How was the lunch? 'I am fulfilled.'

Passionate Pen

Compiled by Sajitha Prematunge

by Sajitha Prematunge

She took me to Africa and back and then took me to a land of fairy tales. A grandma, at her age, she could relate stories to kids easier than I could at my age and her experiences of life abroad was surprisingly realistic.

Lalitha K. Withanachchi is the author of several collections of short stories and poems. She is also the author of the novel Paddy Bird. She has won many awards to her credit such as the First Prize in Short Story Contest - Macquarie University, Australia 1984, State Literary Award for the Best Short Story 1992, The first Gretian Prize for English Writing with Carl Muller in 1993. A retired journalist, Lalitha Withanachchi now spends her time travelling.

Q: Writing novels require a lots of time. How do you find the time to write?

A: When I was at Hillwood, Kandy, my principal, Ms. Rig, said "There is no sentence as 'There is no time'. Time is like an elastic." Sometimes I have twenty seven hours a day. Time management is most important. If you are interested in something you will always find a way.

Q: What made you decide to make the transit from journalist to a creative writer?

A: I wrote for my own pleasure even before I became a journalist. I also wrote a little, while I was a teacher. In fact I wrote The bamboo tree long before I became a journalist. I actually didn't make a transition, it's journalism that made me seeing my stuff in print. Literary writing was another part of journalism for me.

When I wrote I was alone in Ambursa, the Editor of Daily News Manik De Silva accepted it and invited me to join Daily News. It was based on my experience in Nigeria and he asked me to write more about my excursions to foreign countries. He also encouraged me to write about village life.

Q: You compiled the Junior Page while you worked in Daily News as 'Aunt Lali', have you written many children's stories?

A: Lots. Every week I used to write a letter to children. It was like opening a window to what was happening around the world. I wrote and compiled collections of children's stories such as Rays of sunshine and other stories for children, Rambuttan tree and Return of the sparrow.

The experience I gained through the village I lived in and Hillwood College helped me to strike a balance in my life. I've become a better person for it. I studied the Bible and wrote stories based on Christian teaching as well.

Q: How did your earlier life in the Walauwa influence you?

A: In every aspect of my life the values that we brought, were upheld - The way we respect our elders and relatives, even the way we dress and speak, for example, the Kandyan I wear to this day was the legacy that was left behind.

Through the nuclear families we lived in we learned to share good times as well as bad. The televised versions of the Walauwa folk gives the wrong impression. We grew close to nature in the village we lived in. With workers in the paddy fields, reapers, animal and bird life we ran wild. These I value very much, things we don't normally encounter in a city.

Q: What kind of an influence did the insurgencies have on your writing?

A: The Truth is based on the 1983 insurgency. I was aghast because of the wickedness of people who discriminated others based on ethnicity! And the hypocrisy of people under the guise of patriotism, committing murder and acts of arson. Ninety percent of The Truth is, in fact true.

Q: Didn't you focus on any of the upheavals that took place afterwards?

A: By that time I had retired. I experienced very sad occurrence in my personal life at the time. My husband died very young and one of my sons fell grievously ill. I didn't feel like writing about other chaotic things.

Q: What were your main concerns in writing the Paddy Bird?

A: Paddy Bird was written solely to retain the memory of our life in the village, which went under water with the construction of the Victoria Dam. Karaliyadde was a very historical village. I knew that the place would never be the same after the project.

Outsiders came in to the village and it became commercialized. I could see it degenerating to wickedness and avarice in front of my eyes and I just wanted to retain the simplicity of the village.

Q: Why was it your only novel?

A: I started a novel named The cancer of our time long ago, but never got to finish it. It's about the Sinhala community in Nigeria and it's based on my experience there.

Q: How did the Nigerian experience otherwise affect your writing?

A: I was in Nigeria for nearly two years. Wednesdays wife is based on the polygamy state of marriage in Nigeria, how they accept it. I was intrigued by the way they used the English language. There was a boy called Bagudu who did the household work there.

When I asked him 'How was the lunch Bagudu?' he would say 'Madam I am fulfilled.'

Q: Do you feel comfortable writing about other countries?

A: Yes, people-watching and listening to their conversations gave me a lot of insight in to their lives. It gave me a lot of material for my stories. Girl among the Dalias was set in Vienna, The open door, of which the theme is reincarnation is set in Australia. You should never write a story set in a foreign country if you haven't been there. It should be based on real, first hand experience.

Q: You won the Gretian Prize for The wind blows over the hills in 1993, what was your reaction to it?

A: I was shocked. I knew I was short listed, but I didn't think I would get selected. I knew it was good, but didn't think it was good enough to win and obviously I was happy.

Q: Why have you been dormant lately, do you have anything up your sleeve?

A: For the last few years I've been travelling back and forth between Sri Lanka, Vienna and Australia to see my children and grand children. In order to write I must get a sudden inspiration.

Q: What's your message to amateur writers of today?

A: They must learn the craft of short story writing. Read works of great writers such as Maupassant to learn what good short story writing is. The beginning must be thought out carefully.

Never make a short story too long with unnecessary descriptions. 'If you write about a gun on the wall, use it to shoot someone.' Don't write long sentences and avoid too many adjectives.

Avoid verbiage. Use simple words and never be seduced by the air of grandeur of long words. Let us 'go' and not 'proceed'.

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