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How did Kalatuvakku come to mean, 'cannon' in Sinhala?
By D. G. A Perera
The etymology of the term 'kalatuvakku' is not satisfactorily explained in any of the Sinhala Dictionaries published so far. Even the monumental Sinhala Dictionary published by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs explaines it as being derived from 'kakul tuvakkuva,' adding that in the early stages, a cannon is said to have been mounted on three legs (i.e. a tripod). But they have not tried to explain, with other examples how 'kakul' meaning 'legs' can change to 'kala' - a word with the altogether different meaning, 'time'. (Though kal means 'leg' in Tamil, the word has never been used as kaltuvakku or kaltuppaki to denote 'cannon' according to (Tamil dictionaries.) One can imagine that this untenable etymology was based on the assumption that the English term 'hand gun' was used to differentiate that type of smaller weapon from 'cannon' for which the nonexistent term 'foot gun' (kakul tuwakkuwa) was suspected to have been used!The statement that early cannon were mounted on tripods is also mere guesswork that is not confirmed by the practicability of such an arrangement. Even a beginner with the least powerful of guns, like a small point 22 rifle, knows better. There is always the danger of receiving a very painful blow on the chest or collarbone if he does not cushion the butt of the gun with his shoulder muscles to absorb the force of recoil when it is fired.
The rear end of a cannon mount when the weapon was used in land warfare may have looked like a leg resting on the ground. But the wheels, which allowed the recoil during firing of the gun to be absorbed by the backward movement of the whole apparatus, can hardly be called the other two 'legs' of a tripod as such.
The first time the Sinhala term kala-tuvakkuva came to be used, the people of this country had not seen Portuguese cannon on land. The gun-barrels of their cannon on a ship were free mounted and not fixed onto anything, allowing the recoil to be absorbed by its backward movement when fired.
The people who reported the news of the arrival of the Portuguese to the King of Kotte were the first Sinhala people to have seen, or heard the sound a cannon. Had they thought that this was a kind of gun mounted on legs, why did they not use the word kakul tuvakkuva in the first instance? This is because they had observed the purpose for which this new gun was being used. This had something to do with the Sinhala term 'kala.' meaning 'time.'' They had noted that the cannon was being fired every two-and- a-half hours of Sinhala time (which was equal to one hour of European time).
This was the common practice adopted by European ship captains when they sent a landing party for any purpose on an unfamiliar shore. At a time when there were no pocket watches it helped the landing party to keep track of time and also to guide them back to the ship when there work was over. Lourenzo de Almeida had in fact taken the precaution of firing the ship's cannon 'at every turn of the hour glass' when his envoys were being taken to see the Sinhala King by a roundabout route. The envoys could not be fooled because they realized they were within hearing distance of the 'time-keeping' gun throughout the long journey. So, was also this practice of discharging a cannon (a 'time keeping gun') every hour that led to the well-known joke about how the Portuguese went to Kotte ('Parangiya Kotte Giya Haety').
Rev. Fr. S. G. Perera mentions this fact In his history book (p. 10) that was in use by schools in the good old days. The following quotation from Fr. S. G Perera's book about this incident is from the English translation of the Rajavaliya, published way back in 1900
'The report of their cannon is louder than thunder when it busts upon the rock of Yugandhara.'
However, according to the text of the critical edition of this document by Professor A V. Suravira (1976 p. 214 the statement begins as 'unge kalatuvakkuva kiyana vedille sabda .. . etc .' This translates into English as:
'The reports of their gun called the kalatuvakkuva . . etc.'
So, the first time Sinhala people used the word kalatuvakkuva, it did not mean a large gun. It is certainly not derived from a Portuguese term for cannon. In fact it meant the kind of gun used for keeping track of time. For even after they had constructed a fortress in Colombo, the Portuguese continued to fire a gun to announce the passing of each (European) hour.
Hence the word kala-tuvakkuva to mean 'cannon' continues to be in use today' long after the original meaning of the term ('time keeping gun') has been forgotten. That appears to be the reason why this term continues to confuse even the learned lexicographers of today (and confound their attempts at analyzing its etymology
We have also forgotten the fact that before European domination of the whole island in 1815 the Sinhala people measured the 'hour' by a unit, which was equal to one sixtieth of the European day-and-night of 24 hours. Many have also forgotten that the Sinhala term 'tisse' to denote the duration of time, originally came from 'davasa tisse,',' which referred to the full daytime period of 30 (Sinhala) hours (tispaeye).
