writer’s den

Somethings better left unsaid

Sajitha PREMATUNGE

Do not harbour preconceived notions if you plan to read this play. The introduction alone is bound to put you off, at a time when everyone is so psyched up about the country’s military achievements.

But as the playwright himself has said Thicker than blood does not reflect his opinions, at least not entirely. Whatever political ideologies one may harbour Thicker than blood by Delon Weerasinghe is a play that should be appreciated for its portrayal of real people in difficult situations, faced with difficult decisions.

Any one who consider themselves a `patriot’ would have second thoughts about acknowledging the qualities and aptness of techniques used in the play. Upon first reading, it could strike one as an `unpatriotic play’. This is especially ironical for a play that attempts to `define a patriot’. But stripped of its political ideology, the play certainly deserves the Gratiaen it received.

Thicker than blood is about how a soldier, retired after being wounded in battle tries to find his place in civilian society. The war scenes are set in May 2000, that saw some of the worst fighting.

But the play itself is woven around the parliamentary elections of 2001. It has been written over such a long period of time that the family scenes of the play are far more mature than the two scenes between the old man and Suresh, the protagonist.

Thicker than blood is about personal choices, personal integrity, patriotism and sometimes strained relationships in a time of war. It also deals with a number of issues and emotions, such as sexuality and estrangement. A lot of things are left unsaid in the play, but a lot is left for the reader or the watcher to ponder over.

In fact lack of expression could leave the reader rather frustrated. The playwright makes use of a dysfunctional family setting to bring the issue of estrangement to light. Just when you think something dramatic is going to happen - like when Harsha voices his suspicion about Dinesh - their son - is smoking pot, Maithree totally ignores the issue. Except for the scenes between the old man and Suresh action is subdued throughout the play. This I feel was done on purpose by the playwright. Delon has stifled drama out of the play, but it is no less enthralling for it. Stage direction is kept at the minimum.

The language is extremely economical as well as simple. But makes use of complex characters fills any gap. Certain speech traits, make the characters distinct. Apparently the playwright does not feel compelled to use Sri Lankan English.

In spite of the grim subjects he deals with Delon always manages to squeeze in a bit of humour. But the most prominent element that runs throughout the play is the apparent cynicism of the playwright. However Delon’s portrayal of characters is realistic and in fact the play is appealing mainly for its realism. Halfway through the plot the reason for Suresh’s cynicism is revealed. But I do not wish to reveal too much of the book. As Delon would think somethings are better left unsaid.

Taken simply at story value it makes use of a great plot, with certain affinities to Afterglow, a short story in the collection Shrapnel. Like in Afterglow Delon does not attempt to glorify his characters. In fact they all have their own flaws.

The most thought provoking scene is probably the dialogue between Suresh and Dinesh. The dilemma of a soldier is portrayed very well in the scene. It not so much the being shot that is difficult but the shooting, the differentiating between the terrorist and an innocent civilian, a child.

When Suresh asks Dinesh what he would do if a child comes at them clutching something in his hand, Suresh says that he would warn the child off. Suresh’s question “In what language?” is not so much a question directed at Dinesh, but at the readers or the audience. How does a soldier distinguish a child running towards them with a toy in his hand or a bomb. The play leave us with more questions than answers.

A magnificent tale of high adventure and high seas

Reviewed by Jayashantha Jayawardhana

Fiction: Birds of Prey
Author: Wilbur Smith
Macmillan/Pan Books

“The boy clutched at the rim of the canvas bucket in which he crouched sixty feet above the deck as ship went about. The mast canted over sharply as she thrust her head through the wind. The ship was a caravel named Lady Edwina, after the mother he could hardly remember..........”

“The scope is magnificent and the epic scale breath-taking...Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared...”, says The Times. And having read this splendid story, certainly, I cannot help agreeing with what it says in spite of its high flown language.

