Saman Athaudahetti: On choices made and paths un-taken

We usually recognize people by their outer appearances and not by their voices. It is indeed very rare for an entire country to recognize and remember a person’s voice.  A veteran journalist, writer, lyricist as well as a well-known speaker Saman Athaudahetti is gifted with such a voice.  His voice is still remembered and recognized as Gulliver of Gulliverge Suvisariya or as Oshin’s husand Ryuzo even decades after these were first telecasted. This week, in The Notebook of an achiever we feature this great voice-personality, his experiences and the challenges of playing many roles in various fields.

 

Although he is a well-known personality he said that he wasn’t as forward when he was a kid. “I was a very shy kid on stage, very reluctant to get in and perform. My parents often recounted how they bribed me with 10 rupees to sing on stage” he recalled.  “They used to tease me that I was trying to be a professional even then,” Athawudahetti laughed.

His parents had wanted peace and quiet when they got married and decided to live in Ehatuwewa, a small and beautiful village about 10 km from Galgamuwa. Saman was born there.  When he was three years old his father moved to Siyambalagamuwa Maha Vidayala. Therefore little Saman’s first school was also Siyambalagamuwa Maha Vidyalaya. However, when he was in the second grade his parents moved back to Colombo and he entered Royal College, Colombo where he polished his skills. 

“My parents moved back to Colombo thinking about our education. They had got teaching posts at Royal College but they had deferred because they wanted to travel across the country,” he added.

During this period, the Principal of Royal Junior School was H D Sugathapala who encouraged students to be involved in the arts and other cultural activity.

“He loved the arts and during this period school was a place where many great artistes practiced.  Artistes like Sugathapala de Silva, Dayananda Gunawardena, Dhamma Jagoda, Tony Ranasinghe, Nawanandana Weerasinghe used to come there to practice. We were fortunate enough to be in their company and be duly influenced,” he said. These influences encouraged him to take up theater.  In 1968 the school produced a play for a drama festival. In 1968 he won the award for the best actor in the school drama festival.

Noticing these talented kids, veteran broadcaster Prabha Ranatunge invited them to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation for the children’s programs.  “That’s how I joined the Lama Pitiya programs,” he explained.

“I was a relief announcer at SLBC even before I got out from school,” he added.  He remembered the unforgettable experiences received there. “We were able to change the dimensions of children’s radio dramas, educational service as well as the sports service,” he reminisced. In 1978, he was made a permanent employee in the sports service. “Sports programs were unexciting and boring at that time. But we were able to introduce interesting presenting styles to Kreeda Sangrahaya. It was a turning point in the SLBC Sports Service too,” he said.

Jill John and Vandabona in Landesi Dupatha, the two adventurous radio drama characters were created by Athawudahetti and Karunathilake Handuwala and they remain memorable. His first experimental drama script was Rukada Pancha; an adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio. Then they scripted the Landesi Dupatha, an adventurous detective story. “During this period, children’s cartoons and dramas were either fairy tales or realistic characters. We introduced fantasy characters, which fell between realistic and fairy tales. That was challenging,” he recalled.

“I remember Prof Sarath Amunugama, then Secretary to the Ministry of State (Rajya Amathyanshaya) referring to the radio drama as ‘cartoon natyaya’ (cartoon drama),” he said mentioning how they succeeded in creating mental images in the listeners’ minds.

A few decades ago, radio dramas enjoyed a large listenership. However, with the rise of television, they lost the audience. “Radio media changes with the technology. SLBC officials couldn’t identify this change and that’s why this happened,” he emphasized.

“In the early days we had to listen to radio through short wave and medium wave frequencies.  This was no easy task but nevertheless the listeners were a dedicated lot.  When FM frequencies were introduced people didn’t have to go through hardship to listen to radio,” he said.  Although listening to radio became easy, the listenership of the national radio dropped.

Athawudahetti identified the ignorance of the official at SLBC as the reason for this. “When private radio channels started they tried to cater to the demand which had changed with technology.” According to Athawudahetti, private channels were not totally successful. “This is why they have to pay people to listen to their channels. This means that they lack the programs which attract listeners,” he iterated. According to him this might be happening because program producers and presenters were incompetent or because the owners were not brave enough.  “If the owners are willing and the team is competent enough, there is no need to give out money to make people listen to a particular channel. They will be drawn automatically.”

He also stressed that the popularity of a program cannot be measured by the ratings. “Ratings are for the advertising agencies targeting audience segments endowed with buying power; that’s only a fraction of the population. The majority is not included in this category,” Athaudaheti explained.

“For example, many watched the recast of Oshin. Wherever we go people were watching it and talking about it. But it didn’t have a high rating.  Not receiving higher ratings from the population group with buying power doesn’t mean that people didn’t watch it,” he added.

He also pointed out that there is no proper method to check the standards of the programs, songs, language usage or the presenting skills of the announcers. “We did a survey four or five years back to assess the language abilities of the radio artistes. It’s sad to say their vocabulary is as poor as 250 words,” he lamented. “If a person can speak around 250 words fluently that’s the only qualification you need to become an announcer today,” he commented. He also said that there is no point in blaming the new generation for their poor language skills as there is no standardized place for them to learn and practice announcing. “This is not a problem peculiar to the media, it is in fact a problem of society as a whole,” he added.

