Differing in textures yet born of a common root

By Dilshan Boange

Perhaps, Udayasiri Wickramaratne’s name is known in the Sri Lankan world of art and literature better as a playwright and drama director on account of his Sinhala stage play Suddek oba amathai which has enjoyed notable success among theatregoers. His style of theatre developed for that play can be seen in a way as a digression from the orthodoxies of theatre and could form one of the very bases for the play to get the attention it has received.

Creative expressionism

His work as a creative writer however I feel has found less attention compared to his creation for the stage. It can be said that Udayasiri has also explored finding ‘form’ for his creative expressionism within the genre of poetry as well as the larger scope of ‘prose writing’.

He has to date published four books. The first being a collection of poetry titled Deviyan sirakaraweema (Imprisoning god), and the other three being Kiri amma (Grandmother), Gamen upan katha (Stories born from the village) and Swarnamali maha raja (‘The great king Swarnamali’, which is a literal translation the name being an alias for King Dutugemunu).

In this article I wish to focus on Udayasiri’s prose writing and how the three afore mentioned works show a difference to each other not only in theme but also in tone and scheme of narrative, and thereby giving each a distinguishable texture. The objective would be not so much as to present a review of each of the works but to build a comparative amongst them as writings by the same author.

Kiri Amma

The first of these I wish to discuss is Kiri Amma which is a work of nonfiction and presents itself as an impressionistic biographical essay which carries the subtitle of being ‘an eighteen year old grandson’s essay’. The essay is of solid prose and does not have verse interspersions like in Gamen upan katha.

The tone shows that it is from a point of strict observational documentation as well as recollection of the subject, (the protagonist if one may say) the grandmother. Although the theme is one that would sometimes be assumed as one bound to nostalgia it must be noted that there is no discernible ‘reflection’ on the part of the author.

The main reason being that it is indicated that the grandmother is amongst them at the time of his writing it. Therefore it is a record not of the past but of a present that was documented of a living person and not a memory.

At times the authorial narrator is a spokesman for the entire family and admits that the ‘thought realm’ of his grandmother is sometimes a distance that he is incapable of crossing. One of these streams of thinking and the perception bound to such thinking is to do with religion and piety.

What is appreciable about the narrator, the young grandson, is that he admits that the acquaintance he has with Buddhism and the Dhamma is through books that offers him a theoretical perspective on the subject but does not take on the voice of a pontificator who belittles the old lady’s faith in her religious practices and beliefs.

One would presume that a young man at a crossroads as the age of eighteen years would dismiss what he cannot accept to be in line with his own ideology as nonsensical especially since the narrator does say that he and his family had tried to debunk the mythological beliefs she bears related to her practice of Buddhism as not being scientifically supported. He indicates that the grandmother’s faith is also something fascinating and not fully graspable being clearly outside his own ‘realm of science’ and its virtues of quantification and provability based approaches to identify what is classifiable as ‘true’ or ‘the truth’. And thus he also admits to the merits of his grandmother’s convictions which are not fickle and prone to be swayed simply because a ‘sophisticated argument’ is put across to challenge her beliefs.

Impressions

The impressions captured on this matter of religion and religious practices of an old lady set in the rural ways of Sri Lankan people show that the author himself saw a side to the human spirit that rejects ‘scientific reasoning’ over the steadfastness of believing in the proven salubriousness of tradition. It was no doubt a learning experience to the young observer to know that science alone cannot claim to be the rationale for a human’s approach to adopt belief systems.

The themes and topics that the author touches on in his essay includes the diction and style of language he saw in his grandmother and compares it with his own mother’s. One particular incident mentioned is when the author relates how he questions the reason behind a particular line of a devotional folk verse she had recited when climbing Adam’s Peak.

Conceptions

The line being –“Ape budun api wandinne” (We worship our Buddha). He asks her how the Buddha qualifies as being ‘ours?’ what warrants such a use of terms of ownership and the ‘reason’ behind it? The author says that the very possibility of such a question coming into existence eludes his grandmother’s conceptions. She does not deem such a question being of any logicalness since it is only a given and an indisputable obviousness.

The author states that to understand the ‘reason’ behind such a construction of words would only be possible to one who would recite it in the same pulse of devotion and reverence as his grandmother since it is a thing bound to her heart and her very ‘being’. The revelation about human nature and language makes him comment thus (translated from the Sinhala) –‘The nature of a person’s heart is revealed through words. It is also evidence about his culture’.

