Childhood in pictures

Jayani Pinnawala

Jayani Pinnawala in her maiden book 'Apeksha' visualises the life of a young girl from her childhood. During the short phase of her life, from childhood to entering the university, she had been a person who had faced many obstacles namely disturbances in family bond due to the differences of her father and mother that lead to disharmony in her family, indifferent attitudes of relatives, tragic deaths of her loved relatives. She braves through all these setbacks to come out well in life as a young girl with courage and self determination. She excels in her studies and wins the love of her teachers in school. She shows her capabilities in many fields in addition to studies and develops herself as a girl with a lot of potential.

The book gives a detailed account of her childhood and her experiences as a child brought up in a village. The author makes an effort in adding many incidents of Piumi's childhood days. The image of Piumi is of a child who spends her childhood as a lively person. Her mentor was her grandma who had been so close to her in early years of her life.

The book also highlights many instances on how she was forced to face family disharmony and how she got sandwiched in the conflict between her father and mother.

Her attempt in painting is to create an enchanting world which would draw the people to enjoy the beauty of life, the serenity of the environment, the unforgettable expressions of people, the lovable and graceful existence of animals and birds. Says she: "Through the experience in painting and creating images one technique I have successfully experimented is the use of colours.

I firmly believe that the colours used in a painting would bring the attractiveness and convey a message to the viewer. Vivid colours and shadows could bring the depth and the natural image to a painting. My painting of the elderly person named "In Sorrow", the background is used to bring out the feeling of sadness. I believe in selecting the most suitable colours to emphasise a message. The paintings "Sunset" and "Ships" are some paintings experimenting, the use of colours to bring glory of the sunset and the beauty of the surroundings."

"I believe that painters should see the world and experience different surroundings, vivid contrasting landscapes, creations based on religions and history, different tradition and ways of living. A painting could be enriched with such experiences. Due to my travels abroad and seeing many places of artistic and traditional value I believe that my paintings signify the influence of western and eastern cultural and social background."

The painter, Jayani Pinnawala was a Senior Officer of the Administrative Service and had served as Additional Secretary in number of Ministries further to holding number of important positions in the government i.e. Commissioner of Internal Trade and at the level of Senior Assistant Secretary. In addition she served in the Foreign Service as Deputy Ambassador and Acting Ambassador in Rome, Italy. She is an old girl of Visakha Vidyalaya and honours graduate from University of Peradeniya. She also engages herself in social activities and serves as Board Member and Director of Lions Club of Havelock Town.

Jayani Pinnawala's maiden book 'Apeksha' will also be launched at the opening ceremony of the painting exhibition 'Reflection in Colour' at the Lionel Wendt Gallery on September 9, 2010 at 11.30 a.m. The painting exhibition will continue till September 12.

Piumi' as a child portraits a lovable character, but later she became burdened with family problems. The message, given to the readers in this book is very important and opportune to the present day younger generation. She could be the role model for the young girls who would face similar setbacks in life in the modern society.

The climax of the story is the court case of her parents and her utmost effort to bring her parents together, through achieving educational goals.

The story is written with simple language but effective. The author creates the most suitable environment to add value to each episode. Author's description of the beauty of nature, especially the village, the beaches and sea and the details of lifestyles of the village people gives a refreshing flavour to the story.