He also spoke about hiring attractive voices as presenters. “When SLBC chose announcers they gave prominence to the voice as well as for the language skills and practice. I don’t see this happening today. A radio channel would choose an announcer if they agree to tell what the owners want them to tell,” he exclaimed. He further said that the situation is similar in television too.

Saman Athawudahetti is also one of the first presenters of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. His voice became a need to the SLBC as well as SLRC in no time. His work as a dubbing artiste was remarkable. Anyone who remembers Gulliverge Suvisariya, Dosthara Honda Hitha or Oshin would recognize his voice at once. He recalled how the directors were committed to find voices best suited for the characters.

“There were times when a director delayed the recordings or filming just because he wanted a specific person for a character. But today, if A is not present, the directors would go for B, C or D or else they would get anyone they see and finish off the recording on the scheduled day,” he said. “This is why we don’t remember character as we remember Gulliver or Dosthara Hondahitha even today,” he reiterated.

He said that this issue cannot be solved by protests and riots. “This should come through education and creating awareness. There will be a day that people will understand this,” he said hopefully.

“Or else, as Mr. Prem Dissanayaka told The Nation last week, people will start rejecting low quality products to the point where the industry will collapse,” he stressed.

 Athawudahetti is also a celebrated lyricist. Kawurunda Oba Mage – Sunil Edirisinghe, Sihilara Sitha Nayana – Athula Adikari, Kawuruth Ennathi…Kauruth Dannathi – Gunadasa Kapuge, Malak Une Ai Nuba Mata and Iri Thaluni Wala - Amarasiri Peiries are just a few examples from his collection of lyrics. He said the situation of the song industry too is sad today.

“If I am to ask you about your favorite song, I am certain that you will come up with a song which is older than 10 or 20 years,” he said. “Today a song will be produced following a package. It would be made to popularize some star introduced by a channel and his or her songs will be played four or five times a day. Then it will be available on the mobile phones. Ultimately, when they make enough money from the song to cover up the production cost, they will be the first to let go of the song and the star they produced too,” he explained. “If a song is truly popular, people would not forget the song in two years,” he added.

Today Saman Athaudahetti is one of the best travel writers in the country. He has already come out with three travelogues under the title ‘Wandering with Pleasure’. He has published his travel experiences along the Hanamichi, the Silk route and on the river Sarawak and he hopes to publish his experiences in India and Nepal in the near future.

“I used to write to the Mihira newspaper when I was a kid and then wrote many scripts for SLBC,” he recalled. Athawudahetti’s first published book was a Kinsi - a collection of children’s drama scripts in 1983. Then he published Raigampalage Kathandara in 1987, Pramada Dosha an account of what went wrong with the SLBC did wrong (for the 50^th Anniversary of SLBC), Harda Suthra in 2005 (with Sunethra Rajakarunanayake) and Eya Mese Sidu Wiya in 2008. His travelogue Hanamichiya Dige won the Vidyodaya Literature Award in the year it was published.

He said that writing a travelogue is not an easy task. “It requires commitment, time and lots of funds. I was able to do this because I received help from a few institutes in those countries,” he said.

When asked whether he is not interested in writing about Sri Lanka as this is a period where people talk more about travel and tourism he said that it would be best if it is done by a stranger to the country. “We have seen our country and its beauty has become something usual for us. Therefore the chance is greater that we will miss the important thing if we try to write,” he noted. “I would not be fair if we write about ourselves. We are prejudiced about our land.”

Athaudahetti’s latest book is a translation. His book Adara Ankura is a translation of the popular Indian author Kishwar Desai’s Origins or Love. “Indian literature is very nourishing and I admire it. As a frequent traveler to India I keep myself updated about new Indian books,” he said. “This is Kishwar Desai’s second book. I got the first book also but it was already translated. Prem Dissanayaka helped me get the copyrights and after that I started translating the book,” he said. “I liked the plot, a social thriller which speaks about outsourcing a pregnancy in India.  The original writers profile is somewhat similar to my profile. I had studied about stem cell therapy. I believe these are the main reasons that interested me,” he said.

From the pages of Prem’s book

Journalist turned publisher Prem Dissanayaka talks about emerging business trends, the mindset of buyers and the future of literature in Sri Lanka

Pic by Ravindra Dharmathilake

For a book lover Maradana Road is a road to heaven. The number of bookshops and discount stores are fascinating and it would take more than an entire day if one is to check out all the bookstores. Among these bookshops is Surasa Bookshop which was opened recently. But compared to the other bookstores, it seems to maintain quality. However, head of Surasa as well as Fast Ads and Fast Publishing, Prem Dissanayaka said that it is not an easy task to maintain the quality of the books in the publishing industry today.

A prominent figure in the field of arts, Dissanayake is also an entrepreneur. He obtained his primary education from Thalahena Central College and entered Thurstan College, Colombo for secondary education. “I chose science subjects for Advanced Level, but I was popular at school for my drawing skills and had to help out in school events by drawing or painting banners,” he said. As a young student, he said that he had a keen interest in literature too and had started writing poems, short stories and various articles for newspapers. “Since my attention was grabbed by the political newspapers most of my contributions were also for the alternative political newspapers. Subsequently, I became a frequent contributor of Aththa newspaper,” he recalled. Aththa (truth) was a Sinhala daily newspaper, published from Colombo by the Communist Party between 1964 and 1995.

