Stripping the veil that hides truths in life

Author of Magam Soliya and Lovina Mohan Raj Madawala has earned the wrath of literary critics who opine that his books should not be left lying where children are present

Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe

Many criticize Mohan Raj Madawala’s novels by saying his stories are pornographic. Some say his ideas are too radical whilst some opine that his novels offer a glimmer of hope for contemporary Sinhala Literature. “In fact some say Magam Soliya should not be taken to home where children could get hold of it,” Mohan Raj Madawala recalled one of the responses he received for his maiden novel while speaking to The Nation.
“This could be true, I’m not denying it. I don’t mind it either. But I’m not writing books for children,” he added.

Mohan Raj Madawala, best known as a radio and television personality, started his media career at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. He was the first announcer of the Lakhanda radio when it commenced transmission. “Becoming a presenter was unplanned. The writer in me is older than that. My first short story collection Bodilima was published in 1994 which I started writing while I was an undergraduate at the Colombo University. This was my first step towards Sinhala literature. In 2002, I launched the second short story collection Mama, Mama saha Mama,” he described the road he has traveled on.
 He spoke with a lot fondness of his literary work before venturing into media. “I realized that media is keeping me away from my literary work. That is why I thought of taking a hiatus from media to devote time solely for writing. I was bored doing the same things again and again for more than 15 years in the media field,” he said.

 “I’d like to do something different in the field I work,” he continued. “Also the concept in my life is change. I don’t want to repeat what’s done in the past. Why should I continue with the same things?” he posed a question in the form of a response. “I believe that people need a change and they always seek changes, just as I do,” he opined.

Awards and appreciations are always precious for the writer. Yet, just like the majority of authors, he too doesn’t write with expectations of receiving an award.  “Honestly, being considered for an award or being awarded is a reason to be proud. But if I were aiming for an award, I should not have written the book in a way I could fall into trouble and or get scolded. A book would win an award, only if it could fall into the considered criteria,” he revealed. Madawala said that self gratification is the result he is expecting from his own work. “Most of the novels I read didn’t give me what I wanted to feel. Every book is similar to one another and these stereotypes made me feel exhausted,” he confessed.

Magic realism, which Madawala used in both his novels, is a literary genre where magic elements are an ordinary part in the realistic environment. Western writers like Kundera, Fuentes and García Márquez lead the way to magic realism in the modern literature. “They all are influenced by their culture and folklore. But our Jaathaka Katha and folk stories are richer than that. My intention was to mix magic realism with our own stories,” he explained. “I read our stories more greedily than western literature. If anyone asks me about my favorite author I would not hesitate to say that it is Dharmasena Hamuduruwo who authored Saddharma Ratnavali. I have never come across such talent in the Western literature,” he opined.
According to him, these beliefs and credos, which one may call myths, were connected with life from that era. “The modern logical theories might not be able to explain them, yet no one can abandon it. Responses received tell me that I have succeeded in giving what they wanted, therefore I am satisfied,” he added.  

As he said all these influence Mohan Raj Madawala to write Magam Soliya and Lovina. Magam Soliya is a surreal fiction, filled with black magic, occult and supernatural events and its woven around Uva Wellasa uprising during the 1800s. Madawala has researched about these myths through old literary work and folk lore by reading and talking to people from that background.  

 According to him, even the medicine prescriptions mentioned in Lovina are real. This he found out during his research. “People may get similar results if they try. I don’t for sure, but I guarantee the prescriptions are real,” he mocked at the idea.
When Punna gets a terrible stomach pain disgusted by the white skin of the Pedro Gaskon, Vedha Raala orders her parents to let her inhale the smoke of few herbals including dry chilies, pepper and lemon leaves. Her stomach ache disappears when she tries the medicine. Later when she was abandoned in the harem of Sri Veeraparakrama Narendrasinghe, she meets Daskon Adhikaaram (then Pedro Gaskon) again. Her stomach ache returned making her seek relief through the old prescription. The medicine Vedha Raala prescribed to her had the power to bring a person who is not physically available there into existence, where she could have an intimate relationship with Daskon Adhikaaram.

His novels are enormously open about the human sexuality. “There shouldn’t be any taboo to talk of sexuality. It’s a part of everyone’s life. Our existence depends on that. The day sexuality is eliminated from lives, I’ll stop including it in my stories,” he defended himself. In addition he said that he had always refrained from including sex when it is unnecessary. “I didn’t try to describe the activities. The distance a reader travels depends on the extent he or she knows,” he responded to critics who labeled his novels as pornography or sex stories.

