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Want to be placed on a white soft, pillow of a cloud on a blanket blue sky? Can do. But before you find yourself nodding off be prepared to fall onto rocks hard enough to hurt. An experience guaranteed for anyone reading Tilakarathna Kuruwita Bandara's latest collection of poems - "Ek samayekhi". Flashback to January 30th, 2006. He had given me the book with the inscription written on the flyleaf "To Aditha, a gift. Write something about this too". (Meganath Yamak Liyanna).The date - January 30th 2006. More than one year ago. Procrastination should have been my middle name. But better now, than never. Kuruwita Bandara may not say so, but most of his poems have the resonance of Billy Collins' lines "I wonder how you are going to feel/when you find out/that I wrote this instead of you". Like Collins' poems the poems in this collection too fill the gap between the writer and the reader, making us feel, we too are poets - well, almost. This is achieved through page upon page of poetry that lead you to be alone with the poet's thoughts. The result: you feel as though you have given yourself over to another human being who has the same thoughts as you.
When the clock strikes six my heart fills with pain... I am waiting for you to come back, so that the sun will rise for both of us at the same time" articulated in a much more better way than you ever will. In "The book and the woman" he finds his ideal love. " He feels men and women in books are much more lovable than the men and the women in the real world. One who is sensitive will never find peace in this cruel world. Seeking the solace of the men and women in books, when he steps into the library he finds there, a woman among the books who should have been inside a book!" From the clouds to the rocks below. "The Parting" is a bitter pill to swallow. "Never thought I will have to say words like these" writes the poet. "Even though I was mesmerized by you, I found another more alluring world - unexpectedly. I am not a hypocrite. I cannot love you anymore, cannot bring back my heart, which is now elsewhere. I know you will not forgive me, but I must part". Tough, yes. And full of wisdom too. When he discovers a rose in full bloom on the clothes line he does not waste his energy trying to find out how it grew on the wire. "Why bother about the reasons. Is it not enough that it happened." And now, to the best of them all. Love. In Premaya the poet describes how, like a poet of the Colombo era, he loved her, insanely and how she remained complex (and stiff) like a poet of the Peradeniya era. In "Gal Palliya", he recalls the day ,when there were no weddings inside the stone church, the two of them had got married. "No signatures, no witnesses, no blessings, only the saints staring, staring and wondering if one or the other will break the promise to love till death parts them. Like in Buddhadasa Galappathy's Nimi Nathi Thunyama, here too, the moon shines bright, proving that love, poets and the moon are inseparable no matter when or where they live. There are two moons in the poem titled "Sanda". One which shines on the surface of the water, is compared to the lady, blurred, unclear, totally opposite of the moon in the sky, clear, precise. Implying in other words that the poet is steady in his love, unlike the lady who does not know her mind or her heart. "Ek Samayekhi" is a celebration of love, longed for and finally found, love requited and unrequited; love secret and spread wide across the sky. This literary valentine is a fitting tribute to the world's most powerful emotion. Still sceptical? Turn to page 13. The good, the bad but not the uglyYesterday is Another Country by Somasiri Devendra will be launched at 5.30 pm on Saturday, March 1st at Gandhara Gallery 28, Stratford Avenue, Colombo 6.
He looks a bit like Richard Bach. He looks a bit like Ernest Hemingway.Mmmm. No. He looks exactly like his elder brother, Tissa Devendra. How often have I mistaken one for the other? How often had I realized half way into the conversation that I was talking to the wrong "Mr. Devendra"? How often have I apologised saying "I thought you are your brother"? This time though, Somasiri Devendra makes things easy for me. "Its only six months old" he apologises running his fingers through the silver strands covering his chin.But whether old or fresh, a beard is a beard and just the right thing for him and me too - no more mistakes when it comes to identifying the two brothers.The silver beard = the younger of the two. It is hard not to think of the Devendras when you talk of talent running in the family. "We come from a family of writers" says Somasiri. "Tissa, Ransiri and I". No doubt a talent inherited from their father who was also a prolific writer. Having grown up in an era when there were no telephones, no computers, no emails, he recalls writing long letters to each other. He claims the other two are the "senior writers" - specially Ransiri, who though the youngest has been the most successful of the three. Which is saying a lot, for he, himself has authored several "serious books" on naval history, maritime archaeology and ethnography in addition to the account of his father's childhood titled The Way We Grew" (2001) and many short stories published in journals and newspapers. I learn of his connections with the navy when he spells the email address of the Sunday Observer picture's section in navy jargon; p for property(?) i for India and x for X-ray equals pix". Having introduced Maritime Archaeology to Sri Lanka he has worked voluntarily as a Special Advisor for the Department of Archaeology