Speedy Dialogues Series;
Episode 4. Kumar Gunawardane.
“My favourite writers and poets”
Speedy: Good morning Kumar.
Thank you for being the 4th guest on my Dialogues series. I am so pleased that
the series has had a very favourable response. May I start by saying that I
always enjoy reading your thoughtful comments on the Blog. I count you as one
of our regulars. I must congratulate you again for being awarded the position
of Consultant Emeritus from the Townsville Hospital where you worked as
Director of Medicine/Cardiology. I know that you were largely instrumental in
setting up a tertiary level cardiac service.
Kumar: That is very kind of
you Speedy. It was a great honour and furthermore, it gives one a good feel
when your work is recognised. I was really happy as I was only the third person
to receive this prestigious award.
Speedy: Well-deserved I am
sure. OK, down to business, what topic shall we discuss?
Kumar: Thank you for
accepting me for your series. I have
enjoyed immensely your virtual interviews and the current “Speedy Dialogues”.
I’m flattered and privileged to have been invited to participate in this. I
thought of discussing ‘my favourite writers and poets’.
Speedy: That is a great topic
and I am sure our colleagues will chip in with their views too. How shall we
progress in this? How about if I ask you
first to name some of your favourites and then go on to why you reached that
conclusion and maybe give some quotes and references. If you are able to
connect some of these with your own life events, in other words, give us
"connections" that would greatly add to the interest.
Kumar: I shall do my best. My
story has to start with my great aunt Ellen. I was initiated into the love for
books and literature by her. She lived next door. She was a gracious, silver
haired lady to whom both my brother and I were intimately attached. She was
full of fun, generous and had an endless fund of stories. Cuddled close to her
on a ‘hansiputuwa’ (armchair) in the
stillness of a tropical night, broken only by the incessant hum of the cicadas, I would listen enthralled to the stories of kings and queens and gods and
demons. The only distraction was the fascinating flickering of the myriad of
fireflies.
Speedy: How lovely Kumar! I
can picture this beautiful scene you painted so well, as you talk. What sort of
books did she refer to? Just being curious, how did she get the name Ellen?
Kumar: As you are aware, everyone in the colonial era had western names. My father was Martinus and my
mother was Beatrice. Ellen is a variant of Helen and both names are derived
from the same Greek root ele meaning light or bright.
Speedy: Thanks for that. In
fact, on my mother’s side, they are all Sinhala names such as Anula, Soma, Upasena,
Upatissa but on my father’s side, there are names like Abraham, Elizabeth,
Coraline (I suspect it is a corruption of Caroline), and Alice. Thaththa
himself was Edwin. In many instances in those days, our people took these names
after converting to Christianity for certain advantages that accrued, not
necessarily a ticket to Heaven in your afterlife, but for tangible benefits in
this!
Kumar: There you have it. Well, she introduced us to
her late husband’s library, initially to Sinhala books on Buddhism and history.
My favourite was the Thupawamsa, the
story of the illustrious king Dutugemunu
and the building of the magnificent stupa the Ruwanveliseya. One of my greatest pleasures visiting Anuradhapura these days is circumambulation of this great stupa in the cool of an evening transporting
myself back into that era, imagining sometimes being a noble parading loftily,
sometimes a humble peasant toiling away at the construction.
Speedy: I would concur with
you without any hesitation. Ruwanveliseya on a full moon day with the serene
silence only being broken by the gentle chanting of devotees pervaded by the
smell of burning incense and fragrant flowers is hard to beat.
Kumar: How poetic Speedy!
Speedy: And you must also be
reminded of the song Danno Budunge
which was sung as the three princes saw the beautiful spectacle of the city of Anuradhapura
after crossing a wooden bridge.
Kumar: One of my all-time
favourites, especially the Amaradeva version. I read your blog post on
Danno Budunge and enjoyed it very much.
Speedy: Glad you did Kumar. And
there is the King Dutugemunu story of course. And what sort of books followed?
Kumar: Next she gave me the
novels of Piyadasa Sirisena and W.A Silva. PS was the first Sinhala
novelist. WAS’s novel Kelahanda became
a blockbuster film starring the beautiful Rukmani Devi, the Queen of the Sinhala
cinema. I once saw her at a wedding when she was around the age of fifty. She
was still strikingly beautiful and when she sang there was a hushed and even
reverential silence followed by thunderous applause at the end.
Speedy: Oh I remember Rukmani
Devi with such fondness. She was beautiful and there was that special “X”
factor about her. We used to call her the Elizabeth Taylor of Ceylon!
Kumar: She was also called
the “Nightingale” of Sri Lanka” and acted in close to 100 films. She was the
first and perhaps the only SL actor or actress to grace the cover of the FILMFARE magazine
which was a favourite of the girls of our generation. She was the heartthrob of
many and was married to Eddie Jayamanne and as far as I can recall, it wasn’t
all that happy.
Speedy: That is the general
view. She had an admirer, Neville Fernando who supposedly wrote the song Menike Obe Sinawe, with RD in mind, but I
am not sure.
