Sybil on a different creative path
by Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa
After all, it is the personality of the author that gives his work
its special interest. It does not matter if it is a slightly absurd one,
as with Henry James, a somewhat vulgar one, as with Maupassant, a brash,
tawdry one, as with Kipling - so long as the author can present it,
distinct and idiosyncratic, his work has life. - W. Somerset Maugham
(1874 - 1965)
In the landscape of Sri Lankan literary creativity, Sybil Wettasinghe
has been typecast for sometime, as a teller of tales for tiny ones. Her
tantalisingly spun yarns for the young, tabulated in child minds, right
round the world, across barriers of race, religion and colour.
Sybil's story - structures, thrown into sharpened focus by her highly
eccentric illustrations, generated massive juvenile joy. These
children's stories exuded a magic with which the little ones of the
world could readily empathise. Her Umbrella Thief of 1956, has proved a
world classic in the category of children's literature.
Anthology
But, in her current anthology, Sybil presents herself in a totally
different guise, wearing a hat that is in stark contrast to what she
used to do, when crafting tales for her teeny-weeny enthusiasts. Her
latest presentation entitled My Giddi Aunt, is a compelling collection
of short-stories, that defies ready and smart definitions.
These tales are, for the most part, stories of "mystery and
imagination", emerging out of a keenly personal, idiosyncratic and
whimsical vision of the world and the variegated characters that inhabit
it. Without even the least effort at hyperbole I am tempted to classify
the stories, as the products of a new genre of short-story telling,
surfacing from a highly individualistic inner depth. They are the unique
outcome of a long-cultivated sensitiveness towards experiences.
As Sybil explains in her preface to the present work, short-stories
of the ilk collected within the covers of this book, could very well
have been her main-stream of creative writing-had it not been for her
least expected, but impressive success in another genre.
Domestic accolades
Way back in 1954, she produced her first short story - The Red
Hibiscus deriving the thematic material "out of a true life
observation." Sybil recalls that she won ample domestic accolades for
this debut, from her doting spouse. This initial short-story effort
finds a place in the present collection.
In these short stories, her universally valid formula seems to be to
capture people and situations that eccentrically deviate from what the
generality experiences as the "objective reality".
You could explore this notion with the story that gives this work its
title - My Giddi Aunt.
Displaying her accustomed deftness, Sybil narrates the story,
infusing to it - surreptitiously as it were - a beguiling touch of
fantasy.
Even before the central character makes her startlingly bizarre
appearance, the stage is set for any untoward development by the amazing
prelude to the main narrative menu. The man of the house is M.T. House.
His stray female companion from the pub is - tops to the English.
Literary experience
In the character of Giddi Nona, Sybil has eccentrically given, a
rivetingly odd, Gothic portrayal that nudges our perceptions into a
highly quaint region of literary experiencing.
Sybil's chronicling of the advent of Connie the baby-sitter, into the
visiting room of a sober middle-class household, is a stunning rubric of
whimsical narration. I just cannot help but quote this piece at some
length.
"That is Connie our baby sitter. She may be an outsized fatso, I told
myself. We were in deep conversation, when the wooden stairs began to
creek.
The heavyweight champion was descending! Heavily, silently, slowly
she came down the stairs, and soon she was before us.
I was struck by the tight-fitting red jeans, and the jet black
figure-hugging woollen jersey, the mop of golden curly hair pushed back
from the forehead with a multicoloured bandana. Cheeks were rose tinted,
lips blood red. Through the mask of heavy make-up Hathelovevai! I saw
the familiar face of Giddi Aunt".
Sybil has a whole gallery of eccentric characters lined up for her
readers.
Some of these way-out persons have strayed far out of the norm of
sane life.
Psyche
In the story titled The Red Hibiscus, Sybil explores the deeply
troubled psyche of a lonely woman, whose deviations are probably
determined by her obsession with a Hibiscus of vibrant red.
In all the stories, in this anthology, Sybil quite exquisitely
exhibits a dexterity for the portrayal of the human region associated
with the abnormal.
Her utilisation of the English prose, in these short stories,
possesses a pragmatic grasp of the language. Occasionally she enriches
the rhythm of her prose with a surprising Sinhala expression that
emphasises the queer and the odd in her subject matter.
The witty, tense and perspicuous foreword to this work by Prof.
Ashley Halpe provides a keen insight into the quintessence of Sybil's
remarkably idiosyncratic imagination that nourishes this series of
creations.
If Sybil pursues this creative path, she will undoubtedly earn a
prestigious place, an adored name in this genre of queer surrealist
story-telling.
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