Avurudu Hangover

 

Pic by Ravindra Dharmathilaka www.nation.lk

Post-Christmas Stress Disorder is frequently observed in people of western countries after the Christmas season. Dr. Danister L Perera predicts that Sri Lankan people are also on the verge of developing a Post-Sinhala Avurudu Stress Disorder if the current system persists. “Some people go insane due to the significant distress caused during the Christmas season. They become stressed when they fail to organize and plan, financial and social aspects during the season. I fear that our people will soon develop a similar disorder in the Avurudu season,” Dr. Perera opined.

Dr. Danister L Perera is from Pahala Bomiriya, Kaduwela. Having received primary education from the Korathota Village School, he entered Rajasinghe Madya Maha Vidyalaya for his Advanced Level examination. Upon finishing school education he went to one of his relatives who practices Ayurveda medicine. The knowledge he gained there inculcated in him an interest in the field and therefore he decided to join the Gampaha Ayurveda Institute. After graduating, he focused on social science, social and cultural anthropology and herbal plants in his post graduate studies. His main focus is on research and publications while working as a visiting lecturer in several state universities as well as international agencies such as UNESCO. He was the former director to the Herbal Plants Conservation Project at the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine and the Secretary to the Ayurveda Medical Council. He currently works with a few private institutions.

People take loans and salary advances during the season to spend for the New Year gifts, groceries, clothes or household equipment as they want to celebrate it to the best of their possibilities. There were instances reported, where people pawned their gold to raise the necessary money. “After the New Year they have to worry about paying loans or the deducted salaries. All the happiness gained on the New Year day is lost, when you have to worry about paying bills,” he said. “New Year is not about the rituals or traditions anymore. It’s about the party and the way we are going to celebrate the day. It will soon become a day like valentines day, father’s day or mother’s day,” he added. He further explained how people worry about New Year parties and become tired and stressed once the party season is done with. “It’s like a hangover. The purpose of Avurudu, is to refresh and renew, is completely lost,” he added.

Any country has its own cultural values. Likewise, New Year traditions are a part of our culture which comes from ancient times. “Such cultures with traditions continued from the ancient history are rare and very powerful. Fortunately we belong to such a culture and these New Year traditions are a part of that,” he explained. According to astrology, New Year begins when the sun moves from Meena Rashiya (house of Pisces) to Mesha Rashiya (house of Aries). It also marks the end of the harvest. “On one hand, New Year celebrations are a part of the agricultural economy of the country and it is also connected to nature,” he said.

The Sun covers a period of twelve months or one year traveling through the twelve houses of the zodiac in its nonstop traversing. “This explains how our ancestors understood and tuned well to nature. They observed the cyclic changes in nature and they created the time unit called ‘the year.’ Later, with the traditions and rituals, this adaptation to the environment became ceremonial,” he added. He also mentioned how similar ceremonies, originating from worshiping the Sun, are present in the countries near the equator.

As Perera explained, the New Year also became a period during which our ancestors relaxed after the harvest. “I believe that this concept of starting everything afresh formed with the religious influence similar to starting a new birth,” he said. “It also carries an extra ordinary social value.” The precise times when the old year (Parana Avurudda) ends, and the New Year begins. The period from Parana Avurudda to the dawn the New Year is the Nonegatha (inauspicious) period where all work ceases. It brings a relief to the person’s body as well as the mind. It also gives a break to the materialistic equipment used by that person. With everything at ease the person has time to think about the spiritual side of life and focus on religious activities. “This is what should happen. But sometimes these are ignored with cultural transition of the society. It is difficult to practice what should be practiced because of the ways of businessmen,” he pointed out. 

He further explained how the Sinhala New Year traditions and rituals are challenged by the culture of the contemporary businessmen. “People forget traditions due to the commercialized economy. Businessmen have succeeded in making people believe that collecting goods from discount sales is the best way to get ready for the New Year. Notice the way people rush to and fro and congested roads two, three days before the New Year day. Media also holds a responsibility in this,” he noted.

