The creator of ‘Handa Mama’ reminisces

Creator of Handa Mama, a popular children's program, first broadcast on December 14, 1963 by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Ms. Sumana Jayathilaka speaks of her journey with the program over five decades and her experiences in the field of communications and media.

“I was involved with Handa Mama from the inception. The commercial service (Welanda Sevaya) of the SLBC was very popular at the beginning of the sixties, but the absence of a special program for children was quite apparent. Director of the Commercial Services, Livy R Wijemanne realized this need and I was invited to come up with a script for a new children's program,” Ms. Sumana Jayathilaka said, explaining her involvement with Handa Mama. 

Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe

“The producer for the program was Mr. KAW Perera and he proposed the name Handa Mama. Handa (Moon) is an object children love and which, in song and story, would bring them curd and honey. The the address ‘Mama’ (uncle) scripted in a sense of familiarity and comfort.”

This was also the program which introduced the terms Mama and Nanda (uncle and aunty) in addressing children through radio, a practice later picked up television as well.  The theme song for the program ‘Lowa gananduru durukaranna’ (to dispel the darkness of the world), was also written by Ms.Jayathilaka.  Milton Perera voiced the song to the music of PLA Somapala.

Since the program’s first broadcast, many presenters including Ariyasena Millawithanachchi, Gunatunga K Liyanage, KS Wickremaratne, Lambert Pemawadu, Mangala Premadasa and Jude Ivon supported her in the studio. The program focused on developing the creative skills of the child. Prashna Pituva (Question Page) for example was a questionnaire designed to improve their general knowledge.  Vakya Pituva (Language Page) offered a part of either a story or a poem with the children required to complete it, thereby helping them improve their language skills. Chithra Pituva (Drawing Page) asked them to draw a picture based on a story she would relate.

“I wanted feedback from the children to know whether they like the program and understand what was said. That is why for the first time in Sri Lankan radio children were encouraged to draw a picture based on a story narrated in the program,” she explained.  

Last year, a series of activities and seminars were held for children celebrating the fifty year anniversary of Handa Mama.As the proud owner of the program Ms. Jayathilaka mentioned that today the program has grown into a service which secures foreign scholarships to local children.

Children

She observed that the children’s programs aired by private radio channels were satisfactory, overall but expressed concerns about commercialization and even the abuse of children.

“There are some programs which mislead the child. I think the child must not be used to earn money. I have noticed that some channels give more priority to money than to the child. The child is been used in this money oriented media world.”

She confessed that she had not had any special interest in children’s programs at the beginning.  “That started only with Handa Mama. Before that I worked as an artiste in various spheres including radio dramas, stage dramas and announcing. I wasn’t a full time employee of SLBC until my children were able to work on their own,” she said.

She was educated at the now defunct Musaeus Training College and it was her voice and personality that got the doors of the SLBC opened for her. "I had won many 'Jana Kavi Gaayana' (Folk Song) competitions at school and at the all-island level. Mr. KG Perera, one of the many qualified lecturers of the Musaeus Training College who had great knowledge of language and literature wanted a talented girl for a program. Mr. Perera was also conducting radio educational programs and he got me to take part.’

She voiced the character of Tess in a Sinhala adaptation of Tess of the d'urbervilles. She also took part in stage dramas including Elowa gihin mellow aawa, Pabawathi, Hasthikaantha Manthare, Maname, Kundala Keshi,Sanda Kinduru and Muudu Puththu.

“I should not forget my Sunday Dharma School,” she added. “That is where I lost my stage fear and shyness. Mr. Wilson Hegoda, who was a teacher at my Sunday Dharma School, sent me to the classes of Mr. Edwin Kottegoda. There I got the opportunity to master Jana Gayana (folk singing) and pronunciation that I believe this helped me win Gold and Silver medals in the YMBA competitions. Later it made me a first grade poetry reciter at the SLBC,” she recollected.

She also writes for children. Apart from the scripts she writes for the radio programs, she has written story books based on these scripts. According to her there is a shortage of good story books for children. “Today’s children don’t know how to tell stories; in fact their parents don’t know how to tell them stories. So there is a need good story books as goods stories are essential to build up a child’s personality,” she said.

K Jayathilaka

This extraordinary voice personality SumanaJayathilaka’s professional work got a boost due to her husband, the literary legend K Jayathilaka.

“He was my husband, friend, brother who gave me fatherly love and he was my only instructor. His influence tempered my life. He tried to develop an exemplary life even among our family members,” she said. According to her K Jayathilaka began writing only after they got married.

