Novelette of understanding narrated with simplicity

Vannathikulam

Author: Dr. Noel Nadesan

Vijitha Yapa Publication

Review: H.L.D. Mahindapala

FICTION: Dr. Noel Nadesan, the author of Vannanthikulam has careered through many roles: a veterinarian who passed out of the Peradeniya University, a journalist (he is the Editor of the Melbourne-based Uthayam, a Tamil community newspaper in Australia), a Tamil political activist and now as a novelist.

All these roles come into play in his novelette Vannathikulam. Naturally, it is not surprising to find a combination of a variety of experiences weaving their way delicately through the novelette, turning it into a rich tapestry.

His biography and fiction meld into an enchanting story of understanding and hope. Normally, Tamil literature tends to be infused with bitter hatred, demonizing the majority Sinhala-Buddhists.

The surprising element in Vannathikulam is the broad understanding of the complex forces that interacted and produced the over-determining political crisis in which two lovers from two houses (like Montagues and Capulets in Romeo and Juliet) are trapped.

Dr. Sooriyan, a Jaffna Tamil veterinarian, working in a Sinhala village, falls in love with a Sinhala school teacher, Chitra and marries her. But they find that there is no protection for them to live either in the north or in the south because of external threats to their lives from the volatile communal crisis. So they migrate to a safer haven in Canada.

Endearing work

The story line is familiar but the dramatization of it through intricate details, narrated with a disarming simplicity, lifts Vannathikulam into an endearing work of fiction.

Surprisingly, within the short space of a novelette it covers almost the entire gamut of the political forces without being preachy. Like all good narrators Dr. Nadesan tries to maintain a balance presenting all points of view.

His protagonist Dr. Sooriyan sees no difference between the Sinhala kings of the past and the present rulers. He articulates the fears of the minority Tamils who have suspicions about the majority. But he doesn't spare the Tamil politicians and the misguided Tamil youth either.

Dr. Nadesan covers most of the political issues without being too dogmatic, or without losing the impact of the fast-moving narrative. He injects politics unobtrusively as an integral part of the evolving narrative.

Here's an extract that may shock the partisans who were fixated on Sinhala colonization of Tamil land: "How can we tell Sinhalese people in Padaviya and Medawachchiya that the Sri Lankan Government had colonized areas where Tamil-speaking people lived by allocating land in these areas to Sinhalese people? Didn't the Sri Lankan Government allocate jungle lands at Akkarayankulam and Kanagaranyankulam to Tamils? And how many Tamils were prepared to settle down in colonies in Padaviya?

"The fact is that Tamil politicians were not only hasty but also entered the ring without any basic plans. I thought that their actions were tantamount to the actions of an irresponsible man of a family who jumped from a moving vehicle in anger because the conductor of the bus had scolded and assaulted him, yelling at him and his whole family to jump out." (p. 114).

Overall sympathy

This is where the balance comes in. Dr. Nadesan, like Dr. Sooriyan, (they are congruent except in the love affair) is not a defender of the Sri Lankan government.

The overall sympathy of the narrator, Dr. Sooriyan, is for the Tamil minority but unlike other misguided partisans he has the ability to assess and analyse where the Tamil political leadership went wrong.

Dr. Nadesan's insights into Tamil politics are valuable to understand the competing forces that bedevilled Tamil and Sinhala politics. In the following paragraph he sees what went wrong with communal politics on both sides: "The changes that had taken place in Jaffna were clearly noticeable.

During the 1970s it was possible to freely travel anywhere during the day or night. Several vehicles passed through Jaffna roads even around one in the morning, when midnight shows in cinema halls ended. The midnight shows were abolished in 1980s.

Politics which dominated conversations during election times then, had now become a daily topic. Tensions erupted everywhere.

Successive governments would need to bear the responsibility for the creation of such tense situations. Generally, the youth were of the opinion that there was no alternative but to resort to violence.

They spoke with more faith drawn from the power of weaponry than in the strength of masses in their political struggle. It was generally accepted that there should not be any opposing views. They had determined that such opposing views would only destroy unity. I was deeply worried over this state of affairs." (pp. 39-40)

Fundamental factor

Here Dr. Nadesan reveals a fundamental factor ignored even by the best of political analysts. He focuses on the fact the Tamil militants derive "more faith from the power of weaponry than in the strength of the masses in their political struggle."

