Contemporary reality through songs :

Looking into seed of lyricism

Reviewed by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

The recent publication entitled "Gee Pada Rachana Vimarshana" by veteran lyricist and writer Sunil Sarath Perera is seminal publication dealing with diverse aspects lyricism. From a broader perspective, a song can be defined as a composition for voice or voices often accompanied by scores of music.

However, there is a variety of songs such as cappella which unaccompanied by music. Lyrics of songs are essentially poetic, rhythmic and some occasion religious or written in prose and represents the milieu.

The importance of song or rather lyrics as a site of cultural interaction is manifested by the following song which has captured not only the cultural motifs but also the linguistic traits of the era.

Abroad As I Was Walking ,

Down by some greenwood side,

I heard a young girl singing,

"I wish I were a bride."

"I thank you, pretty fair maid,

For singing of your song;

It's I myself shall marry you;"

"Kind sir, I am too young."

"The younger, the better,

More fitting for my bride,

That all the world may plainly see

I won a pretty maid.

Nine times I kissed her ruby lips,

I viewed her sparkling eye;

I took her by the lily-white hand,

My lovely bride to be.

(George Gardiner collected this song in Hampshire. This version was published in 1909. Several variants of the tune were collected around that time in the West Country of England.

Variants of this ballad were found in Ireland and England. Variants include: I am too Young (1787-1803), The Squire and the Fair Maid (1889), The Squire and the Maid (1903), and Down by the Greenwood Side (1913). An Irish variant is Down by Blackwaterside. )

As the above old English song represents the central motifs of the milieu, Sunil Sarath Perera has examined myriad aspects of lyrics in the contemporary Sinhalese songs. He is a firm believer that the public taste can be elevated only by improving the contemporary song which has become a part and parcel of popular culture. The book which is dedicated to his father is made up of fourteen research articles on the language, poetics and diverse themes of the contemporary Sinhalese song.

One of the important concepts that he puts forward is Chintavaliye Geetaya (melody in thoughts). Sunil Sarath Perera maintains that the objective of a song is to generate zests. He points out that according to Sanskrit Rasa theory (Theory of zest) the concept of generating zest is much more complex than the notion of merely entertaining an audience with a song. Song should improve the quality of appreciation on the part of the listener leading to a deeper understanding of a theme. The melodious properties in a lyric can be described at different levels. At rudimentary level, melodious properties of a composition is brought out through wording. For example the following song by Munidasa Kumaratunga contains melodious properties in its wording.

Sandapane Valitala

Surakumariyo Malasala

Sititi Medesa Balabala

Gigiri Valalu Payanola

(The song describes the damsels' dancing in a moonlit night on a sandy stretch)

The prominent characteristic of above composition is its sheer music quality. The second level is that the lyricist has written the song in such a manner that it is well integrated into the music scores. In such a composition, music is complemented by the lyric and the lyrics by the music like the following song in the drama Singhabahu.

Dasadesa Indra Vemi Mama Raja Mugrandra

Mabala Bindalana nata sata me vana .....

It is obvious that the lyric of the above song is inseparably linked to the music scores. In other words, the lyricist has composed the song with an idea of the music scores that would eventually make up the song.

However, the lyricist has not written the song according to a timeframe but has inserted words into a framework of music scores. The third stage of melodious is the generation of zest not through the melodious properties in wording or sheer integration of lyric into a framework of music scores but through a conceptual framework. Sunil points out that the following song in the drama Kadavalalu by Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra contains such properties.

Lama situvili bo mavennne

Liyalamin tek atarandenne

Bulove sema novennne

Chakravataya tek devenne

Agak mulak nata dakinne

Kanasallehima velenne

The song describes how thoughts would spread out into the universe like a huge tree and end up in despair. In this song, zest is generated through the conceptual framework which is different to the zest generated through the lyric. This characteristic is present in Shakespeare's work and particularly in sonnets. What is important in this analysis is that the idea that notion of music is not confined to sounds but extends up to patterns of thoughts. Sunil Sarath Perera highlights the fact that concept can be understood by analyzing the Sinhalese history of music. For instance, he observes a nexus between the songs of the kandyan era and the wall paintings. He argues that both artistic and cultural productions have been sprung from the same conceptual framework which reflected the cultural motifs of that era.

Theme of nostalgia and time in songs

In one of his articles, Sunil Sarath Perera explores the themes of time and nostalgia. From examining his songs, it is obvious that revisiting the past capturing the central cultural motifs of the bygone milieu, has yielded best lyrics in contemporary Sinhalese song. Perera deals with time, its pervasive influence and the Buddhist concept of impermanency in an extremely aesthetic manner making those songs the very resonant of the collective conscience of the nation. The concept of time is a complex and deep philosophical concept expounded by Western philosophers like Bergson.

The following song by Sunil Sarath Perera exemplified how time and influence of it on the people's lives has been captured.

Oba ma samaga

Atinata ganna davasa

Me mahakanda

Baluva hinda gama sirasa

Oba ma atara

Wena nuwaraka giya vigasa

Me maha kanda baluva horahin madesa

.........

