|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 7 November 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Books / Review Paradigm shift in human perception Reviewed by: J. P. Pathirana What price is the life of a human being today? This is the question that right perplex the minds of all thinking men. Not a single day passes without any news of macabre styled murders, mangled bodies being spotlighted in the daily press and in the electronic media. These events have become so common that even the people do not utter a word of sympathy or sadness because they have seen these horrible scenes of charred bodies, of various types for over two decades now. Prof. Nandasena Ratnapala, former Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Jayawardenapura University, in his latest publications Mei Jeevithayedeema Paladena Karmaya (The fate that will give effect in this life itself), found in Buddhist texts as Ditta dhammavedaniya kamma, (immediately effective kamma), has based his true life stories, 53 of them to be exact, on this aspect of Buddha Dhamma - akusala (evil actions). Kamma constitutes both good and evil. Good begets good. Evil begets evil. The book is written in an easily comprehensible and a straightforward style on a subject which could otherwise have been intense and heavy reading. Quite to the contrary, this is a book written in lighter vein, unfolding valuable information with quite ease. Coming back to the contents of the book, it is full of ghastly murders of mala fide nature and it's a lesson to those who have a wrong notion that whatever they do in this world takes effect in the next birth. In his study, Prof. Ratnapala has collected information of animal killers who did it for a living and many of them have ended their lives in a pathetic manner, suffering in excruciating pain, the way the animals suffered when they were slaughtered. There are few stories of dare devil acts done by obstinate children. For example: the son who murdered his father by poisoning and the mother who died after a boiling water bath. The youth insurrection during 1987-88 period has also come into play in the author's findings. The inhumanely killings of innocent youth by Armed Forces have been given a place in the book to show that the evil doer's received the same fate as their victims. While reading this thought provoking stories, I was reminded of some Jataka Katha (the tales of the former lives of the Buddha) which have close resemblance to the information presented in the book. Prof. Ratnapala in his present publications has dealt with one aspect of Kamma and has given the readers, the stories collected in its raw form. He says, he is in the process of gathering more information and once that is completed he would be able to give the readers an analytical study from a sociologist's point of view of the subject matter, which I am sure will be a comprehensive study as his other works - The Beggar in Sri Lanka and Folklore of Sri Lanka and many more of his publications on Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. In the book The Beggar in Sri Lanka, the author relates his rich experiences with the beggar community with whom he lived for some months as one of them. This has earned him a high reputation both here and abroad. The author has not failed to incorporate the relevant Sutras of the subject concerned so that the readers would understand clearly the difference between Kusala and akusala interspersed with quite interesting stories from Dhamma texts. It would also give the reader an opportunity to ponder on the events recorded. Indra Thenuwara's cover design emblazoned with a one eyed monster and a butcher carrying a blood pouring head of a cow on a red background aptly demonstrate the concept of the author in writing this book. We often hear of a paradigm shift in science, the time has come to speak about a paradigm shift in human perception as well. In this context, I think, its opportune to revise and enrich our perception of things by opening upto other epistemological ways. This book gives an indication in that respect. Traditional methods of fishing Reviewed by Piyadasa Pitigala As Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean the fishing industry would have been there from ancient times. Apart from agriculture, fishing has been a major occupation of the human race from time immemorial. When such an industry lasts for generations in a country, it develops indigenous and traditional modes and methods. However with scientific and technological advancement such age old methods fade away. Looking at it from that aspect, analysing traditional methods of fishing has an anthropological relevance. Nevertheless as traditional modes of fishing are still in vogue in Sri Lanka, it has an educational value in our country. A study of the traditional methods of fishing is helpful to those who offer social science for GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations. In these context the latest work of Bernard Srikantha, who also has presented several novels and books on drama, dealing with traditional methods of fishing titled Paramparika Dheevara Krama is significant. The author is born and bred in Duwa - Negombo. Living among the fishing community, he has presented this work from first-hand knowledge and experience. Apart from the fishing industry the book is appropriately dedicated to former High Court Judge - W. T. A. Leslie Fernando, a son of the soil and the well-known writer both in English and Sinhala. In this book the author discusses the traditional methods of fishing from A to Z. He described various fishing vessels, different nets, fishing