Sir Francis Courtney, a Nautonnier Knight of the Temple of the Order of St. George and the Holy Grail, is an English privateer carrying a Letter of Marque signed by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, the Lord Chancellor of England, in the name of His Majesty King Charles II and authorizing him to hunt down the ships of the Dutch Republic, with which England was at war; his crew in the caravel, Lady Edwina, comprise Hal or Henry Courtney, his only son and Aboli, a remarkably loyal black slave, and Ned Tyler, the boatswain and some ruffian, belligerent tars.

After about 65 days of waiting in the high seas, they capture ‘De Standvastigheid’ or ‘The Resolution’, a galleon belonging to the Dutch East India Company and navigated by Colonel Cornelius Schreuder. She carries in her holds a rich cargo of spice, of oriental timber and of bullion.

Further, the Governor Incumbent of the Cape of Good Hope, Petrus van de Velde and his nymphomaniac young wife Katinka happen to be among the passengers on board the opulent galleon.

Having confiscated the entire cargo, Sir Francis Courtney then goes on to hold them to a whopping ransom of two hundred thousand guilders in gold coins. Colonel Schreuder is dispatched with the letter demanding ransom money back to Holland on board Lady Edwina, now stripped of all her fire-power...

The story running into 774 pages is a magnificent tale gripping the readers` attention with its vivid descriptions of blood-curdling sea battles, of exotic landscapes, of African wildernesses teeming with ferocious beasts, and of erotic encounters between Katinka and her numerous lovers including Hal.

And Smith writing in the third person never spares his readers of the most gruesome details of ruthless killings and savage executions. The heroes, however, are but a little less evil than the villains. Clearly the legitimized piracy leads to justifiable blood-shed from which the civilized people recoil as they do from an adder or a mamba.

However, in Birds of Prey, as in all other Wilbur Smiths, what surprises me is his use of English language. His remarkably lucid and almost lyrical writing reflects an extraordinary command of English language backed by the limitless word-power of a very rich vocabulary. With metaphors and similes coming naturally to him, he writes so easily, so effortlessly that I almost begin to envy his talent for writing fiction.

And we see him switching among the role of correspondent, of historian, of philosopher, of barbarian, and, most wonderfully, of poet. The novel is as much about love, loyalty, trust, glory and friendship as it is about insatiable greed, distrust, virulent hatred, gross betrayal and barbarism.

In fact, this wonderful melange of disparate and/or contradictory natures with which the novel of shot through from the first page to the last one is vintage Smith. The following passage from the novel certainly bears irrefutable testimony to Smith’s extraordinary talent for writing.

“The fabled flat-topped mountain seemed to fill most of the blue African sky, a great cliff of yellow rock slashed by deep ravines choked with dense green forest. The top of the mountain was so geometrically level, and its proportions so pleasing, that it seemed to have been designed by a celestial architect.

Over the top of this immense table-land spilled a standing wave of shimmering cloud, frothy as milk boiling over the rim of a pot. This silver cascade never reached the lower slopes of the mountain, but as it fell it evaporated in mid-flight with a magical suddenness, leaving the lower slopes resplendent in their clothing of verdant natural forest.....”

If you prefer to improve your vocabulary through reading fiction, then this is a novel you cannot resist; or if you have a natural penchant for gutsy adventure stories, you will be tempted to read it for hours on end. Certainly, without a rich receptive vocabulary, It will be a little difficult to comprehend Smith’s writing. But what I am even more certain is that once you read Wilbur Smith, you begin to love his writings!

Reap what you sow

Reviewed by Surekha Galagoda

Rivers flow atop the mountains
by W.A. Wijewardena
Printed and published by Sanghinda Printers
398 pages, Priced Rs. 600

It is the first attempt of Wijewardena as a novelist where he describes true human relationships in detail, with fear as the central theme. As he says fear is the most destructive emotion which has afflicted mankind, hence human liberation depends on getting rid of that fear.

