Focus on Books

Kurasawa's One Wonderful Sunday in Sinhala
 

by Prof. Sunanda Mahendra

PROF. Ariya Rajakaruna is one of the few scholars as we have featured several times in this column. He is and indefatigable scholar who translates Japanese literary works into Sinhala from the originals and he has carved a special niche for himself as a person who devotes more time for that and that alone which is much more beneficial than anything else.

His latest translation is one of the earliest screenplays titled in Japanese as Kurasawa Akira's (1910-1992) Subarshiki Nichiyobi (one wonderful Sunday). The publication of this translation unlike any other work is assisted by a grant from the Toyota Foundation (published in Sinhala by Godage, 2005).

The name Kurasawa is not alien to Sinhala reader as some of his cine works have been shown and discussed at various levels of appreciation. The late Prof. Edirivira Sarachchandra once said his well-known play was written after seeing Kurasawa's Rashoman in Japan.

Among other translations directly from Japanese literature. Prof. Ariya Rajakaruna has also translated some of the well-known screenplays into Sinhala. For example Kurasawa's well-known screenplays such as Rashoman, (1950), Gate of Hell ( apaye doratuva, 1953) Ugetsu (1953, as Holman katha vastuvak), (Bakushu or Early Summer 1951,as Vivahaya).

education

The most well-known screenplay out of the lot happens to be Rashoman which was a prescribed text at higher level of education in our country. For those who study the creativity of Kurasawa, these translations ought to make a mint of supplementary readers and companion volumes.

Kurasawa is also accepted as a creative writer, director who was influenced by the folklore and the classical literature like Shakespeare retaining an outstanding identity of his own expression of human experiences.

The story in this screenplay revolves round a simple theme where a girl and a boy in search of satisfaction for themselves spending one whole day tirelessly meeting various types of people and facing hitherto unencountered events both exciting and adventurous allowing them to be matured.

But this whole day in search of a place for them to be in peace unseemingly becomes a futile dream. But for them the world is such that they fail to find such solace as the background of the story setting happens to be the aftermath of the second world war.

The world around for them is disturbed nasty and peaceless as there are difficulties in meeting the basic needs of the life such as food, clothing, shelter, commodities, transportation, employment, and other necessities needed for the day-to-day life sustenance.

social fabric

As a result of the war the entire social fabric is shown as torn and the individual is deserted from the normal communal living dwindled into a turmoil and eruption. All what Kurasawa attempts to present is the visual impact of these nuances through a sensitive love story where the common formula type of dream is shattered and disillusioned though the life flux goes on.

The girl and the boy as featured in this screenplay and the film based on it (by the way I have not seen it) is an epitome of the difficulties encountered by them in a single day - a Sunday, - the only holiday they have left out from their respective routine jobs from which they earn a meagre income.

Reading through the screenplay as a text the reader will visualize that the contents are not mere sentimental stuff that goes into the making of a pot-boiler.

Instead the reader finds himself engrossed in the web of a love of two innocent beings devoid of money and bare luxuries to keep a better lifestyle a normal human being would anticipate during the short span of life is nevertheless hampered by a state of complex living allowing themselves in a materialistic fantasy made by themselves.

In conclusion one may visualize this as a message of good-will and humanism needed for a war torn world with a wish and aspiration that a war should never occur (say no top the war type devoid of any propagandist slogan tagged) on this earth.

narrative

Quite a number of visual symbols are utilized. For example the very setting of the narrative is laid in the season of Spring but the sprinkling environment is absent in the life of the lovers due to man made putrid atmosphere. There are moments of acid irony such as stylistic sermons on the part of the lovers pleading to the world at large to listen to them of their agonies.

This is visualized (on reading the text and perhaps in a more sensitive manner in the film version) as a traumatic experience when they are tired of the experiences of the day gradually waning off, trying their best to find a place to relax and be together. But it is not only the mental pain that they undergo but also the physical pain as well tangled to each other.

