Rural charm captivated in tranquillity

Reviewed by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Without some goal and some effort to reach it, no one can live- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The genre of biographical novel, albeit not new to Sri Lankan writings in English, is not so common among the contemporary literary production in English. A significant aspect of biographical novel is the account of personal experiences and places and particular time associated with an important period of the novelist. Biographical novels are often coloured by grotesque descriptions of an imaginary or a factual place where the author has spent an important period of life.

A decade in the village Author : Mahinda Jayaweera

The novel ' A decade in the village' by Mahinda Jayaweera falls into the genre of biographical novel on many accounts; for it is a lively portrays of village life in the forties and fifties of a rural community through the eyes of a young English trained teacher who arrives in the village of Parakgama. The story captures not only the quite socio-cultural milieu but the characters peopled the era and the sheer joy of agriculture which the author described not merely as the principal occupation but a way of life and rituals associated with agriculture.

"During those bygone days paddy cultivation was considered not mere economic activity, but a pleasant way of life, and harvesting melodic slice of that... The harvesting of Paddy in the fields of Parakgama usually commenced at the beginning of January and was completed by mid-February, before the advent of seasonal rains. "

The author extensively describes the rituals associated with paddy harvesting. "The family found it difficult to cultivate entire extent, hence more than three fourth of the land was released to the peasants for cultivation under the Ande system. The Ande was a harmonious arrangement made between the landlord and the peasant for the peaceful survival of both. Under the simple unwritten MOU, the system worked in such a perfect order that hardly a problem arose between the parties in its implementation. "

In the chapter 'Independence', the author has captured the tense political atmosphere building up leading to the independence. "The Tamil leaders who were mindful of the absolute strength of Sinhalese with their seventy four percent share of the population, had reservations about latter's generosity towards the minorities under a rule of majority. The Tamils were worried about losing perks, promotions and privileges that they enjoyed under the colonial rule. In the circumstances, they demanded 'fifty-fifty' status in the administration of the country under the new Constitution that was to come into effect in the near future". The narrator of the story is Lawrence, the young teacher of English who is the mouthpiece of the author.

One of the interesting chapters of the novel is the chapter on 'The Walawwa community' where the undisputed power wielded by elite on the population at large has been described perhaps, through the eyes of a sociologist rather than fiction writer. The author describes the elite as a powerful social institution.

"Although word Wallawwa was commonly used to refer to the residences of the members of the nobility, it also connotes a broader concept of a powerful social institution which enjoyed enormous influence and authority during the last line of Kandyan kings and subsequent colonial times as well. In the Kandyan provinces which included Uva, Wellassa, Tamankaduwa, Nuwarakalaviya, Sathkorale and Sabaragamuwa, that important and influential segment of the society known as Radala lived in mansions called Wallawwas.

A striking feature of the novel or the autobiographical novel is that it not only relates a story of a young teacher of English who worked in a school in the village of Parakgama but captures the socio-economic changes in the pre and the post independent Sri Lanka and how they profoundly affects the lives of the people in an up-country village steeped in traditions and conventions. The author incorporates caste system and other social institutions into the plot as a part of the description of the village. In the chapter thirteen, the author extensively deals with the cast system prevalent in the village.

"There lived in the large village of Parakgama, people belonging to all upcountry castes other than Chandala, the caste considered to be outcast. The members of the different castes lived in separate village pockets as distinct cultural groups. The names given to these hamlets identified the caste of the people who lived there. For instance, Duragodella was the home of Dura also known as Bathgama community, Radahena that of the washermen, Kumbaladeniya that of the potters, Berawakanda that of tom-tom beaters, Hakurumulla that of Hakuru or Wahumpura people, Kammaltenna that of blacksmiths ..."

The nomenclature of the village according to the caste system has also been described in detail. One of the distinguish features of nomenclature is that it distinctively associated with the caste system and served as an identifier.

The author states, "Within Goigama caste, there existed distinct subdivisions based on class and some other factors. Right on top, was the nobility known as Radala, and then came that wealthy and influential segment known as Nilames and Ralahamies, to be followed by third and fourth sub-divisions respectfully. The third consisted of those families which carried 'Ge-names' such as Mudiyanselage, Ralahamilage, Ralalage, Arachchilage, Appuhamilage...while the rest of the Goigama people fell into the fourth category".

In terms of language and idiom, novel 'A decade in the village' stands out among contemporary Sri Lankan writings in English for the use of Standard English although influence of Sinhala is obvious on some occasions in the narration. By and large the novel is autobiographical and the author Mahinda Jayaweera has used a simple diction to depict a traditional up country village at the dusk of British colonialism in Sri Lanka.

What the author portrays in the up country village of Parakgama is the lives of villagers, their struggle for survival and the charms of the village life of that bygone milieu. Novel is noted for authentic and untainted portrayal of village life and the milieu and the detailed description of sociological aspects such a power relations between the village population and the nobility and the emergence of new educated class outside the nobility who claimed a considerable clout in the affairs of the village.