Ironically men and women while being afflicted by fear inflict fear unconsciously on each other. In the process they not only destroy themselves but also destroy their loved ones. Where does the human salvation lie? The characters in this novel find the way out.

The novel is woven between three main characters Kamala, Dharmendra and Shanthi.

Kamala and Dharmendra are a married couple but Kamala suspects her husband of having affairs with every other woman in town. She is haunted by her own memories where as a small girl she came to know that her father was having an affair with another woman and this made her believe that all men are womanizers.

This was the reason for her attitude towards her husband as well. Dharmendra, the husband, the head of a advertising company, is a very sociable man and it was a case of eternal fights at home she not being a employed and found it difficult to understand her husband.

One fine day after a quarrel he left home, never to return. She, in turn insulted his co-workers, as well as everybody else until she found solace in meditation, through which she was able to conquer her fear but alas she was diagnosed with cancer, she died free of anger and hatred.

Dharmendara has one problem after the other and Shanthi who joins as a model has to find solutions for all problems with her magic wand, the smile and negotiation capabilities and with the blessings of Kamala they get married after her death, accusations by her brother that he was the killer of his sister made him lose confidence in himself.

As Dharmendra’s mother could not bear a child she had allowed her husband to have a relationship with their servant girl so as to have a child to fulfill the wish of the husband. The girl lived with Dharmendra and loved him and looked after him like a mother until her end due to old age.

In the meantime Dharmendra was also detected with cancer and once he died though she inherited a lot of material comfort and worked at the company she was always feeling lonely until one fine day she meets one of Kamala’s old friends from where she is directed to meet the guru the person who teach people to do meditation.

His novel is on the theme of “Reap what you sow” it is proved when Kamala goes to a shrine to separate Dharmendra from his lover but after she started meditating she finds peace within herself and outside as well.

There is a lot of explanation about sex and I wonder whether all that explanation was needed to ensure a smooth flow of the story. In addition there are spelling mistakes but anybody reading will get a good understanding of human relationships in its true form.

But my only wish is that no woman or man will have to undergo the mental trauma and agony that Kamala undergoes before she finds solace in meditation. Wijewardena an economist who devoted his whole career on teaching and writing economics. In 2007 he took to creative writing with his first collection of short stories “My Little Princess”.

Encouraged by favourable and unfavourable comments he embarked on writing the novel. He says, “this is neither the beginning nor the end of my literary career.”

Communication - Lankan style in ancient and medieval periods

Prof. Suraweera opens a new window:

By Padma EDIRISINGHE

Some call it an art. Yet others mesmerized by the extraordinary and wonderful mechanism use the more florid term “magic of communication”. Its history? As old as human civilization but getting more nourished in varied aspects with its advance and growing complexity. Those who tend to ascribe to the view that all components of advanced human civilization are an import from the West to the “unenlightened” East, encase techniques of communication too to this category.

In its more sophisticated facets as telephone and computers it may be so, but the book “Communication modes in Sinhala writing” by Prof. A. V. Suraweera gives almost a sizzling saga of modes of communication that were practised in ancient and medieval Lanka.

It is almost an eye opener regarding this field since facets we took for granted as separate entities were nothing but tools of communication, especially percolating “Pracharaya” or publicizing information from top to bottom. Maybe it is tantamount to what is today known as mass communication.

Beri Ghosha or the technique of issuing proclamations via beat of drums was the first form of public communication. Citing the Mahavamsa the author traces its use to the reign of king Vijaya himself who by beat of drums invites Lankan damsels to sail over to India to accompany his royal consort from the sub-continent.

A few centuries later according to the same source buttressed by Thupavamsa, while king Dutugemunu was knee-deep in the construction of the Maha Thupa he advertises the need of the best builders via Bheri ghosha and even earlier issues a proclamation to respect the grave of Tamil King Elara simply via drums. That was post war conciliation as early as the pre-Christian era.