This is a short creative work presumably packed with economy most of the finest ingredients that go into the making of a good film. The screenplay could be read as a narrative with a supreme economy of words of description but packed with a fusion of short dialogue and visual power.

screenplays

One problem that is encountered by our local cine writers, as I know it well is the lack of good screenplays to study in depth what should go and what should not go into the making of a film script. One method of overcoming this impediment is the availability of good screenplays of this calibre.

As a model for script writing the amateur may have to learn from the veterans of the Kurasawa type in order to build a better cine culture as anticipated today, and the techniques of the medium have to be mastered and the technology involved have to be discovered and learned if they so like.

So this gives a primary chance to enter into that field of learning. It is recorded in the text that the film based on this screenplay has been made into a film as far back as 1947.

Rajakaruna provides the reader with a resourceful preface and an afterword explaining the development of the cine creativity of Akira Kurasawa. Furthermore he states that the present text and the film based on it had been a result of seeing the cine work titled "Isn't life wonderful?" by D.W. Griffith (1875-1948) the American film maker.

Thus a cine artiste of one country could be influenced by another country and from a different culture. Perhaps this scereenplay will lead to such an education in creative communication.

An irreverent collection of stories

Village funerals are fun and other trivia Author: Nalin Fernando, A Stamford Lake Publication, 366, High Level Road, Pannipitiya, 209 Pages, Rs. 475/=

"A plateful of spicy bites" is the best description of this collection of short journalistic pieces by one-time journalist and, now, full-time coconut farmer Nalin Fernando. His snappy stories have all the spice of that peppery accompaniment to dramas of arrack in newspapermen's pubs in the Fort of old - where many of these yarns were first spun.

Nalin sets the stage with his first stories of how, straight out of school, he joined the raffish tribe of journalists at Lake House in the golden era starring Denzil Peiris, Tarzie Vittache, Rienzie Wijeratna, Ranji Handy, Jeanne Pinto and other legends of the trade.

After which he moves on to serve us a feast of memorabilia, travelogue, satire (too heavy a word, perhaps, for his rapier thrusts), fiction/faction, crime stories and rustic yarns.

foibles

His witty jibes at passing foibles are a delightfully mischievous peek thorough a window into the recent past when the "open economy" spawned the first supermarket (The Supermarket Syndrome), international hotels (Climbing the Robroy), once banned foreign goodies (Let the Damned Peasants eat Pizza) and a bit of high society bashing (Ca C'est Bored City).

In 'To Tie or Knot to Tie' he pillories the infestation that throttles today's government officers.

He even has the temerity to mount a smart skirmish into territory that Carl Muller has made his own in 'A Sermon on Mount Mary'.

He has a fine ear for the various social and ethnic nuances of - what used to be snootily dismissed as - 'Ceylon-English' as can be seen from his 'Sermon' (above), 'Cameos in Onions', 'A Cook....', and 'Tipple jemless'.

Extraordinary flair

Nalin would wince when I say that he does have an extraordinary flair for (as old Fowler would say) 'English Usage' shown in his passing references. allusions and delightful mangling of well-known proverbs and phrases that are lively and sometimes earthy but spot on.

In "How to Avoid Saying I Do" he writes that the idea of "throwing a sudden fit and slapping the intended mother-in-law across her chest" crossed the mind of the reluctant suitor but he "dismissed it since he was a shy person".

Police Sergeant

The elderly Police Sergeant in "Tie or Knot to Tie" rose from his seat heavily, "put his right hand into this trouser pocket and unobtrusively adjusted his testicles to settle more comfortably in his crotch while standing up."

His perceptive description of the extinct breed of domestic servant, the Cook, woman, is an example of chronological writing as in "A Cook, a Cook, My Dowry for a Cook".

The village damsel, he says, was shanghaied to the city to become "the prisoner of the kitchen in a turmeric-stained cloth and soot-stained jacket blowing into a wood fire through a piece of pipe" while her hair smelled of "wood smoke and coconut oil and she was paid an undisclosed salary that was deposited in a savings account without her having a say on withdrawals."

Quizzical eye

His travel writings are sharply observant, characteristically whimsical and unmistakably Sri Lankan in their 'world view'.