This is borne out by the accumulation of weaponry by the Tamil Tigers who have, by and large, lost the popular support they had earlier as "boys" by relying on the power of weaponry. Their strength is in the weaponry and the day that weapons go out of their hands the Tamil masses can be expected to react differently.

This sole dependence on arms has intoxicated the Tamil youth who brook no dissent. Led by Prabhakaran they have eliminated the cream of the Tamil political elite. It is, no doubt, a worrying state of affairs. The growing disenchantment with the Tamil separatist movement arises from the violent and authoritarian attempts made by the Tamil Tigers to suppress and oppress dissent.

The strength of the narrative is in exploring these hidden forces which even the leading sociologists have failed to grasp. Consider the role played by rumours as opposed to the exaggerated claim of the government of the day fanning the flames of anti-Tamil riots. Rumours played a decisive role even in the Sinhala-Muslim riots of 1918.

No one can blame the British of propagandizing for one side or the other. When a tiny spark was ignited at the traditional annual Kandy Perahera, with the Muslims trying to silence the drummers as they passed the mosque - a right which the Sinhala-Buddhist enjoyed from the time the perahera began - the rumours spread far and wide saying that the Muslims had burnt the sacred Temple of the Tooth.

Rumours added fuel to this tiny spark ignited in a Kandy street and it spread far and wide, bursting into a conflagration setting fire to the whole nation.

Communal riots

Similar rumours played a critical role in spreading the fires of communal riots. Here is a passage that describes this common trend: "When I was your age, (says Chitra's father to Dr. Sooriyan explaining how he came to wear a gold tooth)"the 1958 racial riots took place. Those were the days when we were wandering around without any jobs.

There was news that the Sinhalese had been murdered in Jaffna.

It was rumoured that Sinhalese in Medawachchiya had also been murdered. We were told that the Tamils were coming from Vavuniya in buses and lorries to kill the Sinhalese living in Padaviya.

When we heard the news, the other youngsters and I got together and travelled towards Vavuniya to confront them. On our way, the army stopped us and requested us to get back home. We refused. When an army officer attacked me with his rifle, a tooth broke. I still feel ashamed for having believed in the rumour." (p.98)

The following is a moving incident which encapsulates the other side of the communal violence that broke out sporadically in the fifties, sixties and seventies, mainly as a mob reaction to the confrontational politics of the mono-ethnic extremists of the north.

It also points to the general theme of the book which gives hope to both communities: "When I was studying at the Peradeniya University, (says Dr. Sooriyan) the Sinhala and Tamil students were residing together in the Mars Students Hostel.

At the height of the racial tensions in 1977, hooligans burnt down Tamil shops at Peradeniya Junction. Some Tamils were murdered. Others were forced to flee or sent to refugee camps. As a result, all other students' hostels were closed down.

Sinhala hooligans

"Nevertheless, we continued to stay in the same hostel. From our hostel we came to know that Sinhala hooligans from the adjoining village were going to target our hostel that night.

When the Sinhala students came to know this news, they immediately broke the legs of all the beds to use as weapons and got ready to counterattack in order to save us. They also told us to join in the attack. The hooligans had given up their intention when they had heard of the student's readiness to challenge them.

The Sinhala students deemed us as friends and not as Tamils." (p. 107) This brings out the underlying theme of the book: the divisions within the two communities are not visceral. The two communities are not divided irrevocably like the Jews and Muslims or even like the Muslims and the Christians, as they have been in history.

There is a traditional bond between the two communities. Except for the lunatic fringe and the die-hards in the majority community the average Sinhala villager and the elite have responded to the legitimate needs of the minorities with commendable humane sympathy and generous, sometimes even self-sacrificing, responses.

To take one recent example, the Sinhala villagers rushed to the Tamil neighbours in the east with provisions when the tsunami hit them. There was no government, no NGOs, no TRO to help the Tamil victims of the tsunami in the first days of the tsunami hitting the eastern coast. They came later with their respective political agendas.

The response of the Sinhala villagers was not dictated by politics. It was more than a nominal gesture of goodwill too. It represents the innate human bonds that had tied the two communities together down the ages.

Even though some of the NGOs and Churchmen pursue insidiously divisive politics these are two communities that have been put together by overwhelming historical forces which no man can put asunder.

