Ananda Rajakaruna: He wrote poems for children

I am sure most of you know the poem 'Rosa Maley Natuwey Katu'. It is one of the first poems children learn in the montessori or pre-school. In this poem, a child warns a wasp of the thorns in the stem of the rose, and the wasp replies, "I am kissing the flower not the stem, and sucking the nectar."

Do you know who wrote this little poem? It has been sung or recited for three or four generations, but few know who wrote it! The author's name is forgotten, as it has happened with other nursery rhymes like 'Tikiri Liya' and 'Ambalamey Pina'.

This evergreen little poem was written by Ananda Rajakaruna and was first published in 1929. The simple words conjure up (produce) a picture that children can relate to. So they delight in reciting or singing it, and very soon, know it by heart.

Ananda Rajakaruna has written over 100 poems for children. Of these, 'Rosa Maley Natuwey Katu' is the best known and the children's favourite.

Two other poems of his have been included in the government readers (textbooks) for Grades 1 and 2; but the author's name is not given. Perhaps, the editors of these readers themselves didn't know that they were written by Rajakaruna. When a poem, lyric or nursery rhyme becomes very popular, it enters the stream of folk poetry and its author is soon forgotten.

Rajakaruna was born 121 years ago, on February 7, 1885, in Maadampaagama near Ambalangoda in the Galle district. His father was a physician - Vedamahattaya - and a Gam Muladeni. Today, this officer is called a Grama Niladari. He named his son Alfred.

In those far off days, there was in Randombe, Ambalangoda, an English school run by the Ceylon Missionary Society. After two years at the village school, little Alfred was sent to this CMS school to be educated in English. He was next admitted to Rajapaksa Vidyalaya in Kosgoda.

This school is now known as Ahungalle Rajapaksa Maha Vidyalaya. At that time, the headmaster of this school was a Brahmin pundit, Nalini Kumara Dutt, who taught young Alfred Sanskrit. Soon, he started learning Sinhala and Pali too in earnest.

Leaving school, he joined the staff of the Wesleyan College in Ambalangoda - his old school, and not long after, was appointed Headmaster of the Buddhist Mixed School in Katupiti Madampe, Chilaw.

Giving up a teaching career, he joined the Sinhala Bauddhaya, the newspaper started by Anagarika Dharmapala. From his teens, he had the urge to write and versify. By age 20, he had the pleasure of seeing his compositions printed in newspapers.

After sometime, he gave up journalism too to devote his time to writing, addressing literary societies and getting young poets to come together. He was the first President of the Sinhala Kavi Sammelana, the society of Sinhala poets, and continued in that office for seven years.

Early in his youth, he became an admirer and follower of Anagarika Dharmapala. Following the example of his mentor, Rajakaruna changed his name Alfred to Ananda, and Ananda Rajakaruna is the name etched in our history.

One day in the 1940s, Rajakaruna was walking across a field in the Hambantota district in the company of C. W. W. Kannangara, the then Minister of Education and some other VIPs. Seeing a little boy following them, Rajakaruna stopped to speak with him.

He asked the boy whether he went to school and told him to recite a poem (kavi). Shyly, the boy recited 'Rosa Maley'. Rajakaruna was moved to tears. He hugged the boy, put his hand into his pocket and placed a five cent coin in the boy's hand.

Do you remember the poem in the Grade 1 reader about the stars twinkling in the sky? It begins like this: 'Dilihi dilihi aakaasey babalena mal taaruka'. There is also a poem about the sky sunlit by day and moonlit by night. It ends with the question, "How can we fathom the vastness of the sky? " "Api ahasey sati sathose sitha ivara karamu kese".

Rajakaruna was the first to write poems especially for children. He wrote poems for various age groups, from infants to Grade 6 children. These were published as little booklets under titles like 'Lama Uyana' (Children's Garden) and 'Ladaru Gee'' (Infants' songs).

Rajakaruna is without a rival in the field of Sinhala poetry for children. No one else has written so many poems on such varied subjects - nature, good habits, short narrative poems, a poem even on the mosquito.

Rajakaruna also wrote poems for adults. He was a born poet, and was a master of impromptu (without preparation) verse.

Given any subject, he would compose and recite a four-line verse in a jiffy.

On the full moon ay of Duruthu - January 5, 1955, Rajakaruna gave up lay life and donned yellow robes in the holy city of Anuradhapura. The poet Ananda Rajakaruna was now Bhikkhu Ananda Dhamma. Failing health compelled him to disrobe and return to the lay life.

His condition gradually became worse and he passed away on August 27, 1957, at his home in Maadampaagama. Rajakaruna's home in Colombo was at Campbell Place, the road that connects Punchi Borella with Baseline Road at the Welikada Prison. In 1967, this road was re-named Ananda Rajakaruna Mawatha, by the Mayor of Colombo Jabir A. Cader. On October 29, 1971, the government issued a stamp in his honour.

The poster announcing his death said, "Ananda Rajakaruna will live as long as 'Rosa Maley' is sung." And so it is! His title poem has made him immortal!

Sumana Saparamadu