implements and also distinct traditions and customs among the fisher folk. The farmers working in fields have their own words associated with the occupation. Likewise in this book you find the fisher folk use a language in the industry quite different from that in normal life. For instance the song the fishermen sing to ease strain while pushing a paruwa to the sea or pulling a madal to the shore is called 'Hamba'. This song 'Hamba' is included in the book. Many pictures and sketches are used in this work to demonstrate different aspects of fishing. If in a future edition colour pictures could be used especially to present different varieties of fish, it would enhance the value of the book. This book could be considered to be used as a supplementary reader in school. With no holds barred by Carl Muller Doer of magic Priyanthi Wickramasuriya says it all in her Preface - a bit of a maverick who writes for the sheer heck of it, gets stuck in with the doings and undoings of others, puts it all down airily, then prettily thanks them for whatever indignation they may feel, apologising for her 'unauthorised plunder', so why worry? She also thinks she may be a 'wee bit politically incorrect', but that's not a thing to worry about either. Correct politicians are like haystacks in a needle. After all, with some diligent toil, find a needle in a haystack, but never a haystack in a needle, can you? What, then, do we have? Something quite refreshing, open-minded, no holds barred and no quarter given. She's as good with long bow as with quarterstaff, try to hold this picture in your mind and you are in for a treat. Twenty four stories... and they come with barbs and talcum powder - a potpourri, an all-sorts collection, but each with a flash of underlying thought a caveman makes his first charcoal-art essay on the wall, drawing with a dream in his head: Life! To sustain life...magic that will trounce the rain, allow him to go out with spear and stone axe and kill the beasts he has drawn, that his wife and he will not go hungry. There is quality in the simple tale...rain vanquisher; doer of magic; suddenly the ancient man begins to know what status and stature means. Vesak seems so paltry in the crumbling old village home. Yet in it are the memories of childhood that cascade so joyously. What Vesak days those were; but the wheel of time is remorseless. Love and money almost collide; and there's the gedanken versus kuppameniya and cats in radio-active comas and ecstatic catnip hazes, while kittens ride in the basket of a compassionate monk. The returns to the past are always piped with sad notes - the change that is always felt so poignantly. The old days were so filled with tranquillity - days to dream in, to swim in youth's river; the days of ingurutea andkiri kos, and, above all the river. Now, greed has killed it - mined for its sand, its banks eroded, receding into the dark cavern of the past. As I said, Priyanthi cannot resist life's comedy. 'Flying Saucers' is hilarious. Do aliens in UFOs actually waylay a man, steal his money? Tanthrihewalage Kapila Gunasekera has his pocket picked by Martian caterpillars! The full name of the poor sob is only used when his wife rages, and that's when the saucers really fly. Priyanthi writes with a twist. You feel you are sliding down a smooth path and suddenly, you are corkscrewing around like that poor Publis trying to avoid the wild hares. At this point, I think I must tell you that I am not making much sense of this review either; but, really, this is the only way to write it. There are no great sweeps of majestic literature, no empurpled expressions. Everything is down-to-earth, even the Martians, and treated with a measure of-what shall I call it? Writer's scattiness? I suppose so, but most enjoyable. People, aunts, uncles, do the darndest things. The Virgin Mary tells boozer Gunasekera to lay off the bottle. He does-and what happens? He sees aliens. Never did when he was high as a kite. Aunty Greta is so sanctimonious. But when one hare is killed, she becomes the great provider. 'Kill another' she says, her pious face put on hold, 'One won't do for all of us'. The reader is also rewarded. Another doer of magic comes along and there is a streak of fantasy and an act of emotional conversion. 'The Old-fashioned Bookshop' is a blueprint for sanity, actually, and this story alone makes the book a must. I have run through some of the stories so far and for once, haven't got into that meditative blur, reading into the words like some befuddled diagnostician. If Ifthak steals Vicky's chicken, it is only to take her out to dinner. Anyway, Vicky must be a rotten cook! Anyway It's the story that interests. That old corkscrew grace comes out in romance and blood-sampling. Flirrting with a syringe? And interviewing a once famous actor after the world has dumped him in a rubbish tip of his own making. Where was the fortune he made. I drank All great artists do. So I drank it up. Summertime frolicks, winters of wretchedness. Little slices of life surface to lie sobbing in a decrepit armchair, and Erandathie makes a robot that wishes to study robotics! Why, even her dreams are such things sent to unnerve her. There is deep sentiment in 'Girl with a Flower', more computer caterwauling in 'Whistle Blower' (after all, Priyanthi is a computer programmer), a special panacea in (The Blessed Bo-Tree) and a rascally cat (she does like cats, I am sure). 