Leaving school Dissanayaka joined Aththa newspaper as a full time employee in 1967. Since then he has worked in several newspaper institutions including Lake House, Times of Ceylon, Dawasa and Veerakesari. “For some reason I couldn’t be at the same place for more than six months. Therefore in no time I was jobless,” he said. He mentioned that during this era many young people were unemployed and unemployment frustrated them. Dissanayaka was also a part of this frustrated group. To relieve his frustration he started contributing to the Kekulu newspaper which was renamed as Rathu Kakulu as the children’s newspaper of the Communist Party during the same period.

Although he was unemployed, coming from a family of businessmen, his parents were capable of supporting him. But he said that as a young man he had wanted to be independent and didn’t want to depend on his parent’s money. Making his wish come true, he was offered a job as a government science and math teacher in 1970. “It was during the Sirimavo Bandaranaike regime and I got the appointment to Ratnapura Sumana Balika Vidyalaya. But my first government job didn’t last for more than four periods in the time table,” he laughed. “It was uncomfortable to teach. I didn’t like it. So I took the bus back home,” he said adding that his parents were not happy that he left a job with a pension scheme without even trying.

Dissanayaka said that he believes that his reckless behavior as a youth was also the reason behind his success today. After leaving the government job, Dissanayake started working as an artist and this was the first step towards his position today. In 1978 with the open market free economy, the audio cassette industry became popular among people and the need to make cassettes look presentable was emerging. “Covers for the cassettes were made in Singapore. We didn’t have a method in Sri Lanka,” he mentioned. The first Sinhala music audio cassette in Sri Lanka was launched under the Tharanga label of Wijaya Ramanayake. The cover for this cassette Sanden Eha was created by Prem Dissanayake.

He iterated that it is important that a person creates a market value for his or her name in the area this person is skilled in, in order to brand themselves in the field. “Through the cassette covers I was able to brand my name. With this recognition I started receiving projects for the film industry too, to make directories, posters and banners. I became a busy man,” he reminisced. “If a person fails to brand himself, to create a market value for his skills, it won’t matter how skilled he is. He will become a failure, his skills would be crippled,” he added.

Although Dissanayake started this job to become independent, with the recognition and increasing number of projects he felt the need to start a professional business. “This is why I started an advertising agency and with the name I had built, we received a lot of opportunities,” he said. Along with the advertising agency Dissanayaka also started a cinema newspaper called Rasaduna and later another cinema newspaper named Vichithra. Rasanduna cinema paper was known to be a paper with an outstanding layout design. Vichithra newspaper holds the credits of popularizing HR Jothipala, the legendary singer. “Vichithra newspaper baptized Jothipala in the arts field as a giant cultural pillar.

With his death, Prof Sarath Amunugama writing for Vichithra, helped people realize that Jothipala was not just a pavement singer, but a hero in Sri Lankan musical history. “His article highly debatable, received attention that Prof Sarachchandra, Ajith Samaranayake, Freddie Siriwardena and Simon Nawagaththegama wrote replies,” he said. “Even the high class society understood his societal value,” said Dissanayaka. He explained how a newspaper can change the attitude of the people. “This is when Colombo high class people started to show interest in Jothipala,” he reflected.

Later he bought the Kala newspaper; another cinema-based newspaper from its founder Ariyarathna Kahawita. “Kala also became a leading cinema newspaper, but we had to give up due to the July riots. And that also marked the end of my newspaper career,” he said. After the riots he moved his office to a building behind People’s Bank in Colombo. He mentioned that moving there was a turning point of his life that he was able to help People’s Bank avoid an event which could have brought them ill fame because of its official advertising agency. “They were impressed and offered me projects in return. Following this event I received projects from National Lotteries Board and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation,” he said proudly. By 1994 Dissanayaka’s advertising agency became the official advertising agency of People’s Bank, National Lotteries Board and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation; the three main financial institutions in the country. “As a small company this was a challenging period, but we did our best,” he said.

In late 90s a complete printing press was a part of Fast ads and was named Fast Printory and following Dissanayaka’s childhood interest in literature, Fast ads became Fast ads and Fast Publishing, an advertising agency and a book publishing company. Today Fast Publishing is a competitive Book Publishing Company with the fascinating Bookshop in Maradana named Surasa. Dissanayaka is content with the quality of the books published at Fast Publishing. “In 1999 we started by launching 50 books. Today we don’t miss an award and are yet to see our nominations not reach the last round at the annual literary festivals,” he emphasized.

Dissanayake lamented that the value of the newspaper journalist has deteriorated. “Earlier a journalist was solely interested in performing their duties towards society. They spoke for the society to pinpoint injustice,” he said. “In January 8, 1965 when Dambarawe Rathanasara Thera was killed, the journalists who covered the event came back soaked in blood. They had been attacked and injured, but they didn’t fail to do their duty,” he recalled. “If it happened today, journalists being attacked would be the lead story and not the murder,” he lamented. “Journalists seem to care more about their personal benefits, which should not be the objective of their jobs. But I believe that this might be happening unconsciously since the mindset of the whole society it similar. It’s not only the journalists who are running behind financial benefits,” he lamented.

He believed that these values have deteriorated because the priority of societies has moved from knowledge to money. “People run behind meaningless things. They seem to care more about maintaining their outer appearance other than the knowledge,” he said. He further said that this change occurred after 1978. “People have become selfish and unkind. Relationships are undervalued. The relationship our generation had with our parents is not there anymore with the new generations,” Dissanayaka expressed his grief.