Kumar: Is that so? How
interesting. I must tell you Speedy, Ellen achchi certainly knew how to keep
her protégés interested in books. She would from time to time bring delicacies
while we were poring over the dusty volumes. Her special treat was a slab of Kit Kat
chocolate which she gave us each on her monthly pension day. This was the basis
of a story which she would repeat with much glee. Apparently, I had said acchchi
I’m going to kill you. ”Why puthe don’t you love me anymore”. “No, no I love
you very much, but when you die you will go to heaven and send me chocolates
every day!!”
Speedy: You must have loved
her to bits! Isn’t it lovely to have achis and seeyas and aunts and uncles
like that who are such great characters? They love you so much,
unconditionally. Without them, our childhood would have been so much poorer.
Kumar: I agree entirely. I think
it is so important for those of us who have grandchildren, to give them time
and affection.
Speedy: I am sure our
colleagues and readers would heartily endorse that. These events you recalled
were just before you went to Primary School?
Kumar: Yes. By the time I
joined STC my love of books was firmly entrenched. We were very fortunate to
have outstanding teachers in both Sinhala and English. The doyen of Sinhala
teachers in the Lower School was Arisen Ahubudu. Apart from being a supreme storyteller he was
a noted poet and a lyricist. You all would be familiar with his songs in the
films Rekawa and Sandesaya. Puruthugeesikaraya was a chart topper.
Speedy: Couple of
interesting things there. You mentioned Arisen and this clearly is a sinhalafication
of Harrison. I also came across Rapiel (For Raphael), Coraline for Caroline and
many others I cannot recall at the moment. What are your thoughts on this
Kumar?
Kumar: I’m sure you are
correct regarding the derivation of Arisen. We kids were told it was the “Hela”
version of Aryasena
Speedy: Sorry for that
digression but this is what makes these dialogues interesting!
Kumar: I agree
Speedy: Tell us some more
about this intriguing character. More coffee?
Kumar: No thanks Speedy.
About AA, we had double periods for our Sinhala classes. He would get us to
complete our assignments in one period and then relate a story rest of the
time. My favourite was his story based on Ryder Haggard’s novel “She”. This was given a magical twist
by AA which I couldn’t recapture on reading the original book. His other
stories which held us spell bound were Kumaratunga Munidasa’s vintage
children’s fiction Heensaraya and Hathpana.
Speedy: What sort of
character was he really?
Kumar: He had a magical
technique to quieten the little monsters that we were. At his intonation
“Eyes”- we would close our eyes; “Ears and Tongues”- would silence us; “Body”-
would make us stock-still. In one minute all the rowdiness would cease and the
master and pupils were ready to get on with the day’s lesson.
Speedy: Sounds a bit of a tyrant!
Kumar: Not really! Just a
strict disciplinarian.
Speedy: And you had a whole
new set of characters when you moved to Upper School?
Kumar: In the Upper School
another Sinhala teacher Mr. C.S.Weerasinghe aka “Pol Weera” read to us “Gamperaliya” (Uprooted) the first of
Martin Wickremasinghe’s quintessential trilogy; the others being Kaliyugaya (the age of destruction) and Yuganthaya (the end of an era). They were
in the epic tradition of the Russian novelists. We had good reasons to be attentive
in that class. Firstly it was an absorbing tale, but more than that PW, a sturdy
man built like a prize-fighter packed a good punch. I myself was a recipient
once for no good reason and the injustice of it still rankles.
Speedy: So you were a bit
“naughty” then Kumar?
Kumar: I wouldn’t put it
quite that way Speedy, although CSW might agree with you!
But seriously, I am grateful to
him for introducing me to these Sri Lankan literary giants.
MW was perhaps the most
prestigious of the Sinhala novelists but Gunadasa Amerasekera, a dentist by
profession, Karunasena Jayalath, Ediriweera Sarathchandra and many others whose
works were equally good are well worth a read. Many of these have now been
translated to English very competently. Gamperaliya
and Karunasena Jayalath’s Golu Hadawatha
(The silence of the heart) were turned into film masterpieces by Lester James Peries
Speedy: Now there is a great
man. I mean Lester James Peries. I remember him well and the first thing that
comes to my mind when his name is mentioned is “Rekawa” which you did mention before. The other recollection is the
impact Rekawa had on the Sinhala cinema. What are your thoughts on this Kumar?
Kumar: Indeed he was a
pioneer, a visionary if you like. Rekawa was produced in 1956 and was a
watershed in the Sinhala cinema; the first film free of Indian influences, the
first to be shot fully in Ceylon and the first to be shot entirely outdoors.
The musical director was a mutual favourite of ours Sunil Shanta. And the
lyricist was Fr. Marcelline Jayakody.
Speedy: Now there you taught
me something. I had no idea that it was the first to be shot in Ceylon. There
is a contrary view about the outdoor shooting though, and I am told that it was
really the film "Gambada Sundari",
starring Kingsley Jayasekera and Sheela Peiris in 1950, which was the first
film shot entirely outside studios. I knew that almost all Ceylonese films were
really remakes of South Indian films and they were poor remakes too, but they
were popular among the masses.
Kumar: Yes, the South Indian
influence was big and what the people seemed to like.