The song is about a painful separation of lovers and the time is symbolised by the mountain. Time has devoured everything, its influence on the peoples' lives and sense of impermanency is brought out in an artistic manner. Sunil's song " Peradinayaka ma pemkala yuvathiya" is also on the theme of time. In the song, the narrator recollects of the girl he loved in youth. As the years passed by, the girl has reached middle age. The lyricist has used sun, moon and flower Na as potent symbols of time with nostalgia.

In the chapter entitled Rupakaya,Geetaya saha Chintanaya (Metaphor, song and thoughts), Sunil further explores the effective use of metaphor in songs. He is of the view that lyricist can make wonder by the apt use of metaphors within a limited worlds in a song.

One of the prominent characteristics of the use of metaphors is that the lyricist can present deep philosophical thoughts in a few words.

Sanda kaluvara gala halena vita

Senehasa dalvuna nivasa soya emi

Obe sina sanda madala muvaven

Jeevitaye duka vehesa nivagami

(The lyric can be loosely translated into English as

When the darkness gathers at the dusk

I come in search of the home lit up with love

And get over the weariness of life

Seeing your smiling face like that of a gleaming moon)

The lyricist has used the metaphor of light in a manner that suggest the warmth of the home and the warmth the narrator describes as light in the house. Interestingly the lyricist has made the metaphor by joining a noun and verb like 'Senehasa Dalvunu' .

Patriotic Sinhalese songs

In a chapter entitled Deshanuragaya Pubudukala Guvan Viduli Geetaya (Patriotic radio songs), Sunil explores the tradition of patriotic radio songs. Examining the history of patriotic Sinhalese songs, the author stresses that the tradition was commenced in the years leading up to the political independence.

The important facet of this literary turn was that it had the objective of instilling patriotic sentiments on the listeners. Lyricists like Munidasa Kumaratunga, Rev. S Mahinda and Ananda Rajakaruna pioneered this movement. Some popular songs such as 'Lanka Lanka Bembara Lanka..." has symbolised this movement.

It has been observed that the Radio Ceylon was in the forefront of the movement. For instance, the two songs that Ananda Samarakoon recorded on a disk in 1939 were on patriotic theme. Radio Ceylon or SLBC broadcast several programmes such as Editara Lanka presented by Karunaratne Amerasinghe, featuring patriotic songs.

The book 'Gee Pada Rachana Vimarshana' covers the Sinhalese song from diverse perspectives tracing back the evolution of the contemporary Sinhalese song.

Decline and fall of the Kandyan aristocracy

Reviewed by Tissa Devendra

Reading these two fascinating, and unusual, books I came to admire Ananda Pilimatalavuva (AP) for restoring the reputation of his great, and much maligned forebear, the great Maha Adikaram in the Court of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last King of Sinhale. I have always believed that some of the best, and most readable, writings on history have been by gifted 'amateurs' rather than by professional historians. Writers such as AP, often bring to bear a strong personal conviction which they espouse with their own reinterpretation of historical facts, either ignored or misinterpreted by earlier, more 'objective', writers.

The Pilima Talavuvas in the last Phase of the Kandyan Kingdom (Sinhale) The Chieftains in the Last Phase of the Kandyan Kingdom (Sinhale) Author: Ananda Pilimatalavuva

In the Ceylon History we studied in Kandy's Dharmaraja College, many decades ago in Colonial Ceylon, Pilimatalavuva stood out as an unmitigated schemer who tried to sell his country to the British and met with the traitor's death he fully deserved. As descendants of the Pilimatalauva clan it was only natural that the family never believed this generally accepted version. However, they had to bide their time till AP, in retirement from tea planting, took it upon himself to immerse himself in old records and oral histories to redeem his ancestor's reputation. He has done so in grand style. "The Pilima Talauvas is, clearly, a labour of love - but not of blind and prejudiced loyalty. His was a wise decision to paint a wider canvas within which to place the Maha Adikaram so that the reader could appreciate the origins of the conflicting loyalties that motivated this aristocrat.

AP begins his narrative by tracing the unusual origins of this family which throw light on a rarely (if at all) studied aspect of Sinhala history. This is the close connections that the later kingdoms of Sinhale have had with South India. While there is ample evidence of such cultural interaction during the Kotte kingdom, there is little written about continuing links that the Kandyan Court had with South India. Wimaladharma Suriya's son Prince Vijayapala married into a South Indian 'royal' family. So did Narendra Sinha, the last king of Sinhala blood, thus opening the floodgates for the Nayakkar dynasty, fated to be our last. What is lesser known is the quiet influx (seepage may be a better term) of South Indian elites into the bloodline of Kandyan aristocracy. To quote AP they came "in search of office and position under their protectors the Nayakkar kings. They married into the leading radala families and became naturalized as Sinhala Kandyan". Ananda's family history attributes their origin to a 'prince' Sumedha from Tanjore who came to Sri Lanka, pledged allegiance to the Nayakkar king and was rewarded with a radala bride and much land. Alas, no record exists how the South Indian conversed with his bride. Presumably, this nouveau Kandyan seems to have acquired extraordinary linguistic skills because he was rapidly appointed to the important posts of Maha Vasala Lekam and Maha Gabada Nilame in the Royal Court. A further point of interest is the ease with which these Nayakkars and their entourage slipped through the 'cordon sanitaire' that the Dutch and British cutting the Kandyan Kingdom from the coastal regions.