They begin with the precocious adolescent effusion of 'When in Bombay....' and range through England, Ireland and America all seen through his quizzical eye.

The many odd bods he encounters on his wanderings spice up his narrative from London's 'Barber Son of a Greek' to Roscommon's Ray Busby 'In the Land of Blarney and Blue Eyes", Sarah Walker and the fierce Mexican, Senor Marcia Manuel in America's wild-west.

They are embedded in brief chapters of vividly observed travel writing far, far superior to the gushing mush inflicted on newspaper readers by our compatriots on tour to the boring old sights of the West. His 'Rough Ride through the Badlands' is a fine evocation of a long drive from Norther California to the Mexican border of Texas.

Crime reportage has added another feather to Nalin's cap.

In his Murder Most Foul' series he narrates, with customary panache, a few of the sensational crimes of past years and the dogged detection that uncovered them.

Finally, we come to the gentler humour of the country squire, his latest avatar.

The title story 'Village Funerals are Fun' and 'Tipple Jemless' are uproariously funny as also his other three vignettes from the wilds of Wariyapola in the chapter 'From Far and Beyond".

The raffish young journalist of yore has evolved into a mature rural VIP, albeit with his impish sense of the ridiculous as intact as ever.

What fun it is to read this irreverent collection.

Tissa Devendra

Useful book for policy makers

Human Development in a Knowledge-Based Society: Sri Lankan Scene, Edited by A.D.V. de S. Indraratna, Published by the Sri Lanka Economic, Association (SLEA) Pages 263, ISBN: 955-620-018-5, 2004

THE book is an outcome of the proceedings of the annual sessions of the SLEA in mid-2004 and includes 10 chapters, which are divided into six parts. Each part links Human Development to a specific area of economic progress, viz., poverty, growth, services (financial), education and health, technology and productivity, and competitiveness.

Some Parts are accompanied by comments from discussants but some do not carry comments. After the Preface by the editor, the book begins with Chapter 1.

Chapter 1 by the editor is on Human Development and Poverty. After presenting a critique of the Human Development Index (HDI) (used by UN Human Development Reports), the author uses Sri Lankan data on HDI and poverty to show that high HDI does not necessarily mean that poverty has reduced.

The author goes on to show that combating poverty needs specific policies such as rural development centred around agriculture, promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), etc., and this is the most effective way to enhance human development, which in turn, will lead to greater employability and productivity.

In Chapter 2, Rehman Sobhan, shows that addressing poverty needs a totally different new approach from the conventional wisdom. He bases his argument on the failures of the Bretton Woods Institutions led structural adjustment packages (and later Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers [PRSPs]) to effectively alleviate poverty.

He argues that structural injustice in distributing productive assets, marketing, human development programmes, and governance remains the major source of poverty and exclusion. It is not by programmes that target the poor that poverty could be eradicated, says the author, but by democratizing development by directly integrating the poor to the growth process.

After providing a comprehensive critique of PRSPs, Sobhan presents a new programme to eradicate poverty and calls for a new-generation of pro-poor structural reforms.

Enhancement

In Chapter 3, Nimal Sanderatne examines the Growth-Human Development debate and argues that both are needed for enhancement of each other. High growth alone cannot enhance Human Development as shown in some Middle East Countries and during the early years of economic liberalization in Sri Lanka. Growth is only a means to achieve an end, i.e., human development.

The author argues that in Sri Lanka, high achievements in human development did not contribute to low growth, but it was wrong policies and external shocks that contributed to low growth. In any case, the author argues that growth has to be sustainable if it is to make a contribution to enhance human development and the quality of growth matters, as the 1996 UN Human Development Report has cogently articulated.

Sri Lanka's recent pattern of growth with increasing inequality underscores the need for more broad-based and sustainable growth.

Thenuwara, in Chapter 4, addresses the importance of the delivery of financial services to alleviate poverty and enhance human development. While the shift of the resources from surplus sectors to deficit sectors could bring financial services closer to the poor, for them to reach grassroots levels some innovation in financial delivery is necessary.

