Kari continues with his sweet memories
It’s nice to see a colleague, now in his late eighties, still putting pen to paper. Kari as we friends prefer to address veteran journalist D.F. Kariyakarawana recently sent me his two latest publications.
 One is a collection of the columns he writes weekly to the Lankadeepa, Karige Theeruwa (Kari’s column). He titles the book Vassaa Pulussa relating the story of barbecuing a calf at Kandawela Estate, the residence of Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawela just before the 1956 general election. Kari, who was chief sub-editor of the Dinamina carried the picture brought by Wally Perera on page one. The Lake House management was furious.
Kari and news editor Dharmapala Jayaweera were summoned and told to go to Kandawela and face the music. They went. Sir John came out to meet them with a broad grin. He told them they had only done their job and invited them to have a drink. He sent them back with the advice, “Don’t touch before sunset”. In fact, Kari had not written the story in one of his columns but obviously thought it provided a good opening for the book and uses the incident for the cover picture too.
Kari confesses his eye-sight is deteriorating. He can’t read but can write. He can’t see what he writes. Yet, reminiscences keep flowing. The memory is so good that he wants to share old stories with others.
He began recollecting his life story a decade ago with Dasaka Sathaka Mathaka (Reminiscences over seven decades) and followed it up with Mathaka pothen thavath tikak (A bit more from the memory book) the following year. In 2003, he wrote Mathaka pothe itiri hariya (The balance in the memory book) and indicated that was the end. In his latest book, Thava thavath mathaka (More and more memories), he admits that after the last book was written he started remembering more stories.
Kari is not only a good story-teller. He is a firm believer in the correct usage of the language. He is particularly interested in teaching the youngsters the correct use of grammar. He has been harsh with journalists who are unconcerned about the use of correct Sinhala (not that their English is any better and I am not competent to talk about Tamil). As for oldies like us, we enjoy his writing because it’s simple and lucid. Most of the personalities he discusses also belong to ape kaale thus making it even more appealing. He describes a trip to England in 1957, along with Felix Gunawardena, Editor of the Times of Ceylon and K.P. Haran, Editor of the Virakesari.
Discussing personalities
 In Thava thavath mathaka, he pays tribute to two journalists his brother Eamon and B.H.S. Jayawardena both my contemporaries at Lake House. He devotes a chapter to discussing his relationship with the renowned ayurvedic physician Pandit Wiliam Alwis whom he had known from 1945 until his death in June 2008. He describes Pandit Alwis thus: He is more learned than me. He is clever. He is erudite. He passed his Oriental Studies examination with distinction. His knowledge of English is also very good. He has a degree from the London University. He has a fair knowledge of Prakrit, Bengali and Hindi. He studied in India for a long time in Bengali and Hindi.
A translation cannot really do justice to Kari’s style of writing. He structures his paragraphs with short, brisk sentences. It’s a pleasure to read them.
Kari has the knack of turning what one may see as the most boring subject into an appealing chapter. He has at least seven tales on the name Kariyakarawana. What was normally used as a ge name, he converted to his surname.
It was as a student of 15 that he used the name Kurana Kariyakarawana (Kurana being his birthplace) for a short story he wrote to the Silumina. He was amazed when a letter sent from abroad addressed to Kariyakarawana, Ceylon was delivered to his home at Wattala. Some thought it was a Tamil name. At least a policeman thought so when examining his driving licence which had been issued in Jaffna. Then there are the Kariyakarawanas in the king’s palace performing numerous tasks. Kariyakarawana Rala is an official in the Dalada Maligawa.
Who will ever think of devoting a whole chapter to his pet dog, Tommy? Kari does.
Kari has produced his biography through the four books relating old tales. They are absorbing, easy to read, straightforward stuff.
Keep writing, Kari! |
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