He further said that the situation is no different in the book publishing business. “Book publishers’ main responsibility is to choose what’s good for the society. We could see that the pioneers of book publishers grasped their responsibility well,” he said. “If you take the early Sinhala texts, like Piyadasa Sirisena’s or S Mahinda Thera’s work, they were meant to refine the society. Books nurtured peoples’ intellectual needs,” he pointed out. He also mentioned that this created a community of readers around the publisher who demanded good books. Since the societal priorities shifted, he said that the quality of the publications as well as the demands of the community of readers has deteriorated.

“People who wrote books when there were no literary festivals or awards are still among the best writers. Sarachcharandra or Martin Wickramasinghe may not have got awards for their work, but there work is eternal. These award winning books today are forgotten the next year,” he exclaimed. “Literature should be improved with all these festivals and awards, but what happens is the exact opposite,” Dissanayaka said adding that the Sri Lankan literature seems to be threatened.

He identifies the main reason for this as the irresponsibleness in the publishing industry. “Once a book is on the process of getting published, it should be edited to fit to the need of the reader. In foreign countries, copy editors should edit them without harming the writer’s ideas after the publisher accepts the copy,” he explained. “But this duty is not performed here. Anyone can write anything and it will be published unedited. Therefore finally when the reader receives the book he or she has to edit it in the mind and read maybe having to skip paragraphs or pages of writing,” he expressed his grief. He also said that editing is a tuff job in book publication since the writers object to their work being edited. “If they don’t want their work to be edited, they should be very careful with their grammar, facts, dates and well as the body,” he affirmed.

He pointed out another major shortage in the book publishing. As he said the autonomous creations are less and further decreasing. New autonomous English books are very rare. Yet, the number of translations is on the rise. “This is also a sign to say that Sri Lankan literature is in danger,” he said. In addition Dissanayaka said that translations are becoming a trend now that translators produce books rapidly. “We had translations which were better than the original books like Sara Bhumi, Sudu Veddah or Sudu Gona where justice for the original book was done. But this translation trend is destroying it,” he noted.

He also spoke about the annual International Book Exhibition. Over the years the crowd attracted to the book fair rose significantly. “Book Exhibition has become a national calendar event. It should be an event where people could buy good books, but it is unavoidable that it gains features of a commercial fair. But these features should not destroy the freedom of choosing books freely,” he opined.

However, Dissanayaka said that he is doubtful whether the readership has increased although the number of books sold has increased at the Book Fair. “It seems more like they are collecting books rather than read. If they read all what they buy it would be evident in the society,” he claimed.

He opined that this situation can’t be corrected by imposin­­g laws. “There should be self-discipline in what a person writes or publishes. Selling a book is selling intelligence. People who are engaged in the business should be accountable for what they provide the society,” he said. “The amount people spend to buy a book should not be what he spent for the cover and the papers. The reader should get justice for the amount of money paid,” he reiterated.

Dissanayake stressed that if the industry doesn’t look in to these matters, the day the readers deny low quality will not be very far away. “Look at the audio cassette industry in Sri Lanka. It was in its golden days, but the industry couldn’t maintain the standards. So the trend was killed. Then the audio CDs became a trend. Today it’s a pavement business. Similar with the Sri Lankan film industry,” he pointed out. “If the book publishers and writers don’t become self-disciplined, same thing will happen to the book industry,” he said adding that it is still not too late for the necessary actions to be taken.

A third eye view of art

Artist and aesthetic scholar Champanie Devika Devaraja talks to Fine on how her paintings have developed over the years and also of her experiences in China as a student 

Champanie Devika Devaraja, the artist and poetess is familiar to The Nation readers due to her contributions. Her paintings of light colors and human-like figures with no facial features accompanied by the few lines of poetry accompanying the painting have been her signature for decades. She picked up the style in China while studying there on a scholarship. “This style is called ‘Scholars’ Paintings,” she said. “I came across some erudite people who could paint and write poetry to accompany the painting. There was philosophy in what they drew and in their poetry,” she said. “I could paint and write poetry. I too had a philosophy. I too have things to say and I realized that this is the ideal style for me,” Champanie added. She also said that she had practiced this style even before she got to know that it had actually been an ancient Chinese traditional art. She refers to her painting style as ‘lyrical paintings’ (Kawya Sithuwam).

Champanie said that she has been keen on aesthetic subjects since her very young days. In school, she studied art, music and dance and when she was in grade seven, she was sure that ‘Art’ was the subject she should follow for the Ordinary Level Examination. Although she had not been taught how to draw formally, she was encouraged by her father. As a kid, she was allowed to draw on the walls of her home and her father secured these wall paintings until she reached age ten without color washing the house. “Dancing and music didn’t allow me to enjoy what I did. I could enjoy my paintings after I drew them. Though I was twelve, I knew that I should be able to enjoy my work. Therefore selecting art as a subject was only natural,” she recalled. She said just as art, poetry too came to her naturally when she was a child.

She chose aesthetic subjects for the Advanced Level Examination too. “I could have chosen science stream. But I chose art. It was a headstrong decision that no one agreed with me,” she said. However securing good results from her Advanced Level Examination she qualified to enter Kelaniya University from St Paul’s Girls College, Kelaniya to follow a degree in Fine Arts. Before she commenced her aesthetic studies at St Paul’s College, she went to Biyagama Balika Vidyalaya to receive her primary education.