Describing the phenomenal sturdiness her old body possess and not being able to idle but constantly attending to household work the author tells the reader how his octogenarian grandmother fears not death but being bedridden through illness and succumbing to the fate of an invalid. It is in one sense an admission of the grandson’s awe at this old lady whom he cannot fully understand although he is heir to a far greater learnedness through schooling and books.

It is a declaration of his affection to a foremother who embodies a generation that is fading gently into a twilight, which he observes with equanimity related in a tone and manner that almost says as a subtext that he may know that as time passes and he traverses through his own adulthood the understanding he developed of her and what she represented will grow into newer meanings upon reflecting and meditating on his memory of her.

Tales from a bygone era

Recounting tales from an era that is fast vanishing the short story collection Gamen upan katha gives the reader several paces one could say in the narrative tone since the stories carries themes that are different yet find commonality in the larger picture of being snapshots of the village and its life the author had known. Udayasiri has crafted prose that also incorporates a facet of the village ethos through the use of verse.

Poetry of the people

A symbolic significance in being presented traditional folk poetry in a work as Gamen upan katha is that apart from the identity of the village is impressed upon the reader through a device which is very close to the traditional ways of life. The place traditional verse or ‘kavi’ occupied in the rural set up of days gone by wasn’t strictly as literary creations in the nature of written books but living tenants in the life of the people, gaining much of its continuance through oral tradition.

Organic characters

The very first story in the book is Cyril Modaya (Cyril the fool) which presents a protagonist who in every respect is the character designated to fulfil the role of the ‘village idiot’ in a Sri Lankan context. It is interesting to note how the western concept of the ‘village idiot’ is brought out through this episode although the intent is clearly not to showcase a village lad living up to a western role. The collection of characters that compose the life of the village can be seen as manifesting certain aspects of the social milieu and thereby personifying the village as a place where those persons are recognised for their individuality. An individuality that gives vibrancy to the village as a place of liveliness and diversity of characters.

The people one finds sketched through the words of the author in this book are organic and not ‘dressed up’ to meet a standard they themselves would not treat as inherent to their being. The condensed images projected of the characters and the situations that define them thus have become one of the main methods by which the village can be perceived and envisioned.

The narrative style in respect of how characters are positioned and presented in Gamen upan katha differs greatly from Kiri amma and Swarnamali maharaja in terms of the modus operandi the author has adopted in respect of offering the reader characters as windows to the milieu they occupy. Of course it is borne in mind that the whole character scope is also markedly different between these books due to genre.

Kiri amma and Swarnamali maharaja focus on a single character as the protagonist and thereby that becomes the channel through which the context that surrounds the character could be read. It is an account of the times in relation to the protagonist that one encounters. But being a collection of stories and sketches that narrate village life in relation to different people and aspects of the village Gamen upan katha offers a multi character approach to gauge the milieu that creates the larger picture.

Therefore, a comparison of the prose works of Udayasiri in this sense have been crafted with similarities and differentiations based on the genre. Kiri amma offers through her life glimpses of the world that can be seen through the characters portrayed in Gamen upan katha, the thematic bond of the social context, the milieu would be the reason. But on the matter of certain rudiments of narrative structure based on the ‘functional element’ of the protagonist Kiri amma and Swarnamali maharaja would find a technical similarity in having a single protagonist in relation to whom the descriptions, the context is brought to life to the reader.

Dissimilarities

On the matter of dissimilarities between Gamen upan katha and the other two prose works one very notable element in the book is that the author uses prose narratives about certain locations and geographic attributes of the village, its topography as well as certain rural phenomena characteristic of rural life in the form of sketches devoid of any specific characters. The paddy fields, the river, the forestage and bullock cart driving are some of these aspects without which our conception of the traditional village may not be fully ‘pictured’. Udayasiri has thus created a work which has a texture made of varied threading that possibly shows a wider range of devices at work than what is employed in the other two books.

Swarnamali Maharaja

Swarnamali Maharaja is a short novel which the author in his brief preface to the novel call it a ‘gadya kavya’ which I believe would translate as per English literary genre classifications, as the prosaic poem or even ‘prose poem’ as the modern label would have it in certain European quarters. As to whether the author intended the text of Swarnamali Maharaja to run as a prose poem deviating from the more conventionally stylised Sinhala novel I can only conjecture. But since my perception of it on the basis of its narrative form strongly suggests that it could be seen in the light of a Sinhala novel though perhaps it may have features that may not conform to the more traditional Sinhala novel, I will refer to it as a novel.

