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| Sunday, 26 September 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Dasaman Wijesinghe : Not 'shy' anymore by Lakmal Welabada
Dasaman Wijesinghe a radio announcer, compere, news reader and TV presenter... Friendly outspoken, and with no trace of the childhood reserve, she wonders about those early days with some sense of amazement, and talks about her career with unabashed relish. A student at Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda until the O/Ls, Dasaman did her A/Ls (local) at Alethea, Wellawatte. She believes the real 'Dasaman' started coming out of the shell at Alethea along with school activities she was forced to participate in and considers this move as the harbinger of change. "We were dragged to play netball, basketball and were forced in participate all the other extra school activities. I started getting involved in extra curricular activities only after going there," she says, adding that the activities gave her a sense of self confidence. Dasaman considers her mother, who initially taught at Anula Vidyalaya and later moved to Alethea as teacher in-charge English, London A/Ls, as having a major influence in her life and her decision to pursue a career in the media. She traces the beginnings to a public speaking competition arranged by the Ananda College Broadcasting Club (ACBC) to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1995. A boy following the London A/L course had been the school nominee, but his last minute decision to withdraw, had compelled Dasaman's mother, who was the teacher in-charge, to rope in her daughter. "At first I thought she was crazy. I still don't know how she had such confidence in me," recalls Dasaman, adding that her mother had trained her for couple of hours prior to the event and sent her off to do her best. She remembers being a nervous wreck and being thankful to the podium for helping to hide her trembling legs. "I didn't win the contest. But it turned a new leaf in my life. Since then, 'announcing' has been my first love," she says. Dasaman was getting ready for the A/L exam when she heard a Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) announcement inviting young people to join as 'relief announcers' for the English service. Around 330 hopefuls were at the SLBC for the interview. However, Dasaman managed to get a place among the last ten, and a month before the A/L exams participated in a one week training programme at the SLBC. Initially they were not allowed to do much, just watch the senior announcers at work and announce a few words. Later they were put on to work for the 'All Asia Service', which caters to a mixed group of listeners from India and South Asia. The first radio programme she handled was the 'Morning Show' on the 'All Asia Service' broadcast from 6.00 to 10.00 am. Working in the Commercial Service in the SLBC was considered one step up the ladder of an announcer's life. And it was true for Dasaman too, for before long, she was asked to chair the Housewives' request programme, which was broadcast live. The next programme Dasaman was put in-charge was 'Drive Time' from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm, which catered to people who were driving after work. She considers 1999 as a memorable turning point in her life when Mr.Eric Fernando who became the Director General of the SLBC asked her to take over news reading. "It was really a 'big job' and a challenge for a young announcer like me. Actually, I begged him to release me from it. But he was very firm, and I had to do it. I was trembling and nervous as usual during the first few months, but got used to it later," she remembers. Dasaman always preferred radio as she was nervous to be in front of even a normal camera. But, step by step, her talent in announcing raised her career until she reached the position of a TV presentator. Dasaman made her first TV appearance in 1998, presenting a 'Chat Show' with Kumar de Silva on ITN. In 1999 another memorable event occurred, when again under the guidance of Eric Fernando, Dasaman become a News Reader on Rupavahini. Nowadays you can see her on the 9 o'clock news on Channel Eye on Mondays and Wednesdays. At present, Dasaman presents 'Radio Journal', a half hour magazine programme on the English Commercial Service at 7.00 pm on Thursdays, and 'CF Connection', a one hour programme of music and quiz at 10.00 pm on Saturdays. Among her other milestones, Dasaman counts the Air trip to Maldives to interview the Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayum as a memorable moment. The five day stay was the first foreign trip for her. Dasaman who holds a first class honours degree from the University of Kelaniya says she continued with higher studies while holding on to a successful career. "I want to do my M.Phil," she says. In February this year, Dasaman marked another milestone in her life when she married Zee Won Jung, a Korean national. "He holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from UK, but works as a consultant to the Korean companies in Sri Lanka. He is a very localised, broadmined person who loves Sri Lanka a lot. He has been in and out of this country since 1988. So he is very much a Sri Lankan. He even eats more chillies than I do," she says. "Dasaman says she loves to travel and admits she had dreams of becoming an Air Hostess. "My brothers didn't allow me to pursue that career option, though I managed to be a stewardess for Lion Air for about six months, just before going to university. I travelled from Colombo to Jaffna about 100 times," she says. Apart from travelling, the versatile announcer loves mountain climbing and hiking. "I like to do things that involves nature. I have been to the 'World's End' nine times. I keep returning because I keep meeting people who haven't been there. And they somehow get me to go along with them. The best part of it is that my husband also likes to take part in those crazy tours," she laughs. Very much a rice and curry lover Dasaman loves animals and says she has four cats at home. She would love to have a dog as well, but says it would have to wait until they put a wall around the compound. She also loves sewing and does a little bit of embroidery. "I rarely get a chance to cook now as I do freelance compering as well," she says. She also loves music. "I wake up with music. Live the whole day with music, and go to bed with music. And music was the main inspiration that made me an announcer. Also though I am not a fanatic I am into religion a lot. One thing I like in my husband is that he is also religious minded. At the end of the day I thank God for the fulfilling day," she says. For all her career advancement and popularity, Dasaman is still her Mama's daughter. "I am very much close to my mum. She is the icon of my life. I am planning to take her to India next month as she has not been out of the country yet," she says. |
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As a child she was shy, and though exactly not introvert, didn't do
much to get herself noticed either. But adulthood saw her stepping out to
a wider world and occupying a position as a public persona.