This is because there is a low demand due to the low purchasing power of the poor and this discourages supply of financial services by the private sector. Moreover, the well-known problems of moral hazards and adverse selection further discourage generous allocation of financial services to the poor.

It is in this context that innovative schemes such as micro-credit programmes, Grameen Model based lending, etc., becomes important and the author argues that they have to go hand-in-hand with other pro-poor delivery services to make an effective impact on reducing poverty.

In Chapter 5, Swarna Jayaweera argues that the multi-dimensions of Human Development indicate that the inter-face of education with political, economic and socio-cultural environment is crucial to the success of education as an agent of total development process and presents a six-point programme on education reform.

The challenge in the area of human development is to provide employment-oriented training in two tiers of vocational institutions distributed equitably in districts, i.e., (1) between general education and employment, and (2) between University education and employment.

It is argued that career guidance counsellors should work in close association with district training centres and national education bodies to meet the challenge.

New problems

Daya Samarasinghe, in Chapter 6, argues that the health sector reforms are necessary with emerging new problems and increase in demand for health service with technology, social, demographic and global changes.

The post-1977 health reforms attempts of 1980, 1993, 1997, and 2003 have not been very successful due to inadequate consultation with stakeholders and inadequate public and parliamentary debates.

Samarasinghe argues that for reforms to be successful: (a) recommendations should be prioritized and implementation plans should be well developed; (b) timing of implementation should preferably be in the early years of a government in office; (c) reformists should be well organized and market the reforms through active public debate; and (d) the political leadership should strongly support reform.

Samarasinghe concludes by stating that all is not lost. Some reforms appear to be successful to the extent of having a snowballing effect, others are being implemented but need close monitoring and fine-tuning while some others are in the drawing board subject to critical analysis.

Development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to assist the poor is the theme of Chapter 7 by V.K. Samaranayake. The author highlights some of the existing ICT programmes such as JobNet, Cyber Trade, Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment Website, Govi Sahanaya Programme, Multi-Purpose Tele Centre (Sarvodaya), etc., to assist the lower-middle class and poor people.

However, the author argues that these programmes function in an isolated manner and do not follow an integrated national effort and are therefore inadequate to meet the challenges of poverty.

The author identifies governance, education, health, and agriculture, as the four areas where ICT can help poverty alleviation and some of the innovative international practices (based on the Petersburg Prize) in these areas are highlighted.

The author argues that a number of ICT issues which fall within many Ministries have to be resolved before introducing an integrated approach where the provision of information and services could help people to overcome poverty.

Econometric model

Chapter 8 by Sunil Chandrasiri is the only paper in the book which uses an econometric model. Here, a simultaneous equation model is used to find the intra-link between technology and productivity in Sri Lanka. The model overcomes the shortcomings of the previous studies on the subject matter and uses the Structure-Conduct-Performance framework used in Industrial Organization theory.

The findings do not show technology as a determinant of productivity (measured in relative terms), but industrial concentration is found to be an important determinant of productivity and this result clearly does not support the traditional Schumpeterian argument.

In Chapter 9 Mahendra Amarasuriya shows the inadequacy of the Porter's (1990) Competitive Diamond framework in determining the competitive advantage of a nation in the modern day world where Knowledge-Management techniques in firms have progressed to unprecedented levels.

Competitive strength today depends on speed, agility, managing knowledge-flow and all large global companies have formal knowledge-management programmes. In Sri Lanka, only one or two corporates have such programmes and many companies are not 'Knowledge-Ready' to face competition in a knowledge-based global market.

While highlighting the need for firm levels innovation, he points out that the government has to play a facilitating role for the private sector to exploit knowledge-based techniques for the advantage of Sri Lanka.

The final Chapter (10) by Anura Ekanayake is on Competition, Industry and Consumer. Ekanayake shows the advantages of trade liberalization, however, he cautions that if trade liberalization is not accompanied by corresponding liberalization of factor markets (land, labour, and capital), development of infrastructure and promoting a competitive environment, the survival of domestic industries will be under threat and lead to job losses.