Swarnamali Maharaja is strangely an epic in theme while it is also of substance that veers into exploring the mundane that surrounds the human being posited in rural Lanka centuries ago. The work itself in certain respects to me from my personal ‘reader expectations’ was a slight disappointment on the matter of its briefness, not offering a lengthy read which would have been pleasurable given the fact that what the author has devised is something of a novelty, the greater part of the work dwelling into the human side of King Dutugemunu not as the glorified monarch but the headstrong boy who runs away from his paternal shelter fends for himself and thereby embarking on a discovery of himself in the context of a runaway, a destitute who assumes an identity that hints of a duality –the identity hidden within and the one garbed outwardly.

The ‘boy’ the legend

To me the first impressions of the book were that Udayasiri sought to explore through the means of writing a work of historical fiction, the ‘boy’ inside the exalted historical figure. The boy whose anxieties, fears and trepidations grip him in a way affirming his ‘humanness’ which anyone could relate to as being normal. The extraordinariness in the teenage prince’s character at that point is perhaps indicated more in his audacity to defy his father and face the consequences of having to resign from royal opulence and privilege to a life of austerity.

The protagonist voice

In respect of ‘narrative voice’ the common factor observable in all three works is that there are no first person protagonist narratives. In this regard it must be said that while the narrative voice in the novel is of the third person the intensity with which at certain points the author drives the thrust of the young prince’s introspective inquisition of himself and his actions, the torment that brews within almost feels as if though Udayasiri awakens the very voice of the protagonist to address the reader.

However this feature of the text is built on the lines of giving a forceful medley of questions in unrelenting succession when the protagonist is caught in a moment or situation that ushers in the situational appropriateness to evoke an inward exploration of the prince.

The work of prose is very starkly minimal in dialogue which is characteristic of the other two works as well. The novel has very sparse dialogue presented to the reader. One of the significant instances is in chapter eight when the young prince is found in the hills of Kotmale by the warrior Nandimithra, who is one of the faithful warriors of King Kavantissa, from whom the prince inquires if his parents are well. This marks the turning point in the story which sees the prince ending his self imposed exile and returning to claim his kingship over the Ruhunu kingdom.

Another significant instance of a verbal element being woven in the prose narrative is in the final chapter where before the protagonist duels his nemesis King Elara the protagonist makes a pronouncement. There is no real ‘dialogic form’ to this little piece since it is simply the words uttered by the protagonist to his rival to signal an official ‘throwing of the gauntlet’ and also creating a significant pre-climax, breaking out of the prosaic flow of the authorial description for a moment and ‘giving voice’ to the protagonist in his moment preceding his final triumph.

The climax scene

One of the most interesting parts of the story to me is where the author describes the build up to the final phase of the battle, where the two kings advance towards each other, in their regal bearing, riding their royal elephant mounts preparing for the moment of duelling face to face. In this part a very significant and attractive ingredient of the narrative that describes the situation is found in how Udayasiri has given much focus to the importance of the mounts, the two royal elephants –Kandula of King Dutugemunu and Parvatha of King Elara.

The narrative includes these two noble beasts something in the like of two sub-characters of that scene, like extensions of their masters the two figures who form a potent basis of the scene. There lies an extra sensory bond almost according to what the narrative tells the reader between the elephants and their riders, the mounts being influenced in their gait to the psychological state of the rider and thereby being a larger reflection almost, of the inner force that resides within each king.

The moment of King Elara’s fall, as he is hit by King Dutugemunu’s spear, is narrated to say that the mount knowing the rider sitting atop is hit, kneels down to ease his master’s inevitable collapse to the ground. At this point the royal elephant of King Dutugemunu observes his peace and shows no more hostility towards the enemy. This element in that all important climax, speaks very markedly of the high degree of intelligence and nobleness accorded to the elephant in our culture.

The story as a whole, dealing with the inner torment of the young prince builds a very significant theme of inquiry on the ‘filial impiety’ of the protagonist, as an impetuous heir who lacked the patience of his father to realise the vision of a Lanka united under a single monarch’s rule. The author however has also through his story created a reconciliation that brings about an inner peace for the protagonist not in the form of redemption where forgiveness is attained through a paternal pronouncement but through the fulfilment of a filial duty through realising the paternal vision for the nation.

