The Nihal de Silva I knew...Let it always be "blue skies"

by Aditha Dissanayake.

Many are the arguments that fly hither and thither at the end of the Gratiaen Awards, come every April, with many a disgruntled writer and critic arguing over the decision of the judges.

But the year in which everyone unanimously agreed that there could not have been a better choice was three years ago when the award was given to Nihal de Silva for his novel, "The Road from Elephant Pass".

To quote the speech made by Priya David, Chairman of the Judge's Panel, at the ceremony "For its moving story, for its constant feel of real life...for its eminently civilized handling of the last degree of intimacy between a man and a woman, our choice for the 2003 Gratiaen prize for creative writing in English is unquestionably "The Road from Elephant Pass".

And so, after having read the book and after having unfortunately missed the launch of his second book "The Far Spent Day", I sent the following e-message, to Mr. De Silva, which is still in my "out box".

My e-mail

From: Aditha Dissanayake Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 9:47 AM

To: "nihal de silva"

Subject: best wishes for the 3rd book....

Dear Mr. Nihal de Silva,.

Your book-launch was on the 31st and I couldn't make it to the Mahaweli Centre to meet you. Life is so cruel so often. I finished reading The Road from Elephant Pass and loved every word, and I don't agree with what the critics say about the book being too tedious because of all the descriptions about wildlife.

On the contrary, I found those bits as foil to the tensed situation. Besides, I love Wilpattu, been there and slept outdoors at Kudirmale point... I've been thrilled by other stories written about wars like Leon Uris's 'Battle Cry' and Hemmingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', but they had been about other people's wars.

Your book is special because it is about us - our war, our thoughts, our feelings. To me, this is the book of the century so far.

My head is still throbbing with the pain, and my heart is beating fast because the love of Wasantha and Kamala has become my own. I can't believe Capt. Wasantha is not real, and in my heart of hearts I hope he really is missing, meaning, he is not dead but alive somewhere out there. May you write another book soon.

Love and Best Wishes,

Aditha.

His reply

This was his reply.

From: "nihal de silva"

To: "Aditha Dissanayake"

Subject: RE: best wishes for the 3rd book...

Hi Aditha,

Thanks for your message. I'm glad you liked Elephant Pass. I was surprised that you had spent a night under canvas at Kudirumale Point. How did you manage for fresh water?

I camped for 4 days last Wesak on the banks of the Modaragam Aru, which is further inland. It just rained and rained so it was a bit damp but quite nice for all that. The launch went off well. You should have come too. Now you'd better get your mum to buy you a copy of the book.

Blue skies

Nihal de S.

It is hard to re-read the e-messages knowing there will never be another e-mail from Mr. De Silva in my "in-box" ever again.

Even when I wrote a rather unfavourable review of his second book "The Far Spent Day" saying that I could not break into raptures over the book because the kind of tantalizing romance found in the Road from Elephant Pass, in situations like the one where Capt. Wasantha examines the leech bite on Kamala's thigh, knowing quite well that it is harmless, but because he is eager to see her up close and personal, is not found in The Far Spent Day he was great enough to accept my views saying that 25 per cent of his readers had felt the same.

Pleased but surprised

I still remember the first conversation I had with him when he won the Gratiaen Award for the Road from Elephant Pass. He had said he was "pleased but surprised because his writing had always been considered as a bit of a joke by his family. "They have always shown an amused tolerance towards my work".

Mr. De Silva had commented that the much praised style of depicting Cpt. Wasantha's thoughts in italics had been accidental but not the choice of Wasantha as a Southerner. "I wanted Wasantha to be a Southerner because I have a lot of admiration for the people of the South.

He defined Southerners as violent but good hearted. (The latter, certainly, but the former, surely not always). When I asked him what it felt like to be an award winning, best selling novelist he laughed and said "thoroughly embarrassing".

Jagath Punchihewa, who illustrated the cover for The Road from Elephant Pass recalls meeting Mr. De Silva at his home in Bambalapitiya where he had gently suggested the changes that should be made in the picture he had drawn.

"Mr. De Silva wanted me to emphasise the masculinity of Capt. Wasantha and I was amazed at his indepth knowledge of the human figure when it came to painting.

He didn't want to have bright colours on the cover and was pleased with the final result." Jagath says Mr. De Silva was one of the kindest gentlemen he had come across in his career as an artist. "He said he will help me if I ever hold an exhibition of my paintings. It is sad to think he had to die so suddenly".

So, Mr. De Silva, here's hoping it will be "Blue Skies", to use your own favourite phrase in parting, wherever you are right now, because you deserve nothing but the best.