catchy melody and the continuing popularity of the song, enabling them to bastardise it in the quest for commercial profit. Some may call this globalisation. Even the brothers of keels who launched this company long ago in venturing into the tea industry, must be looking down shocked from wherever they are today, at such insensitivity to the traditions of our people by the sausage oriented successors to their business. With all the nonsense that is shown in this ad, with sausage based short eats or finger foods carried or tasted by those dancing to the rhythm of Mohideen Baig's golden oldie, the fact of the ambula belonging to the paddy field tradition is established in the last frame when it shows a highly made up Menike, who is no comparison to the rural woman who brings the real ambula to the field. What I am surprised most is why this advertisement, with its promotion of sausage culture was not released during the recent Presidential Election campaign, or in April 2004. It would have been an excellent complement to Ranil Wickremesinghe's promise of a jeans clad paddy cultivator, who eschews betel for chewing gum. The sausage ambula is ideally meant for that type of unreal cultivator of imported political strategists and wholly Colombo oriented politicians and their advertising agents. Erosion of culture This is an excellent example of the erosion of culture that was an important issue in the General Election of April 2004 and the Presidential Election where the people voted to preserve what is best in our tradition and cultural values. If those are of no concern to the sausage manufacturer, the ad should at
least be removed as a mark of respect to one of our greatest singers
Mohideen Baig. |
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