Reading Agni Chakra (The circles of fire)

by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

In Agni Chakra, the author provides a complex narrative of a Sri Lankan academic, Prof. Saddhamangala Sirinivasa who is the main protagonist through several major socio-economic changes in Sri Lanka, mainly the Island's evolutionary march from an agricultural economy to a fully-fledged market economy.

The main protagonist, Prof. Saddhamangala Sirinivasa also has gone through a metamorphosis by scornfully discarding his birth-name Balithiyanagedara Saddhapala in order to bury his real past for good. Prof. Saddhamangala Sirinivasa is a poet, internationally renowned literatus and an author of scholarly articles to newspapers and also a popular television personality. What are the limitations of wisdom of Prof. Saddhamangala Sirinivasa who has taught many academics and thousands of students?

Where was the origin of the ideal lad who voluntarily discarded his birth-name to become a gleaming star in academia? Did he know what he really wanted in life? Do most of them who are supposed to be "learned" and of his generation concern about this issue? Have they solved this perennial question?

Among the wealth he accumulated include "Gimhana Asapuwa", the cultural centre and adjoining palatial residence, a young and beautiful wife; Shantha who believes that the marriage is a temple and husband as the god in that shrine. She is also a voracious reader and appreciates literature and son, Prabuddha is a student abroad.

Is Prof. Saddhamangala Sirinivasa capable of manipulating them for his whims and fancies? Can he identify himself as a person who suffers from chronic depression due to his genetics pre-disposition? Are there obstacles even for a person who suffers from psychological aliments to climb up the academic ladder? What are the kinds of pressures a highly sensitive wife (Shantha) who has filled up her head with ideals in a complex society?

What is the impact these ideals on wife's aspiration along with her actions to hide her sexual desire in a deep pit with pure water within a traditional marriage? Has "chastity" or fidelity of his wife been held sacred only second to her life that Saddhamangala develops a rather lukewarm and indifferent attitude towards her? Is wife not appreciated as long as she does not violate fidelity in the institution of marriage? Why did both husband and wife fail to realise the need to rejuvenate and start their life fresh at least at the tail end of the life? Are parallel lines ever merged at any place to make a single line in their lives? Is it a marriage that creates such myriad of questions?

The novel "Agni Chakra" explores such questions through realistic narrative structure without isolating these complex personal issues from external socio-economic milieu.

The principal narrator is not only a prolific academic, productive writer but also an activist in a Non Government Organisation (NGO). There is a couple of students (Kanchana, Piyumika and Amritha) who associate him with a love-hate relationship. The author has developed a complex plot in her novel encompassing crucial issues relevant to middle class Sri Lankan society. The author highlights that those academics who have achieved phenomenal intellect and skills that are not stemming from deeper sentiments of their psyche have failed in their private lives and interpersonal relationships.

However, the author maintains an impartial attitude towards the distorted expression of shattered emotional life of a person who had spent the childhood amidst coarse and painful experiences, and projecting them in the latter part of the life. As a result, the author does not represent her main protagonist laden with layers of paintings of hate or any value judgments.

In summary, "Agni Chakra" as a novel explores the involuntary actions of a protagonist which is capable of enriching the readers to develop a positive outlook in life by understanding the intricacies of complex characters as one reads their stories in this novel. Like in a complex Chekhovian play the author summarises some of these universal questions in the novel:

"Let us understand this. Why, then, we make life a struggle? Why should life be made a farce? I beg your love because you have enough intellectual potential to understand these things; let us forget everything. Reason, what happened would not become something which has not happened. However, I still love you. Isn't that enough?" (Page 55, Agni Chakra)

Reviews on the previous works on the author:

'Contemporary Sinhala novel, which can be identified as the fourth phase of the Sinhala novel, seems be the revival of the era, which is the first phase of it, represented by Piyadasa Sirisena and Martin Wickremasinghe. It appears that we have embarked, once again, on an indigenous tradition of storytelling ending the era of imitation. I perceive that Kathleen Jayewardene's creations mark that revival. Readers could remember that I have appreciated earlier her novel 'Kurutu Gee'.

