Bookshelf
Those were the days
Autobiographies make interesting reading.
Particularly when the reader and writer are from the same vintage. Writer
and academician turned politician A. V. Suraweera has written his biography-'Bale
Patan Kalaya Gevuna Melesa' - how time passed since childhood.
Both of us are from the same village close to Gampaha. We were contemporaries
at Peradeniya. We were both at Jayatilaka Hall. He was an 'honourable senior'
- a quiet studious young man when I got there as a fresher.
Suraweera remembers how Peradeniya students reacted to the 1953 August
hartal. Students battled it out with the Police in Kandy town- ending with
the Police invading the campus and consequent- bloodshed. "This incident
was the first student agitation at Peradeniya. It was no surprise to find
some of the revolutionaries who took part in that struggle later getting
into high positions in the Police and donning police uniforms, -suppressing
student demonstrations."
Having being a university don for nearly four decades, Suraweera's insight
into higher education echelons makes interesting reading. He is full of
admiration for the wide knowledge possessed by Venerable Sorata Nayake
Thera, the first Vice Chancellor of the Vidyodaya University. Suraweera
takes a close look at the quality and attitudes of lecturers then and now.
He describes the lessons he learnt during his sojourns abroad and how he
shared his knowledge no sooner he returned although many did not appreciate
what he was doing.
Suraweera is candid in his assessment of colleagues- when he describes
the Vice Chancellor stakes of which he was a candidate. It was the first
time he experienced what was in store for someone who genuinely tried to
serve an institution. "In what is termed as the haven of intellects,
one expects fair play when it comes to the selection of its administrative
head. The person who is most suitable should be selected. But what happens
in our country is something totally different. Conflicts, influences, anonymous
petitions, scurrilous leaflets-these are all used for character assassination."
Having served four years as an MP, he also makes his observations on
politics and politicians.
"It did not take long for me to realise that the Parliamentary
environment is quite different to the university environment I was used
to. To most parliamentarians politics is their mode of living. Parliament
is not merely a resting place in that long journey but is looked upon as
an oasis that should be acquired not only for yourself but also for your
future generations."
Ranat
It's been a long long journey from Poramadulla
The young boy from the distant Poramadulla Madya Maha Vidyalaya who
gave a fine performance at the Inter-School Drama Competition about three
decades ago, showed promise he would be a superb actor one day. His role
in Assa Gudung made him the best schoolboy actor of the year. Since then
Jayalath Manoratne has come a long way. He has proved himself not only
as a fine actor but also a top creator of drama.
'Sandagira' is his latest effort on stage. It is a documentary drama
on the lines of what Dayananda Gunawardena offered us in'Madhura Javanika'
and 'Ananda Javanika'. Continuing this tradition, Manoratne traces the
evolution of Sinhala drama from the times of shantikarma right up to Maname-Dr
Sarachchandra's classic staged in the mid-fifties.
Mano spent nearly three years collecting material for 'Sandagira'. First
there were the early forms of theatre- kolam, sokari, sandakinduru, pasku
(passion play), nadagam and nurti. Then came the Minerva era (Jayamanne
plays) followed by the Colombo University plays in the forties and what
came out from Peradeniya campus in the fifties.
This is Mano's sixth theatre production. Starting with Mahagiri Damba
(1980), he produced Putra Samagama (1985), Talamala Pipila (1988), Andarela
(1993) and Guru Tharuwa (1996). The last two won the State Literary Award
for Drama..
A melodious voice that brought back the Master
His deep and resonant voice reverberated across the John de Silva Theatre.
He was rendering a few songs the master had sung in the late forties. The
voice was that of Ivor Dennis'. The master-Sunil Shantha, of course. It
is comforting that we have at least one of Sunil Shantha's pupils to lend
his voice to the ever popular numbers.
The occasion was the D. F. Kariyakarawana felicitation ceremony. The
organisers got Ivor to sing three of Sunil's songs-Adara Nadiye, Kokilayo
and Himidiriye , in between the speeches. The relevance was that some of
Sunil Shantha's songs along with notations were a regular feature in Mihira,
a journal edited by Kari in the forties when he served as a trained teacher
at Christ King College, Tudella.
Most of us being Kari's contemporaries, appreciated Ivor's singing.
Though the great master is no more, even occasionally Ivor gives life to
his songs. The soft music was such a welcome departure from the 'noise'
we hear today in the guise of music.
Riot of colour from Nawa Kalakaruwo
The paintings of about 70 artists adorned the walls of the Art Gallery
last week. They were the latest works of a group- Nawa Kalakaruwo -emerging
new artists nurtured by the George Keyt Foundation. For the fifth successive
year, Ceylon Tobacco Company sponsored the exhibition.
Nawa Kalakaruwo forms an important segment in the regular calendar of
events of the Foundation. 'Young Contemporaries' - a project to discover
artists up to 40 years is also being presented annually. Then there is
the Kala Pola, the open air art fair, Making his observations on this year's
exhibition, Professor S. B. Dissanayake says: "There is a new and
vibrant cosmopolitarianism in the entries to this year's Nawa Kalakaruwo
exhibition, which makes these artists ambiguous witnesses hovering between
nature, experience and the sophistication of the west. Comparisons and
contrasts between artistic works is not idle chatter but paths to understanding
where we have come from and where we might be going. One hard question
simply asked might be what this art is about, these paintings for example:
what do they mean?
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