Stirring sitar strains

By Prof. Carlo Fonseka

When I heard ten- year-old Pradeep Ratnayake play the sitar many years ago, I at last understood why agnostic Albert Einstein exclaimed, "Now I know there is a God in heaven" after hearing Yehudi Menuhin, a child prodigy himself, play the violin. I now swear by the 330 million Gods celebrated in popular Buddhism that, listening to Pradeep Ratnayake's symphonic poem "Indrakeelaya" was the most enthralling musical experience of my 67 years on earth.

I can imagine the derisive smile with which some readers will greet that declaration. "Poor man, probably a tone deaf wild animal! Hasn't he ever listened to Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Handel, Schubert or Tchaikovsky! Why is he going out of his way to tell the world of his musical poverty?" That would almost certainly be their understandable reaction. 

Note, however, that my declaration does not imply the judgment that Pradeep Ratnayake's symphonic poem is the most sophisticated musical creation on earth, if indeed there is such a one. All I am saying is, that given the way my elements are mixed, I found Indrakeelaya, the most enthralling musical experience of my life. 

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka commemorated its golden jubilee with a musical evening at the BMICH on November 6. Visharada Pradeep Ratnayake had been commissioned to create a tone poem specifically to tell the story of a peaceful place, its recent destruction by a terrorist bomb blast and the successful resurrection of the institution that was destroyed. Visharada Ratnayake attempted to do so by waking to ecstasy his living sitar and integrating into a uniquely Sri Lankan musical creation, almost all elements of music found in our motherland. The work is imbued and impregnated with folk melodies of this country, the sound of pirith, the sound of Christian hymns, the sound of om; classical Indian voices, Western choral voices; North Indian classical music; Sri Lankan drums; Western drums; Indian percussion; an orchestral string section; a western rock band - you name it, Visharada Ratnayake has incorporated it into his creation. 

One reason why Indrakeelaya so appealed to me must be that it satisfied my omnivorous musical appetite. I have cultivated the habit of listening to music of every kind because it has been created by human beings and I am involved in humankind. Visharada Ratnayake has incorporated into his tone poem an incredible variety of musical elements. Name me another symphonic poem which attempts to do that at all, let alone do so with consummate skill as Visharada Ratnayake has done in Indrakeelaya.

Another reason why Indrakeelaya so affected me must be that I have had the privilege of knowing its creator, as man and boy. He carries his talent so lightly, so shyly, so innocently, that you begin to wonder whether he has forgotten that he earned the highest marks ever awarded to a graduating student at Santiniketan. If one's admiring affection for a composer enhances one's enjoyment of his music, I believe one should nurture it. With Pradeep, that is easy.

As it happens, I am not one of those who believe that music can tell a story. I doubt whether any melody, rhythm, harmony, tone colour or musical form, can by itself convey a single verbal thought. What music does is to create combinations of sound that arouse feelings in us. Had not Visharada Ratnayake told me that by the symphonic poem, he attempted to capture the recent history of our country in terms of the history of the Central Bank, I could never have derived it simply by listening to his tone poem. 

Visharada Ratnayake has attempted to tell that story by creating a symphonic poem with four sections titled 'Peace', 'Conflict', 'Lamentation' and 'Hope'. Given some idea of the composer's intention in advance, I was able to respond in a full-blooded way with my mind and heart. That too contributed enormously to my enjoyment of Indrakeelaya.

What we saw when the curtain opened at the main hall of the BMICH on November 6 was magnificent to behold. At the centre of the stage on a podium was Visharada Pradeep Ratnayake poised with his sitar.

Indrakeelaya began with the sound of violins, violas, cellos and a double bass softly spelling out a variation on the melody of the familiar Jayamangala gatha, perhaps the most deeply buried musical notes in our subconscious memory. The soaring tone colour of the massed string instruments induced a feeling of nostalgia, tranquility and stability. This opening immediately endowed the tone poem with a Sri Lankan identity, which insensibly permeated the whole work. Somewhere along the line, early in the first movement, the concluding line of the National Anthem was heard, signifying to me that perhaps this was the first truly Sri Lankan symphonic work. This phase of the tone poem evoked feelings of tenderness and calm. 

Then, like beams of moonlight falling on a limpid pool and setting off ripples in all directions, the sound of Pradeep's sitar entered the creation and penetrated into the core of my being. Gradually the sound of pirith, of hymns of om became infused into Indrakeelaya in a soothing way. 

This phase was followed by one in which there was a noticeable change in pitch and tempo and in the ways the different instruments produced combinations of sounds. The feeling created was one of turbulence. Because I had prior knowledge that the second movement was intended to represent conflict, I was able to respond fully to this phase (otherwise I should have thought that there was a thunderstorm on stage).

