Itipahan (Burly Lamp) Chapter - 9

By Sumithra RAHUBADDE

(Translated by Ranga Chandrarathne and edited by Indeewara Thilakarathne)

"I am a lamp burning on both ends

Known well that I cannot pass the night

Yet

See my friends

Foes

How powerful light

Burnt

To dispel the darkness"

Soome felt that Sriya Akka and Nanawathi Hamine were fooling her. According to them Sirinatha had not yet sent a letter to them. Could any one believe that Sirinatha had not sent a letter home, though he had written her a letter? For Soome, Sirinatha was the only friend, brother and the person who was faithful to her in the village. He was the only person who had talked a lot on different subjects and with whom she had a lot of arguments and debates. If she had a past, that colossal shadow of her past was none other than Sirinatha. She thought that Sirinatha, who had never harboured any intention to squeeze her up like a ripe cashew apple, had bestowed an enchanting idea of youth which had brought the charming beauty of Sepalika flowers. That delicate scent was not a memory but a fragrance itself.

Sirinatha who had been a faithful friend in her childhood, a troublesome companion and a mentor in her youth was one person and not two persons. Though they had never, at any point, on any place discussed youthful love with each other, it was not the fragrance of that enchanting love that emanated from them. She thought that she had cried resting her head on his knees, very often leaned her head against his shoulder and always quarrelled with him because of that enchanted feelings.

If her mother Duleena was the only woman in her little world, the only person who would be crowned in that world would be Sirinatha. But Sirinatha is now silent. Had she done anything wrong for him to be silent? If Sirinatha wanted to be silent, a mistake on her part was not necessary.

"Sriya Akke, hasn't Sirinatha really sent a letter?" inquired Soome, who had come in search of a medicine for her troubled mind. With a sense of equanimity, Sriyadari looked at her brother's little friend. She gazed, not for a moment but for a long time at the innocent girl who had to pay dearly for a sin that she had not committed.

"Soome, he sent a letter. But it was a short one written in haste. He had also conveyed his regards to Soome", Sriyadari said in a sad tone. Sriyadari lied though there was no such reference in the letter because she did not want to hurt Soome's feelings. Soome knew that it was a lie.

"Sriya Akka, would you also find a job soon?", asked Soome, sadly but with a smiling face.

Sriyadari immediately understood the meaning of Soome's question. She qustions whether she would also leave the village. She also would leave Soome in a couple of days. It was not recently that stone pellets were hurled at her. They were hurled at her on the very day she came to the village as a five-year-old child. Sriyadari could not find an answer to the question whether the village had isolated Soome or she had embraced isolation.

"Soome, why don't you play with Sumanawathi? recalled Sriyadari asking Soome that question in her childhood. Soome did not respond but smiled.

"Sumanawathi would be happy if Soome could play with them. "Sriyadari remembered telling her in order to make her speak. "They wont to play. They would go and fetch firewood or collect piduru," said Soome with an unpleasant tone. Sriyadari thought what aunty said was true. It seemed that Duleena had no intention of letting Soome to set her roots in village soil.

Why didn't Duleena who virtually worshipped her daughter kept on an alter, allow her to set her roots in the village soil?

"Soome, it's the way in the village. How playful is it for girls to gather firewood? Soome does not know the sound of falling dead branches when they were pulled down with a hook? Do you know the pleasure of pulling down dead branches and stack them up?" Sriyadari asked Soome and smiled.

" That's what I tell you. A village woman should have pulled down a dead branch from a tree, gathered pala from either the forest or from the paddy field and should have made haystacks," said Sriyadari as she combed Soome's hair. "Sriya Akka, have you attended to all these work?" questioned Soome.

"A village woman should learn to do everything. You know Higgahawatte Kusume. She alone stacks about thirty bundles of hay per day. Thus they earn some money. When it is not the season for gathering hay, they would pluck pala and make them into bundles. Putting into a till, the money saved would, at least, be enough to buy a piece of cloth for a frock," said Sriyadari tightly combing Soome's hair. Soome tolerated the combing of her hair.

"Sriya Akke, is it a life toiling that way? If one gets used to such hard work, then it would be difficult to get rid of that habit. I cannot lift hay; I cannot pluck pala; I cannot gather firewood and I cannot toil," yelled Soome and tied her hair, not allowing Sriyadari to comb it any longer. Sriyadari looked at Soome with the usual smile. If Soome did not understand the village atmosphere, it is not her fault. But Soome should be able to understand the reality of the village. That's because Soome also knew that the entire village was toiling to live. The villagers waged a war to earn a living. The rice is complemented by jak and bread fruit as a meal.

