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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Father W. L. A. Don Peter : Catholic scholar and author
Dinky was written by Fr. W. L. A. Don Peter when he was Rector of St. Joseph's College, Colombo. In the preface to the book written 41 years ago, on October 17, 1964, Father Don Peter tells the reader how he came to write the story. There was, at that time, a donkey living in the college grounds and he was the darling of the Josephians. "One day Dinky was standing by my office door, deep in thought. As I kept on looking at him, I was inspired to write his story. It was written amidst my many duties, for my pleasure and relaxation. I enjoyed writing it and I hope it will bring as much pleasure to those who read it", indeed it has. Hundreds of readers have read, re-read and enjoyed it for 41 years. It is written in simple Sinhala in a very readable style. Fr. Don Peter has written two other books in Sinhala for young readers. Vanagatha Lamo is an adventure story set in a forest. Tekkawatte Kathawa written in 1998 won the Sahithya Award for the Best Children's Novel of that year. Fr. Don Peter is a very learned man. In fact, he is said to be the foremost Catholic scholar in Sri Lanka today. He has written a number of books, and research papers and hundreds of popular articles to newspapers and journals on religion and education. As a scholar, writer and educationist, he is much respected by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Most of us know him as Fr. Don Peter. His full name with titles is Right Reverend Monsignor Dr. Welgama Lekam Appuhamilage Don Peter. Monsignor is a title conferred on him by Pope Paul VI in recognition of his services to Catholic education. He was Rector of St. Joseph's College for 10 years (1961-71), the most difficult years after the takeover of schools by the Government and grant-in-aid to schools was stopped. He was Rector of Aquinas College for Higher Education for two terms, during which he introduced new courses such as Diplomas in Journalism, Agriculture and Computer Technology. The large auditorium he built in 1987 has been named Don Peter Auditorium. Fr. Don Peter was born in Kondegammulla, Katana about nine miles inland from Negombo in 1916. He passed the 89th milestone of life's journey on September 23. Like many Catholic children living in and around Negombo, he attended Maris Stella College, then entered St. Aloysius Seminary and finished his education at St. Joseph's College, and had the honour of being the first old boy Rector and the first Sinhala Rector of the college. After his secondary education, he joined St. Bernard Seminary to prepare himself for priesthood, the vocation of his choice. On March 25, 1941, he was ordained by the Archbishop of Colombo Dr. J. M. Mason, the last foreign Archbishop of Colombo. During his stay at the Seminary, he started studying Pali on his own. He continued to study oriental languages, history and culture whenever he could take time off his duties as Parish Priest and a teacher at St. Joseph's College.Pali opened the door to Buddhism. As he read the Buddhist texts, he saw similarities in the two religions, the spirituality of both, the austere (plain and simple) discipline of Catholic orders and the Vinaya rules of the Sangha, and he wrote many scholarly articles. 'St. Francis and Buddha', 'Religious Life - Buddhist and Christian' and 'Buddhist and Benedictine Monastic Education' are the outcome of his studies and research. In the early 1950s, Fr. Don Peter went to England and joined the School of Oriental and African Studies, of the London University, for his post-graduate studies. He presented a thesis embodying his research titled 'Buddhism and Christianity in Ceylon Education', for which he was awarded the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). Hence the title Dr. before his name. Another outcome of his painstaking research is 'Studies in Ceylon Church History' which he brought out in 1963. A work that stands out among his many books in Sinhala and English, is 'Kitunu Subhasita', a valuable addition to the Sinhala Catholic literature, and the first poem of its kind in Sinhala. Modelled on Alagiyawanna's Subhasita, in language, style and even matter, Fr. Don Peter presents in lucid(clearly explained) verse - 100 in all as in Alagiyawanna's poem - important incidents in the life of Jesus Christ and the salient (outstanding) aspects of His teachings. Written after his retirement from active participation in education, 'Kitunu Subhasita' was published in 1998. - Sumana Saparamadu ######### Arundhati Roy : An exceptional Indian writer
Brilliant writer and social activist Arundhati Roy, from our neighbouring country India, is one of the few Asians to have bagged this award.She won this award for her book 'The God of Small Things'. Suzanna Arundhati Roy, born on November 24, 1961, is the daughter of a Christian woman from Kerala and a Bengali Hindu tea planter. Arundhati spent the most important period of her childhood years in Aymanam. There, her mother Mary Roy (later a well-known social activist) ran an informal school named Corpus Christi where Arundhati developed her literary and intellectual abilities. Arundhati Roy left home at 16 and made a living on her own within the walls of Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla. It was six years before she saw her mother again. Eventually, Roy joined the Delhi School of Architecture, moonlighting (working part time) as an architect's artist. She married a fellow architecture student, Gerard Da Cunha. Their marriage lasted four years. At this stage, neither had a great love for architecture and so they quit. She later got a scholarship to go to Italy for eight months to study the restoration of monuments. She realised she was a writer during those months in Italy. She linked up with Krishen, now her husband, and they planned a 26-episode television epic for Doordarshan called 'The Banyan Tree'. The independent production company ITV advanced the money. Unfortunately, they had only shot enough footage for three or four episodes when ITV scrapped the serial. However, Bhaskar Ghose, then director-general of Doordarshan, met Roy who told him that she wanted to write, but that she didn't think anyone would finance her kind of screenplays. Ghose agreed to finance the deal and the result was the film 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones'. Her next piece of writing was to result in considerable controversy - being a criticism of Shekar Kapur's celebrated film 'Bandit Queen', about the well-known Indian bandit Phoolan Devi. The controversy escalated into a court case, after which Roy retired to private life to concentrate on her writing, which eventually became 'The God of Small Things'. In October 1997, Roy became the first non-expatriate (living abroad) Indian author, and the first Indian woman to win the Booker Prize. To top it all, this happened in 1997, the year India celebrated her 50th anniversary of independence from Britain. Arundhati continues to write and currently works as a social activist. This exceptional writer has visited Sri Lanka as well. |
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Have you read the book 'Dinky'? If you haven't, go, get a copy and read
it. There must surely be one in your school library. It is a delightful
story of a donkey, told by the donkey himself, of his early life in Mannar,
of his many adventures, mishaps and escapades, and how he ended up in a
school in a big town. First published in 1964, it was reprinted for the
fifth time in 2001. 
Have you heard about the prestigious Booker Prize? This award for
literature is presented annually in Britain and is considered one of the
most distinguished awards an author can obtain in her/his life. 