He also recalled the reported incident which said Sri Lanka is the country with most number of Google searches about sex. “Most of them should be kids. This happens because our civilization made us hide things. If I am to Google sex, I have to do it without letting the others knowing about it. It is embarrassing if another person finds out,” Madawala pointed out. “Yet a Westerner would not have this problem. He won’t be humiliated when another one gets to know,” he added.
According to Mohan Raj Madawala, talking about sexuality should not be taboo. “Hiding information is what’s making our children seek information the wrong way. I think when a child turns 13 his or her sexual education should begin. But this subject in our school curriculum is not effective. If it was taught properly, children would not want become this curious,” he stressed.
According to him, Sri Lanka’s teachers are uncomfortable teaching the subject. In fact if a student discusses sex in a classroom, the principal would throw him out. “These students have no option, but to Google it through their mobile phones. This issue will be solved when we stop hiding the truth about sex. This comes with an attitude change,” he opined.

Another detail which disturbed the readership of Magam Soliya was when Punchi Raala took his daughter Valli away as a spouse. Many disapproved the author for including such an incident. “It is nothing new for a person who reads a newspaper. There are more than enough similar stories reported as news. But it became a shock when this appeared in a novel,” he described.
“How can I explain the tragedy in the story without mentioning that event,” he pointed out. The plot in the story is developed based on this incident where Gomari – Valli’s mother becomes a live corpse and Valli obtains magical powers to predict the future with the help of her mother’s soul.

Critics opine his work is radical. According to him his books are labeled ‘radical’ because of the current Sinhala Buddhist concept. “This concept is not the original Sinhala Buddhist concept,” he exclaimed. “The original Sinhala Buddhists existed before 1800s. Those Sinhala Buddhists were the people who had the custom of Eka gei kama (Joint family system of brothers). Then rulers of this Sinhala Buddhist country had harems full of concubines. No Buddhist challenged them.  It is nothing extraordinary,” he iterated. “Which means that the original Sinhala Buddhist culture is open, transparent, honest as well as frank,” he explained.

Madawala speaks about the discrimination towards woman in both his novels. Abiththa unnanse in Magam Soliya comes forward to help Sobani at the time she was insulted when her child dies at child birth. Her in-laws were disrespectful. When her husband dies she was left with no opportunities to earn her respect back by giving birth to another child. Hence Sobani was helpless and had to obtain help from Abiththa unnannse.
“Mama kaalakanni gaaniyek nemei kiyala gamata oppu karanna mang mage badin daruwek wadanna one……oya aththata puluwanda mata eka oppu karanda udaw karanda...” (If I am to prove that I am not a miserable woman, I will have to give birth to another child...Can you help me prove that...) However with the help of Abiththa Unnanse she mothers a boy and a girl with special abilities.  

The plight of a woman is similar in Lovina. “Punni had to remove her clothes in front of King Narendrasinghe as Lovina had to do in front of Governor Thomas Maitland. Both these proves the agony of those women,” he lamented.  In the author’s eye, Pramila is also a similar character. When Pramila meets Punni she describes how she was brought down to Ceylon from India and positioned a consort and then how she also became just another woman in the king’s harem.  She tells Punni that women are not born for themselves, but to act upon their responsibilities towards men.

“Gaanu ipadila inne gaanu wenuwen nomeyi, pirimi wenuwen yuthukam ishta karanda…”
He also shows his concerns for the caste discrimination through Lovina. “Caste discrimination was the canvas I used to pen the story on. Ordinary women in that society were victimized. Imagine the situation of a Rodi woman,” he posed as question.
When Lovina refuses to meet the governor, Pinchi (Lovina’s mother) tries to explain to her how insignificant they are to the society and how great it would be to become a mistress of such powerful man.  

“Yako… me rate anik ganu ekka baladdi api ganuda… api apitawath wadak nathi saththu… ithin ehew api, e wage thejawantha minihekge hora gaaniyek unath mokada…”
He uses his language skills to explain this differentiation of the castes. Head of the Rodi group was shocked when Governor Maitland grants them permission to work or cultivate on their own. He tells the soldier who conveys the message that they are scared to do anything as they could get accused of such doings from the high castes or the King.