Except for two or three households, others had to work hard to make ends meet. Most of the paddy fields were owned by a few in the village. Aunty says that they were angry with the villagers following the enactment of the Kumburu Panatha.

"Podiappu cultivates our paddy fields. Although we thought on some occasion that what Philip Mahattaya did was wrong, the villagers should worship and offer him flowers," said Aunty when a worker who toiled in the paddy field came for a loan or a help. Aunty always liked Philip Mahattaya and Bandaranaike Unnahe.

"Hamine, that's true. That Loku Iskole Hamine considered us as buffaloes. They hate Philip Mahattaya and Bandaranaike Unnahe like Andu Kola to cobra. They hate us as if we have passed the laws at the Council", says Emanis prompted by Aunty. All the villagers work hard. Most of them change loincloth they wear in the morning, on to a sarong only after the dusk settles. In order to survive by eating rice with a dried fish curry, all of them toil throughout the day. Sriyadari thought women in the village endured more suffering than the males. As much as men's suffering intensifies, women suffer relatively more than males. Women in the village have scores of children like cashew nuts in a cashew tree. Women's beauty is kept only until their marriages. Afterwards, they will have to toil hard attending to children, husband and other errands like a bull tied to a Sekkuva (oil extractor). Soome does not see all these things happening in the village or else as she deliberately does not want to look at them.

"Soome, why don't you see what's going on in the village? Not that it might happen, but if something happens to Duleena Akka, what would be your plight? For whom does Duleena Akka toil hard and why does she suffer? Can you live forever and have fun bathing in powder? "Sriyadari enquired Soome with a sad tone. Soome tried not to look at her. Sriyadari Akka thought that she does not know the wretched life in the village? Soome seriously thought of the wretched life in the village after listening to the stories of teacher Ratnayake. The villagers who lead fed up lives, have no future. According to teacher Ratnayake, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike tried to serve the masses by uniting five forces; Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru. Philip Gunawardena, N.M. Perera and S.A. Wickramasinghe tried to uplift the standards of life of the masses. In Ratnayake teacher's words, Philip Gunawardena was closer to villagers. When teacher Ratnayake said that Philip Gunawardena, the lion of Boralugoda was more patriotic than the rest of the politicians, Soome thought of hanging his portrait on the wall. After having narrated these stories to Duleena, Duleena brought a portrait of Philip Gunawardena from Veda Mahattaya's residence when she went there to help an alms-giving. Veda Mahattaya was a supporter of Philip Mahattaya's Eksath Peramuna and had contested for the village council. Mother (Duleena) said that it was Veda Mahattaya who welcomed Mr Philip Gunawardena with a garland of flowers when he visited the village long time ago. Duleena also spoke of Mr Philip Gunawardena's wife. The other day, Soome spoke for Dudley Hamu's pila on the invitation of the MP. Mother said that Dudley Hamu was not a bad person.

She remembered Dudley Hamu well because of his smoking pipe. According to the mother having a nose like a parrot's beak is a symbol of luck. Even without a nose like that, those who were born as hamus are lucky ones. Soome spoke at Dudley Hamu's party meeting without knowing anything about his party politics. But Soome thought what she spoke was true despite the political affiliation of the party she spoke for. Villagers suffer hardships. There was no one to examine their plight. What is the future of children like her? At last, when she asked for the people's vote by marking a cross for Dudley Hamu's party, they all applauded. Soome felt that she could recall the echoes of that applause even today.

"Why do you frown at me and turning your head to a side? Are you angry with me? Even if you are angry with me, what I have told you was the truth. You should realise that your mother is suffering because of you. Now you should shoulder at least, half of her burden," said Sriyadari. Soome looked at Sriyadari with swollen eyes. She thought that Sriya Akka was enraged.

"Sriya Akke, I am not ready not a half but even to shoulder a fraction of that suffering" said Soome with a stubborn tone. Sriyadari was shaken by that tone.

"Soome, then, would you like to take that poor woman for lifetime slavery?" asked Sriyadari. Soome smiled but immediately suppressed her expression.

"Is there a single house in the village that my mother does not visit? Does she not act as a slave for the entire village? Who would say 'Duleena don't toil a lot'. Everyone, everyday gets work from my mother, said Soome allowing her natural smile to spread.

"Do you implicate us also?" asked Sriyadari.

