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Tears behind
the beheaded Anthem Needless to
say, being youthful and playful, we used to hide when Samarakoon
came for the musical lessons - only to be dragged by our ears by
my mother for the lesson. I just could
not bear the screech I made with the bow in the strings but Samarakoon
made the instrument sing beautiful melodies! I am far the
poorer for not having learnt enough from this great Master. In return for
my parents' generosity and understanding, Samarakoon gave my late
mother a water colour painting which is in my collection and on
the back of the painting is a paper cutting dated 8th April 1962.
It said: "....
in one of last things he wrote he said ...... 'death is preferable'.....
A few days before he died, Ananda Samarakoon, author, composer,
poet and artist, sent the "Sunday Times" columnist Times-men
his views on recent developments in the fine arts. It is a human
and fascinating document. The change in the National Anthem which
he composed had hurt him deeply. "It is
a misfortune to live in a country where such things happen to a
humble composer who has contributed his little share towards the
uplift of this fair isle." "Death
would be more preferable", he wrote. Here is the text of one
of the last things Samarakoon wrote. "As an
art and music student in Rabindranath Tagore's Shanthinikethan at
Baipur, Culcutta, I had the good fortune of gaining plenty of inspiration
from the great poet who was alive during my course of training there
in 1938 "It may
have been due to this inspiration that I was able to bring out a
song like "Namo Namo Matha'', which I composed in 1940 to instil
patriotism in my pupils at Mahinda College, Galle, in the same way
my great guru did at Shanthinikethan, after my return to this fair
isle of Sri Lanka. "Guru
Tagore was burning with patriotism when he renounced his worldly
possessions and retired to a jungle at Baipur, 102 miles from Kalkata
(sic) to write his inspiring ballards in order to make patriots
of India's millions to enable them to break away from the shackles
of a foreign yoke. "In the
end through long suffering and struggling, he succeeded and great
men like Mahathma Gandi and Nehru became his beloved pupils, who
fashioned the present destiny of their beloved land, enabling to
make headway towards cultural and economic progress which today
is bearing fruit day to day. "When
I returned to Ceylon I had the same purpose in view. I first composed
the "Jana Gana Mana" using the same tune of "Jana
Gana Mana Nuwa." It was followed by "Namo Namo Matha". "Many
more songs were composed afterwards, Kekatiya Mal, Punchi Suda,
Podimal Ethano, etc., which became popular songs. Pubudu me kusum
was used in a ballet produced at a well-known school of music at
Lucknow and it was considered a masterpiece". "In 1940
I composed "Namo Namo Matha" with the prime purpose of
infusing some patriotism in the people of Sri Lanka without which
a nation cannot progress. The government, which was in power then
must have accepted the song to be the National Anthem of Ceylon
with the same purpose in view, but unfortunately the Anthem has
been beheaded.... this.... has..... destroyed not the song but also
the life of the composer as well. Over this I am frustrated and
broken hearted. " 'Namo
Namo Matha' has been accepted by other countries as a song of exalted
qualities. It has gone in to the album of songs, but what has the
hard-hearted politicians done to it today? The purpose for which
it was composed by me over 22 years ago has been completely lost. "It is
a misfortune to live in a country where such things happen to a
humble composer who has contributed his little share towards the
cultural uplift of this fair isle". "Death
would be more preferable". "Radio
Ceylon used me for three and a half years to put on the air a variety
called "Nawa Nishadana". New productions. It was cut off.
"Thereafter Radio Ceylon gave me a school programme and during
the six months of its existence, I put forth 22 stories in a song.
This programme was also cut off."I have written a book entitled
"Lama Gee Kalamba", a book of nursery rhymes which is
in great demand today. But unfortunately I am unable to present
and publish this valuable book due to various restrictions."I
trust this will be sufficient proof that Ananda Samarakoon wrote
"Namo Namo Matha" in 1940 and he took his life because
- the song was altered. Pramuka crisis:
Greed or Bandula blunder? The Deputy
Minister is apparently trying to cover up the blunder made by the
Central Bank. No institution has the authority to call itself a
"bank" unless it has the Central Bank approval. Such a
bank is operated under the supervision of the Central Bank. If Pramuka
Bank had been offering high interest rates to attract depositors
and deceive the public by falsifying its annual reports, the Central
Bank could have warned the bank and the depositors of the irregularities. The Deputy
Minister may not be aware that there are finance companies that
offer higher interest rates than Pramuka Bank. Greed was not
the reason as the Deputy Minister sees - for the depositors to choose
Pramuka Bank. The main reason was the depositors had faith in the
Central Bank as the supervisor and guarantor. The Central
Bank says Pramuka was warned many times, but the Bank of the banks
failed to understand that the depositors would not get the warning
unless it is issued to them through the media. By this drastic act
of the Central Bank, the poor depositors were made to suffer. The Central
Bank cannot wash of its hands. The depositors have to be paid full
by the Central Bank otherwise people will lose faith in private
banks and will not invest in the future. Many state
institutions have deposited their funds in Pramuka Bank and the
Central Bank and the Deputy Finance Minister may find ways and means
of recovering these funds while ignoring the depositors. Mr. Deputy
Finance Minister, we have deposited our hard-earned retirement benefits
with Pramuka Bank because our confidence in the bank was boosted
by a Finance Ministry gazette notification, which listed Pramuka
among 15 banks recommended for state-fund deposits. Mr. Deputy
Finance Minister, if you may say that it was greed that made us
to go to Pramuka Bank, you and the Central Bank have done much harm
to the Finance Minister by not advising him of the position of Pramuka
Bank before the renewal notification. CMC's building
supervision only on paper? Recently the
property opposite mine at Thimbirigasyaya changed ownership. The
new owners have uprooted a coconut tree at the rear of their premises
and are constructing an upstair house on the narrow byroad opposite
my gate, with several windows overlooking my premises. To maintain
good neighbourly relations, especially with an unknown party, I
did not confront them, but on November 15, 2002, I sent a registered
letter to the architect in charge of City Planning Division, requesting
him to inspect the new construction and advise the present owner.
I am not aware whether any inspection has been carried out, but
the construction work is going ahead. I telephoned
the CMC branch many times regarding my letter but no one was helpful.
Over to you, Mr. Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner. Star Wars and
the blow on the jaw What they had
failed to mention were the new rude staff since 'Star Wars' for
me began in the lobby itself. The 1000-rupee note proffered for
tickets was actually thrown back at me by the young cashier with
a remark "no change". Since a remark of that nature could
only be expected in a private bus, I protested and was immediately
countered by the polite question 'homba thalaganna oneda' (Want
to break your jaw?). A complaint
to the manager received a patient hearing and also the lament that
staff was hard to find these days! No wonder people don't go to
cinemas to watch films anymore. 'Letters
to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to: 'Letters to the Editor, The Sunday Times, P.O.Box 1136, Colombo. Or e-mail to steditor@wijeya.lk or stfeat@wijeya.lk Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned. |
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