“deyyo buduwanda dei hamuduruwane… tharaha awasara me rodiya kiyana kathawata… oya kiwwa piliwalata wada karanda giyothin apata kanda udarata rajjuruwangen hari ape kulawath aththangen hari soli watunoth mokada karanne…”
Madawala continues to describe the immense fear they have toward men of the higher castes. Once speaking to Lovina, Punni says that: “… api kaatawath wadak nathi pajathi minissu… loku kalu gal wala oluwa gahaganna puluwanda apita…” (We are disgusting useless people to everyone, we can’t knock our heads on big black rocks)

Both his novels are based on historical events. Some accused him of trying to alter historical events. “Historical stories depend on a person’s personal point of view. For example Dr. Mendis Rohanadeera and Dr. Senarath Paranavithanana, the co-existent historians saw the same incident from a different perspective. Likewise this is my point of view,” he exemplified.

In Lovina, he gives a different interpretation to the Daskon-Pramila love story. Madawala doesn’t believe that Pramila who came to Ceylon from India was capable of writing poems for Daskon in Sinhala. “Daskon was thorough with Sinhala. But I don’t believe that Pramila could learn Sinhala to an extent where she could write poetry in such a short period of time. That is why I gave that responsibility to Punni,” he said.

In the commonly known story of Maitland and Lovina that the Sir Thomas Maitland mansion, now the Mt. Lavinia hotel, served as a secret meeting place for Sir Maitland and his lady love, Lovina. For seven years Lovina flitted through a tunnel which had its opening in a well in her garden and ended in the wine cellar of the Governor’s house. “Some say when the governor left the country Lovina ended her life. Some say she went missing. However I tried to give my own interpretation to their story. It is hard to believe that young Lovina loved this middle aged governor,” he mentioned.
 “I know, there is criticism about my work and there will be criticism in the future. It doesn’t matter. I will write according to my vision and satisfaction and one day people will apprehend it. I won’t turn back and change course,” he concluded.  

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Translations should not : Strain the brain

An interview with Chandana Mendis  

Chandana Mendis

 

 “What does a dentist know about literature? Sorry we cannot publish your book,” is what several publishers said when rejecting his debut translation. He wasn’t discouraged and started to publish his own books. The publishers who rejected him regret their decisions now. “Looking back, that rejection was also a great blessing,” said Chandana Mendis.

Best known for the translations of Sherlock Holmes, the magnificent character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Chandana Mendis is also a novelist as well as a short story writer. His translated short story collection Veena Wadakaya was awarded the best translated book award at the 2013 State Literary Festival. His work was presented with the same award in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and that was for Shreshta Lekakayange Wishishta Keti Katha (Finest short stories of greatest authors), Sonduru Sithuwam, and Muthu Ataya respectively. His novel Nishchala saha Chanchala Depala translated into English by Vijitha Fernando was short listed for the Gratiaen Award.

“I received my primary education from Gonapinuwala Saralankara Vidyalaya and then at Richmond College, Galle. There was an interest for literature building up from that time. But my parents wanted me to study science,” he recalled.

“Our school principal at that time was Mr. Shelton Weerasinghe, an English literate who later became the principle of Wesley College. He had a great interest in art and tried to develop an interest in art in the science students. The person who mostly inspired us on Sinhala and the universal literature was our teacher WS Bandara, a great artist. He established a class library with his own books and encouraged the class to read,” he said as he remembered the people who inspired him.

“Other than that, as science students we didn’t get much of a chance to explore literature and write. In fact during school years I only wrote one article when I was 14 years old, about Anton Chekhov and that was also for a school magazine,” Mendis added.

After the Advanced Level examination Chandana Mendis got selected to the Dental Faculty of Peradeniya University. “When I was at the university also I didn’t have much time to spare for writing or studying literature. In 1970s, when I joined the Colombo dental hospital my chief was Gunadasa Amarasekara, the veteran writer. But our relationship was entirely official and nothing about literature,” he said.

Mendis continued to work in the government dental hospitals for over 10 years before he left the country for a long period. When he returned he opened a private dental clinic where he found time to write. “When I first started a new clinic, patients hardly came in. So I started reading and doing translations during my free time. I used to get stacks of books from the British Council library and read. That is how I got into writing and translating,” he described. He retired from dentistry in 2006 and now he gives all his time for literature.