This article was made possible by the fact that one more ancient document in private hands had cane to light when a present descendent of the Herath Gunaratne family decided to bring it to the notice of the government archivist. Had Codrington (who translated the Doratiyava Sannasa,) been aware of this copper plate with its accurate dating, he would not have assigned the erroneous dating 1325/6 for the accession of Parakrama Bahu IV in his list of Sinhala kings (Notes on the Dambadeniya) dynasty Ceylon Antiquary Vol. X Part II p. 99, Oct.' 1924).
If this document had been available to scholars earlier this century, our history books would also have been written differently, where guns and gunpowder were concerned. There are more such authentic documents from the period of Sinhala kings known to exist in the country. It would be in the interest of historical research for these also to be made available to scholars.
[The writer acknowledges a debt of gratitude to his friends: Mr. Asela Navaratne, during the early morning walks with whom I came to know about the existence of this copper plate from the last mentioned person here. Dr. C. D. Herath Gunaratne, whom I have not met after I learnt about this copper plate, perhaps did not find the need to mention it to me, and would still be unaware that I was to use it for writing this article. Most of all to the latter's kinsman Mr. A Edirisinghe through whom I was able to obtain same photocopies of the original document and its English translation, to satisfy my own curiosity.]
Alfred lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
By Allan de Saa Bandaranaike
Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in Lincolnshire and was at Trinity College, Cambridge where he won the Chancellor's Medal for English Verse. He kept writing until shortly before his death and his poem 'Crossing The Bar' written when he was 80 years old has been described as a 'flawless poem, one of the richest jewels in the Treasury of English verse'.He was Poet Laureate and a close friend of Francis. T. Palgrave, Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford. The Professor was responsible for the 'Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics' published in 1861. In his Preface he pays the following tribute to Tennyson - 'Permit me then, to inscribe to yourself a book which, I hope, may be found by many, a lifelong fountain of innocent and exalted pleasure, a source of animation to friends when they meet....'
'Morte d' Arthur' is a wonderful poem woven round King Arthur and the last of his 'Knights of the Round Table' - Sir Bedivere, and the King's most prized possession - the sword 'Excalibur'. The poem is, perhaps, too long to be included here so I set out an excerpt from it.
'And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
The old order changeth, yielding place to new
And God fulfils Himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
I have lived my life and that which I have done
May He within Himself make pure: but thou,
If thou shoudst never see my face again,
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
But now, farewell. I am going a long way
With these thou seest - if indeed I go
(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)
To the island valley of Avillion:
Where falls not hail, or rain or any snow;
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies,
Deep-meadowed, happy, fair, with orchard lawns
And bowery hollows crowned with Summer sea;
Where I shall heal me of my wound'.
Tennyson's poem 'The Eagle' has been described as 'a marvel of condensation. In six lines we are able to live the life of the eagle. The poet takes us to the eagle's perch on a high cliff; he then makes us see with the eagle's piercing vision, feel his desires and finally swoop down on his prey'.
'THE EAGLE'
He clasps the crag with crooked hands
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring 'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls,
He watches from his mountain walls
And like a thunderbolt he falls.'
Children are fascinated by water and Tennyson's description of the brook brings back early memories.
' THE BROOK '
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Phillip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.
With many a curve my banks I fret,
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.
I chatter, chatter as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
I wind about and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling.
And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel.
And draw them all along and flow
To join the brimming river.
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers:
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.
I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance
Among my skimming swallows:
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.
I murmur under moon and stars
in brambly wildernesses
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round the cresses.
And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go
But I go on for ever.
One of his greatest efforts was:
'BREAK, BREAK, BREAK'
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray crags O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of a voice that is still.
Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
In the first paragraph of this article I referred to Tennyson's 'Crossing the Bar' and here it is:
'CROSSING THE BAR'
Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me:
And may there be no moaning of the bar
When I put out to sea.
But such a tide as moving seems asleep
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell
And after that the dark
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark.
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
The late Mr. W. Dahanayake who loved poetry and was an excellent English teacher in his early days recited this poem in its entirety when I called on him. He was over 90 years old at the time.
