Playing the watchdog’s role

Cartoonist Thalangama Jayasinghage says cartoonists must use satire to drive home the message that politicians are being watched and an artist has a responsibility to guard the Wellbeing of the society

 

Thalangama Jayasinghage’s characters Palamalla and A-Thuma are no strangers to the contemporary Sinhala newspaper readership. Jayasinghe, who is attuned to what’s happening in the country, even after his retirement decades ago, continues to alert people on the political as well as the social situation of the country through his cartoon column daily. Last week, he launched his two new cartoon collections, Palamalla and A-Thuma. So far, he has created over 70 cartoon stories for newspapers including Silumina, Dinamina, Janatha, Sarasaviya and Tharuni. He drew his first cartoon story Chithra for Dinamina in 1954 and joined the Dinamina editorial in 1957. He worked as the editor of the Madura newspaper from 1980 to 1998. Jayasinghe is not only a cartoonist and a painter, but also a poet, a novelist and a short story writer. The script of the famous Sinhala film Sapta Kanya was also written by this artiste of many talents.

Jayasinghe is one of the most elderly veterans among the Sri Lankan artists. Although he is in his late 70s, he still actively participates in the field as a freelance cartoonist and writes poems for Lanka Witthi newspaper; a London based Sinhala newspaper. “Only a very few artists can tell you about the situation of Sri Lanka during World War II. I am one of them,” he reminisced. Born on July 5, 1936, Jayasinghe was the youngest child in the Thalangama South Buddhist Mixed School, when he got admission for his formal education. “We lived in Battaramulla during my childhood. Our home was located right in front of Isurupaya; the Ministry of Education,” he said. “The period of World War II was hard for everyone. It was a time when people were forced to eat Bajiri, not many today can speak about the experiences during that era,” he added.

He recollected how he became enthusiastic about learning how to draw. “We didn’t have any Art teacher at school. All the subjects were taught by the class teacher in the primary classes. We used to call her Guruthumi and one day she asked us to draw a water pot,” he recalled an incident from his third grade class. “We all drew and she checked all the books, one by one. When she saw mine, she lifted the book, so everyone in the classroom could see and said, ‘See this water pot of Jayasinghe’s,’ and laughed. What I had drawn was not a water pot, but a pot we use for cooking.” Little Jayasinghe was embarrassed, but he longed to learn art skills from his friend, Ariyadasa. After the class, Ariyadasa showed him the differences between the two types of pots and showed him how to draw. “He was my first art guru,” reminisced Jayasinghe.

Ariyadasa was older than he, although they were in the same class. He had owned a book full of tattoo designs and had copied them on to his friends’ arms and back, using a carbon pencil, so they could imitate the village rascals. “I also used to get him to draw tattoos on me. Watching him draw boosted my interest to learn how to draw,” he said.  He also recalled how art master Samaranayake who joined his school when he was in grade seven, helped him to improve his skills.

“We didn’t have much color printed pictures to see during the early 1940s. Samanarayake master used to bring me pictures and show how the colors were used and how those paintings were drawn.” It was Samanarayake master who identified his talent and encouraged him to draw more.

Jayasinghe passed his Senior School Certificate (SSC) Examination when he was just 14 and joined the School of Art, Now a department of the Visual and Performing Arts University, in 1951. “I believe I was capable of passing the exam at once at a young age because of my father’s influence. He was an educated man who’s Sinhala and English were of high standard,” he recounted how he loved to listen to his father reading out from books he maintained at his small private library. “Although he was educated, my mother couldn’t read. My father used to read out novels, so all of us could hear. He had books from WA Silva to Piyadasa Sirisena in his private collection.” He also said that he used to enjoy the Mudalali cartoon series published in Dinamina Newspaper which his father used to buy as a habit.

Jayasinghe had to leave the School of Arts prematurely following his father’s sudden death. As he was the eldest in the family, he was automatically held responsible for his family’s wellbeing. Therefore he joined an advertising agency in 1955. “My first salary was 125 rupees,” he laughed. By 1957 he had become an Art Director at another advertising agency. “By this time I’ve being earning 350 rupees per month. Although it was a good financial situation during this period, I wasn’t satisfied with the job. This is when Lake House published a paper advertisement asking for artists. I applied for it with much enthusiasm,” he recalled.

Although there were more than 60 applicants, he was selected for the post, making his wish come true. “Mr. Denzil Peiris recognized my talent. I received a telegram, on the same day I went for the second interview, for which 10 of the selected people were called up,” he said. Although his salary went down from 350 rupees to 250 rupees again, he agreed to start working for Lake House. Although he was fond of the job at the newspaper, he became stressed with the financial limitations and his enthusiasm waned. He became lethargic that his editor Denzil Peiris noticed his lack of enthusiasm.

“One day he called me into his office and challenged me to leave, saying that I am not pulling my weight. I explained to him how hard it was for me to adjust to the salary. He knew what I was going through and told me to be patient. Within a year my salary was doubled,” he said.

Although his main responsibilities were performed as an artist, he also worked as a journalist. He mentioned how independent the journalists were during this era and how it had a positive influence on the quality of work. “People in the newspaper industry were more humane back then. They knew how they should treat employees, Mr. Denzil Peiries is just one such example.” He pointed out that this freedom does not exist in the present context of the industry. “Today it’s all about meeting deadlines and minimizing the expenditure. Human feelings and compassion don’t count,” he lamented.

In addition he spoke about the responsibilities of a political cartoonist. “He should always keep in mind the wellbeing of the society. When the message is given through satire people grasp it quickly and they grasp it well,” he iterated. “The cartoonist should be bold enough to identify the strongest point and be creative with it to pass the message,” he said. He took an example from his own carrier.

“In the 1950s my political ideologies were different from the government of that period. People were financially oppressed. Goods were not available in the market even for those who had money. We went through a lot of hassle even to get one packet of milk powder for the kids. Yet, I couldn’t portray this frustration on a Lake House newspaper as it was a government newspaper,” he explained. He chose to portray his frustration in the Siyarata newspaper published by the United National Party under a different pen name. “Those cartoons were very strong and voiced the true concerns of a frustrated father as well as a citizen. I knew that it was working because of the unexpected responses I received,” he added.

He mentioned how surprised he was at getting complimented by the Manager of the Maharagama Sarasavi Book Shop. “He didn’t know that I am the cartoonist. I was just going through some other newspapers. He came to me and told me to buy Siyarata saying, ‘You have to see this newspaper, if you want to see the best cartoon.’ I was happy,” he said.

He further mentioned that the cartoonists weren’t appreciated until recently. “I believe we should be thanking Mr. Bandula Padmakumara for starting to readout the political cartoons on his morning show. Before that the cartoonists weren’t given due recognition,” he pointed out. Jayasinghe believes that other media establishments have also taken the responsibility in highlighting the cartoonist. “People eagerly await the cartoons now. They have started to recognize the power of cartoons,” he reiterated.