‘I tried not to disturb his work. If I did that would be a great sin. So I tried to support him to the best of my ability. He was busy but he never abandoned his duties to the family, especially when it came to our children’s education,” she said with gratitude. 

She is also an eyewitness to the companionship of K Jayathilaka and Mahagama Sekara which resulted in enriching Sinhala literature with books like Viyanga.

‘Mahagamasekara and Jayathilaka were children of relatives from neighboring villages. Sekara used to visit him often to discuss about their writing. Jayathilaka always encouraged Sekara either to publish his work or send them to newspapers,” she said.  “Amaradeva was also a part of this. When all of them got together, great ideas and creations ensued.’

Jayathilaka and Sekara are no more.  Sumana Jayathilaka said that it would not be easy to fill that loss in the Sinhala Literary field. “That is no easy task but it is not impossible either. But today who will appreciate such commitment. There are people like AV Suraweera and Tissa Kariyawasam who has committed their lives but there is no one to appreciate them,” she lamented. “An award once a year wouldn’t help them or their creations,” she added.

She criticized the Sinhala literature syllabus in the country. According to her children were able to get a vast knowledge of the writer or the book when they were asked to study the complete books.  Now the syllabus promotes chunks of literature and children are taught only parts of great literature.  The child does not have the time or money to buy the originals.

‘Earlier teachers were also committed to teaching and there was no such thing as tuition. Attending tuition was prohibited. Today it’s all about running for tuition,’ she said.

She believes the government also has a responsibility towards curbing the tuition mania and reenergizing the school curriculum.

‘Parents should also be vigilant. They should know what their children are capable of. Children can’t perform magic and the parents should understand this.’ She was speaking from knowledge obtained over half a century of work with children.

Community Village

She also spoke about the senior artistes who once rendered a great service to the country and are now neglected by society as well as the government. She believes that a community village system might be a good idea to explore in supporting them. ‘I have seen the success of this system. This would be a better alternative for elderly homes and for people who are left alone at houses after their children grow up and leave them,’ she opined.

In summary the community village operates from the pension salaries. People who receive government pensions can use this money, people who were employed in private companies  on a payment system of their own and people who don’t have any income with the support of the government should be located in community villages which would of course include facilities like libraries, small hospitals and shops. The houses would be built close to one another so that elderly persons will not be alone and will be able to engage in activities with people of the same age. I am writing a proposal on this subject which I want to submit to the Government.

Program Presenting

One of the most significant criticisms of present day presenters, especially in privately-owned stations is that they fail to maintain the quality of the language or the facts they speak. Ms. Jayathilaka points out that this new generation of presenters is weak because people just don’t update themselves as the earlier generation used to do

‘They must read. I still read whenever I can as a habit. They should also listen to the literates. I remember listening to Rev. Kalukondayawe Pagnasekarathera. Each time we listen to his lectures we learn two or three new words,” she iterated. “Talking like parrots won’t do,” she said.

She also stressed that media is not only a medium of entertainment as some people mistakenly believe. Presenters should be careful of what they say, she believes.

‘They cannot talk in front of the microphone as though there are two people talking to each other inside a private room. Look at all the soppy meaningless things some presenters talk about.  It’s all drama with cheap private jokes. This cannot take society forward, it can only cause more harm.’

Further elaborating on the issue of contemporary presenting, she lamented the language use.  ‘Our society was far more civilized than this. Our society had better cultural, social and religious values than this. Sometimes I worry whether all these are some kind of a conspiracy to destroy our culture,” she reiterated.

She also spoke how they were monitored and penalized for mistakes. The SLBC authorities were strict on this as there were penalties introduced to eliminate the mistakes in the next turn. ‘There is no such thing as discipline today. The Ministry of Mass Media and the government cannot neglect their responsibility on this. They can’t let these people do whatever just for the sake of earning money. There is something called discipline and there should be laws and regulations to stop this action destroying our language and culture,” she pointed out.

A woman’s role

She also mentioned how hard it is for a woman to succeed in the field of media. ‘That is no easy task. The woman should always think about her culture, religion and the family before anything else. There are many chances that they could be misled and their morals challenged. A girl should be self-confident to reject temporary satisfaction and she should be able to control her feelings wisely,’ she advised. “Where are all those actresses and singers mushroomed with all these reality shows? Some were very talented but there is no moving forward without. We try to speak about cultural values everyday, but I am not sure whether it’s working. Women are not even bothered about keeping their status at all,” she added.

Ms. Jayathilaka held the media responsible for this attitudinal change in the woman. “The teledramas taught them all this evil. Television taught them not to be ashamed. What can we do if the authorizes are allowing them?,” she asked.