wordsmith Sandun Lakmal says it’s difficult to enforce copyright because what we have picked up as language is what we have heard or seen somewhere and hence not ours
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| Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe |
The number of Internet users as a percentage of the country’s population is small. The term ‘blog’, which comes along with the internet, is still new to many of us. Those who don’t know, the term blog or blogging are used to refer to the action that is performed by a person when they make a post to a web log or a blog. A blog is a journal, diary or a personal website on the internet and updated frequently by a person. Maybe this group doesn’t include the older generation because usage calls for too much technology.
Some predict that the digital revolution would affect the book trade and defeat the print industry soon. Yet, Sandun Lakmal, a young Sinhala blogger, who was capable of leaving his mark among the Sinhala blog community, doesn’t agree with this claim. “Some think that the books will disappear one day and it will be all about digital products. That fear is futile since there will always be people who love the smell of a new book and will be incapable of leaving it behind. Just like there are people who cannot leave their folks,” he told The Nation.
Sandun’s path towards blogging was created accidentally. “I used to write poetry to tease a tuition master pretending to be a girl. Then I tried to match four lines of a verse to catch a girl,” he said. Sandun had never attempted to get his poems published. “I think I wrote a poem to a newspaper when I was a kid. It didn’t even get published. When I got hold of internet I started to post random stuff there. During the free hours of my nightshifts, I started posting what I wrote on the Sinhalaya forum. Then moved to Boondi.lk and from there into blogging,” he explained. “Everyone who started writing on the net at that time, started with forums. Blogging and facebook came next,” he recalled.
Sandun Lakmal, employed at a private advertising agency as a Sinhala copywriter, started his blog ‘Nikamata wage’ (for no reason at all) about five years ago. The number of posts he has made so far is more than enough if he wanted to get a poetry collection printed. Yet he said that he’d stick to blogging since printing and publishing a poetry collection demands enormous cost.
Poetry posted in his blog comes under the tag of ‘Kavi wennathi’ (Maybe these are poems)” He was not sure whether they fall under the category of real poems since he had not studied about writing poetry. His blog, www.nikamatawage.blogspot.com carries tiny poems which some call ‘headline poetry’. “I don’t like to read lengthy stories. I don’t want to write either. I expand words to paragraphs for my job and I don’t want to do the same thing in my blog. I try to tell what I want to tell in six or seven lines,” he said. “If I could tell it in two three lines why waste words?” he raised a question.
He is aware that whatever he writes for no reason at all is giving the reader a reason to think. “People can perceive things in different ways. It should be that way too. Sometimes people derive deeper meanings out of my posts. However, I think it’s better to define it myself,” he opined.
Sandun’s poems are often ridiculously funny and satirical. He develops his identity from a mocking signature line which he puts at the end of each poem. Once he is a key cutter and then he tries to discoverer a new way to frame women. He has also abandoned the act of pouring from bottle to glass. At one time he is Sandun who throws stones at a lake and then he is Sandun who throws stones at stray dogs.
“I use these signatures because I think it is nice. Apart from that there is no reason for that too. Unknowingly it became my identity and a trend. So far I’m not aware of anyone who writes like this. But I know that there are people who attempt to imitate,” he reflected.
He doesn’t believe that a writer can have copyrights for what he writes. According to him, a creative writer or a poet doesn’t own work. “There are no such thing as copyrights for what I write. What we write is always something we see somewhere, read somewhere or hear somewhere. How can we own those just because we wrote it down?” he queried.
“Therefore I think I won’t even publish a book. I don’t want to own anything. When I post my writing on the internet, I don’t even know where that would end up. Also I don’t care,” he continued.
Speaking about author’s rights, he explained one of his experiences. “Once a guy contacted me and apologized saying that he used to send my poems changing the name to a girlfriend. He hasn’t even copied my poems from my profiles; he has got it from somewhere else. That was fun. At least someone used it to get his work done,” he recalled.
“I am aware that there are people who just erase my name, add their ones and use it. They do that because they like it, don’t they? I take it as an appreciation to my work,” he added.
Other than the unique signature, another prominent feature in his blog is the photographs he uses. Almost all his poetry is connected to a picture. “I don’t know how I got used to this. I thought it would be nice to put a picture relevant to the poem. Earlier I used to surf the net to get these pictures, but now I use the pictures taken by the photographers I know. It’s an admiration for them also since I mention their names,” he said.