His debut translation was also a master piece of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; The lost world, which was translated into Sinhala as Sangawunu Lowe Sawariyak. Although there are many translations, Chandana Mendis’ translations of the popular Sherlock Holmes adventure series are popular among the young generation in the country. His dedication towards searching and creating new adventures of Sherlock Holmes is evident by the recorded sales and the enthusiasm of Holmes fans each year at the annual Book Fair.

“I wasn’t the first person to translate Sherlock Holmes into Sinhala. In 1955 Mr. RNH Perera translated The Hound of the Baskervilles into Sinhala as Baskerville Ruduru Baluwa which was also the first translation I ever read. RNH Perera was such an excellent translator that his translations attracted me to the character of Sherlock Holmes as well as inspired me to translate. The sign of four was translated by Mr. MDN Ostin was also there. I also got to read a Nuwana magazine collection from Bandara sir’s class library which included detective short stories like July hatha by WA Silva based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Replacing Holmes and Watson there were two localized characters; Inspector Samarasena and Sergeant Ranathunga. Other than that, the original stories of Sherlock Holmes were not very common among the readers,” he explained.

As mentioned earlier when he first translated The Hound of the Baskervilles, nobody wanted to publish it since he was a stranger to the field. “I published it with the sponsorship of Library and Documentations Services Board. It was a long, time consuming process,” he said. In the meantime KG Karunathilake also published his translation of The hound of the Baskervilles; Baskerville Dada Balla.

Mendis’s Sherlock Holmes translations continued even after the final Sherlock Holmes story of Sir Doyle. After Doyle’s last SH book His Last Bow, translated into Sinhala as Oben Samu Ganimi, Mendis started a new series called ‘The private and confidential files of Sherlock Holmes’. “Most of these stories are translations of stories which other people authored based on the character Conan Doyle built. Some of these are Conan Doyle’s son Adrian Conan Doyle’s. But he was not as skilled as his father. Most stories included in Sherlock Holmes Apasu Ei (Return of SH) are his work,” he iterated.

In the beginning of Sherlock Holmes Apasu Ei, Mendis wrote that he found an old trunk box containing old notes of Dr. Watson when he was in England. “I did not find such a box,” he confessed. “That is where my fiction begins. It is true that I was there in England. Even the people mentioned in the story truly exist. The only thing was that I was not given an old trunk full of Dr. Watson’s notes but got to read lots of stories based on that character. In fact Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson never really existed neither did they live in 221B Baker Street,” he revealed the bitter truth Sherlock Holmes fans still refuse to believe.

He said one reason his translations of Sherlock Holmes was popular could be the language he used in his translations. His language is simple with short sentences which are easy to understand. “I always try to use simple language since my aim is to produce a translation which could be understood by everyone. I read one sentence two or three times before I translate. Rather than translating the complete English sentence into Sinhala, I see what the easily understandable way is for the Sinhala reader,” he explained.

According to Mendis translating something exactly as it is, is not a successful translation method. “In some translated books there are paragraph long sentences. After reading the sentence the reader cannot remember the beginning of the sentence. I object to this completely. The main point is that the reader should understand what he or she is reading. I have seen questions presented to writers asking why their writing is so difficult to understand and they admit it saying ‘yes, it is hard and if you want to understand good things you have to force your brain to grasp it’,” he exclaimed. “I think it should be the other way around. The writer should be capable of conveying his idea without making the reader strain the brain.

He also explained the process of getting permission for translation from the original writer or the proprietor of the book. Even if the author of a particular book has passed away, the proprietorship of the book belongs to his family or the publisher for 70 more years. A book cannot be translated without proprietor’s permission according to international law. After 70 years it becomes something of a common asset. “It is a very important as well as a complex process. I started applying for permission to translate Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn even before I returned to Sri Lanka. Du Maurier had passed away in 1980 and to wait for another 70 years is a long time,” he said.

When he first applied, the proprietors had asked him to pay more than 1,000 pounds to grant permission. “I was not capable of parting with such an amount at that time. I tried again and again and after several attempts they granted me permission for 400 pounds. When I paid that amount through a bank they sent an agreement form. Even then there were many conditions. I could not make any movies based on the book, no television or radio drama. And I can only print the book in paperback,” he explained the process.