At the university she held too exhibitions and made a mark as the first female to hold a solo art exhibition at Kelaniya University. She was also awarded the Best Artist of the Year award at Kelaniya University in 1982. “My first exhibition was held in 1982 on my 21^st birthday,” she reminisced. “I followed various styles as a student, but I was mature enough to develop a style of my own by the time I completed my Master’s degree,” she added.

While Champanie was at the University she was awarded a scholarship by the Chinese government to learn Chinese at the Beijing Language Institute. In China she also followed an advanced art course at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China in 1988 and later completed her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the same academy. “In China I gained practical knowledge on painting. Although I had the skills, I didn’t know how to use these skills, practically,” she explained.

Most of her paintings depict an idea parallel to the Buddhist philosophy. Light colors and the Bo leaf identified with her paintings is the symbol of philosophy which she admires. “Buddhism is nature. We call it Buddhism because Buddha taught it to us. What I draw is nature and therefore is naturally becomes a Buddhist theme,” she explained.

Champanie also said that art is the best method to free and relax the mind. “I can’t describe the freedom and relaxation in words. I believe art can challenge a person’s Karma,” she opined. “Painting is a solo art and a form of meditation. There is no internal talk within the mind when you draw and the mind gradually becomes calm and quiet while you engage deeply in your painting,” she added.

She further explained how painting works as a relaxation technique. "If a person starts scribbling or drawing when he or she is angry or sad, that disturbing feeling will go away," she said. "This person doesn't need to have a talent or be a professional. Just a pen or a pencil and a paper will help." She also said that using colors to express themselves is a helpful technique too. When a person uses colors, the colors he uses is a subconscious selection relevant to the mood. A completed drawing gives an insight into the painter. "Its common to great artists as well as a normal human being," she reiterated. "I usually practice this method with my students once in a while. Its very effective," she shared her personal experience.

Transcendent (Uththarana) is her 18^th Solo Art Exhibition. Her pervious exhibitions including ‘Mandala’ in 2012, ‘Divine Eye’ (Divasa) in 2009, ‘Felicitation’ (Bethipuda) in 2007 and ‘Third Eye’ in 2005 were successful events. Speaking about the paintings included in Transcendent she said that all the paintings included in the exhibition reflects her own style which she has followed since 1990. However, she said that she notices a development in her style. “It’s what I see when I look at myself from a distance,” she said. “When I started to follow this style, the figure was female. There were no visible boundary lines, the figure would float materializing from a thin line and ending in a cloud,” she explained. “This female figure has disappeared now. I suspect this has happened because my egoism is diminishing,” she said. “I feel that I don’t give priority to myself as I used to.”

In 2011, Champanie published the book, Mandala along with the exhibition of the same name including painting of Mandalas. A mandala is a complex abstract design that is usually circular in form and Mandala is the Sanskrit word for ‘circle’. According to her, the book Mandala is her experience about the orbs which can be seen in the pictures taken from digital cameras. The book was published based on her research findings about these orbs and it’s the first book written on this subject. “These orbs are what you see in some digital camera pictures. According to the book Thibbatha Malapotha (Maranaya Pilibanda Widyawa Hewath Thibbatha Malapotha) when we die our energy (Vignana Dathuwa) finally forms into an orb before it moves to another life. This influenced me to write the book and hold an exhibition about Manadala,” she explained.

She also said that those paintings exhibited in the Mandala exhibition were blessed with Jaya Piritha. “My attempt was to introduce the concept of benison (Asiriwada), to show that we can get blessings from the seen as well as what’s unseen,” she emphasized. She also said that she believes that the figures in her paintings could be the astral body. Many philosophers have posited about the astral body, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the mental body, composed of a subtle material. “It’s not the physical body I draw. I believe that it is something from the unseen world,” she iterated. Although the subjects of her paintings lack eyes, nose and mouth, ears are visible. She said that the ear represents the balance between the seen world and the unseen world. “Its not predictable, but the ears might also disappear in a future exhibition,” she said. She also mentioned that she can’t be certain about the development of her style because it happens unconsciously. 

 

Trapped in a dramatist’s shoes

Dinesh Sandaruwan is an amateur dramatist who is about to stage his debut drama direction, ‘Blood Wedding’.

Pix by Ravindra Dharmathilake

Few months ago, when Gayan Randeera, Director of Johnge Sattuwatta, spoke to The Nation, he said that he found the ideal person for the character of John. Johnge Sattuwatta is a Sinhala adaptation of The Zoo Story which was originally titled Peter and Jerry by American playwright Edward Albee in 1958.

John is an isolated and disheartened man who failed to build any form of relationship with others. Although his appearance perfectly fits John’s character, this young actor claims that he is not isolated and the people of the university love him as he loves them in return. “They love me not because I am an actor or I make occasional television appearances. They love me for the friendship we have and the good relationship we maintain,” Dinesh Sandaruwan said. He added that the value of human relationships is more important to him than anything else.

Sandaruwan stepped into popular theater through Johnge Saththu Watta. Jonhge Sathuthu Watta has been staged over 20 times and its lead actor, Sandaruwan said that they were delighted by the feedback and participation. During this short period he has been active in the field, he played the main role of Wisekariyo (Lysistrata-Aristophnes) directed by Priyankara Ratnayake. Sandaruwan has also contributed to Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka’s Makarata since 2012. 