The music that followed this turbulent period was slow and evoked feelings of sadness. There was wailing and mourning. 

Even without prior knowledge, it was possible to figure out that this movement was melancholic. This music was an expression of lamentation caused by the wanton destruction around us.

The final movement was intended by the composer to induce in us feelings of hope and courage to face our future. We shall conquer; we shall live again, was the implicit message.

I was pre-programmed to receive, and I did feel the exhilaration induced by the loud rhythmic music of the full orchestra moving inexorably to its conclusion. At the end of it, I felt emotionally exhausted and intellectually fulfilled. 

Not fiction, not factual

Very often, when there is a book-launch at the National Library Services Board auditorium, only a few rows are filled. It was quite a different story the other day when both writer Somaweera Senanayake and publisher Dayawansa Jayakody had to apologise for not being able to provide enough chairs for the visitors. A representative gathering of monks and laity had filled the hall, and many were standing too. The occasion was the release of Somaweera's latest book - 'Andurata Pahanak' , based on the teachings of the Buddha.

Somaweera himself was not sure what to call his book. It's not fiction, nor a factual documentary. He uses two characters - a newly married couple - to illustrate his thesis. He discusses the attitudes of the average person to issues. He finds solutions through the Dhamma to the problems faced by the laity in their day-to-day lives,. He gives the references (often he quotes the 'suttas') so that anyone interested can delve further and study a particular subject.

"Possibly it's the influence the 'Pansiya Panas Jataka Potha' had on me when I was young which prompted me to venture out into writing something like this," Somaweera said. He related how on a Poya day he used to carry the 'Jataka Potha' from his home to the temple where his father, (a Veda Mahattaya), would read it while the others listened. There were only a few in the village who could read and write but having listened to Bana sermons and the Jataka tales, they knew their Dhamma.

Having obtained his Master's degree from the Vidyodaya University (now Sri Jayawardenapura), Somaweera started reading for a PhD. He gave up halfway when he became involved in writing teledramas (he has written 20 full length teledramas including the popular 'Doo Daruwo' which ran into 230 episodes, and 31 single episode ones). The present book (his 21st) is sourced from some of the materials he collected then.

Somaweera has also been doing documentaries for organisations like UNICEF on current issues. "While doing these I realized that although solutions found in the West are highlighted in discussing these issues, the Buddha had preached about them over 2500 years ago," he said. Whether it be women's liberation or children's rights, the Buddha has discussed these issues. 'Andurata Pahanak' is an attempt to let the readers know what the Buddha said on these and other issues related to daily life.

The human touch

In his inimitable style, Professor J.B. Disanayaka spoke of Somaweera's talents. "I know he is a good writer. He is a clever teledrama scriptwriter and seasoned journalist. Yet I consider his humane qualities his greatest virtue," he said reminding everyone present that today's society lacks this all important aspect.

Is there respect for the monks, is there respect for the elders, he asked. Even the way some people address the monks indicate how much society has degenerated.

"The Sinhalese as a nation suffer from an inferiority complex," J.B pointed out. "To us anything from the West is superior. Why do we have to worship the West when we have such a rich heritage? There is no need for us to slavishly learn English and forget our own rich language. Let us make use of English to our advantage while making use of Sinhala."

As Venerable Maduluwawe Sobhita Thera mentioned from the chair, it was a fruitful evening. "At a time when the whole country faces a grave crisis, we must make it a point to gather in this fashion, discuss issues and exchange ideas," he suggested.

It was only two or three weeks ago that a reprint of Somaweera's most popular novels, 'Menik Nadiya Gala Basee' came out, also as a Dayawansa Jayakody publication. 

Revolution of the world, word and body

By Alfreda de Silva

Mexico and Sri Lanka share an oral tradition of poetry that goes back to ancient times. Poets of that era in these countries performed the accepted function of speakers of the community.

It was a poetic tradition of great aesthetic value, and was also interwoven with rituals and mythologies.

When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico they found, among the Aztecs mainly, a rich body of poetry, both lyric and epic. These dealt with the themes of human love, life, death, divinity, beauty, valiant deeds and tribal gods. Acclaimed as the greatest poet in Mexico, a land of poets, was Octavio Paz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.

He was born in Mexico City of part Spanish and part Mexican Indian descent to a family of intellectuals.