Those who are familiar with the blogs would have noticed that they are built around communities. “Internet is a wonderful place. Even though we thought that people would end up sitting in one place staring at a computer, it became a place where people could meet. People from faraway became close friends in the internet, through blogging,” he pointed out. “There are a few people who sit in one place and stare at the computer screen, but the majority fall into the category I mentioned. I also met a few fabulous friends through the net and through blogging. We used to organize wonderful events together,” he said while explaining the small rewards associated with becoming an online personality.
He also spoke how the interaction of the bloggers and readers provides motivation for a writer. “Some internet writers press the like button and make a number of comments. I was also motivated from the comments and likes I get. Even today I’d like if someone makes a sensible comment seeing my work from a different angle,” he admitted. “But most of the comments you see in blogs are ‘Niyamai, Patta, maru, ela, andenawa’,” he described.
According to him, a blog is a free place where anyone can write anything. There are people writing about their daily routine from the time they get up or a stone they accidentally stepped on. Sandun’s explanation justifies their writing. “There are people who read those kinds of posts and give positive comments. People have different tastes. They see different aspects of things. For an instance one might see the bad music of a song where another might see the depth in the words of that song,” he explained. “Also there are extraordinary talents shown on blogs where they either didn’t want to go into print media or were rejected from the newspapers and publishers. They all can publish whatever they want in their blogs,” he opined.
He also said that a blog is a place where people should perform new experiments. “Once a few people got together and tried to write one story, which was not successful. And there was this existing concept of writing a story using 100 words. Likewise people could try new methods of writing. These attempts matters,” he stressed. “Without limiting the posts to just words, a writer could use music, pictures or videos in a blog post,” he added.
This ultimate freedom in blogging could be used in a negative way as well. It could be used to promote violence, hatred or socially unacceptable things. According to Sandun Lakmal people always have a choice and can avoid those blogs. “Read what you want to read. Nobody tries to hold your head and make you read by force. If you don’t like it, just close it. It’s a single click,” he stressed. “There is an issue when we think about the age limits, but I think it’s where parents should be cautious,” he added.
Another thing a blog reader should keep in their mind is that, the blogger has no responsibility toward his readership. Unlike in a book or a newspaper, blog writers can abandon their blogs whenever they wish. There is always a chance, that a blogger would stop continuing his posts without notice, just like Sandun Lakmal did when he wrote his story ‘Obama Namak Thiyanna’ (You can name it). “I was conducting an experiment and it was successful. Then I lost the enthusiasm in writing that story,” he said highlighting the fact that he had ignored his responsibility.
*Adapted
to English by Malinda Seneviratne
For a long, long time
from each and every fish
that strayed into
was caught in this net
I queried: 'Did you see?'
that's all.
I am Sandun, who sells to the
fishmonger those who will not answer.
I loved you.
When you were sated
with the overflowing red
of my love
I rejoiced,
was overjoyed.
Then you left,
without a word,
and as recompense
for my red, red love,
you left with me
a token:
Dengue!
I am Sandun, who ever since then lights
Mortein.
A dried leaf
came floating in the wind,
blew against me,
and blew away
from me.
Stubborn wind
twisted around my tail,
tickled my mind
and left me
abandoned.
In a fit of anger
I
snapped
at a
fly.
The wind intervened
saved the fly.
My jaws came together
teeth on teeth
I felt shy.
Who are you?
From where do you come?
From where do you come?
When will you arrive?
Since I know nothing,
I close my eyes.
Perhaps I will dream.
I am Sandun who threw a stone at a
stray dog.
The rose is tender
fragrant are the tender petals
and so you love the flower
all of you
and have no eyes
for the thorn that comes
with flower
for no extra price
which prick finger
draws out curse;
listen to this
for a change:
love rose, but
love the thorn too,
read this poem!
The wine that was poured
took the shape of the glass
and yet
there was no difference in taste.
And though I
when entering her
did not take her shape
a singular taste-difference
did I perceive.
Since I cannot
re-mould you
in the image of my preference,
I let you be
as you are;
I just photographed you
and framed you
in the dimensions
of my preference.
'I am Sandun, discoverer of a new way
to frame women'.
Picture 6
I was indisposed
extremely ill.
Drop
by drop
by drop
by drop
you entered
my heart.
Drop
by drop
by drop
by drop
my heart
she left.
Signature: I am Sandun, totally cured
now.
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