“The same goes for Roald Dahl’s short stories. I took permission for each short story I translated for the short story collection Harima Pudumai. Same with the translation of the book The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (Sihinayaka Randi Rahasak), which was also a major movie hit,” he added. Sri Lankan authors have equal rights for their creative work. “I used Martin Wickramesingha’s Madol Doova characters Upali and Jinna in the Abirahas Dupathe Nidanaya. Before publishing that I wrote to the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust to get permission,” he pointed out.

Although there is a law to prevent people from translating or adapting stories of another writer, there are still people who are not aware of this international law. Maybe these are people who simply ignore laws. “Before the publishing process of the translation of the Jamaica Inn, Yakage Nawathena was over; there was a book in the market which claimed that another translation of Jamaica Inn will soon be available to the readers. On one hand it was illegal and in the other it was going to be a huge loss for us since we have already undergone immense trouble to get permission. We immediately contacted the translator as well as the publishing company and informed them about the permission he have with a copy of the agreement. If I were to inform the proprietors they could have taken legal action against him where I wouldn’t even be involved,” he explained his experience.

A common accusation against the translators is that they omit chunks from the original book when they translate. Chandana Mendis admitted that he also has omitted some details from the books he had translated. “There are instances where I had to omit certain information concerning the culture of our country. There could be a single sentence in a huge book which insults a particular religion. For an instance Daphne Du Maurier was a Christian but in some instances she wrote against her religion which I omitted when I translated Jamaica Inn,” he explained. He further said that sometimes those facts are not even relevant to the stories but just the personal ideas and beliefs of the authors and omitting something like that would not harm the story value. “If someone says it is unfair to the original piece there is nothing to be done. I believe that this is the right way. Therefore I am very selective when I choose a book to translate,” he stressed.

He also pointed out that some information in western books is not suitable for Sri Lankan culture. “If you go to a book shop today there are enough books translated into Sinhala directly with all the information unedited,” he said. “If someone is to make a movie out of those stories, it would create a big issue. Many will be marginalized as ‘adults only’. Some stories are not suitable for children at all. No one points out that aspect of it” he argued.

He further said that a translator should be more careful and responsible when they choose a children’s story to translate as the value system of children depend on the messages they derive from books. “I remember when I was translating Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I had to omit a part where Violet Burigard, the little girl who always chews gum, pasted gum on elevator buttons. Imagine a local child taking after her and pasting gum on the elevator buttons at a hospital. A patient’s life may depend on one of these buttons,” the doctor in him spoke.

Mendis also mentioned that a writer should always think about giving the right values to children. “There is no doubt that Roald Dahl is an excellent writer. Children admire his books. But sometimes it is questionable whether the stories are suitable for kids. Some of his books are still banned in some schools in England. The story of Fantastic Mr. Fox or Danny who steals pheasants with his dad which justifies stealing is one such example. It teaches a kid to steal. I have rejected to translate some of these books,” he urged.

He also spoke about the frauds in the field. “The Sherlock Holmes book based on Jekyll and Hyde; Abhirahas Dostara Samaga Sherlock Holmes was not a direct translation. There was an American book call Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes. I initially started translating this book, but it was not satisfying. Therefore I constructed my own version of the story based on these characters. Few months later there was a book on sale named Yaksha Wiyaruwa which claimed to be a translation, but turned out to be the story I wrote. Even the names I made up weren’t changed. We got through to so-called author and later he admitted he copied my book and destroyed all the copies. This is just one example,” he complained.

He also mentioned that the laws regarding this are not strong enough within the country. “There were incidents like this in the past too. Madawala S Ratnayaka’s translation of Robinson Crusoe and KG Karunathilaka’s Dada Balla are just two small incidents. And there is no process to catch these thieves,” he pointed out.

He also said that this is one of the key reasons writers wait for the Book Fair to publish their books. “There is a group who wait till genuine writers get their books out so that they can make fake copies. It’s a huge loss for us. That is why we wait until the book fair even if the book is completed,” he claimed.

In conclusion Mendis said it would be unfair if a translated book is not compared with the original when it is considered for an award. “The jury should be thorough with the English original. Otherwise it would be unfair. Translators might make mistakes, he could change the story, give a different idea or misunderstand the original idea of the story,” he pointed out. “When my books were nominated the judge boards asked for the English copies which I translated. I believe that they went through them before delivering judgment. Yet I doubt that they go through the originals each time,” he said.

Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe

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