Various events that affected the family adversely made them emigrate to America for a short time. After they returned to their motherland, Paz studied law and literature at the National University but refused to take his degree. Encouraged by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda , who, incidentally, was one time Honorary Consul for Chile in Sri Lanka then known as Ceylon, Paz started to write poetry. He made his breakthrough in the 1930s under the umbrella of a group called Taller (workshop).

His first book Luna Silvestre was full of the haunting imagery of Mexico.

He visited Spain and fought on the Republican side in the civil war. It was in Spain that he met literary stalwarts like Andre Gide and Andre Malraux.

Travelling to the USA on a Guggenheim fellowship in 1943, he became deeply involved with modern Anglo-American poetry. Some years later he entered the Mexican diplomatic service and in 1962 was appointed to India as Mexican Ambassador. During his stay there he wrote a number of books, among them The Grammarian Monkey and East Slope. However, he resigned from the diplomatic service "in protest against his government's" bloodstained suppression of the student demonstration in Thateleo during the Olympic Games in Mexico.

His distinguished career included several positions as Professor of Literature in American universities. In 1980 he was named Honorary Doctor at Harvard. His many awards include the Cervantes, the most prestigious in the Spanish speaking world, which was his in 1981. He won the equally prestigious Neustadt Prize in 1982.

Paz rejected his strong Marxist leanings and saw meaning in the literary power of poetry: 

"Perhaps to love is to learn 

to walk through this world. 

To learn to be silent 

like the oak and the linden of the fable. 

To learn to see 

your glance scatter seeds. 

It planted a tree 

I talk because you shake the leaves."

Paz's surrealist poetry began to be upheld by " the belief that poetry constitutes the secret life of the modern age."

His poems are steeped in various cultural directories. At the same time they are both Mexican and universal.

They show insights into many philosophies, religious and aesthetic movements and experiences. His creativity has probed the heart of his homeland. His powerful poem El Laberinto de la Soledad.- The Labyrinth of Solitude expresses his attitude to being solitary; "that of a man who feels alone in the world, incomplete without 'the other'".

Although his poetry is often surreal and may seem obscure, a great deal of it captures dramatically the most intimate facets of human life. Among his most famous poems is Sun Stone, which refers to the planet Venus, symbolic of the sun and water in Aztec folklore.

"I travel your length 

like a river, 

I travel your body 

like a forest"

Sun Stone, modelled after the famous Aztec Calendar stone starts with the same lines with which it ends:

"Willow of crystal, a poplar of water, 

a pillar of fountain by the wind drawn over,

tree that is firmly rooted and that dances,

turning course of a river that goes turning, 

advances and retreats, goes round about arriving forever..............

"I travel through your waist as through a river, 

I voyage your body as through a grove going, 

as by a foot path going up a mountain........

"You take on the likeness of a tree, a cloud 

You are all birds and now you are a star, 

now you resemble the sharp edge of a sword 

And now the executioner's bowl of blood...... 

As an essayist, Paz has dealt with Aztec art, Tantric Buddhism and Hinduism among other subjects. His poetry is sensuous and erotic.

The critic, Eliot Weinberger, states that for Octavio Paz "the revolution of the word is the revolution of the world and that both cannot exist without the revolution of the body. Life as art a return to the lost unity of thought and body, man and nature - I and the other'" Paz died in 1998.

Serenity

Artist Mandalika Manjusri's collection of acrylic and water colour paintings will be on display to the public at Le Palace, Colombo. As a young girl Mandalika accompanied her father on his "artistic" missions, observed him work, marvelled at the manner in which he played with colours, assisted him in his work and - soon shared his passion for painting. This is how Mandalika, daughter of one of Sri Lanka's renowned artists Dr. L.T.P. Manjusri made her entrance to the world of "art". 

Dr. Manjusri was engaged in the restoration and documenting of the ancient temple frescoes and simultaneously creating his own style for his paintings. Mandalika derives subject matter from the outside world, nature and people by whom she is surrounded in daily life. The true beauty of her work lies in the pastel shades; the powder blues, sea greens, canary yellows and in the vivid pinks she employs. 

The result of her works is remarkable. Be they pencil, ink, water colour, acrylics or charcoal, her paintings impart a feeling of tranquility and gentleness to the onlooker. She has won many a scholarship and has participated in numerous group exhibitions. A few years ago she was involved in archaeological excavations and conservation of paintings and is currently attached to the French Embassy.

Her paintings can be viewed between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. at Le Palace, from December 21, 2000 to January 21, 2001. This is a new concept implemented by Monsieur Jean-Pierre Piallier, the owner chef of Le Palace. The exhibition will be declared open by the chief guest Madame Marie-France Pagnier, the Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka.

More Plus

Return to Plus Contents