Dr. Nadesan's novelette gives hope to this common bond that unites the two communities. When Chitra and Dr, Sooriyan got married they tied the indissoluble and indivisible knot. It confirms that both can live together whatever politics comes in between them. They may even have to leave the country as communal tensions deteriorate. But they leave together to live together even though their new home is miles away from their native land.

Butterfly eyelids

As the plane takes off the runway Dr. Sooriyan reflects on the past and the future: "This (Sinhala) woman seated next to me had given up her birth place, relatives and her community. If only those butterfly eyelids could take wing and flutter across whole of Sri Lanka.

"From my seat, I could not see anything through the window glass.

"Is it the tears in my eyes or the clouds of the sky that darken my sight?"

In conclusion, it is necessary to emphasize that though the emphasis in this review has been on the interweaving politics that has come in between the two communities this novelette is not a political tract. It is a simple narrative of two lives caught in the vortex of Sri Lankan politics.

Dr. Nadesan, who first wrote the book in Tamil, got it translated by Kandiah Kumaraswamy. Judging by the flavour of the translation (and not knowing Tamil) I can only guess that there can't be much of a difference between the two.

It is a narrative of our times and Dr. Nadesan has told it with the power and grace that goes with simplicity. It is a book that should be read particularly by those who think they know what is happening in Sri Lanka.

Asian Tribune

Celebrating Sri Lankan English literature

Kaleidoscope: An Anthology of Sri Lankan English Literature

Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2007

Edited by D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke

LITERATURE: Kaleidoscope is the first to celebrate Sri Lankan literature in all its variety - fiction, poetry, drama and non-fiction, a cross-section of how Lankans thought and wrote from colonial times to today. It tells of love and war, of sex and food, of the tsunami and terrorism, and ranges from Senior to sci-fi. Its kaleidoscopic patterns mirror the changing nation.

Ranging from the origins of our English literature as responding to the stirrings of a patriotic fervour, a response to the glories of an ancient culture and the dreams of youth in the Kandy Lake Poets to the acid disenchantment of the 21st century, it offers a wide range of modes and evokes a whole gamut of moods and action.

Above all, this anthology proffers entertainment and enjoyment, while simultaneously sharpening the reader's perceptions.

It includes a generous selection from our established writers such as Punyakante Wijenaike, Carl Muller, Suvimalee Karunaratna, Yasmine Gooneratne, Patrick Fernando, Lakdasa Wikkramasinha, Anne Ranasinghe, Regi Siriwardena and Ernest Thalayasingham MacIntyre as well as from outstanding recent writers (some bilingual) such as Nihal de Silva, A. Santhan, Sunethra Rajakarunanayake, Kamani Jayasekera and U. Karunatilake.

D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke, Emeritus Professor of English, is also the internationally recognized authority on Sri Lankan English literature. He was elected Fellow Commoner by Churchill College, University of Cambridge, and later Foundation Visiting Fellow by Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.

He was Henry Charles Chapman Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and Guest Professor of English at the University of Tubingen, Germany.

He was the International Chairperson of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) and Vice-President of the Federation Internationale des Languages et Literatures Modernes (FILLM).

His books include Developing Countries in British Fiction, Images of the Raj, Joseph Conrad: Beyond Culture and Background, and Salman Rushdie, all published by Palgrave Macmillan (London). He has edited Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness, Perspectives on Post-Colonial Literature, and anthologies of Sri Lankan Literature. He has recently completed a study of Joseph Conrad for Routledge (London & New York).

Fills a void and satisfies a long-felt need

The Wakfs Law Procedure and Practice

Author: A. H. G. Ameen

Price Rs. 500

Available at 34 1/5, St. Sebastian Hill, Colombo 12 and leading bookshops

Review: Fathima Asma Cassim

LAW: At a time when there is no literature on Wakfs law and the procedure to be followed in case of an application to be made before the Wakfs Board or the Wakfs Tribunal the book on "The Wakfs Law Procedure and Practice" authored by A. H. Ghouzul Ameen fills a void and a long felt need in Sri Lanka.

Muslims in Sri Lanka are governed by three statutes namely; Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No: 13 of 1951, The Muslim Mosques and Charitable Trusts or Wakfs Act No. 51 of 1956, The Muslim Intestate Succession Ordinance No: 10 of 1931.

Matrimonial matters of Muslims under the first act are heard before the Quazi Courts spread over the country.

Decisions made by the Quazi who is appointed by the Judicial Service Commission may be challenged before the appellate body the Board of Quazis members of which are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission and which has both Appellate and Revisionary jurisdiction.

An aggrieved person can also go before the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. All matters pertaining to the mosques are heard before the Wakfs Baord under the second Statute and its members are appointed by the Minister and the decision of the Wakfs Board may be appealed before the Wakfs Tribunal members of which are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission.

Mr. Ameen's book serves as a guide not only to the practising lawyer but also to laymen and those interested in the study of Walkfs law in Sri Lanka.

The book under review opens with a foreword from retired Supreme Court Judge Justice M. Jameel who is presently a member of the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka and retired Attorney General Shibly Aziz PC.

Mr. Ameen in his introduction gives the meaning of Wakf and traces the history of Wakfs in Sri Lanka and the establishment of the Wakfs Board and the Tribunal, all aspects provided for in the Wakfs Act, functions of the Board and Tribunal, the duties and powers of its members and the role of Trustees Mosques and Charitable Trusts. He also discusses how an appeal could be referred against the order of the Board before the Tribunal.

He discusses the Muslim Charities Fund and the abuse of such funds in the recent past. He carries a specimen constitution so that a mosque does not have a constitution may draft its constitution with the help of this specimen constitution.

A worthy contribution to children's literature

Gorilla

Minisa a gaman maga

Author: Jayantha Wijewickrama

Sobadam Prakashakayo 48/7, Kesbewa Road, Nugegoda

Review: Ranjan Amarasinghe

LITERATURE: Jayantha Wijewickrama, a young writer, who has shown his flair in contributing to the field of children's and juvenile literature, has written two booklets.

The first volume which is titled "The Evolutionary Process of Man" enlightens us with lucid details about the origins of the man dating back to primeval period of history.

In this field of studies, Chalres Darwin is regarded as the architect who propagated his revolutionary theory on evolution of man with scientific evidence which has been substantiated by a phalanx of modern scientists who expounded his theories convincingly, with new data and factual details.

Thus the relevance of his theories to the modern age, largely remains intact, which has not only debunked some ancient religious beliefs but also it has enhanced the spectrum of rational thinking to hitherto unimaginable dizzy heights.

In the animal kingdom, mammals are given a prominent place for they in any ways resemble human beings. Charles Darwin promulgated his evolutionary theory by stressing on the close relationship among monkies, apes and human beings.

Jayantha elucidates us with lucid details about different kinds of mammals, and also with clear illustrations which would undoubtedly kindle the young readers interest in this stimulating booklet.

His second publication on gorilla which belongs to the family of apes such as orangutans and chimpanzees, delves into the close link between human species and apes, which was highlighted by Charles Darwin in his promulgation of evolutionary process of man.

This booklet can be presented as a valuable gift to any keen reader, for it is replete with fascinating and well-researched details about the benevolent gorillas, whose species are increasingly threatened with extinction mainly due to man's inhumanity of cutting down forests which has been tradionally safeguarded with religious zeal, as the natural habitat of plants and animals.

Jayantha, has amply proved that he is a trail-blazer, who has contributed to children's and Juvenile literature immensely, by presenting scientific literature in such a manner which is both simple and lucid, so much so that avid young readers can absorb these factual details without much effort as it is well-presented for their easy digestion.

In a world where commercialization and vulgarization is given a decree to reign its dictatorial stance with absolute disregard to decent and humanitarian values, the effort of enhancing the young readers mental horizon with a sprinkle of beneficial ideas, should be emulated as a visionary goals, which would undoubtedly ensure a rich harvest of tangible results in the long-term.

To that end Jyantha has trodden cautiously in his chosen cobbled highway, gathering valuable information on evolution of man and the close relationship between man and the ape, which is presented in a readable manner for young readers reading pleasure and enjoyment.

To sum up these two booklets written with the sole purpose of educating and informing young readers not only about our environment friendly species such as gorillas but also about their close affinity to human species is a laudable effort which should not be allowed to go upraised and unappreciated as after all the rationality and the compassionate attitude of homo sapiens has been unic and legendary in the annals of human history.

Finally, let us wish him with all sincerity blessings of good health and long life so that he can carry on his vocation with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, in this mean world of intrigue and deceit thus enhancing the mental horizon of his young readers to a high degree of excellence.