Dinesh Sandaruwan is a product of the Kelaniya University. He sat for his Bachelors in Arts special degree final exams early this year. He is from Dewalegama, Kegalle. “My village is beautiful, surrounded by mountains. I didn’t know about theater productions in the city outside the mountain range. Village dramas were different,” he recalled. Sandaruwan said that he had loved the arts and culture in his village since childhood, but always suspected that there was art beyond this. He received his primary education from Bamunugama Maliyadewa Vidyalaya, Kegalle and attended Parakramabhahu National School, Polgahawela for the Advanced Level Examination.

“Later I met a teacher called Hemachandra Piyadasa and I was inspired by his work. When I got to know that I could study drama for my Advanced level Examination I was more than happy,” Sandaruwan said. He said that he had to move to another school because he wanted to study drama. “As a child I planned to have a carrier in the arts field. It was my hobby and I dreamt of doing my best as a professional in the field,” he added.

Backed by the motivation he received as an actor on stage, he will be staging his debut direction Niyangala Premaya (Blood Wedding) in October. Blood Wedding is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca written in 1932. “Blood Wedding was first directed for the final project at the university. Considering the feedback received, I thought it would be better for a public audience,” said Sandaruwan.

Speaking further about Niyangala Premaya he said that this drama has been produced before, under the supervision of the veteran dramatist Kaushalya Fernando as Sanda Langa Maranaya. “One may ask why we chose a pre-produced drama. Firstly this was produced for the university and secondly we wanted to see what we can do on our own with the script,” he said. The budding director said that it suited his drama group’s ideologies and he always admired García Lorca’s work. “García Lorca’s work always won my heart. Most of his work reflected on Spanish folk culture and we had to look into ways to adapt it according to our society,” he said adding that the drama ‘Blood Wedding’ speaks about human relationships deeply and makes the audience question the social norms.

When he was asked how he was taking up the challenge of directing a stage play he said that he doesn’t find it too difficult. “This maybe because I have acted under skilled directors,” he said. He believes that directing is a way of expressing himself. “We all have a vision of our own. A director will choose the best script which suits their ideologies and make an attempt to express themselves through the actors,” he explained. He also said that the best way to express them is to create an autonomous script. “Blood Wedding started to satisfy a university need. I have already started to write an autonomous script; a political comedy. Hopefully, it will be named as Political Heenaya,” he said.

Sandaruwan pointed out that school education is not sufficient to understand theater. Common perception in the society is that drama and theater is not a field in which a person can earn money. “People are made to think that actors are those who they see on television everyday. My view too was similar to this until I studied the subject,” he said. “A person can make money doing drama. But a dramatist cannot do whatever he or she wants to for the sake of making money. Yet there are people who are making money doing whatever they want,” he added. However, he said that there are instances where people lose all their money doing dramas. “Sometimes dramatists get wretched. But we are a group who has studied the subject deeply. We are the specialists. If we are to leave this to earn money, who will be there to save the field?” he raised a question.

He further explained the responsibility of a dramatist. According to Sandaruwan, a director and a scriptwriter are responsible for each and every word said on stage. “If the dramatists fake their work, the audience will know. They have to be honest with their work. Unlike teledrama, a stage play cannot be staged without proper rehearsals,” he pointed out.

He also said that there are three types of groups in the audience. “When a drama is staged one group enjoys it for its outline story. The next group whose intelligence level is superior to the previous group tries to seek the underlying meaning,” he stressed. “There is another group; the most intelligent, they seek for the politics and the psychology of the drama,” he added. According to him, the dramatist should be skilled enough to satisfy all three groups. “Dramatist must know which audience he is targeting. Although there are dramas which is said to be addressing all audiences; children, youth or adults, I don’t think it is successful,” Sandaruwan opined. 

He also spoke about the barriers to entering the acting field. He said that he has tried to pursue a career as a teledrama actor, yet was demotivated because of the disappointments and the hardship of breaking into the field as an amateur. “One should either have connection with powerful people or money. Or else it is hard for a person from middle class to become an artiste. The doors are closed for them,” he lamented. “The only other possible route is through university education. Through university education you get the opportunity to strengthen skills and build the necessary relationships,” is how he expressed his grief. He said that a person concluding school education doesn’t have the capabilities to pursue a professional carrier in any field. “University education is a must if a person wants to become a professional,” Sandaruwan added.

Although he is satisfied with the university curriculum, Sandaruwan lamented that the situation at schools is not satisfactory at all. “It’s not the subject matter, it’s the teachers assigned. Most of the time there aren’t specialized teachers to teach the subject,” he emphasized. “Sinhala language teachers or the dancing teachers at school have to teach drama too,” he pointed out. According to him when the teachers have not studied the subject, they are not interested about the subject. “No one can guarantee that the students are getting 100 percent of what the syllabus has recommended.  If the student doesn’t have tuition, he will be devastated,” he said.  “Although the government doesn’t look into the qualifications of the private tuition masters, sometimes that’s where the child receives complete education,” he added. He also said that the university education is different to this that the lecturers don’t spoon-feed the students with the subject matters. “But since we were pampered and spoon-fed in the school education system, sometimes the student oriented education system becomes very difficult,” Sandaruwan emphasized. “Therefore some lecturers have to spoon-feed the students at the university level too. The numbers of students who refer to library books have decreased. Sometimes it is the photocopied notes which help the students to get through the examinations,” he iterated adding that these issues don’t receive the attention of authorities.