Such a scenario can strengthen lobbies to reverse the trade liberalization process, thus it is important to sequence the trade liberalization to bring minimum disadvantage to domestic industry and maximum benefit to the consumer.

What has been elaborated above is an overview of the chapters. The Chapters themselves have not been subjected to a critical analysis and this task is left to another subsequent reviewer. Moreover, the contents of the discussants have not been examined by the reviewer.

Important contribution

Based on the initial reading it is noted that the book lacks an overall introduction, however, the abstracts of each Chapter somewhat makes up for it. After the Human Resources Development Review 1992/93 (Human Resources Development Council, 1994) and the National Human Development Report: Sri Lanka (UNDP, 1998) there has not been a comprehensive report on Human Development in Sri Lanka.

In addition to giving an up-to-date account on Human Development, the report brings in the new Knowledge-based dimension and in that sense it is an important contribution and fills in an existing void in the existing local literature on the subject. Most of the chapters are backed by good research efforts and a number of references on the subject which may prove useful for a broad spectrum of scholars. The authors and editor must be applauded for their effort.

All in all, it is a timely publication when Sri Lanka is lagging behind in knowledge-based techniques compared to many of her competitors. The book gives a clear message, i.e., Sri Lanka can no longer sit on her laurels of achieving high HDIs to face the future challenges of the global economy.

There is a long way to go for Sri Lanka to be Knowledge-Ready and the policy apparatus should be well geared to face the challenge. If not, it would be another case of "missed opportunities" for Sri Lanka.

The contents of the volume could be of great interest and value for policy-makers and administrators as well as students, teachers and researchers in economics.

(The review is based on the Introduction to the Book made at the launch of the publication organized by the Sri Lanka Economic Association, OPA Auditorium, 25 January 2005).

Saman Kelegama

Focus on the 'Lion of Boralugoda'

Viplavavadiyakuge Hadagasma, Sinhala translation of Philip Gunawardena - The Making of a Revolutionary, by Charles Wesley Ervin, Translator : W.T.A. Leslie Fernando, Publishers : S. Godage & Bros. Maradana, Colombo 10, Price : Rs. 100/=

HOW do we remember Philip Gunawardena (1901-1972) almost a legendary personality affectionately and commonly known as the "Lion of Boralugoda" in Kosgama, Avissawella of Hevagam Korale, the well known country or shire of reputed warrior class and their historic victories at battles when the Portuguese held the suzerainty of the maritime provinces in our country (1505-1658).

He is no doubt, the pioneer who blazed a trial through the political and social traditions of a bygone era during the latter part of British imperialism. But if we relegate to the past, the unique achievements of this epoch-making son of Mother Sri Lanka, we do him and ourselves a great disservice.

That colossus of the pioneer exponent of Marxism-Leninism in our pre-independent period and revolutionary leftist - was born as the second son of a local village headman one Don Jakolis Rupasinghe Gunawardena, the well-known "Boralugoda Ralahamy" and Mrs. Dona Leonora Gunasekera Gunawardena Hamine of Dompe in the last century 20th.

After his first kindergarten education in the mother tongue - Sinhala at the village school, Kaluaggala he was later educated at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa and Ananda College, Colombo under the distinguished educationist, P. de S. Kularatne.

Agriculture

After getting through the London Matriculation Examination, he followed the Intermediate Arts course at the University College, Colombo and proceeded to the U.S.A. to read for a degree in Scientific Agriculture like Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, the great American who ushered in the Theosophical movement in the Orient and worked vehemently for the renaissance and resurgence of the Buddhist revival in our country in the latter quarter of the 19th century.

Philip's father wanted him to proceed to England and qualify as a barrister-at-law which suggestion fell on son's deaf ears. Proceeding to the U.S.A., he joined the University of Illinois and obtained a degree in agricultural economics and subsequently obtained a degree in philosophy and economics at the University of Wisconsin.

His shaping of revolutionary career for which he was destined, not as a lawyer/Barrister/Advocate is narrated after elaborate, unexpected research by another American national of modern times, Charles Wesley Ervin who laboriously made an in-depth study of the Bolshevic Leninist Party in India from 1942 to 1950.