The six short stories in this anthology are based on contemporary society. Characters and issues in them are essentially an integral part of the society.

It seems that the central issue that these characters face is a clash between the moral consciousness bequeathed by the culture and evil social forces. It is this clash that is depicted in stories like 'Prabhu' and 'Gini' -Dr. Gunadasa Amerasekara.

If a novel portrays myriad tribulations in life, those who encounter them, and their emotional feeling in a manner that generates readers' interest and curiosity, the success of such a creation is immeasurable.

A novel would not be successful only by revealing the evolution of characters and analysing incidents.

I would like to mention that the novel "Thambaravila" by veteran writer Kathleen Jayawardene as such a novel" Prof. B. A Tennyson Perera of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in a review of the novel "Thambaravila".

"I have given up reading Sinhalese novels for over 25 years. It is not because I am against Sinhalese novels. It is because I have decided that the time spent on a reading scholarly book is more profitable than reading a novel. It is against this backdrop, I consider it is a wonder that Kathleen Jayewardene persuaded me to read her novel "Santharpanaya". Although "Santharpanaya" did not revive my given up reading Sinhalese novels forgotten over 25 years, I should mention that I read it in one go.

The main character of Kathleen Jayawardene's novel "Santharpanaya," Sumangala's understanding is presented as a result of his experiences. Man can perceive reality not by studying languages, religion, philosophy and art but by studying life. It is the story of a youth who tries to win the life through experiences that presents in Kathleen Jayawardene's novel "Santharpanaya."

I realised in reading "Santharpanaya" that Kathleen Jayawardene possess a commendable knowledge on society in the Buddha's time. The author's ability to appropriately depict customs, architecture, affair of the military, vegetation, geographical surrounding and attire contributed in adding value to "Santharpanaya" -Prof. Oliver Abeynayake in a review on the novel "Santharpanaya.

"What really happens in creations such as short story, novel and drama is to analyse a person or a group of persons within a context. If that analysis would be a deep analysis of humanity, there should be a philosophy behind such analysis. The nature of analysis and mode of expression is determined by that philosophy. All the short stories in Kathleen Jayewardene's "Avarodhaya" were written based on that simple theory. Therefore, her stories enrich readers' life experiences. If each and every story brings about a novel experience, it is due to Kathleen Jayewardene's analysis of humanity based on a philosophy.

It seems that Kathleen Jayewardene has tried to counter the view that Buddhism is a pessimistic religion in a literary reaction through her anthology of short stories "Avarodhaya". Kathleen in some of the short stories has brilliantly depicted that every-day human experiences can be analysed through the Buddhist doctrine of cause and effect and one can practically lead a successful life by realistic analysis of issues. Through this Kathleen conveys a message to creative writers. It is that Buddhism possess a vast store of knowledge which can be utilised in creative writing. If one of the objectives of literature is to expand the life experiences by analysing life, this objective cannot be realised through literary works without matter-of-fact understanding of human nature and myriads of emotions'. Extract from the forward written by Prof. Oliver Abeynayake for the anthology of short stories "Avordhaya".

"This book is woven around rare experiences that only a woman faces in contemporary society in which we live. Though the situation that Inoka faces is a rare one, the issues in life that it brings about would be relevant for many others.

It is in evocative and emotionally-charged manner that the experience that only woman can undergo has been recreated in the form of a story by another woman who realised that pain. The author is endowed with the ability to convey her ideas to readers in a lucid language, short sentences, and with enchanting expressions. The value of this is significant considering it as a maiden work of an amateur writer.

Though the characters are urban and middleclass in this novel, men and women in the novel are not puppets as in most of middle class novels, as the experience the novel based on is rare. The author has vividly realised the characters by using not only their behaviours, mannerism and speech but also the surrounding they live in.

"She has an eye that penetrates life. I am certain that her future will be successful. "Karunasena Jayalath (Karunasena Jayalath's views on the manuscript of the author's maiden novel "Balan Kada Thura Hera Dese" (three decades ago)

"Even two decades ago you could count the more serious writers among women on the fingers of one hand. The names that come most readily to mind are those of Eva Ranaweera and M.M Swarnalatha (where is she now?). In the next .generation there was a quantitative leap with such writers as Sumithra Rahubadde, Eileen Siriwardene and Lakshmi Bombuwela making their debut. Slightly later came Kathleen Jayewardene who has now brought out her fifth novel named 'Daduketa'.