'The Cripple' - suitable for students, teacher and young dramatists
By Vargeesa Sumanasekera
On the 5th of January in the year 1920, Ervin Piscator was waiting to stage his drama.'The Cripple' in which he would play the main role. John Heartneald was the stage designer. As usual John was late and Piscator decides to start the play without props. At the end of the first scene, John came to the theatre with a rolled-up canvas.
'Stop that Ervin. I brought the stage settings'. The Surprised audience wondered what was going on. Piscator who was acting the role of the cripple could not continue with the play.
'It wasn't my fault, you could not give me transport. Every tram car refused to give me a ride because of this long canvas. At last I jumped onto the foot-board of a tram car and came. I was lucky not to fall off and die....' (the audience smiles)
'We don't need that now. We'll carry on with the play.'
'No, no we must hang this first.'
'It's not needed, John.'
'No, no I worked very hard. We must hang this.'
Piscator then asked the audience whether the canvas should be hung and most of them said that it should be hung. So he did. This was the start of epic theatre. There have been two major attempts in this century to break away from the Aristotelian dramatic ethic. The first is the school of absurd theatre led by Samuel Beckett and the second epic theatre begun by Ervin Piscator.
It was Dayananda Gunawardena who introduced the concept of epic theatre to Sri Lankan drama, which is popularly known as 'documentary theatre'. Gunawardena used the documentary style as a means to discuss a particular theme. In this manner he gave the audience a new vision of human nature and understanding. Unlike, Dr. Srachchandra, Dayananda seeks to explore social issues through his dramas. Jayalath Manoratne is probably second in line to Dayaratne in this form of specialist theatre. His skills lie in the folk and experimentalist theatre in that sphere. However, his latest work 'Sanda Gira', lacks the depth of his previous dramas.
In his latest work, Mano's main idea is to summarize the history of Sinhalese drama from the time of ceremonial dances (shaantikarma) to the period when such dramas as Maname were produced. Mano first describes the dramatic denotations of the ceremonial dances and then he takes us through the period of folk plays like sokari, kolam, naadagam. Passion plays, Nurthi, Minarva plays upto the time of Maname.
It is interesting enough, because most of the younger generation have not had the experience of seeing the various drama forms. It would especially relevant in the case of students in the rural areas because they do not have proper text books, essays, access to seminars on drama and suchlike. The attempt at education is very commendable in the context of the students. However, it seems to lack the wisdom that should underlie such a work. As a fan of Manoratne, I was not able to find that sharp and delicate creativity that I saw in his other works.
Mano gives a detailed description of the history of drama, but fails to convey his thinking on its future. He reduces the production to a mere narrative of history and fails to give it an analytical twist. Artists after all should give such a twist if their work is to have any depth. The play is of course an ideal opportunity for those seeking greater knowledge of the drama scene to gather such.
The acting too falls below the standards that Mano has led his audience to expect with his previous productions. Perhaps, this is because there is no one character that lasts through the entirety of the drama. If there was such a character which goes through three stages of introduction, development and a climax, there perhaps would have greater potential for a classic piece of acting by a good actor.
One however cannot fail to note the positive factors of the drama. This is necessarily the reliving of the various ages of drama which will undoubtedly interest students, teachers and young dramatists.
By Godwin Witane
Although Sri Lanka was mainly an agricultural country producing the Peoples' staple diet rice, the conquering nations, Portuguese, Dutch and especially the British did not endeavour to improve agriculture for the benefit of the natives but imported rice from the neighbouring countries, thus ignoring paddy cultivation. After the Donoughmore Constitution, D. S. Senanayake became the Minister of Agriculture in the State Council.
Being a patriot and a person of incredible vision, he conjectured that paddy cultivation and agriculture were the surest way to uplift the life of the peasant. At that time Polonnaruwa was a jungle and the famous Parakrama Samudraya, which constituted the three tanks, Topawewa, Dumutuluwewa and Eramuduwewa, called the 'Sea of Parakrama' had been reduced to a mere pond of water only. Topawewa tank remaining overgrown with lotus and other water plants. The bed of the whole of Eramuduwewa, Dumutuluwewa and a part of Topawewa had grown to jungle for nearly seven and a half centuries, being the result of the terrorist act of the gangster Magha from India who invaded this country in 1215 with an army of 24,000 men, captured Polonnaruwa, the Capital city by breaching the bund of Parakrama Samudraya at Dumutuluwewa, thus devastating the rich rice producing country and inundating the whole countrywide destroying the villages on the east of Parakrama Samudraya. Magha, who plundered the city and the surrounding country pillaged temples and monasteries compelling the Buddhist monks to do the work of labourers and turning monasteries to dwelling houses, ruled for 21 years.