In his dissertation on that theme he deals with, captivating the minds of the reader, the hitherto unknown facets of the life of Philip Gunawardena in his formative leftist political career state in the U.S.A. and Great Britain.

Revolutionary spirit

As the great English author Carlyle writing about the French Revolution asserts "Hope ushers a Revolution - as earthquakes are preceded by bright weather", Philip cut his political teeth in a revolutionary spirit during his two university career in the U.S.A. The tremendous influence of pro-Communist Professor Scot Nearing paved the way for his revolutionary Communist ideologies and attention for working class struggles.

Whilst in America he also got in touch with the revolutionary in Mexico Jose Vanconselos Calderon. Ervin most aptly describes Philips activities in the University of Columbia, his acquaintance with the Indian undergraduates, J.C. Kumarppa, K. Ramaiya and Jayaprakash Narayan. In New York, his application with the American Communist Party was conspicuous.

Armed with a doctorate in Philosophy (Columbia), and stuffed his mind with all revolutionary ideas, the youthful exuberant Philip was able to migrate to Great Britain where the author mentions about his close contacts with the great anti-imperialist national leader Subash Chandra Bose.

Hyde Park in London was his forum to express his Communist ideologies in his usual thundering voice. He was taken into the editorial board of the radical publication "Daily Worker" due to his journalistic capabilities and wrote excellent articles passionately and understandingly on the problems of colonization and rights of workers who were then an oppressed lot. The London dock and harbour workers were near and dear to him.

In London, he was a keen student of Trotskyism so much so; the Scotland Yard Police and all intelligent services in England were vigilant of Philip's anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist activities.

He was so tactful as to organize the adherents of Trotsky's doctrines into a study circle surreptitiously named the "T" group. For meeting secretly to discuss current political issues and disseminate his ideals, he found a safe place in the British museum library.

Contributing meaningful articles to the "Labour Monthly" he highly commended the vigorous and active Communist Party of India. He was of the strong conviction that it would be the precursor of the Indian revolutionary movement. In words of Franklyn "Rebellion against tyranny is obedience to God". That was one of Philip's fortes.

Philip was so determined as to travel by train to meet Leon Trotsky in Turkey where he was an exile. The hazardous train journey was disrupted in Bulgaria, when the British Police intercepted him in its capital when the train came to a halt. A police officer got hold of Philip and confiscated his ticket.

There was no alternative for him but to cut short the journey and return to England. With the collaboration of the Leftist centre in Paris, France, Philip was bold enough to carry with him some vital documents on the sly, crossing the snow-clad Pyranees mountains to Barcelona in Spain, in support of the revolution in that country against the despotic King Alphonso.

His knowledge of Spanish and French helped him on this errand and also to translate documents in both those languages on behalf of the freedom fighting insurgents in Spain.

Proletarian struggles

After travelling in some South European countries to meet his Marxist acquaintances and familiarize himself with the working class prolelarian struggles and their activities, he set sail from Marseilles Southern France bound for the motherland. The police spies similar to the "Gestapho" of Hitlerite Germany were after him.

Philip returned home after ten years sojourn in the U.S.A., Great Britain and continental countries not as a Barrister-at-law to amass a fortune at the local Bar but as a fully-pledged Marxist to work for the uplift of down-trodden masses under the oppression of imperialism, capitalism, feudalism, casteism and even unscientific superstitious beliefs.

Wellawatte textile mills

The American writer Charels Wesley Ervin then goes on to deal with the beginnings of the Leftist movement in our country, the first strike at Wellawatte textile mills, the ridding of the working class trade unionism from shackles of A.E. Goonasinghe, the erstwhile organizer of the labour movement, the Suriamal campaign and the formation of the Lanka Samasamaja Party.

True to the dictum of Plato in his Republic our pioneer revolutionary upheld that "the most complete injustice is to seen just, when not so."