The use of epigraphy for public communication too has been in vogue here since the 3rd Century BC. perhaps imitative of the grandiose scale in which King Asoka of Jambudeepa made use of stone to give publicity not only his feats but even his religious devotion and thoughts.

For example the remorse and anguish he felt after the massacre of 1000s of humans in the conquest of Kalinga is aptly put across in a heartless but stony surface.

Yet the author quoting another source labels it as the most moving documents in any dynastic history. That tells so much not only for the anomaly of writing on granite but on the anomaly of cruel war and its toll on the minds of the perpetrators of it as our own LTTE brethren.

Coming back to the book the back blurb describes it as a retrospective survey of the history of communication in the island “beginning with short sentences below the drip ledges of caves, through immunity pillars up to lengthy slab Inscriptions and literary works including Jataka poems, sandeshas, panegyrics and didactic poetry, all writings serving the important function of conveying a message for a purpose” What purpose? One predominant purpose which those who adulate Socialist policies may not admire is that of bloating central powder. In fact all the more powerful modes of communication were in central hands.

The Ana Bere or the Beri ghosha could not be beaten by any Tom, Jack or Punchi Banda. It had to be beaten by the King’s orders.” Asav, asav, me Maha Vasale rajagnavai” (Listen this is proclamation from the great court.) Even the drip ledge writings were at the initiation of kings, ministers and the well-to-do since to own a cave to be donated to clergy “agatha anagtaha”, those present and absent here one has to be wealthy. “Blessed are the rich” not the poor.

That communication in ancient Lanka served to boost monarchy is obvious. War was a rampant political feature. Though the island was small in size the geographical complexity as unsurpassable rivers, gorgeous mountain crags and ravines tended to the growth of rival states that much has to be exerted to maintain the Chakravarthi or one Umbrella status of a king which only a few could boast about.

There were constant rebellions in the South and the North, while cities sited centrally were usually regarded as the capitals where the main king reigned. Often due to above factors his power was in jeopardy.

Hence much exertion had to be indulged in to make that power a reality. Though the author of the above-mentioned book does not go out of his way to deal with this situation that has been filled by the writer, the fact must be mentioned that the book contains much prolific matter on how the monarchy made use of the technique of communication to boost his powder.

Sometimes he did it deliberately. Sometimes other animate pillars of his powder did it for him and in a very aesthetic way too. It was simply State media and was used more in crucial times.

Nobody did quarrel with it then and nobody need to quarrel with this book that opens the curtain on it all lending a completely new approach to the field of communication in ancient and medieval Lanka. Of course one need not get the idea that boosting central power was the sole motive of public communication.

There were deep religious motives too, motives that were sensitive to the well-being of the people and their spiritual life. Proclamations to the effect were made on stone catering to the instincts of the average. an example is the inclusion of the sentence that all those who violate these regulations would be born as dogs and crows in the next birth.

Me anna ulangana kenek atnam kavudu balu vetva (EZ Vol 1)

Sometimes illustrations of these animals were thrown in for better effect or education of the illiterate who seeing the figures would query others on it. This says the author was how popular religious norms were used to induce people for good behaviour.

Books were and are the most major form of communication and these came out in plenty though first laboriously etched on Ola leaves. A good many of them like Butsarana were written in lilting style that could be read in a Bana Maduwa by a monk or a literate person to a vast audience congregated in the preaching hall.

Outside the bo leaves fluttered and dropped on the white sands of the temple compound as modules of dhamma disseminated directly or via elegant literary forms. sank into the minds of the listeners. It is apt to end up this which is also an uninvited review on a great book by one of our most eminent writers and eudcationalists (in fact the Chairman of the National Education Commission himself) by this quotation.

Literature is a social phenomenon. The creation of literature is a social act. By Writing we intend to communicate. If our end were solitary contemplation why write? to write is to potentially publish. By publishing we intend to communicate with a number of persons, a group, a class, a nation, the world at large. n

(An Essay on Criticism, Graham Hough, New York)