The Minister, D. S. Senanayake mindful of quick results, his prime ambition being paddy cultivation acted first and foremost in repairing the breach at Dumutulu Wewa bund with reinforced concrete and clear and salvage the Yoda Ela which had brought water from Ambanganga to Parakrama Samudraya. This was a historic event after nearly seven and a half centuries. Water from Ambanganga once again flowed into Parakrama Samudraya. The forest cover that had enveloped the tank bed for long centuries was left untouched. The water inundated the forest burying it when only the tree tops were seen. There were also large trees growing on the neglected bund stretching for seven and a half miles, but they were spared because if removed it would weaken the structure of the bund.
The pioneer Colony established here in the early forties was named The Parakarama Samudraya Scheme Colony, consisting of thirty-five would be colonists picked up from all over. It was so successful that a baggage porter at the Kegalle bus stand, who obtained land in this scheme, being a prudent farmer in a few years became eligible to pay income tax. He possessed a car in 1949 and sent his children for education to prestigious schools in out stations.
At that time there were only two primitive Sinhalese villages called Topawewa and Kalahagala at Polonnaruwa in Meda Pattu. Others were Muslim villages called Divulana, Kota Wehera, Pudur, Tambale and Sungavila. They were sparsely populated, each village consisting of not more than twenty houses, mostly with wattle and daubed walls with roofs covered with cadjan or straw. The only school was at Topawewa in a single hall with about 25 children and two teachers. There was no playground and the school was surrounded by jungle. Classes were only upto the 8th standard. There were a few boutiques at Topawewa owned by Bauddhassara, who later became a State Councillor. The few boutiques at Kaduruwela were owned by Muslim traders. The busiest Government office was the Kachcheri which was housed in two Nisson Huts, the relicts of the Second World War. This was situated at Topawewa junction and was later removed to a new low-roofed building at Kaduruwela. These vacated Nisson Huts fulfilled the need of a building for a Police which was established later. The Irrigation Head Office and the semi-permanent quarters for the Engineers and Technical Assistants were on P. S. Scheme road which was a gravelled road, a mile away from Polonnaruwa Topawewa.
At Topawewa were the Post Office, and the Circuit Courts adjoining the old Rate Mahatmaya's Walawwa which the new D.R.O. occupied as his office and residence. The other important building was the Hospital on the road to Kaduruwela on the Batticaloa route. The Hospital had two wards, namely, a Maternity Ward and a General Ward with hardly fifty beds in both. Dr. Douglas de Zilva, the D. M. O. and an Apothecary Mr. Perera were in charge. There was an Out-Door Dispensary but no Nurses.
A panoramic view of the Central Mountain Range, including the Knuckles Group of mountains could be seen from the Parakrama Samudra bund to the South West beyond the lake prominently displayed in blue. The great rock that standards guard over the Eastern Front is called Dimbulagala or Gunner's Quoin, as the British hunter named it. This is the highest point in Tamankaduwa District, where there are some of Lanka's ancient ruins and frescoes in stone caves. During the time of King Parakaramabahu of Polonnaruwa this had been the Monastery of the Chief Sanga Nayaka Maha Kasyapa, who cleansed the Bhikkhu Sasana of heratic monks and formed one Nikaya on the orders of the king. In ancient times Dastota, a Ford near Manampitiya close upon Dimbulagala was the main crossing on the Mahaweliganga. Both people and armies from the South had to cross over this ferry to go to Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. King Dutugemunu's first encounter with the Tamils had taken place at Dastota where he first destroyed the encampment there before proceeding to Anuradhapura passing Mahiyangana to defeat Elara.