and initiated the establishment of a Maritime Archaeological Unit. But, he has not, as yet thought of penning his experiences in the navy into the form of a book. He thinks "It is too early to write about the navy yet". What is not too early, though, is to record the past fifty years of his life in the form of a collection of essays which he has called "Yesterday is Another Country". Having an aversion to biographies and autobiographies he says he has made the stories more readable by concentrating on the events of the past fifty years that had made an impression on him. "I deliberately kept off writing about our childhood because Ransiri and Tissa have already written about it. Tissa has been writing about his work and I have been pushing him to do so. But my book has nothing to do with my work in the navy". In this collection he has divided life into three groups; when life was relaxed, in his personal life as well as in the country, when he (and the country) underwent a fairly stressful period and what life should be in the years to come. "Some of the essays are gloomy, some are lighthearted, but the last few stories are neither gloomy nor lighthearted. They are not linked to each other. The only link is himself. The good and the bad sides of his character. At times the hero, at times the villain, at times an observer. In each of the events he was a different man. "Not the me of today". "I have been working for other people all this time" says Somasiri. "I have given up all that voluntary work now and will be concentrating on my own work. This book should have been written long ago". His next venture will be a book on Sri Lankan ships in ancient times. "Don't expect too much from Yesterday is Another Country" he warns the reader. There are no words of wisdom, no message no moral in these stories of the past. More the reason why they should be read. Life story
Wilfred Perera, a staunch supporter of the leftist politics in the country, joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in 1952. As a member of the party, he co-edited the party newspaper Sama Samajaya and later became the editor of the paper. Disillusioned with the principles of the LSSP he left the party in 1964. Retiring from his teaching profession he took to editing and writing. He was one time editor of Sadharanaya and Sanvaada the magazine of the Christian workers' fellowship. Among the books, he has authored are Muthu Etaya, Samaja Saadharanaya Ha Adhikaranaya (translations), Abhiyogaya (poetry) and Selalihiniya a study aid. He has also authored a book on child labour for UNESCO. The Encyclopaedia of BuddhismThe International English medium of Buddhism Project launched by the Government of Sri Lanka in 1955, to commemorate the 2500th Buddha Jayanthi, under the pioneering Editor-in-Chief, Professor Emeritus G.P Malalasekera, is nearing its completion now. The Encyclopaedia of Buddhism covering a vast field of Buddhist Doctrines and Philosophy, culture and diverse Buddhist activities has been planned to be completed in eight volumes with an Index volume. The first Fascicle of Volume VIII has been completed and is already been printed. The second Fascicle of Volume VIII is now in its proof stage. It will be completed and released by the end of March/April 2008 Commonwealth writers prizeShortlists: The shortlists for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize; Best Book Award and Best First Book Award were announced on Wednesday 13 February. Four international judging panels in each Commonwealth region; Africa; Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia; and South East Asia and South Pacific have chosen the books in each region from an impressive list of 320 entries. Some of the catogories are Africa Best Book Award Barbara Adair, End, South Africa Ifeoma Chinwuba, Waiting for Maria, Nigeria Finuala Dowling, Flyleaf, South Africa Karen King-Aribisala, The Hangman's Game, Nigeria Susan Mann, Quarter Tones, South Africa Zakes Mda, Cion, South Africa Best First Book Award Sade Adeniran, Imagine This, Nigeria Ceridwen Dovey, Blood Kin, South Africa Dayo Forster, Reading the Ceiling, Gambia Ken Kamoche, A Fragile Hope, Kenya Sumayya Lee, The Story of Maha, South Africa Carel van der Merwe, No Man's Land, South Africa Canada and the Caribbean Best Book Award Gil Adamson, The Outlander, Canada Erna Brodber, The Rainmaker's Mistake, Jamaica Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes, Canada Robert Hough, The Culprits, Canada Frances Itani,Remembering the Bones, Canada Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero, Canada Best First Book Award David Chariandy, Soucouyan,t Canada Tish Cohen, Town House , Canada Arley McNeney ,Post, Canada Ameen Merchant, The Silent Raga Canada C.S. Richardson, The End of the Alphabet,Canada Neil Smith Bang, Crunch,Canada Europe and South Asia Best Book Award David Davidar,The Solitude of Emperors,India Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist,Pakistan Usha K.R. ,Girl and a River,India Hari Kunzru, My Revolutions, Britain Nicholas Shakespeare, Secrets of the Sea, Britain Indra Sinha, Animal's People, India |
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The poem titled "Separation" could be your thoughts when you
desperately yearn for the company of a loved one living in a foreign
country. "On this part of the world, the sun rises/On your part, it is
setting. 
An illustrious teacher of our times has written the story of forty
five years of his life centerin on teaching, politics and writing. The
book titled "Visammuthi Sammuthiya" (Assent Over Dissent) was launched
at St. Benedict's College Hall on February 23. 