"I don't know whom I implicate. But no one in the village likes my mother to love me. Most of them like to see me following mother into villager's kitchens and work with her. What Sriya Akka says, now, is to do exactly that. If possible, I will rescue mother, I am not ready to share that burden," said Soome with a determined tone. "I am going home," she said and stood up. Sriyadari did not respond but she felt sad that Soome had misunderstood her. She always had a sisterly affection for Soome. On some occasions Soome's tender heart turned as hard as a rock. Sriyadari did not like to see Soome leading a miserable life like Duleena, instead she preferred that Soome guiding her way into a comfortable life.

Soome thinks that everyone in the village is waiting to prey on her. Though she thought that villagers were angry because Soome led a life on her own but Sirinatha and Soome were not willing to accept that. They both believed that Soome had been led to lead a life of her own due to the actions of villagers. Soome did not want to adapt to the village realising that it was difficult to lead a life of her own in the village. Was it because she subconsciously harboured a pride?

"Sriya Akka, what are you asking me to do? Do you say that I should go to people asking them to welcome me as I am also a villager? Sriya Akke, aren't their children ever born out-of-wedlock in this village? Did that happen only to my mother? Are the rest of women in the village Paththini Ammala except my mother? Only my mother and I are whores," Soome said the other day when she spoke about the life she led in the village. Sriyadari was scared thinking that the villagers would destroy Soome who smiled and made decisions on her own but suffered silently as a result.

When Sriyadari said the other day; "Soome, you hate the village and harbour a grudge against it" Sriyadari could see tears in Soome's eyes.

"No, Sriya Akke, I like the village. I like the men in the village. But I cannot bear up the way women and men looking at me and the way they talk to me. Sriya Akke, I did not commit any offence. Is my studying an offence? Mother's life has been destroyed. She is suffering. Sriya Akke, are you asking me to fall into the same pit", asked Soome in a tone mixed with anger and agony.

"Soome, when you are living at a distance the kingship want be felt. That's what I tell you often that villagers feel that you are not one of them. That's why they try to corner you. Try to understand that" Sriyadari remembered saying but Soome shook her head and turned the other way.

Sriyadari did not know for sure whether Soome loved Sirinatha Mallee or Sirinatha Mallie had a similar feeling towards Soome. But in her mind, Sriyadari was clear that relationship between Soome and Sirinatha Mallie was beyond a mere friendship. She argued that Sirinatha Mallie's fondness of hanging around Soome, was a clear sign of love. Mallie hated those who tried to destroy Soome. Sriyadari remembered once, Sirinatha Mallie became furious on hearing that Sugathapala did chase Soome.

"Sugathapala, why do you trouble Soome? You must not go after her again", Sugathapala had mentioned this to aunty saying that Sirinatha had threatened him.

"Those are absolute lies. Even my dog would not go after her. She tried to lure me. Punchi Mahattaya, though I am poor, I am a civilized person with parents", Sugathapala had responded to Sirinatha. Sriyadari could easily understand that Sugathapala's reply would hurt the feelings of Sirinatha Mallie. Sriyadari knew that from that day on, her brother was sniffing to find fault with Sugathapala.

Sriyadari could not understand why Sirinatha who was protecting Soome in the past is silent now. Sriyadari understood that Sirinatha was not willing to mention a word about Soome in a letter to them, let alone writing to her.

Although Sriyadavi had mentioned a lot about Soome in her letter, Sirinatha had not even mentioned that he had read the detailed account of what she wrote about Soome.

Footnotes

Sepalika - A small white scented flower.

Piduru -The Sinhala word for hay.

Pala - The Sinhala word for plants and/or edible leaves.

Kuburu Panatha - A piece of legislation about the ownership of paddy lands.

Philip Mahattaya - Mr. Philip Gunawardena, A Marxist-socialist leader of the post Independent Sri Lanka. He was a one time Minister of Agriculture.

Bandaranaike Unnahe - Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. `Unnahe' is an honorific word used to address respectable people.

Loku Iskole Hamine - The head mistress of the (village) school

Like Andu Kola to cobra - Andu is a plant poisonous to cobra. So, the cobra hates andu. Like Andu to Cobra is Sinhalese idiom that shows intense dislike and hatred.

Sekkuva - bull-drawn oil extractor. Desiccated coconut put into a motor and oil is extracted from the coconut while bulls tied to it take a circular course around the rotary.

Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru - The five social forces that supported S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to come to power. Buddhist monks, Ayurvedic physicians, teachers, farmers and workers.

Veda Mahattaya- Ayurvedic physician.

Eksath Peramuna - United Front of Philip Gunawardena

Dudley Hamu's Pila - Dudley Senanayake's party which is the UNP.

Hamu - Mudliar

Paththini Ammala - like Goddess of Pathini who is famous for her fidelity.

Mallie - The Sinhala word for younger brother.

Kumburu Panatha - Paddyh land Act