The availability of jobs for the special degree holders is not satisfactory in Sandaruwan’s opinion. Majority of graduates pursue jobs as teachers while another percentage joins the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Some jobs are available at the Maharagama National Youth Council too. “Many prefer teaching since there are more benefits like free time to carry out their own creations during the free evenings,” he said. “Majority of the general drama degree holders also become teachers. Therefore is it worth for the special degree holders too to become a school teacher? Why did they specialize on the subject if they just wanted to become school teachers?” he queried.

He said that one of the major reasons that the producers aren’t much interested in stage plays is that they have a doubt about profits. “There are stage play coordinators but no producers. They try to divide the sponsorship. Sometimes it’s the director who sponsors his play,” he said. “Yet sponsors are ready to sponsor teledramas or films since the profits are quicker and it comes easily. They can sell their products to the media institutions,” he reiterated. “However, producers are not artistes, they are businessman investing money for profits,” he added. He emphasized that this is why the theater productions are rare and many among these rare production are cheap productions.

http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/31843-trapped-in-a-dramatist%E2%80%99s-shoes.html

Notes from a daughter’s ‘diary’

  

The 25th death anniversary of journalist, lyrics composer, critic and media man Premakeerthi de Alwis fell on July 31.

In the history of Sinhala songs, we come across a little girl called Surangi. She is sad and starts to shed tears. A drop of a tear runs to the river and flows to the sea. This teardrop finds its way inside a pearl oyster and, after few years, it turns into a pearl. The pearls are harvested and return to Surangi’s home in the form of a pair of earrings. Seeing the earrings, Surangi is happy. So she smiles. Yet, her father realizes that there will be a day when Surangi’s ears will be pierced; her ears will be stuck with a needle. Little Surangi will be hurt. These thoughts make the father sad.

This father is the late veteran broadcaster, lyricist and television personality Premakeerthi de Alwis and the daughter is Surangi de Alwis who was yet to get her ears pierced, back in the 70s. “My ears weren’t even pierced when this song was written, according to my mother. My mother says that he wrote this about me, I was too young to remember,” she said. She added that Premakeerthi must have imagined the forthcoming event in her daughter’s life.

Twenty five years after his death, critics still appreciate his talent for songwriting. Veterans still talk about his capabilities as a broadcaster and modern poets admire his poems. Fine attempts to spotlight this late veteran lyricist, with the help of his daughter Surangi and his comrade Dr. Victor Ratnayake.

Samaraweerage Don Premakeerthi de Alwis was born on June 3, 1947 in Colombo. His father Simon de Alwis was a railway employee and they lived in Maligakanda lane, Maradana. He had his preliminary education at Maligakanda Maha Vidyalaya before joining Ananda College, Colombo 10. In 1965, he became the editor of the school newspaper Anandaya. As a student he participated in a radio program in 1961 conducted by the late Karunaratne Abeysekera.

In 1966 he joined the Visithura cinema magazine published by the Davasa group of companies on an invitation by its Managing Director DB Dhanapala as a feature writer. Concurrently he joined Radio Ceylon as a freelance announcer on December 17, 1967. In June 1, 1971 he became a permanent announcer at Radio Ceylon and promoted to the rank of program producer. Apart from that he made a name for himself between 1974 and 1977 as a lyricist and a renowned speaker. At the time of his untimely death at the age of 42 he was attached to the news desk of the SLBC.

The father-daughter relationship is a strong bond. Yet Premakeerthi’s daughter, Surangi, who is still heartbroken about her father’s untimely death, said that their relationship was not as close as she wanted it to be. “My father and mother were separated ever since I could remember. The physical relationship we had was not more different from a guest who visited our home once in a while. He comes, talks with us for a while and goes back,” she said. “Even today when I see a father and daughter, cuddling and happy, I envy that I couldn’t feel it in the same way,” she added. Yet, she said that his influence made a huge impact shaping her life and he was close to her psychologically.

“There were few favorite places my father used to take me. One such place was Galle Face. When he took me to a place, we didn’t just sit and wait. He always had a story to tell me about the place we visited. He told me about their history and related stories in detail. Then he would take me back to my place and he would return to his,” she recalled.

She also spoke about the relationship between her mother and father. Sri Lankan culture doesn’t support divorce and it tends to make the society believe that the divorced couple should detest the ex-partner that they would tear each other if they accidentally meet face to face. She said that the situation with her parents was completely the opposite. “My parents were still good friends even after the divorce. Before he remarried, I secretly wished that they would get together again. Although it never happened, he was always a good friend to my mother,” she recalled her lost hopes.

She reminisced how her father attempted to plant the seeds of reading in her. When he visited them at their home in Maharagama, he had brought her books. “He used to write something in these books; a line or two. I didn’t understand most of it during that time when I could hardly read,” she spoke about two such autographs written on gifted books. One read, ‘Oba yuwathiyak wana dina maa pas godak pamani. E pas goda paganna duwe’ (When you become a young girl, I will be just a pile of dirt. Daughter, trample this pile of dirt. ) “I didn’t understand what this meant by then. When I did understand, I started to wonder whether he could see what’s going to happen. He might have sensed that,” she said. “There was anther book he gifted me, a story about a kitten. He knew I loved kittens so much that he bought me the book. There was a picture of a kitten playing with a broom. Under this picture he has written, ‘Hithawathun athuganna epa duwe,’ (Don’t sweep out your dear ones). As a child I thought he was asking me not to hurt my kittens,” she recalled.

