Bleak but brilliant

Reviewed by Sajitha Prematunge

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It’s said that one can’t judge a book by the cover. But as the back cover of this particular book had promised it is not about war, peace, love, loss, discovery, disillusionment, passion, remorse, trees and the sky, here and the tomorrow, it is indeed about all these and more. Shrapnel by Dr. Neil Fernandopulle is made up of a milieu of themes and diverse subject matter.

From the first story to the last Shrapnel is a real page turner. Reading the collection, one gets the impression that the objective of the writer was to make a statement. If so Abuse, is a fitting opening to the collection. A real eye opener, the story provides a narration through a turn of events. No judgement is passed, allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions.

At the same time the tone seems eerily distant, detached and devoid of emotional melodrama - something akin to western short stories and novels. But the truth exposed, torments you and leaves you thinking.

The stories are not sensationalised but are just as attractive as any sensationalised bestseller. The writer examines every issue in a different angel.

For instance Afterglow is - not about post traumatic stress disorder, there are no gruesome images of war, no flashbacks of bombs exploding - but the after effects of all these on a soldier, an amputee; a different side of war not seen by many. While most talk of the bravery of the soldier, the writer analyses how a soldier regards this honour bestowed upon him.

Here is a successful presentation of war in different perspectives - the perspective of the injured soldier, detached foreigner, border village farmer, etc... It is impossible not to feel that the writer is preoccupied with war.

In fact all the short stories included in the collection are tragedies, mostly of war leading to a bleakness underlying the whole collection. It leaves the reader with a sense of loss and sadness, yet craving for more.

In Here and tomorrow the writer provides a somewhat futuristic approach to war. It makes one wonder whether the writer has lost sight of why this particular war is fought.

It is clear that the subject matter is intensely researched. The writer is very conversant with social issues such as war, ethnic violence, abuse, political upheavals, etc... Even his descriptions of the village culture does not seem fabricated or laboured. In fact his narration is very convincing and seems authentic, for example how Banda sits on the steps cleaning his teeth in Misbegotten.

“Banda sat squatly on the lower step of the pair of long cement steps which skirted the verandah like a pair of forlorn lips.” Born and bread in Colombo, it is amazing, with how much ease the writer describes rural village life in Sri Lanka.

A molecular biologist by profession it is surprising that he had not attempted to include a science fiction in the collection. The only story in Shrapnel that is even remotely related to science is Seed dispersal patterns of the Dipterocarps of Sri Lanka. In Crack in the mirror the writer openly criticises the blind faith of the people and the hypocrisy of religious leaders.

This and The Council meeting are representative of the writer’s boldness in making a statement, whether political or social. Misbegotten indicates the power play of politics, presented in a detached manner - devoid of the drama of an assassination around which the story is woven.

The writer is successful because he is equally competent in first person and second person narrations. And his diction is peppered with Sinhala words without reservation. Guru gedara, jathiya, yakko, pola, upasaka, wesak and Hunga are some of the examples.

The title ‘Du’ gives universal meaning to the Sinhala equivalent of ‘daughter’ while also making it impersonal. The names of the stories provide no insight into the stories. They give nothing away, in stead only help to heighten curiosity.

The dialogues and narration are never confused - even without the inverted commas - because the dialogues represent the characters so well and the narration the narrator. The stories are rich with imagery. The injured water bug which symbolises the injured soldier in Afterglow and the screw beetle which signify decay are apt images that exemplify the ingenuity of the writer.

The diversity in the collection gives the impression that the stories were written during a long period of time. The characters involved include people in all walks of life. Almost no social strata is left out. It is in deed a pity that the writer hasn’t written in over four years. But almost a decade after it was written Shrapnel is still a good read. Who says you can’t judge a book by the cover.

Road to victory

Reviewed by W. T. A. Leslie Fernando

This volume is an indepth study to trace the road to the 1956 elections and the unprecedented victory of the MEP and its years in office through the political life of one of the main protagonists Philip Gunawardena and through his speeches in the House of Representatives.

At the outset the author confesses that the 1956 MEP victory and its achievements are generally identified with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, great was his contribution, the other leaders and movements crucial to the victory are quite often submerged with myth and legend associated with S. W. R. D. and 1956.

He emphasises that the book is an attempt to rectify this imbalance and bring out the vital contribution of Philip Gunawardena in particular to this victory and to the political and social transformation that took place in the country thereafter.

The volume is divided into two sections. The first part deals with Philip Gunawardena’s education abroad, the formation of the LSSP, his incarceration in jail and escape to India, his stand during the conflicts of party in 1940’s, his break up with the LSSP to form the VLSSP and then his alliance with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to form the MEP leading to 1956 election.

It also surveys the work done by the MEP in 1956-59 period in particular the two VLSSP Ministers Philip Gunawardena and William de Silva and events that led to their resignation from the government.

The second part contains Philip’s speeches in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1959. The speeches indicate that although Philip has been strongly influenced by the theories he studied during his Marxist years, he was attempting to evolve and apply solutions vis-a-vis Sri Lankan conditions, operating on economic principles based on democratic and socialist tenets.

Throughout this book one finds that Philip has always tried to give a new perspective to his Marxist ideas. He was always pragmatic and open to change and that influenced his later role in Sri Lanka.

During his days with the British Communist Party Philip rejected blind adherence to policy twists taken by the Soviet Communist Party and became a Trotskyite. However on his return to Sri Lanka, Philip turned away from the fundamental Trotskyite thesis of forming a vanguard party and embarked on organising a broad non-doctrinal movement.

In 1935 under Philip’s leadership the LSSP was mass party with parliamentary perspectives. (Page 27) During the World War II, when Philip and other detainees escaped to India, the Bolsheviks who grasped the control of the LSSP termed the party as petit-bourgeoisie and wanted to form a vanguard party, elitist in nature, consisting of those well trained in the tenets of Marx-Lenin-Trotsky.

Philip and his supporters including N. M. did not believe that such a strategy had a chance of success specially after their experience in India.

When they came out of prison in 1945, Philip and N. M. broke out from the party which had now assumed the name Bolshevic Lennist Party of India and once again reconstituted the LSSP. In 1950 when the LSSP merged with the BLPI, Philip realised that an elitist group engaged in theoretical hair splitting would be at the helm. Philip and his band of followers left the LSSP and formed the Viplavakari Lanka Samasamaja Party.

In 1950’s Philip realised that a new perspective was needed to understand the ramifications of our society where overwhelming majority of population lived in rural areas where social structure is textured with religious affiliations.

In this situation specially in 1954, from being a figure subscribing to basic Marxist tenets of the need for a dictatorship of the proletariat, he gravitated to a position which recognised the need to go beyond the urban working class and rural labourers and ally with other social formations in rural Sri Lanka.

Accordingly Philip Gunawardena’s VLSSP divorced itself from the international Marxist polemics and allied with non-Marxist parties like the SLFP and Basha Peramuna to form the MEP. The VLSSP Ministers in the 1956-59 MEP government, Philip Gunawardena and P. H. William de Silva forged ahead with a radical agenda. Philip made a multi-pronged effort to regenerate agriculture through the Paddy Lands Act, the cultivation committees, multi-purpose cooperatives and the Co-operative Development Bank.

It is true that various amendments marred the Paddy Lands Act and the Co-operative Development Bank did not see the light of the day. Nevertheless Philip’s reforms in the field yielded far-reaching benefits to the peasants. The book vividly portrays that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in a hectic three years under Philip brought change and growth virtually to every subject under its purview.

The highest emphasis was given for programmes to increase paddy yield and the momentum given and the infrastructure created led to continuation by later governments. After a long period of neglect Philip introduced a dynamism to the plantation industry by sustained re-planting programmes. His Anti-Fragmentation Act was an important measure taken by any government since independence to save the plantations being auctioned off in pieces. The author quotes Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike, a later Minister of Agriculture saying “The beginning of agricultural growth in this country stemmed from the 56 period” to drive home his point.

Although the book deals mainly with the life and achievements of Philip Gunawardena, it also analyses the role of William Silva in the 1956-59 government. It was under William de Silva, that for the first time there was a concerted policy by the government to develop industry. With the enactment of his State Corporations Act, the government made investments to develop basic industries like steel, mineral sands, rubber tyres, cement, flour milling etc. whilst encouraging various incentives saw the beginning of private industry.

The author attributes the revolution in the fishing industry as the greatest contribution of William de Silva. Prior to 1956, the fishing industry in our country was in a primitive state. It was during his period that the mechanisation of the fishing industry was begun. As a result the fish landings doubled in 1964 and trebled in 1969. The cold room he installed at Mutwal was the first step taken to preserve fish for planned marketing. It was also during his tenure that inland fisheries were commenced on a wide scale by breeding Thilapiya and Gourami fish.

Philip Gunawardena and William de Silva were the force behind the nationalisation of bus transport and the Port. It is now generally acknowledged that Philip’s group was responsible for most of the progressive measures instituted in the 1956-59 MEP regime.

The author in conclusion asserts that Philip Gunawardena as the most colourful personality thrown up by the revolution of 1956. He adds that upto 1956 he was noted as unrelenting opponent of and country’s leading agitator against the capitalist system and colonial domination - fiery, impetuous and indomitable. After 1956 he surprised everybody by his performance as the Minister of Agriculture and Food. His clarity of thinking, his dynamism in formulating and implementing programmes earned him the respect of all.

The author evaluates that all in all for initiative, hard work and successful implementation very few Ministers in Sri Lanka could match up to his performance. The names he could think in this respect are C. W. W. Kannangara in education, D. S. S. Senanayake in land settlement and irrigation and R. Premadasa in housing. Here again the author identifies that others had 15 to 20 years to show their colours. Whereas Philip Gunawardena could wield his impact only in three years.

As usual Dr. Ananda Meegama presents this volume in his inimitable languages and style that provides fascinating reading so that the work consisting of 580 large pages could be read from beginning to end without being tired. The large number of photographs connected to Philip Gunawardena and William de Silva enhances the values of the book and it bears an attractive cover as well. This volume is a treasure not only to the students in politics but also to all interested in our political history.

Baggage of culture from Germany

Reviewed by Indeewara Thilakarathne

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Kulturbeutel or baggage of culture is the first textbook for teaching German in Sri Lanka for those who are involved in the hospitality industry.

It is a collaborative project of the Goethe-Institute Sri Lanka and the German Section of the Department of Modern Languages, University of Kelaniya.

The project was founded by the Tsunami Relief Programme of the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. The publication is timely as Sri Lankan is recovering from Tsunami. Germans make up a large chunk of the tourists who visit annually to taste the country’s hospitality and the German conversant employees in the hospitality industry is a log-felt need as tourism provides livelihood of thousands in the coastal area which hard hit by the Asian Tsunami.

However, the focus of teaching of German in Sri Lanka was on making students fit for Germany. A significant departure from the present text book is that it is tailor-made for those who engage in hospitality industry. As the book is set against Sri Lanka and is authored by a team of Sri Lankan teachers of German, students encounter familiar landscape of human activities in Sri Lanka in the context of tourism.

Teachers have paid special attention on imparting students with practical knowledge of German so as to enable them to interact with visiting German tourists. The course material will enable students to handle day-to-day situations with German speaking tourists. In addition to the text, written and oral exercises have been included to improve students’ pronunciation and intonation that are inherent to German language.

The special feature of Kulturbeutal is the intercultural aspect known as “Begegnungen” which will explain in clear terms the cultural difference between Sri Lanka and Germany and mentalities of Germans. The book also gives some useful tips to avoid intercultural misunderstandings.

A significant characteristic of the textbook is that it has taken a interactive approach in designing the texts with full of conversations that will not only teach key words but also their usages specially in context of hospitality industry.

The book is constructed on the interesting visit of German family Hartmann and around the country journey that readers travel along the fascinating cultural landscape of Sri Lanka.

Hartman encounters day-to-day situations that tourist might encounter in a host country. The book also trains students in application of knowledge in practical instances such as filling visa application in German and also offers a comprehensive glossary in Sinhala and Tamil along with German words. Kulturbeutel was developed by a team of academics teaching at the Goethe-Institute Sri Lanka and the Department of Modern Languages, University of Kelaniya. Rakitha Karunaratna, Randi Ranasinghe, Dr. Asoka de Zoysa and Heidi Steiner of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) make up the team of authors while the project was coordinated by Rudiger Punzet (Goethe -Institute Sri Lanka/Tsunami Relief Programme).

The Kulturbeutel offers a window of opportunity for prospective youth aspiring to enter the hospitality industry in a professional manner and employees already in the hospitality industry can also improve their knowledge and skills in the use of German language by following the course.

The team of authors should be congratulated for producing an excellent work with specific emphasis on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan hospitality industry.

By ways : Long and Short

A collection of Sinhala Poetry by Tanuja Dharmapala, is being translated to Tamil and English. This collection of Poetry - Byways: Long and Short” which included Tamil and English poems will be launched on 12th July 3.00 p.m. at AGKO centre (Blackpool) Nuwara Eliya.

The English translation is by Professor Sunanda Mahendra; the Tamil translation is by Saminadan Wimal (Senior Lecturer - Jaffna University).

The line drawings, which were inspired by this collection is by Shantha K. Herath. A composition of music, based on these poems and a recitation will be presented by Kapila Poogalaarrachchi and Nelu Adhikari.

Manubandu Vidyapathy will create a choreographic piece inspired by the poem. A collection of photography, based on these poems created by Sudam Gunasinghe will also be shown as a film.

All these different art forms will fuse to create a new dimension in cultural understanding and art appreciation at this event. Among the contributors - to this special art event are Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities.

The poetry collection will be launched among the Sinhala and Tamil communities in the Uva district with special guests.

This special event is open to all art lovers of Nuwara Eliya.