Arts

Colombo Youth Theatre Festival:

Uncertainties of industrial civilization

'Me Heeneta Namak Denna'

by Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne

Another drama which attracted the audience was 'Me Heeneta Namak Denna' by Priyantha Kaluarachchi.

The drama explores a turbulent life of a youth, Dhamma who is a journalist in electronic media and has been transferred to a bottling plant owned by the same company as a punishment for not adhering to the editorial policy of the establishment.

He spends days without reporting to work in desperation trying hard to come to terms with reality. It is obvious that a worker in a highly commercialised competitive market economy is yet another input at the hands of the investors whose prime motive is profit.

It is this profit driven society which is insensitive to feelings and aspiration of individuals in a given context.

Particularly, Dhamma's media applications have been confronted with commercial and profit motives of the investor who owned the newspaper company. The crust of the drama is made out of the incidents that unfold in Dhamma's boarding room on a high riser.

Visitors, some of them are Dhamma's friends and other fellow boarding mates reveal profile of society and hapless generation of individuals, who have more or less, becomes victims of the circumstances.

Uncle Perera's character portrayed by Dayadeva Edirisinghe, is an interesting character representing a generation of office workers in retirement. Although some of the retired government clerks live in comfort in their homes, there are some who lead a bachelor life in isolation often in boarding houses.

Their companions are the fellow boarding mates who occasionally share an evening drink. Often these adults need companionship and longing for warmth that they were deprived of their families and offspring.

Used to the monotonous office culture filled with cheap jokes and gossip, Perera endured this life for over four decades. His life has been rutinised and daily activities are confined to a set agenda of meeting with the same people, office colleagues, having meals from the same restaurant.

What most of the characters in 'Me Heeneta Namak Denna' lack is variety which is an essential ingredient for a dynamic and happy life.

Most of the mundane colleagues of Dhamma who often visit him with the intension of persuading him give up his self-exile, seems to be overwhelm by the wave of commercialism which reduced them to being mere phones incessantly running after profit and more and more business deals.

Among other things, the drama highlights the plight of the individual, uncertainties and lonely life associated with us, in a highly competitive and commercialised society.

Dhamma is lost in the wilderness often drifting between fantasy and reality. Dedication on the part of the cast and long hours of rehearsing would certainly have paid dividends in terms of master portrays of complex characters including the main character Dhamma.

Stage management and apt lighting has made a drama a more technically finished product. Costume designed has also been professionally done.

Young director Priyantha should be commended for producing an artistic drama.n

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Positive energy for a positive personality

by Anushka Nanayakkara

Are you forever in a rush, staving off exhaustion? Are you desperately over committed, afraid to say "No"? Do you feel like you are being bled dry by vampires? Does the onslaught of violence in the news leave you drained?

Well, a hidden energy crisis threatens our world. Our high - tech, volatile society thrusts many of us into chronic physical, emotional and spiritual depletion. Bombarded by information over, load burned out by enslavement to beepers, e-mail, faxes and phones, we sink into techno-despair.

We're confronted with hostile forces on a global scale. No surprise: our energy suffers. Most alarming, we've learned to tolerate and mistake a tired, joyless state as typical. We must shift this socially condoned pattern of madness, provide extraordinary solutions to liberate the energy, no matter what external threats are looming. What's necessary is to alleviate the tension and to design a life that nurtures and supports you.

Once Dalai Lama has said that "all our suffering comes about as a result of an undisciplined mind, and this untamed mind itself comes about because of ignorance and negative emotions. And it is only by applying methods for training the mind that these negative emotions can be dispelled and eliminated.

They cannot be removed by some external technique, like a surgical operation. Make changes now and experience the positive energy this is "easy as taking candy from a kid".

According to the Psychiatrist and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA Judith Orloff, all one has to do is to practice sensing positive and negative energy every where. First all you have to get to know yourself, likings, disliking's, etc.

Always try and pick more stuff which nurtures you. If a loved one is in an arduous phase, try to cut him or her slack. But also pin point out to those who consistently drag you down. Then, with a more realistic understanding, you can take better care of yourself.

According to teachers of Buddhism, everything springs from our intensions. Often Dalai Lama says that everything depends on our motivation. Always remember to keep an open mind and cease being egocentric. Rather than looking at in a holistic perspective.

It will seriously help us to see the micro aspects.

If a person wants to experience life in a different way, all you have to do is something different. We have choices, we can consciously change the way we view the world. Change is going to happen any way, no matter what we do. We might as well embrace the notion of change and find wisdom in the process.

I once read a book which caught my eye, which read "world is a series of changes, sometimes in your favour and sometimes against you. If you let the negative energy overwhelm you, all you will be left with is regrets, anger and loss.

Most of the time, a life set back or crisis is the next step in the on going process of transformation. Experiencing and learning something new can't help but expand our horizons and give us a fresh out look to think and build positiveness.

No matter how bad things seem, try to replace your unhappy and negative thoughts with ones that are more joyous, serene and happy. Finally let me show you few easy ways Lama have showed how to overcome the negative energy in day to day life.

Let go off your attachment to old opinions and believing that you are always in the right. Accept the responsibilities and make better choices in the future.

"Stop feeding the flames of negativity by turning old negative stones in your head". To refocus your mind using your willpower.

Stop pricking and scraping the old scabs and wounds. Think about different patterns of thoughts that you could possibly pursue. Remember "It is never too late to be what you might have been".

Around the world with Friends-in-Harmony

A group of professionals of diverse disciplines who have got together for the love of music, popularly known as "Friends-in-Harmony" will perform in concert for the University of Colombo Alumni Association in aid of their welfare projects.

The concert, titled "Around the World with Friends-in-Harmony" will be held on September 21 at 7 p.m. at the Russian Cultural Centre, No. 10, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7.

This evening promises excellent entertainment for music lovers and will feature an International theme. Friends-in-Harmony will be playing in a repertoire from Broadway to Latin American, Viennese Waltzes to Spanish, Semi-Classics to the popular Baila.

The orchestra is led by veteran pianist Mrs. Indrani Wijesundera who requests all patrons to be in their seats by 6.45 p.m.