Except the Polonnaruwa ruins, the few Government buildings mentioned above, the number of boutiques at Topawewa and Kaduruwela and the sparsely populated backward villages, both Sinhalese and Muslim, where people led a hand to mouth living tolerating the arid dry weather for most part of the year, the whole of Madapattu in Tamankaduwa District was one Dry Zone forest. The Rest House standing from Colonial days, now extended and completely furbished, situated on a promontory on Topawewa bund, which accommodated the Queen of England, Elizebeth II when she came to open the Victoria Dam is the oldest building in Polonnaruwa. The only patches of greenery were the paddy fields of Parakrama Colony and four or five acres of ancient paddy land at Kaduruwela belonging to Kandy Dalada Maligawa. Once Parakrama Samudraya was restored to contain sufficient water for irrigation and the two main distribution channels constructed the remaining forest had to be cleared for the building of colonists' cottages on highland and turn the low lying areas into paddy fields
. The late C. P. de Silva, a clever Civil Servant was appointed as the Assistant Director Land Development and A.G.A. Polonnaruwa. He started a labour camp called the D2 State Farm on the leeward side of Dumutuluwewa, in charge of a Farm whose duty was to clear the forest land. For this man power was recruited from all over the country in large numbers. They were housed in Nisson Huts. A similar camp was established on the road to Tambale called the Ex-Servicemen's Camp. The purpose of this enterprise was to give employment to ex-servicemen of the World War II and to allot them land for paddy cultivation and highland for gardens and building of cottages within the area of forest land cleared by them.
This scheme was in charge of ex-major called Jayawardena and assistants who had held lower ranks in the discharged army corps. They were provided with food stores and living quarters in Nissan Huts, where they cooked and slept. Once the forest cover was felled in a scientific manner and the green leaves dried up it was a delightful sight to see it burning in raging flames going sky high when set on fire. People gathered in numbers to witness this rare spectacle. Many an animal of the jungle, both four-legged and lowly creatures such as hare, mongoose, porcupine and ant eaters including sliding vipers and other snakes would have perished in the forest fire. The jungle burned for weeks reducing the great trees brushwood and all to ashes. Once this was over and the land cleared, it was function of the many irrigation engineers and technical assistant to survey and damarcate the highland for cottage and home gardens and prepare the low land for paddy growing by building distribution channels. Today the whole area is usweddumised and contended farmers lead carefree lives living on the rich soil.
The landscape once barren devoid of jungle has now changed. People have planted coconut on the highland patches, which grow luxuriantly and today it is one whole glorious cultivated greenery. During the last 50 years much improvement and changes have taken place. Parakrama Samudraya has been extended and augmented to cover 8 square miles of water surface. The eight and a half long bund is now raised to 40 feet and more than 28 square miles paddy land is now being irrigated through the two sluices and canals leading from the tank. The large trees of seven to eight centuries old that grew on the Parakrama Samudraya bund have been removed and the 'Reli Palam' or the protective stone paving on the slopes of the bank to prevent the ripples eroding the soil are now reinforced with large rock boulders similar to what you see along the Colombo-Wellawatta beach along the railway line. The road running on the Parakrama Samudraya bund has been widened and macamadized to enable to vehicles to cross. A large number of new villages have sprung such as Moneratenna, Alutwewa, Palugasdamana, Kalinga Ela and several others where prosperous farmers live going into second and third generations.
The Wasgamuwa Forest Reserve has been established to maintain and conserve the forests for the local fauna and flora when they are required for aesthetic, historical and socio economic reasons. Laws are enacted for the conservation of wild life and the environment as a whole. The two bazaar areas of Topawewa and Kaduruwela have been built up and a continuous row of shops filled with merchandize have come up on both sides of the Batticaloa road. The Hospital has been upgraded to the level of a District Hospital with several wards, surgical threatres, laboratories and other facilities. More Doctors and Surgeons have been appointed along with a large Nursing Staff and quarters are provided for them all.
There are several newly got up Hotels and Guest Houses in the town, the largest being the multi-roomed Hotel named 'Village' with air condition facilities and a swimming pool. One of the latest Cultural attractions is the newly constructed Museum by this Government, where all that is to be seen in the now existing remains of ancient Polonnaruwa, the magnificent works of Parakramabahu the Great are stunningly displayed both in life-like photographs, models and most beautiful and fascinating bronzes and artefacts exavated within the ruins. This is a most praiseworthy tasks that enlivens the spirit of both Sri Lankans and foreigners in visualizing the past glory of the city of Polonnaruwa in its ancient granduer. This is worth a visit.
Going back into the past history of Polonnaruwa, the mediaeval Capital City of Sri Lanka, one could say it is one of the most beautiful cultural heritages, one of the few places in the island that has so much of remains of history and culture packed into a merethree and a half square miles, now an attractive destination.