Kathleen Jayawardena's milieu in this novel is the middle-class at both ends of the spectrum. Her territory is home and office, the daily grind of the working woman with a husband and children (two in this instance) to look after. Her heroine (with the somewhat self-consciously lyrical name of Charulatha) is a typist in an advertising firm, one of those temples of new technology and the new affluence. She has a jobless husband, two children a mother-in-law at home. The plot is about what happens to her when she goes to her boss Wanasuriya for a favour on be help her jobless husband and the intrigues she caught up in as a result.

What is most striking about this novel is the great authenticity with which the author captures the domestic life of Charulatha and her husband Piyasoma with the mother-in-law brooding over their life like a Greek chorus. The games husbands and wives play in the context of a tired and jaded marriage form the substance of the action. For example Charulatha comes home late on a rainy night. She has not been able to speak to her boss about Piyasoma who is impatient for the wife to return but does not want to show it.

The children are playing in the rain and the mother-in-law finds fault with Piyasoma for allowing them out. He smacks one of them. There is nothing to cook for the night and the children are sleepy. Piyasoma momentarily regrets the money he had spent on cigarettes earlier in the day for otherwise he could have bought some fish. He is waiting for his wife who finally comes with a bag of goods in the rain. She exaggerates the weight to evoke sympathy for herself. By this time the mother-in-law has started cooking some parippu. She asks Charulatha why she had got late. She ignores her and feeling slighted the old woman mumbles 'Bus must have been delayed' in self-consolation. Now Piyasoma starts having a bath and Charulatha is angry that he should be using the bath room just at this time. She removes some of her clothing and relaxes on the bed but is summoned from her reverie by the mother-in-law shouting at her to feed the children.

It is this kind of intimate domestic detail tellingly evoked which gives 'Daduketa' its sense of middle-class nullity. We are moved to sadness by Charulatha's plight. Even when she gets entangled with the rapacious Warnasuriya against her will and reaches out not unwillingly towards the young artist Sankha in a familiar gesture of alleviating the monotony of monogamy, we sympathise with her although the situations are common and predictable enough.

This, however, is also the weakest feature of the story. In her desire for a grand tragic climax the author is guilty of contrivance at the end. The sudden return of Piyasoma from the Middle East which leads to the ultimate tragedy is particularly unconvincing. So, also on a different level is Wanasuriya's sudden entry into politics. No doubt, the author wanted to accentuate the impression of rapaciousness and unscrupulous-ness but it detracts from the characterisation which had been offered up to that point.

For Wanasuriya's is an interesting character. He is a representative of the lumpen new rich produced by the ancillary service industries of the market economy, the godhead to which even lapsed Marxists now genuflect.

Without any stake in any productive aspect of the economy Wanasuriya makes his living by moulding the mindless" hordes of consumerism. As a corollary he assumes that he also has all powers over the bodies of the women he comes into contact with.

However, he is not without some finesse and verbal cunning. He tries to reduce Charulatha for example by philosophizing on the nature of the human heart, the taboos of culture, the false values inculcated by the Sinhala cinema and finally even suggests that in a new historical epoch chastity will become in valid.

He is no old-style brown sahib-type capitalist but one of the new breed of safari-suited smart alecs with a smattering of middlebrow culture on his lips.

"Daduketa" is not without contrived situations and trite characters but finally is a serious movel which tells us about the nullity of much of the life led by the little men and women caught up in the daily grind. Most importantly it is the tragedy of one woman pitted against the forces of life in a consumerist society and her final if not always willing surrender to them." - Ajith Samaranayake

"Among some novels which describe only physical logics and social experiences and ends the novel with an unwanted tragedy "Agni Chakra" is a novel which enriches life experiences with a philosophical ending." - Saliya Kularatne,

Head, The Department of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya