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The Thera who was born on May 22 in 1950, co-incidentally on a Vesak Full Moon Poya Day - Rambukkana, Moravakkorale in the Matara District - was named as Ananda Liyanage by his parents Simon and Sobanahamy Liyanage. Ananda was the eldest in a family of five boys and two girls. He had his primary education at Veliva Vidyalaya. He was ordained at Gangathilakaramaya at the age of 12. Siddhartha Thera has studied in several Pirivenas including Sunethradevi Pirivena, Pepiliyana, Colombo, and graduated from the University of Kelaniya in Buddhist Philosophy (Sp. Hons). He studied Mass Communication as an auxiliary subject. He also worked for Lake House Sinhala publications such as Silumina and Navayugaya, for a brief period, on a voluntary basis. This opened him great opportunities to associate many exceptionally skilled journalists and intelligentsia like Edmond Ranasinghe, Dayasena Gunesinghe, Somaweera Senanayaka, Edwin Ariyadasa and Gamini Sumanasekara, which helped him to sharpen his talents in his literary work. Siddhartha Thera has won many awards for his excellent ability and incomparable talent including the State Literary Award for the Best Collection of songs for his Sasara Danavuva in 2006. His first film song, Pera Sansare for the film Sandakada Pahana sung by T.M Jayaratne and late Malini Bulathsinhala and music composed by Khemadasa won the Best Film Song Award in the Sarasavi Awards Festival in 1989. Yathivara Pooja which Siddhartha Thera conducted on Sirasa TV won the Best Musical Programme Award recently. “In ancient Ceylon, Buddhist priests used to preach Bana for 12 hours. Unlike today, our ancestors who didn’t have much entertaining avenues like TV and radio, Bana was the only way of adding variety to their lives. So none of the villagers missed out on it,” begins Siddhartha Thera. “The Bana which began with sunset went on till next dawn. The whole village used to gather to the temple, and spent the whole night there without a fear of their home and property, left behind. People had time, patience, peace of mind and a sense of security to concentrate on the sermon and glean a virtuous harvest to lead a noble life. But unlike yesteryears, today’s generations rarely get such peace of mind. Hence, I assume `song’ which is somewhat closer to the hearts and minds of today’s people would be a somewhat better medium to pass on a religious as well as a social message,” he points out. Even the Buddha used rhythm in his Bana, which we’ve later described as `Gatha’ and `Sutra’. Following this Buddhist priests too used rhythm as `Kavi Bana’ which has been popular among Sri Lankans. “In this sense The Buddha has been the greatest lyric composer born to this world,” points out Siddhartha Thera. Singer Victor Ratnayaka’s famous song Buduhamuduruvo Apith dakinnathi banath ahannathi ekale. Niwandakinnata pinmadiwennathi ekai thawamath sansare. (we might have been living during the time of the Buddha, and might have met and listened to his sermons. But, we might not have collected enough merits to attain nibbhana, and that’s why we are still in this Samsara) has been one of the popular hits Siddhartha Thera has written his songs affiliating Buddhist cultural norms and philosophy. In this song, the Thera has tried to encourage lay people to realise the gravity of `Samsara’. Thrilokya Thilaka Buddharaja vandana vile, the song he wrote for `Sambuddha Jayanthi’ ceremony in 2006, Pihitak nathi saranak nathi - Sasara danauve (sung by Gunadasa Kapuge), Pipena Malakata galana Dolakata (sung by late Malini Bulathsinhala) and a vast number of songs sung by the famous singer duo Visharada Edward Jayakody and Charitha Priyadarshani such as Pansale Palliye, Hari hambakarapudeval, Minisa handata giyalu, Sapasampath nam miringuva passe and Budu bana kivuvath niranthare are some of the Buddhist songs the Thera has written using his rich knowledge in the Sinhala language. `Nachcha geetha vaditha visuka dassana mala gandha vilepana dharana mandapa.....’ is one of the precepts of `Ata Sil’ (eight precepts of Buddhism) which says that one should avail from all the worldly pleasures including entertainment of various sorts. This precept is observed by bhikkus. One would argue that composing lyrics too falls into this category and therefore is not agreeable with the expected conduct of a bhikku. But the thera explained that he too follows the method of preaching with `rhythm’ as the Buddha and his followers. “`Song’ which I have adopted as my medium, to suit today’s world, is a further step in the evolution of `rhythm’. I’ve penned a few love songs as well, but even in them, I do not emphasise on the worldly pleasures including `lust’ as in some songs, which arouse intimate desires. I have written about `love’, but that with a different angle. The below verse sung by Abeywardhana Balasuriya is an example of it. Maleka meleka hitha ganna Rambukkana Siddhartha Thera pours sensitivity into the natural love between two hearts, and suggests that it is not merely the infatuation that matters in one’s relationship, but mildness and tolerance. In his song Kandulu pan kendiyak... sina mal vattiyak