As he pointed out Nonegatha is not a time to relax anymore. It is a time to listen to the radio announcers jabbering and a contest between television channels to see which one telecasts the best rated Hindi movie. “They are responsible of destroying the structure of the New Year,” he stressed. “The countdown to the Neketh times is the other mania media practices. People are made to believe that they have to attend to Neketh at the exact correct second. There is no base to this. It is not about lighting the match or eating the first piece of Kiribath at the correct second,” he added.

According to Perera, these ancient rituals are all about inculcating good habits among people. The Avurudu schedule is the ideal time table for a person to practice throughout his or her life. He explained that the Sinhala Avurudu rituals contain effective elements than the Japanese 5S organization methodology. “The 5S methodology was taken in to our systems with gratitude since it came from abroad. But if one is to analyze the elements of the Avurudu rituals, it has better organizational schemes from health, cleanliness or timeliness,” he exclaimed. He said that Avurudu Neketh is a reminder to renew the family, social and cultural values which people should practice everyday. He further explained this with the ritual or atoning oil.

“Hisa thel gema is a reminder to live healthy throughout the year. Atoning oil should be done frequently to maintain health. But today, people are made to believe that it’s for Apala (malefic period) and if they don’t do it on the Neketh time or there will be no use. But it’s a myth,” he said.

He further said that media should be held responsible for destroying the provincial diversity of the New Year rituals. “Avurudu rituals and the culture were different from region to region. Over the years media introduced new customs to people disregarding that. Regional identity is nonexistent now. What we see on TV is all made up,” he reiterated. He also pointed out how people have deviated from environmental friendly practices like playing Rabana during Neketh time to firing crackers and how environmental unfriendly things have become the norms.

Anyone could witness Colombo city deserted during the Avurudu week. There is no traffic or people rushing along the payments. Dr. Perera said that this is the best example to understand the power of the New Year. “People leave the city to go to their hometowns, where they belong to. Therefore Avurudu is also an event which reminds people about their origins,” he said. “There is a danger to this too. When people leave Colombo, they take Colombo culture to the village. That should not happen. The value system of the village is untouched. Bring the village culture to Colombo. But don’t spoil the village with city evils,” he reiterated.

“When you leave Colombo, take nothing with you, not even the Colombo gifts. Village is richer than the city. It doesn’t expect gifts from the city. That is the concept which should be promoted during the New Year season,” Perera added. He also mentioned the environmental hazards caused on days like Valentines Day, fathers’ day or the mothers’ day by polythene and plastic wrappers. He stressed that similar harm is caused by the gifts exchanged on Avurudu season.

Perera believes that media does not have a way out since they are funded by these businessmen who have their own agendas. They create needs among people in order to sell their products. Therefore the actual needs are replaced by these introduced needs. “We used to make our New Year delicacies at home. If you analyse this you will realize that most of these rituals are skill based. Since everything is available in the market, people started loosing their skills,” he pointed out. “It’s not bad to have a piece of cake on Avurudu, even Kokis is not an indigenous delicacy. But don’t buy cake from a shop. Bake it at home.”    

However according to Perera protecting the culture does not mean that the rituals and traditions should remain static over the years. “It doesn’t mean that we need to have a Thirikkal race instead of bicycle races. I believe it is okay to wear denims and t-shirts instead of the national costume as long as they still appreciate prostrating at the feet of their parent with beetle leaves,” he opined. “The core of tradition should be protected while adapting to the new world,” he added.

Dr. Perera believes that it is still not too late to protect these traditions. “It’s time to think back. “Leaving these unhealthy habits is not impossible at all.  We have to leave the party concept and go back to healthy practices. Making that happen is my dream,” he said. “In the worst case scenario someone will take this to a western country and repackage and sell it to us in the form of a new system like the 5S,” he added.

When no reason gives a reason

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

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 

http://nikamatawage.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_25.html#comment-form

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.

 http://nikamatawage.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post_01.html

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.

https://sites.google.com/site/sandunlakmal/balla.jpg

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?

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.

http://nikamatawage.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post_04.html

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! 

http://nikamatawage.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_14.html

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.

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

More: http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/21969-translations-should-not-strain-the-brain.html