The novel 'A decade in the village' is an important contribution to Sri Lankan writings in English.

Authentic revelations of Cub Scout Handbook

Reviewed by Gasperson Jeyachandra

Whether the theories of Cub Scout exist or not is a subject that seems to have led the youth into personality development even from the early days of our civilization. It can be surmised that the whole gamut of human knowledge in this regard has been gained through our own beliefs, personal and empirical experiences, contemplations and also by way of various experimental undertakings and speculations of later times.

Author : Subramaniam Bhuvan Published by Kumaran Book House

Therefore, it has intrinsically and extrinsically taken the shape of a complex and more complicated issue posting before us a difficult problem which is very hard to elucidate and bring forth a comprehensive and clear solution which can adequately quench the thirst of the interested seekers of truth about Cub Scouting for Junior students.

At this controversial juncture, Subramaniam Bhuvan has taken step forward by launching a book titled 'Cub Scout Handbook' with a view to unravelling the realities embodied in this problematic issue. He brings out some authentic revelations about the whole concept of Cub Scouting, based on the prescribed syllabus for Cub Scouts released by the headquarters, Sri Lanka Scout Association.

This is the first Tamil medium handy book on Cub Scouting with 126 pages printed on high quality paper.

The author has made a unique effort to explain the concept of Cub Scouting and its realities.

The most salient characteristic of this book is the author's frank and solemn exposure of the fact that the vast knowledge on Cub Scouting/Scouting acquired by him has been purely through his sincere dedication and hard work for the betterment of Sri Lankan youth during the National Jambories and Cambories, training and workshops.

Since the author is well-versed both in English and Tamil, his diction here is lawless, easy to understand and commendable. As such, one is compelled to go on reading the book at one stretch with unabated interest and enthusiasm. His artistic craftsmanship shown in writing this book is praiseworthy.

I am sure that the book is an avenue to broaden the horizons of one's knowledge in many ways.

Alfred Lord Tennyson :

A study in turmoil

by Gwen Herat

Of all the English poets who mostly wrote for the youth, Alfred Lord Tennyson remains the much-sought and adored lyrical writer of beauty, passion and people. Though he still lags behind William Wordsworth in the classroom, he remains high in popularity. I always found Tennyson to be a poet of great depth, passion and imagination. He would drive an owl off its branch with his lyrical wordings. Tennyson addresses his subjects quite frankly, each poem with its own individuality. Be it a bird or a human, he livens up its character. The dreary OWL takes pride of place like the most wondrous Lady of Shalott. This, one of my favourite poems from my student days, another being the Daffodils by another English poet, William Wordsworth. Nothing could have changed my adoration for them or replace them. But as I grew up I merged in the beauty of Daffodils. I was gripped by yet another poet, Omar Khyaam whose Rubait, I find dazzling in its words and meanings.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, the youthful Master of rhyme, metre, imagery and brilliance and poet laureate. (Portrait by Samuel Laurence at the National Portrait Gallery, London.)

But Tennyson, his early life was a shamble from which he rose like an ember with a dark family history. He had to fight his way out of its grip. This reason accounts many teachers to speak faintly to the late twentieth century attentive readings in the classroom. He has been associated with dark, sensuous, morbid creative temper. May be at times, Tennyson wrote on compulsion or at a dark period of his life. One must remember how burdened he was under turmoil at his young age. Born at the rectory of Somersby,. a pretty Lincolnshire village in 1809, he was the third surviving son of George and Elizabeth Tennyson. Although his father was the rector and eldest son of a prosperous family, he was disillusioned because a considerable estate had been willed to his ambitious younger brother, Charles. This rankled the family and George Tennyson became increasingly depressive, violent and addictive. After a year of estrangement from his wife and family, he died of drinks and drugs. This had an adverse effect on the young Tennyson and after a long battle with depression amongst his other siblings who had histories of mental instability, he was further weighed down in mind when his brother Edward was committed to a lunatic asylum until his death. All these had a toll on Tennyson.

However, his education that was rigorously classical came from his rector-father and as he turned 16, he was writing and he published a volume of poetry with his elder brother in 1827. That year he went to Trinity College and Cambridge and won a prize for his poem, Timbuctoo. In the following years, many poems were published but the poem, Memoriam published and dedicated to his best friend, Arthur Hallam who suddenly died on a visit to Vienna, earned him the laureateship. It is perhaps Tennyson's best poem. Tennyson fell painfully in love with a rich heiress, the beautiful Rosa Baring in 1835. But her rejection of him inspired some of his very mournful poems that hinted at the soreness about social position. Among them, Locksley Hall is very strange and difficult with a bitter lover, jilted by a proud rich woman, thus echoing the rejection of Rosa Baring.