'Dragon Days of Long Ago' is sad, while Gamini is a charmer-a Sudu Hora flitting back and forth. Do the garden frogs know of Prabhakaran? that's another dire tale-while the violinist on the Leicester pavement plays his heart out, watched by his dog with adoring eyes. This is a well-crafted story, most heart-tugging. All in all, I did enjoy Priyanthi's many - flowered bouquets. She is doing it all her way and does not look for a highbrow audience. Yet, she does need to polish up a little. She travels the simple, whimsical, heartfelt way - and many doors will open to the sound of her footsteps. The story of a 100 years Ladies' College Towards the end of the 19th century the residents of Colombo were agitating for the Colonial Government to establish a school for girls similar to Royal College. Instead of doing so, the Government invited the Christian Missionary Society (CMS) to establish an English School for girls. In response to this invitation the CMC sent 26-year-old Miss Lillian Nixon and an older missionary Miss Elizabeth Whitney to start a school in this far-flung colony in the Indian Ocean. Miss Lillian Nixon came with an Honours degree in Modern Literature from Trinity College, Dublin, and a certificate in Education from the Teacher Training Institute, Cambridge. This is the story of the school she started with two girls on February 10, 1900 and named Ladies' College very likely after the school she had studied at in England-Cheltenham Ladies' College. The story beginning in a small bungalow in Union Place, Slave Island takes the reader through the century, ending with the centenary celebrations in 2000, with Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala an old girl, at the helm. Rather than give a chronological account of the schools' passage through 100 years from its small beginnings and teething problems in Fairfield House, Union Place, with dates of landmark events, and names of high achievers, the aim of the Editor, Dr. Ranjini Obeysekera (nee Ellepola) the school's Senior Prefect in 1950, and at the time of the compilation of this centenary volume, in the Department of Anthropoly, Princeton University New Jersey USA, has been to record 'how a CMS school established within a colonial ethos adapted itself to the social, cultural and economic changes ushered in with Independence in 1948, coped with the subsequent shifts in educational policy by successive governments and still maintained its stance. Ladies College has 'self consciously remained a 'small school', the limitation in size tending to create a reputation for eliticism.' In the centenary year the number on roll was around 1,500, whereas schools around had thrice that number or more. The problems that confronted each Principal and her reactions and resolutions are set out in the context of the society around her. Despite Miss Nixon's strong opposition Ladies' College became a Grand-in school in 1914 and remained so far 37 years until 1951, when faced with the option of joining the Government or becoming a completely self-supporting private school, the decision of 1914 was reversed. This decision by the Board of Governors, gave the Principal the freedom and the flexibility to introduce innovations into the curriculum and to restrict the number on roll, keeping classes to manageable size to maintain the quality of education. The Department of Vocational Studies, now a part of Ladies' College grew from one such innovation by Principal Simon - the non-exam class she started to help non-academically oriented students to bring out their latent talents and carve out careers for themselves. Miss Mabel Simon's stewardship (1946-63) was a time of national revival after Independence and she had to allow the slow 'indigenisation' of the school's activities. At first Miss Simon did not approve of drumming in the hall but 'soon on prize days the chief guest was ushered in by the Oriental Band, dressed in traditional costumes of red and white, stepping to the beat of drums. The school adapted itself more and more to the country's cultural milieu, during the stewardship of her successor Mrs. Sirancee Gunawardana, the first Sri Lankan principal. Mrs. Gunawardana had other 'firsts'. She was the first old girl to be at the helm of Ladies' College and the first to combine, the roles of principal, wife and mother. She encouraged the cultivation of oriental music, dance and drama, and kalai viza and Kala Ulela became regular events. Mrs. Gunawardena's tenure of office (1968-1998) was beset with troubles from the word 'Go'. Youth insurrections, communal riots, ethnic conflicts, a fuel crisis, forcing the school to become a one-session school, and to culminate it all - a bomb blast, on June 21 1991, at the JOC HQ adjacent to the school, which damaged 11 buildings including the school's chapel. The principal's reaction? "We tried not to dwell on the damage but to ponder on the wonderment that we were alive." (Principal's Report 1991), and a student saying "She stood resolute and firm in the face of disaster." Image of the century, tells the school's history in photographs. There are Personal Profiles of the four principals 1950-2000, Simon Hitchcock, Gunawardena, Miththapala, tributes to alumni who have enriched the school, to members of the tutorial, administrative and minor staff who have given long and special service. appendices, 10 in all, give 'Plans for the future, letters (in facsimile) from Miss Nixon and Miss Opie, Anniversary celebration, school activities like plays and displays, names of student leaders from 1950 award winners, Managers of LC, Presidents of the OGA, and Vice Presidents of the PTA. Nothing of importance has been left out All in all it is a very comprehensive record of the school passage through the century and a very readable account, very pleasing to the eye in its lay-out. - S.S. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