The reconciliation realised in the story is one that shows its ‘dialogue’ the ‘harmonisation’ of the estranged father and son is something that transcends the physical world. Thus one may even suggest that what the author presents is an account of a filial piety redeemed and restored to its rightful place. The theme of friction between a father and a son and how the latter regrets his rashness and is made to suffer internally contemplating on the emotional injury caused to the father is a very potent basis for the story that Udayasiri has chosen to deliver to the reader.

Father and son bond

The moments highlighting the emotional bonds between the prince and his father are touched on in various avenues of thought. The memories of childhood and the propinquities they share, the paternal warmth felt as a great sanctuary by the child prince are glimpses into the consciousness of the protagonist. These are all, however torrents of images captured through the prince’s thoughts presented by the authorial voice that at the same time acts as the inquisitor. This manner of being the inquisitorial voice has a twofold approach as I can see it. In one sense it is the authorial voice posing questions to the reader about the situation and the scenario in which the protagonist is presented and evokes a line of questioning about the central character.

The other facet of it is that Udayasiri’s approach to exploring the consciousness of the protagonist through questions works as what the protagonist may pose to himself entering into a battle with his own conscience. One of the most ‘hard hitting’ lines of argument the author builds through this method is critiquing the bona fides of the young prince in his act of defiance.

Udayasiri has thereby ventured to suggest that the young prince urged his father to war with King Elara not simply to realise the aspirations of his people to see a country united under one rule but to conveniently avoid the burdens and risks of having to eventually war with the mighty King of Anuradhapura himself after he succeeds his father to the throne of Ruhuna.

Possible fears over King Elara

The story, therefore, even puts to question whether it was not in fact the young prince’s inner fear of having to go to war with King Elara that made him want his ageing father to finish the job.

And thereafter consequently inherit the fruits of his father’s labours, a united Lanka to rule over as its supreme ruler. These avenues of question and inquiry in my opinion seem to set the pace for an exploration of the ‘human’ within the ‘legend’.

War craft and statecraft

The folklore about the young prince has been a main base for the author to build his creative narrative. And of these tales which are passed down from one generation to the next the one about the lesson given the young prince by an old woman on ‘tackling’ a steaming hot plate of milk rice, which is a symbolic advocacy on war craft, takes centre stage in the novel. This fable has found special significance in Udayasiri’s creative work and has been built on to relate to and connect with the character traits of the protagonist.

Another noteworthy perspective presented to the reader through the story is how statecraft is discussed in relation to the outlooks of King Kavantissa and how it contrasted with the impatient young prince. The efforts undertaken by King Kavantissa to beautify Magampura the capital of the Ruhuna kingdom is seen critically in the eyes of the prince who thinks it a vain enterprise on which time is being wasted when the war effort should be thrust against King Elara.

The author contends that the process of beautification was needed to build the morale of the people to feel that they are inhabitants of a great city, and that the old king was therefore laying the foundation for a strong kingdom that could eventually have the strength to march on the king in Anuradhapura.

Paternal warmth

One of the most touching moments presented on the theme of the father son bond which transcends the physical world is when the narrative voice tells the reader from the line preceding the utterance by the young challenger to King Elara.

And that being that King Dutugemunu felt his father’s presence besides him at that moment. A truly touching description of emotions on the same theme of bonds is also narrated at the very end which conjures up the image of ‘paternal warmth’.

On an overview of the prose works of Udayasiri Wickremaratne, the writer who perhaps now holds a name more prominent as a dramatist, I feel that his vision as a writer although has been demonstrated through his work thus far has not however yet gained its momentous drive to realise a robustly developed vision as a creative writer.

He is no doubt capable of offering much more in terms of fiction writing to the streams of Sinhala fiction that keeps growing daily.

The contemporary urban modernity is not what seems to grab his pulses to gain foreground as the substance to his stories. The themes he explores and bases he adopts for his writing clearly show that his heart relates best to the vanishing rural ethos and also stories that relate to fables passed down from generation and matters that are rooted in a historical setting.

Perhaps his body of creative writing will grow with time. And perhaps he will discover a theme that is so compelling that he will be driven to compose a novel that can claim to be his magnum opus.