Surangi had been 16-years-old when her father was murdered. Recalling the dreadful day Premakeerthi was murdered to mind, she said that she felt there was something wrong with his nature although he came to visit her. Schools were closed during this period and she had been home waiting for father’s visit. “He seemed to be preoccupied. I felt that he was not in his right senses. But I didn’t know what was going in his head,” she said that they all feared for death during this era and she was aware that her father too had received life threatening letters. “Most of the announcers at SLBC received death threats including my mother and father. Once he came to our house with a letter and discussed it with mother,” she exclaimed while adding that those letters didn’t seem to scare him and that he continued to work. “He was certain that these threats were null, he believed that if he was faced with such situation he would be able to talk it out and clam them down.

On July 31, 1989 he was assassinated by an unknown group when he stepped out of his residence at Katuwana road, Homagama. She reiterated that he was upset about something on the day he was murdered. “Usually, he comes to our home in the vehicle. He has to reverse out of the yard to get to the road and before he pulls the vehicle on to the main road he would wave at me. But this day he didn’t. He just went. I sensed something was wrong,” she stressed that he was absent minded. “My pet dog was sick this day. He checked up on it also. He promised to bring medicine the next day. But he never returned,” she said.

Dr. Victor Ratnayake was the person who has brought them the message of Premakeerthi’s death. Schools were closed because of riots and Surangi was still in bed when Dr. Ratnayake came to their place with the news. “I heard my mother screaming. And I knew. It was a damned period anyway. It didn’t even take a slip second to realize why my mother screamed,” she said that the period after that until the funeral is still not clear that she fails to recall what happened.  

Looking back she said that she is proud to be the daughter of such a personality, although she lost him unfortunately. “People still respect his name and his contributions. If someone gets to know that I am his daughter, people show gratitude. They still love him,” she said. “He buildup his name through his work and I should know how to protect this dignity,” she added.

Among Premakeerthi’s creations, songs he wrote for Dr. Victor Ratnayake were highly appreciated. Their companionship went beyond this professional relationship that they were close friends in real life. Speaking about his long lost friend Dr. Ratnayake said that Premakeerthi was a friend who was there through thick and thin. “Friends like him are a rare gift and I was fortunate to have him as my friend. He was a symbol of friendship,” Ratnayake said.

He explained that Premakeerthi was a person with a sensitive heart and a mind, who knew the art to speak to another person’s heart. “A person does not become a lyricist for the sake of writing a few lines. Only a sensitive person will know how to address another person’s heart. This is where Premakeerthi becomes important to us, he was exceptionally good at this,” he pointed out. 

 Songs Premakeerthi had written during his short life exceeds 1,400. His capabilities didn’t limit him in addressing a particular age group. He wrote children’s songs as well as love songs and there are unforgettable patriotic songs. Most importantly, he knew how to include satire in songs. Songs like ‘Aluth kalawak soya gatta man, Handa mama udin yathe, Nadayo, Kundumani, Pankiriththa, Theh kudaya pite bandan, Kollai- Balli and Kakille Rajjuruwo are just a few examples. Although it is not widely spoken, Premakeerthi was the person to introduce satire to the modern Sinhala song.

Further to this, his songs spoke about social issues. Songs like Miniseku pita nagi asaruweki, Banen banda rajarata pedesinne, Sabanda api kandu nowemu, Uthuru kone nuba hinahena, and Kundumani were among his attempts in identifying the social issues. As his daughter mentioned, it is not clear whether he could see the future because most of this songs address contemporary social issues. His songs and poems based on human feelings will be valid until there are relationships among people. 

However, as Ratnayake explained Premakeerthi based most of his songs on his personal experiences. “He wrote about his experience. Yet, singing it I wonder whether it was my experience he wrote about. Listeners felt as if it was their experience,” he iterated adding that Premakeerthi was empathetic and knew how to make other people walk in his shoes, thinking that those shoes are their own. “The protagonist of his song, Sanda kan watila was himself. But when other people listens to the song, they feel it as it was their own story,” he brought out an example.

Furthermore, Ratnayaka elucidated Premakeerthi’s capability of generalizing his personal feelings. “Aadaraye ulpatha wu amma was written on a piece from a bus ticket while he was upset about his mother who was admitted to the hospital for an eye surgery,” he recalled. “This was the first song he wrote about mother’s love. It still draws on the heartstrings of any child who loves his or her mother,” he added.

He also pointed out the reason why the new generation of lyricists lacks these qualities. “There is no chance that we can compare his work with any of the new artistes. He was well read, he knew his language and literature and he gathered experiences whenever he could unlike today’s generations,” he continued. “He could write about the beauty of a paddy field from his house in Maradana. I have visited him at his house while he was a student at Ananda College. I was surprised wondering how this person wrote about the beauty of the village so perfectly living in an urban area,” he said. “I don’t know how he mastered these talents. As a Buddhist, I can only think of the merits he gathered from his past lives,” Ratnayake concluded.

http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/31624-notes-from-a-daughter%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98diary%E2%80%99.html