Though the names of several kings such as Vijayabahu, Nissanka Malla are associated with the city of Polonnaruwa, it is with the name of Maha Parakramabahu that the sacred city capital is woven in legend and story. We can in one voice declare that he was largely the sole architect of the city. He encouraged agriculture, trade, arts and learning. His austere figure in all its dignity 11 1/2 feet high is carved out in living rock by an unknown artist at the Southern end of Topawewa near Potgul Vehera to perpetuate his memory. I have seen British Royalty, the Duke of Gloucester on his visit to Polonnaruwa at the dawn of Independence in 1948 stand in front of this Royal figure and salute it standing to attention with inspired awe.
Though kings and monarchs and talented artists no longer walk the stately parks of the city of Polonnaruwa enough remains around the place to get a glimpse of its ancient granduer even today in the manifold ruins, the remains of a great civilization. Designing engineers and craftsmen had been instrumental in creating the magnificient and ornamantal temples and the Palace. To illustrate the expertise of our ancient craftsmen there are examples in plenty, the first and foremost being Gal Vihare, where the reclining Buddha Statue dominates the scene while the standing figure of sorrowing Ananda, also believed to be that of Lord Buddha, Himself in contemplation, speaks volumes on the clever unknown artist who created these wonderful works of art in the living rock.
On my transfer away from Polonnaruwa back in 1950, I had to tear myself from this most fascinating place I have ever worked in for the peace of it envelops you and calls you back.
Short story
Jinadari's honeymoonNarrated by Sriyani Vithana
Translated by S. T. Aleckman
Strings of crepe paper of all hue hung on the ceiling were all of a shake. Jindari's relatives-all sprucely decked in multi-coloured attires restlessly moved to and fro, along the main hall of the house, like a bevy of butterflies, in flight. As for Jinadari, all these looked like a continuous stream of lit light bulbs dancing rhythmically upon a giant pandal, since her eyes were blurred with tears. Seated in the settee somewhat close to her was the bridegroom who occasionally had a word with her, appeared like a giant bear that impatiently waiting to grab her, she fancied. She wished if she could move a wee bit away from him for a while. On second thoughts, she realised that it was a futile attempt - as if a drowning man trying to catch at a straw, in a rescue bid. The looks of joy and broad smiles levelled at her by her close relatives appeared to be mere apparitions who were trying to take her alive to the underworld, she surmised. She peeped through the window to find that a string of batta crackers, hanging from a twig of the nearby 'Belli-tree, at the end of the compound was about to be lit. In a short while, the very crackers will be exploded-along with her heart, she feared. Jinadari pressed her forehead against her right hand in an attempt to suppress her giddiness.Jinadari's little finger was tied with his, while standing on the dais (Poruwa). Later, she signed on the dotted line, avowing themselves to be inseparable partners for the rest of their lives. Though she tried to fly as free as a bird, her immediate past promptly unfolded before her. Her first love! How he bade goodbye to her undefiled love! A person who correctly fathomed the depth of true love-yet realised that it was unattainable! In chronological order, all these unrolled before her. She cast a furtive glance at her white-stoned ring, glistened on her middle finger of the right hand.
''Don't remove this ring''
''No I don't do it even on my wedding day'' It was how she promised him. All these days, it remained on the small finger of the left hand, as he bade her. She had to give room to the wedding ring receivable from the bridegroom. So she changed the lover's ring well in advance, to the middle finger of the right hand.
''Did I do a wrong? Was it not a breach of promise?'' She queried herself. ''Here is another present. This is to be worn on the first night.'' She reminisced. Instantly, the tears were coursing down her cheeks and finally wetting her pectoral region. 'Look, the bride is crying! Oh it's natural that she cannot live with parents through her life.'' So saying, the elders tried to pacify her. The bridegroom and bride's intimate friends joined them, in a bid to placate her.
In an hour on the dot, Jinadari will join the husband, in their joyous journey. Again she had a vacant look at the sitting room. With the small salary she drew, she managed to put up her house in the manner white-ants build their ant-hill, little by little. What a struggle it was! Now she is forced to part with the possession of it. And forever! Yet, she could make up her mind, as it will be inherited by the family-members. She was also in a position to bear up the loneliness caused by the absence of the company of her parents and brothers.
