It’s not all ha, ha, ha!

The Serendib Spirit by Gaston de Rosayro. Published by Sarasavi Publishers. Reviewed by Vijita Fernando

If laughter is the best medicine, Gaston de Rosayro gives it to you in small but potent doses in his satirical sketches. Honed in the skills of witty repartee, the double entendre, a caustic pen, through several decades of journalism in the ‘Ceylon Observer’s features room (to which he refers endearingly) and newspapers in the Asian region, Gaston has distilled much of it into this collection of 18 pieces exuding the Serendib Spirit.

A keen and perceptive ear and a felicitous use of the language of the colonial masters give life to the short cameos in the collection. The author claims that they are based on true experiences, but much more than a ‘miniscule stretch of the imagination’ (as he says), has gone to making them exciting and appealing if only to give the reader a moment’s respite from the dark clouds of our day to day living.

He certainly packs a punch into his narrative whether he writes of the true “spirit” of the coconut palm and its ability to give the tippler a taste of serendipity or the secrets that can be unfolded by the use or misuse of the sarong “the most simple and practical nether garment since Adam invented the fig leaf!”

Who cannot talk of cricket, loverly cricket? Well, he packs a punch here too about those derisive comments of Kipling’s “flannelled fools at the wicket” and Noel Coward’s “mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the midday sun …” Derisive comments aside, the author’s observations on cricket are certainly not a mere cameo, but a mine of information for the uninitiated – with a touch of the double entendre – to make cricket just what it is, just a game, “but one that takes precedence over even the thrust and parry of parliamentary debate!”

The cameos in the collection come from different times and different places, but they are as relevant to our times as they will ever be. His references are timeless whether they are from a swimming pool in Hong Kong, an afternoon of baby-sitting in Kowloon or a farewell to the busty big double deckers from the roads of Colombo some decades ago.

If as the sage said, “humour is the ability of the quality of people and situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people”, Gaston de Rosayro has got it just right. But go a little deeper into his cameos and one finds that there is a serious aspect to his writings, an emotional maturity which comes through the wit and humour. He picks out the funny side of any situation, but the seriousness remains in his narration, giving the reader the justification for raising a laugh as well as appreciating the serious details of his theme or topic.

This, I feel, is the real attraction of this work, the ability to spice humour with information, albeit with a deadpan expression and a twinkle of the eye. All proceeds from the sale of this publication will be in aid of “Kusum Sevena”, a project run by the Good Shepherd Sisters of Kotahena for the underprivileged children of Bloemendhal and administered by the Bloemendhal Development Society of Kotahena.