The great credit of revealing the significant feats of this national leader abroad as well as the organizing of the initial revolution against injustice in Sri Lanka goes to W.T.A. Leslie Fernando former High Court Judge, a true son of the soil of Negombo.

His competence as an author-cum-journalist to all the newspapers and periodicals in both Sinhala and English is obvious for quite some decades. His translation of this work into Sinhala is of an excellent standard. Leslie Fernando has done well in unearthing the saga of the pioneer revolutionary in our country - the father of Marxism.

I do personally feel when the history of Sri Lanka is to be re-written, Philip Gunawardena will stand up and tell the whole world "I may be a despicable person but when truth speaks through me, I am invincible". For once a judicial pronouncement declared that "Philip was a symbol of truth".

However, the endeavour of W.T.A. Leslie Fernando is erudite, most comprehensive, thought provoking and informative.

Written in plain and simple language after a deep and wide study it is moderately priced at Rs. 100 only with glossy paper and the format cover portraying a very rare photograph of the hero of the book displaying his youthful exuberance and future prowess as the real national leader of Sri Lanka.

Stanley E. Abeynayake.

Fascinating glimpse into the life of rural Bali

Bali Dupathe Tharuniyan Dedenek, Author: Dr. P.G. Punchihewa, Dayawansa Jayakody publication

THE title of this book drove me to dwell deeper into the contents of the book. This was further heightened by the introduction which created a familiar environment as a backdrop. Then there was my interest in reading something creative and would be interesting, based in a country I had visited a few years ago.

As Sri Lankans we are so familiar with little eating houses of our staple food - rice, scattered over the length and breadth of our country be it urban or rural. The Eating House in Bali sets the state to this dramatic story.

It is the meeting place of many residents and visitors in this particular part of Bali used to out-door meals, whatever the position or rank.

This Eating House proved to be the most convenient and attractive in the village Binginmanga, some seventy to eighty years ago, helping the portrayal of village life then somewhat similar to ours, by certain characteristics and rural social inter connections.

The owner and manager of the Eating House was none other than a middle-aged woman, Men Negara, called 'Men' by everyone around the locality. Men's Eating House occupies a predominant role in the story. I was reminded of Madame Defarge's Wine Shop in the Tale of Two Cities by Dickens although the times, the plot and the political scene differed with so much intrigue and conspiracies woven into it.

Calculating woman

The human element of the characters in the story is well-depicted by their day-to-day activities, through ambition, love, passion and revenge of the young and the old.

Men the mistress was a calculating woman who made ample use of the cards before her, exercised mainly through her daughter Negari, an attractive young lass sought after by many who admired her coquettish company in between their meals of rice or boozing, where coconut arrack was served in abundance.

Being a small, remote Bali village everyone knew everyone unless it happened to be a stranger visiting the village. So many villagers hired labourers, frequented the place as the only other Eating House in the vicinity would not compare with the dominance and attraction Men's place offered.

An extra special personality was the Police Inspector who made his presence felt and in no uncertain terms hinted at his intentions of wooing Men's charming daughter, Negari.

There was the usual gossip in the village that 'Men' the owner, had fled from her native village, with her paramour who happened to be a relative of her's abandoning her marital home, and an eight month old daughter. She had given up her parents too. So many interesting stories about 'Men-Widi' then, are related in this story, making it choice-reading.

Nostalgia

The smell of roasting pork or whole pig at times drew people from far and wide to Men's dining tables, and the server no doubt added more salt and pepper - leave aside the nostalgia. Gusthie Mude Thusan the Police Inspector was no exception. However, he had his eyes on his own prey as well in Negari.

The story in short revolves around Thusan and two Bali women, one of whom is already introduced and other is left to be discovered by the reader. The story would not be complete otherwise, for it reaches the climax with the arrival of the second.

Suffice it to say that there is an element of secrecy, reality and doubt all woven together in this story - or short novel, for its neither a short story by its content and characters nor a novel by its pages and length.

It makes very interesting reading, typically peasant but commercialised, a transition experienced by our own rural peasantry, more akin to a typical Sinhala creative work rather than a translation. Even treated as a translation it rises above the general standards in that the author himself P.G. Punchihewa, has amply gained by his experiences of life in Indonesia for well over fifteen years.