These two books cast light on the Byzantine intrigues that characterized the Court of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Initially various nobles were jostling each other for power and influence over the young king. Chief among them was Pilima Talauva who placed him on the throne as a puppet. But, before long, the puppet freed himself of these strings and firmly placed his own hand on the tiller of State. Pilima Talauva though descended, just a few decades earlier, from a South Indian ancestor, now began his intrigues against the king claiming the throne should rightfully belong to a full blooded Sinhala king. Thus began the intrigues with various British agents to oust Sri Vikrama and transform the Kingdom of Sinhala into a British Protectorate with a friendly noble as a ruler - though not as 'king'. Pilima Talavuva was only too aware of the deep divisions and envy that characterized the Kandyan Court and would have stood in his tortuous march to the throne. Sri Vikrama was his equal in stratagems and guile. He played the nobles one against another by changing their responsibilities and grandiose titles and 'transferring' them to distant regions (a punitive ploy yet in vogue). AP gives us a blow-by-blow account of Pilima Talavuva's dealings with the British and the tight-rope walking he did with Sri Vikrama. But the devious monarch decided to end this 'treachery' - not by arbitrary 'diktat' but after a trial by a panel of judges drawn from Pilima Talavuva's fellow nobles. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. On being led to his execution he haughtily decilined the King's pardon if he renounced treason and fearlessly knelt before the executioner's sword.

However, the intrigues never ceased and Ehelepola Disava assumed the role of prime intriguer against the King. He fled to the British in Colombo when he was about to meet Pilima Talavuva's fate, abandoning his family to the death that traditional law decreed for the families of traitors. Ehelepola masterminded the capture of his former king and also the Convention of 1815 by which his fellow nobles signed over to the British the Kingdom of Sinhale. Interestingly, some of the signatures placed to this document are in Grantha illustrating how very deeply Nayakkar influence had penetrated the Kandyan Court. Ehelepola was never destined to enjoy the fruits of his treason that the cunning British had promised him. He was exiled to Mauritius and a lonely death.

The first book gives us detailed genealogical details of the Pilima Talavuva family, their dynastic alliances, the high positions they held and the lands granted them by Royal decree. AP's diligent ferreting out of little known documents and oral histories from elders of the clan add luster to his narrative.

The second book follows the same pattern when he describes a number of other significant nobles such as Keppitipola, Madugalle and Lewke. In writing of these he also writes of the ill-fated, but heroic, rebellion of 1818 defeated, once again, by the perfidy of some fellow chieftains. One of the most fascinating figures in the last phase of the Sinhala kingdom also flits through these pages.

This is Vilbave the mysterious Pretender to the throne who boldly crowned himself King to the acclamation of the nobles and multitude. Though some nobles may have doubted his proclaimed legitimacy, it is possible that they left the people needed a King as the rallying point. But the man clearly possessed the charisma and the knowhow to carry off the role. Both his emergence and his disappearance remain shrouded in mystery, as he was never captured with the other rebels.

Both books are well illustrated and we are brought face to face with the last remnants of Kandyan nobility, their mansions and the grace and beauty of old Kandy and its monuments. Among the many sketches here one that grabbed my interest is the little sittara narrative where stiff stylized figures enact the execution of Ehelepola Kumarihamy and family.

Fine volumes for the general reader interested in the decline and fall of Sinhale.

Book LAUNCH

Menna Ape Amma

Sagari Koralage's "Menna Ape Amma," "Menna Ape Thaththa", Gemunu P. Dassanayake's "Piyambanna Thatu Labuna", B. Bokanda's "Thuraka Kandula" and Sanjeevani Rupasinha's "Sakuna Rasi" will be launched at Nagarodaya, Baseline Road, Borella, Colombo 8 on November 25 at 3.30 p.m.

Prof. Sunanda Mahendra, Dr. Praneeth Abeysundare and Nandana Weerasinghe will address the launching ceremony.

Lost trails in Yala - East

Gamini Vijith Samarakone's "Lost trails in Yala -East" will be launched at Dayawansa Jayakody Bookshop, Ven. S. Mahinda Mawatha, Colombo 10 on November 23 at 10 a.m.

"Lost trails in Yala - East" is the English translation of "Yala Negenahira Ahimi Vanaman". The book is edited by Lalith Seneviratne.

"Lost trails in Yala - East" is a Dayawansa Jayakody publication.

Children's art exhibition

Art Way Institute has organized "First Step "Children's Art Exhibition to mark its first Anniversary. The children's Art extravaganza will be held at "Art Way" Gallery, Art Way Institute, Old Kasbewa Road, Nugegoda on November 25 at 4.30 p.m.