Speedy: It is sad that this
ground breaking breath of fresh air which had such international success was a
box office failure in Ceylon.
Kumar: Yes, it was ahead of
time and as you know, it is not the first highly acclaimed film to suffer such a
box office failure.
Speedy: True. I can think of
one, Shawshank Redemption (1994),the American drama film.
Kumar: Coming back to Gamperaliya, the lead actress of Gamperaliya, Punya Heendeniya married Dr
Milroy Nanayakkara one of our seniors. He was a fellow hosteller at
Bloemfontein. I did a locum for three months for his brother Dr A.S.H. de Silva
while he was away studying for his MD. This was shortly after we finished internship
and were not employed immediately.
Speedy: Talk about
connections, both known and unknown!
We covered a lot on your exposure
to Sinhala literature. What about English? Shall we recall some of your
favourite English poems and poets?
Kumar: Yes, I shall be happy
to do that Speedy.
In the Lower School, we were
inducted into the delights of great English poets and poems.
The one that is indelibly
implanted in my memory is Cassabianca,
Felicia Dorothea Heman’s deathless verse.
The boy
stood on the burning deck
Whence
all but he had fled
The
flame that lit the battle’s wreck
Shone
round him o’er the dead.
Only years later did I learn that
this was a true story and the boy was waiting for his father who lay dead in
the ship’s bowels.
Speedy: I couldn’t recall
Cassabianca word to word but of course knew about it.
Have you heard one of the
parodies on this great poem? It goes like this-
The boy
stood on the burning deck.
His feet
were covered in blisters.
He'd
burnt the socks right off his feet.
And had
to wear his sister's
I suppose it is not really funny
at all. As you say, it was based on a historical event. Whether or not the
young Giocante Cassabianca (only 12 years old), actually sacrificed himself as
the poem claims, it's certain that both the boy and his father, Commodore
Cassabianca, were killed on the French flagship, L'Orient. It had caught fire,
and, when the flames reached the powder kegs, it exploded.
Kumar: You get much more
from the arts and literature when you research the origins, as you did Speedy
with Danno Budunge.
Speedy: Indeed Kumar. I
learnt such a lot when I did my research on DB.
Kumar: The other poem I
recall with fondness is The Highwayman.
Even the most recalcitrant rascals of our class could not help being seduced by
this Alfred Noyes poem. The brilliant opening lines are unforgettable.
The wind
was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees
The moon
was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas
The road
was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor
And the
highwayman came riding -
Riding-riding
The
highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.
Reading these lines even after
all these decades makes one’s spine tingle.
Speedy: I read a summary of
this (does not capture the spirit of the poem like the original which of course
is a masterpiece). It goes like this.
The highwayman is visiting his
girlfriend Bess at her father's inn. He's on the move as he is always robbing
and moving on. He only has time for one
kiss and leaves promising that he'll be back by the next night at the latest.
But the next evening, it’s not the highwayman, who shows up but some British
soldiers. They drink a lot of beer, tie up Bess, and then they wait at the
windows to shoot the highwayman on his return. Bess is tied up with a gun at
her chest, and she wriggles around until she gets her finger on the trigger.
Then, when she hears the highwayman's horse, she fires the gun, and gives her
life to warn him about the ambush. The highwayman tries to get away, but he
gets mowed down by the soldiers in the middle of the road, and dies in a pool of
blood. On certain winter nights, his ghost still rides down the highway to meet
Bess.
Kumar: Sad isn’t it, and
brave.
Speedy: True love with no
strings attached!
Kumar: The next one I like
to share is The Tyger by William
Blake.
Speedy: I must confess that I
am not familiar with The Tyger at all. I
recognise William Blake for one of the most moving hymns I have heard,
“Jerusalem”.
Kumar: Jerusalem is probably
better known by many and you are not alone in that Speedy, but The Tyger was
relished by the boys more for its parody on our headmaster than the beauty of
its words.
Tyger Tyger,
burning bright,
In the
forests of the night.
Becomes:
Tyger Tyger
burning bright
Barneyge p- - --
dynamite !!!
Speedy: Super! Boys will be
boys as they say! Any more Kumar? This has been so interesting.
Kumar: Another perennial
favourite was Leigh Hunt’s Abou Ben
Adhem who awoke from a deep dream of peace (like some of my mates to whom
poetry was anathema)! Its underlying message “Loving one’s fellowmen was more
virtuous than loving the Almighty himself” was perhaps superfluous to us; we
boys got along companionably with each other and also with most teachers with
no thought of class, creed or race.
Speedy: Kumar, our dialogue
has been so interesting! I just didn’t feel the time going. Thank you so much
and I have no doubts whatsoever that our readers will savour this and recall
their own literary experiences. In conclusion, let me quote my favourite
author, Pelham Granville Wodehouse “There is no surer foundation for a beautiful
friendship than a mutual taste in literature.”
Dr Kumar
R.W Gunawardane,
Cardiologist and much valued 1962 Colleague, thank you very much
.
Kumar: Thank you Speedy. I
have a lot more anecdotes, but like Scheherazade, I will keep them for another occasion!