I'm sure we can look forward to more fruitful creative writing by the author in the decade to come. His writing is clear and precise and not over-indulging. Finally Dayawansa Jayakody & Co. must be commended for giving the Sinhala reader the opportunity to taste the life of rural Bali through Two Women of Bali by P.G. Punchihewa.

Neetha S. Ratnapala

Mitigating global challenges

Ready-made Garment Industry in Sri Lanka: Facing the Global Challenge, Edited by Saman Kelegama, Published by the IPS, Colombo, pp. 267

READY-MADE Garment Industry in Sri Lanka: Facing the Global Challenge is a publication consisting of essays written on Sri Lanka's Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector in the context of a changing global trade regime. The book, edited by Dr. Saman Kelegama, a noted academician, was published in June 2004 by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Colombo.

The publication came at a time when global trade in RMG was set to change from the Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA), a system of voluntary export restraints based on allocated quotas, to the quota free system under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). The ATC expired on 31 December 2004, freeing the world textile sector from 2005 onwards.

The book notes that the RMG sector has been a leading export sector for many developing countries for decades.

The MFA had helped to serve small developing countries like Sri Lanka to get a foothold in the market of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). It is against this backdrop that the book analyses the Sri Lankan RMG sector trying to seek an answer to the question as to whether the industry can survive in the new trading order.

The book is relevant for several reasons. First, it has correctly identified many issues involved in RMG trade and dealt with them thoroughly.

Second, there is a proper sequencing of the issues raised. Third, the language has been kept very simple and non-technical. Fourth, given the coverage and scope, the publication does form the basis for carrying out similar analysis in other countries as well.

Store house of knowledge

Content-wise, the book is a vast storehouse of knowledge and begins with a comprehensive analysis of the RMG industry in Sri Lanka, familiarising the readers about the sector's performance so far. Then it addresses in detail the issue of competitiveness.

Following an in-depth analysis, the publication notes that weaknesses far outweigh the strengths of the Sri Lankan RMG industry. What makes this section more interesting is the fact that the authors have gone to the extent of creating a model of competition in the RMG sector in Sri Lanka.

problems

Likewise, the publication also discusses the problems and prospects of backward and forward linkages.

It reiterates the fact that the Sri Lankan RMG industry plays an important role in the economy despite the relatively low levels of linkages. Similarly, the book vividly addresses the issue of labour productivity and job quality in the garment industry.

It highlights how rising labour costs and low level of productivity in the country have dampened the high hopes that emanated from the growth of the RMG sector in the past.

The book dedicates five chapters to the external trading environment for the RMG sector. Three scenarios with regards to the dynamics of regional and bilateral trading arrangements are dealt with.

They include the risks for the garment industry from the North Atlantic Free Trade Area (NAFTA); the impact of the Indo-Sri Lanka bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) on garment industry; and the opportunities that the RMG sector in Sri Lanka would have if an FTA is signed between Sri Lanka and the US.

Opportunities

The threats and the opportunities under each scenario have been highlighted with justifications. Towards the concluding chapters, the book analyses the impact of China's emergence as a global RMG exporter and the ATC on Sri Lankan textiles exports. The book reckons and recognises the stiff competition and possible market displacement that China's RMG would bring.

Likewise, it asserts that the future of the Sri Lankan RMG industry would critically depend on market access in developed country markets.

It notes, both with hopes and fears, that since the ATC does not relate to tariff barriers, there is every possibility that developed countries, especially the US and the EU, would find alternative means of protecting their markets. Much will depend on how developed countries react to Chinese RMG exports.

This book puts forth the discussions and debates that raged, and continues to rage, in the Sri Lankan RMG sector, covering a range of issues that are of relevance to any economy's RMG industry. It also needs to be reiterated that with so many dimensions of the RMG trading environment, analysed, this book, can be a useful guide for conducting similar analyses in other economies.

As such, the book is a must read for policymakers, academics, researchers and media in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Bhaskar Sharma