She remembered what her mother hinted at her, since she could not find a suitable partner, ''Though you make Welitalapa (a sweetmeat), you cannot take it home with you!'' Jindadari did not believe in marriage unless and until she found some money, since she was constantly 'broke'. Yet she took great care not to offend her parents. ''With an empty hand , how to get married? How to demean myself? Nor I can wound feelings of the parents.'' These were the very words conveyed to Piyasoma, her first love!
The 'largesse' she got, the only consolation in her life was none' but Piyasoma himself, she thought for a while. The first love is now withered like a cluster of fragrant flowers. It was Piyasoma who resuscitated her broken heart and rendered her a new lease of life, like a Jeevaka. ''The person who stood so close to me in sharing my happiness and sorrow for six years is in fact stood so far from me-as a lover in my real life!'' She surmised. He was not only a married man, but also a father. He was a standing monument in her life, she conjectured-Furthermore, ''a pond full of water!
'The music blared from the cassette recorder was ear-splitting. Some drunken guests were trying to dance to the tune of music, though unsteady in their movement. ''As if the pleasure is theirs!'' she muttered to herself, as she could not give v'ent to her pent-up feelings. The loud noise was located by her. She felt sweat was streaming along her nape and lower down. She pressed her handkerchief against the visible plunging neckline, bared at the back. ''Is it sweating?'' The bridegroom asked. ''No'' was her prompt reply.
The next song transmitted was the very ditty Piyasoma used to sing melodiously in her presence. Jinadari liked it immensely. However, she was unfair by Piyasoma, she suspected.
Piyasoma held a responsible post in the institution where Jinadari worked. Although he was married, she held him high for his insight and maturity in advice. Piyasoma stood in good stead to dispel the gloom cast over her unmarried life. ''However much you confess, womankind is such that you will take the first opportunity to leave me in the lurch.'' Piyasoma's prophetic words re-echoed in her ears. Though he loved her very much, she began to realise that his love was beyond her grasp. Day in day out, she was haunted with the need of marriage.
''Why don't you marry? What's your age?'' Some people used to pose those nagging questions at her. She called to mind the day when the mother asked her younger brother to marry the girl of his choice, but his words were rather encouraging: ''Mother how can I think of marriage ahead of my elder sister?'' Yet Jinadari thought that it was an indirect attack on herself. By then, there was a marriage proposal from the very bridegroom, though she was sitting on the fence. At last, Jinadari changed her mind. She confided in Piyasoma all about it.
''Doesn't matter. Go ahead! How long you can wait like this?'' She was bewildered as to whether it was a blessing or a sinister proposal. As it was a sincere statement, she consented to the marriage proposal. Lo' and behold. From that day, Piyasoma got closer to her. So was Jinadari. Whenever they met with, Piyasoma cried like a child. Thus she was in the horns of a dilemma. Yet at the end, Piyasoma was edged out.
''Let us get ready. The auspicious time is ticking by,'' An elderly person signalled. The dancing party dispersed. The others, all of a dither, moved to a side. The newly married couple got up from the settee. The bride knelt before her mother's feet; then they clasped each other and hugged them in rotation while shedding their tears of joy and affection. ''I am going because all the time you were pressing me for this. Otherwise, I would have remained a spinster for my life. And for the sake of Piyasoma too!'' These were the very words she muttered. Visibly her mother could not hear her, yet, through the faculty of a sixth sense, she knew what it was about!
The 'Mal-Vedilla' hung on the main threshold exploded; the tiny pieces of tinsel paper scattered all over the bride's outfit and the bridegroom's suit was on added splendour to their joyous going-away journey. The lighting of crackers echoed and re-echoed.
''Light those crackers, so that I can hear the thunder'' Those words of Piyasoma flashed across bride's mind instantly. The decorated motor vehicle meant for their going-away appeared as a cemetery-bound hearse in disguise, she suspected. With reluctance, she followed the bridegroom to the vehicle and cast a parting look at her parents and brothers with her blurred eyes, well moistened with tears.
The lighting of crackers ceased and eased; the decorated motor car was inching forward. How many times she had walked all over the village and all along the road as a free bird, she guessed. She knew that in a few minutes, they would go past the round-about of the town where Piyasoma and she set their eyes on each other for the first time. Often she was kicking her heels until Piyasoma came to the very round-about. Her heart went a pit-a-pat. ''By now, Piyasoma must be with the bottle. After all, I have done a foolish thing.'' So she wept inwardly. The 'honeymoon-car' is steadily moving forward, escorted by a few other motor vehicles. She was inquisitive about every motor vehicle that overtook hers, to find out whether it was Piyasoma's!