Now, let us look back at The Lady of Shalott, the awe inspiring poem, lyrically dazzling, seemingly emotional and beautifully languished. It tells the story of a damsel caught up in a web of curse. This narrative poem can also be read as an allegory for the artist who is toiling in seclusion. The first part, portrayed in her ghastly enchanted room and the following parts with the intrusion of the wide world as she looks out to Lancelot and beyond that invites her death. A very powerful and abiding story narrated to captivate our imagination The Lady of Shallot has been read by one and all in the classroom. It is made up in 4 parts and 9-lined 19 verses. Picking out some of the outstanding verses:

On either side the river lie

Long field of barley and of rye

That clothe the world and meet the sky

And thro' the fields the road runs by

To many towered Camelot

And up and down the people go

Gazing where the lilies blow

Round an island there below

There she weaves by night and day

A magic web with colours gay

She has heard a whisper say

A curse is on her if she stay

To look down to Camelot

She knows not what the curse may be

And she weaveth steadily,

And little other care hath she

The Lady of Shalott......

Tennyson's profound knowledge of classicism is found in Ulysses, Tithonus and The Lotus Eaters, they deal with temptation of idleness. ULYSSES reveals how bored the old war-leader is with the peaceful life of an idle king. He craves for the last odyssey with his old companions.

Raking up his lifestyle, I am to believe that his checkquered limitless bounce subconsciously written in lines, give way to his emotions, experience of what he lost and found. Tennyson was not presumptious, nor boastful or sneering in his narratives. He spoke the truth from his heart and his spirit live by in all his poems.

I waited for the train at Coventry,

I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge

To watch the three tall spires, and there I shaped

The city's ancient legend into this:- From Godiva (verse 1)

Mirudangam player of high standard

By Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar

Dance and music are the great pride of our cultural scene today and they have been given divine origin in India and Sri Lanka. To the ancients dance and music were path to reality, to godliness, to divinity. In fact, art is an attempt to bring down within the vision of ordinary morals some of the divine beauty.

Jambunathan plays the mirudangam.

Beauty diversified into art is the refined uplift of humanity. It is the instrument to culture, the broadening of the heart, the purifying fire which burns the prejudices, all pettiness and all coarseness.

In fact, there is no dearth at all of literary and artistic talent in Sri Lankans. One can at a moment's notice reel off a list of names of painters, poets, actors, authors, writers and journalists who have hit the headline not only in Sri Lanka, but also in other countries. But, it is certainly unusual to find a whole family in the limelight. Such a family is "Isaimamam", "Miru Thanga Kalavithakar" "Isaikkalaimani" Brama Sri V, Jambunathan.

In fact, he was born into a family which has contributed immensely for the development and promotion of art and culture. His father Visvanathan was a veteran musician from Tellipali, a town in Jaffna which is well-known for musicians and great scholars, 'Isai Kala' Mani" Jambunathan learnt Mirudangam from his father in the Guru-Shishya tradition. Thereafter, he obtained his Diploma in Mirudangam from the Aesthetic Faculty of the University of Jaffna (1977-1981) and got the title of "Isaikalaimani", He also learnt "Mirudangam" from Annamalai University from Prof. Kalai Arasu, "Sangeetha Bhooshanam" A.S. Ramanathan. He obtained a degree from "Ceylon Music Society" and got the title of "Mirudangakala Vithagar" presently, he functions as a lecture in the Faculty of Visual performing Arts at the University of Colombo and is a lecturer at Nadeswaralaya Music and Dance" Academy. He has participated in "SLBC", "SLRC" programmes in Mirudangam and several music, dance Arangetrams. He was conferred with "Isai Selvar" award in 2010 by "Alabana Music Society" in recognition and appreciation of his music talent.

Saga of Elephant in Sri Lanka

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society has recently printed a book in two volumes titled "Saga of the Sri Lankan Elephant". The book is a collection of articles written about Sri Lanka's elephants extracted from the Loris magazine the official journal of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society the oldest organization in Sri Lanka committed to preserving the environment in Sri Lanka.

The articles have been carefully selected to rekindle the interest on elephants that are now facing many difficulties and the reader's interest is maintained up to the final chapter.

The articles have been written in lucid language and the book is a must for those who have an abiding interest in elephants of Sri Lanka.

The two volumes are available at the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society at Battaramulla.

A Tigress of Kilinochchi

Lucky de Chickera will be available for autographing his debut book "A Tigress of Kilinochchi" at the Barefoot Book Shop ,Colombo 4, for customers, on Saturday 16 October from 10.30 am to 2 pm.

The book of fictional short stories where the titled story takes centr estage, tells of a family that were affected by the ethnic fighting and brings out the futility and the inhumanity of resorting to arms for solution finding.

An explicit narration written in clear cut and laid- back prose,readers will have no difficulty in enjoying the colourful and intriguing stories.

NEW ARRIVALS

Mage Rattaran Thaththa

Nirmala Perera's latest book for children is ideal reading for both Buddhist and Christian children. The author has written a story based on a real incident. Mage Rattaran Thaththa is a Saranga Publication.

*****

Laika

Sirisena Ukwattage's short story collection entitled 'Laika' was launched recently. Laika is an Amara publication.