composed for Victor Ratnayaka, Siddhartha Thera tries to describe some unseen reality in life. “We were all born to this world due to the natural attraction caused between a man and a woman who became our parents. That is the truth of this Samsara. We cannot deny that. Young men and women fall in love and live in a beautiful dream world. But, the gravity that exists beyond that which will burst out with their marriage, would be totally different from what they experience in their love life. The difficulties they encounter later in life may cause their palace of love to collaps. Hence, one must tread the path of love with conscience as it is not going to be full of roses everyday,” says Thera. “Yashodharavatha is one of the best ever works of literature I have ever read. A few chosen words would not be able to describe the unconditional love Princess Yashodara (chief consort of Prince Siddhartha) had towards her husband who left her and the only son Rahula in quest of Buddhahood. I’ve tried to add the qualities of the unblemished character of Yashodara into my lyrics many a time,” says the Thera. La dalu bopath semin salena se, sung by Karunaratne Divulgane, is one such verse penned by the Thera delineating Yashodara’s love. “I’ve tried to give the message of the unconditional love that a wife should posses for her spouse. It’s difficult to find such love in today’s society, still the message should be passed on.” believes the Thera. Siddhartha Thera opens his heart to let the flow of compassionate kindness gush through his pen, and the songs like Pipila paravena suvanda kakulu mal (Edward Jayakody), `Avuvata vessata huru minisunne’ (T.M Jayaratne, Ivor Denis, Amarasiri Peiris and late Malani Bulathsinhala) and Me prema katha navatha mohothak (Edward - Charitha) provoke the listener to think beyond their limited enclosure, and ponder on the poverty and suffering of the masses. Sanda tharu mal - mata dan dun sung by Samitha and Athula Adikari is one of his best products which describes the unconditional love of parents for their children. He uses various imagery from nature; sun, moon and stars; the universal strength and energy to relate to parental love. Let me conclude with two lines of T. M. Jayaratne’s popular song written by Siddhartha Thera alias `Sinduven bana kiyana hamuduruvo’ (the Buddhist priest who preaches in `songs’).... Siyak Aayu laba - Mageth ayu laba
Politically outspokenYevgeny Yevtushenko: Best known poet of the post-Stalin generation of Russian poets, Yevtushenko was born in Zima, Irkutsk in July 18, 1933. Since 1990 he has been vice president of Russian PEN. He was appointed an honourary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1987. Yevtushenko published his first poem in 1949 in a Soviet sports
magazine and thereafter became a regular contributor to Komsomolskaya
Pravda, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Novy Mir, and other important Soviet
publications.
As a result of the success of his first book of poetry, The Prospectors of the Future, he joined the Soviet Writers’ Union and began studying at the Gorky Literary Institute, which he left after several years without graduating. Although he is best known for his poems, since the 1970s he has been active in many fields, such as writing novels, engaging in acting, film directing, and photography. Yevtushenko contributed lyrics to several Soviet films and contributed to the script of Soy Cuba, a soviet propagandist film. His acting career began with the leading role in Vzlyot by director Kulish, as a Russian rocket scientist named Tsiolkovsky. Yevtushenko also wrote and directed two films. His film ‘Detsky Sad’ and his last film, Pokhoromy Stalina deal with life in the Soviet Union. In 1972 Yevtushenko gained huge success with his play Under the Skin of the Statue of Liberty. But his The Heirs of Stalin, published in Pravda, was not republished until 1987. The poem contained warnings that Stalinism had long outlived its creator. He has also remained politically outspoken and in 1974 supported Solzhenitsyn. Poems of Several Years, a retrospective anthology, contained most of Yevtushenko’s best shorter poems. In 1991, a collection of his work called Fatal Half Measures, was published by Random House. Centered around the themes of glasnost and perestroika, the book contained excerpts from several earlier works, all supporting Yevtushenko’s strong political conviction. Third Snow, his second book of poems, was heavily attacked by critics. Other volumes of verse were published in 1956 and 1957. His first important narrative poem Zima Junction was published in 1956 but gained international fame only in 1961 with Babi Yar, in which he denounced Nazi and Russian anti-Semitism. The poem was not published in Russia until 1984, although it was frequently recited in both Russia and abroad. Zima Junction relates a visit to his home town in 1953 and reflects the confusion and quest for lost values of a young man in post-Stalinist Russia. His themes, both personal and social, were marked by a nonconformist attitude and conveyed a strong feeling of human sympathy.
Meditation and poetry
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