She peeped through the car-window in order to catch a glimpse of Piyasoma. The bridegroom muttered something in her ear. Apparently she did not hear it, though she nodded. ''I am very sorry. Why are you going?'' She recollected these painful words-once falteringly flowed from Piyasoma when his eyes were welled up with tears.
What amount of hardships he had undergone, for the sake of Jinadari? She knew pretty well that he loved her from the bottom of his heart. Her undying wish and prayer was that through the samsaric journey Piyasoma would be hers. Instantly, tears of joy or remorse steamed down her tender cheeks, profusely.
''You have cried enough.'' The bridegroom noted. She felt herself that it was his first order. She tried to bury her past and dwell on the present. Yet, her first love was deeply rooted in a corner of her heart, as an etching on a stone plaque.
The decorated car came to a dead halt in the compound of a picturesque hotel. She got down from the car and coyly followed the bridegroom to a well-appointed room of the hotel. An aide brought her leather suitcase and placed it on the table. The other suitcase belonging to the bridegroom was kept on hers later. While opening her new suitcase she remembered that most of its contents were presents from Piyasoma. In the mean time, she observed that the door of the room get locked up. Jinadari changed her trousseau and sat on the cosy double bed in a pensive mood. For a moment, she closed her eyes when she felt that Piyasoma's image was gradually fading out of the room.
Dharmasiri Bandaranayake Film and Drama Festival - 1999 2nd Feb 1999
Bava Duka - 6.00 p.m.
{A film in two parts, Part I) With Eng. Subtitles. 10 awards in Sarasavi Film Festival, 1998 Best Production, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Photography etc.3rd Feb. 1999
Bava Karma - 6.30 P.M.
Part IIWith Eng. Subtitles
Cast:
Swarna Mallawarachchi, Jackson Anthony, Ravindra Randeniya, Hemasiri Liyanage, Kamal Addaraarachchi, W. Jayasiri, Lalitha Sarachchandra, Suvineetha Weerasinghe, Sommie Ratnayake.
Music : Gunadasa Kapuge
Camera : Lal Wickramarachchi
Script and Direction : Dharmasiri Bandaranayake.
Produced by : Vijayapura Pranananda, Jayarathna Wadduwage.
5th Feb 1999
Makarakshaya - 6.30 P.m.
(Sinhala translation of, 'The Dragon' by Soviet dramatist Yevgeny Schwarts 9. Awards in 1985 State Drama Festival including for Best Production, Best Translation, Best Direction, etc. 14th Anniversary, 675th ShowCast:
Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, Daya Alwis, Malkanthi Jayasinghe, Janaka Kumbukage, Buddhadasa Vithanarachchi, Laxman Mendis, Chulla Jayawardene Suneetha Wimalaweera, Udeni Alwis.
Translated by: Cyril C. Perera
Music: Premasiri Khemadasa
Director: Dharmasiri Bandaranayake.
6th Feb 1999
Dhawala Bheeshana - 6.30 p.m.
(Sinhala Translation of 'Men Without Shadows' by Jean Paul Satre)8 Awards in 1988 State Drama Festival including Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor. etc.
Cast:
Jackson Anthony, W. Jayasiri, Janaka Kumbukge, Daya Alwis, Niel Alles, Victor Ramanayake, Malkanthi Jayasinghe, Priyantha Prabash, Chulla Jayawardena, Nihal Ranasinghe, Jagath Mutukumarana.
Translated by : Cyril C. Perera.
Music : Premasiri Khemadasa
Director:Dharmasiri Banda-ranayake.
7th Feb. 1999
Yakshagamanaya - 6.30 p.m.
(Sinhala translation of 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' by Bertolt Brecht)5th Anniversary, 80th show.
Cast:
Jayashree Chandrajith, W. Jayasiri, Mahendra Perera, Victor Ramanayake. Vasantha Vittachchi, Padmini Divithurugama, Buddhadasa Vithanarachchi, Anton Jude, Priyantha Seneviratna, Quintaus Weerakoon, Lal Kularathna.
Translator: Dr. Sunil Wijesiriwardene
Music: Harsha Makalanda
Director: Dharmasiri Bandaranayake
Two films Admission Free
Tickets available at Lionel Wendt theatre
