Amdens Stories (ඇම්ඩන් - නුතන ජනකතා)

Last week I managed to step into the National Library for the book launch of Amden Noothana Janakatha (ඇම්ඩන් - නුතන ජනකතා) which translates to english as Amden- Modern Folk tales. There's hardly anyone in Sri Lanka who hasn’t heard about Amden or one of his stories. Though his stories may not have reached some of our elders the younger generation is quite familiar who Amden is. So as someone who has grown up amidst all types of Amden’s stories, this event was something I was really looking forward to.

The book had been compiled by Asanka Sayakkara a young talented author who had inked the stories in far more different style. It can be considered that his attempt has been to convert Amdens stories which are told in everyday language (with so much filth) to a more traditional literature oriented text. This attempt gave book a different twist and made it an interesting read. 

The event also featured three interesting lectures that discussed how Amden has impacted the modern day society and the reasons behind birth of characters such as Amden. There was a very interesting lecture by Sudheera Jayaweera which discussed how Amden’s stories have become sort of a alternative path to go beyond the so called ethical boundaries in religious, social, political and sexual contexts that exist in the modern society. He discussed how it had paved the way for the common man to challenge the so called moral entrepreneurship with vile little funny stories based around this character called Amden. 

Anyhow, the event was quite interesting and the book was also a good read, which featured a selection of Amdens stories (not all of them) and is priced at Rs 200. I don’t actually know which bookshops would have it but if you come across it grab a copy and check it out. (Its publishers are Script House (pvt) Ltd)
 

Romeo and Juliet- How real is the Love?

Romeo and Juliet, the world renowned love story that has captured every heart and lingered in every mind, is one of Shakespeare’s best known and best written dramas. The tale wraps around two young star struck lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the children of two of the most powerful families in Verona, vicious enemies since long ago. As the tale unfolds, the core story is that the two lovers fall deeply in inseparable love with each other, haste into a secret marriage and tragically lose both their lives in untimely and coincidental tragic situations, as sacrifices of their passion and love to each other, which is denied and restricted by their families.

Although stated by many to be the most romantic love story ever written ( or in this aspect, ever to be staged),the tale of Romeo and Juliet is one with a famous theme and an almost non surprising story line, compared with the many romances we read and see today. One can say it to be almost immature and unrealistic, however, these minor facts and opinions will never hinder the magic and the magnitude of love’s intensity and power which is, in my point of view, the main theme of this play.

This universally benchmarked ‘ideal love story’ has many aspects; the status core of the Montagues and Capulets from which straying was impossible, unaccepted and (until Romeo and Juliet) never attempted; the tragic coincidences which seem to be so unfair to the most vulnerable parties; the justice not granted to both parties(parents and children) who in their own views are playing fair; the differences and power of the then social structure, compared to that of today(where in real life, Romeo and Juliet would not have been a tragedy but a situation occurring often and ending in marriage and family); the innocence and immatureness of young love; etc.

Out of these many aspects found all throughout the play, I would like to state my opinions and view points on the aspect- the innocence and immatureness of young love, and how real this Love really could have been.

As the tale begins, we find young and dreamy Romeo head over heels for the fair and unattainable Rosaline. He finds it seemingly impossible to even lay eyes on any other maiden except his idol goddess Rosaline (“One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun ne’er saw her match since first the world begun”). Yet, the moment he catches a glimpse of Juliet at the party held at the Capulets (for which he was initially practically dragged to), he falls madly and deeply in love with her, just as fast as that. He says “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty til this night”, when he sees her. So we can safely comment that it was Juliet’s fair skin and dazzling beauty that won Romeo’s heart as quick as lightning. Juliet too, coincidentally falls desperately in love with the young heart throb the minute she lays her eyes on him, helped may be by the flirtatious words he used to mesmerize her, comparing him to a mere pilgrim and her to a saint. Beauty, they say, is but skin deep, yet it was the outer appearance of both of them that wound them close together in love. One may say that they were meant to find each other and meant to love one another and that this unplanned meeting at this random party was a magical coincidence to bring together two hearts that were destined for each other. Yet a more realistic comment would be that they merely fell to the passion aroused by the pleasant appearance that met their eyes and the appealing conversation that heightened the aura of desire around them.
Romeo does not woo the lady with mere looks and words; he succeeds to maneuver the conversation in such a way that he kisses Juliet then and there on their first meeting with no reluctance from her part. It may have been his skill with conversing all about the sinful pilgrim having his sins washed away by a kiss from the saint, it may have been his charismatic power over whelming her or quite reasonable to say, it may have been that both of them were mere willful slaves of instant passion that was ensnaring them-he who was desperate for Rosaline’s fine beauty and she who was desperate for love at her young age. This shows the immaturity of both of them, to plunge into waters without knowing its depth or how you’ll survive it.

For Romeo and Juliet it was, without a doubt, love at first sight. However the learned and the experienced knows that love at first sight is not true love at all, it is merely a strong desire for each other nourished by mutual physical attraction, sexual desire and magnified passion without reasoning all bonded together and disguised as love. Love is almost defined by Romeo in the early parts of the play, while still in love with the beautiful Rosaline, as “Love is a smoke rais’d with the fumes of sighs; Being purg’d, a fire sparkling in lover’s eyes; Being vex’d, a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears; What is it else? A madness most discreet, a choking gall, and a preserving sweet.” This is to a vast extent proved true in his later romance with the young Juliet.


The innocence and immatureness of these two lovers can again be seen when Romeo (first falling, madly and without thinking, in love with Juliet, without knowing her origin) risks everything, including his parents’ pride and his own dear life, to catch a glimpse of Juliet by climbing the Capulet’s high orchard walls. Fortunately for him he climbed the right side of the house for he wastes no time in searching for Juliet’s room because he stumbles no where else but her balcony at the precise moment when she comes out talking to her self about her newly erupted and blossoming love for her only known enemy.

The two lovers pay neither heed nor caution to the dangers so near them as they spend half the night talking to each other about their love and its future. “With love’s light wings did I o’er perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out: and what love can do, that dares love attempt; Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me” says Romeo and it could be said that their love could be strong enough to break the enmity generating without reduction from their fore fathers. Yet another more realistic approach to their new sprung love would be not to start what you know you aren’t allowed to see finished. However, be it their will, strength of heart or the power they believe their love held, the two lovers vow to each other to hold on forever and Juliet bids god bye to Romeo saying, “If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow”. Here we are again shown the degree of their juvenile behavior, where they talk of marriage, the most holy and important bond of a life time of commitment and dedication, with seeming lightness and pettiness.

It is safe and to a great level correct to say that although the word love is used many times in the dialogues of the entire drama, whenever the relationship of Romeo and Juliet is concerned or referred to, it would have been more truthful and accurate to have used lust, passion, desire, obsession or infatuation. For it is immensely clear to all that what the lovers shared together, what they named love, has no depth, no clear mutual understanding, no room for any other spiritual bond except that of blind passion.

Leaving aside the childishness of their love in its inaugural stage (keeping in mind that this was one single night), even after the couple so rashly enter Holy Matrimony in haste, Romeo risks the lives of both of them by re-entering Juliet’s chamber in the middle of the same night of their marriage and of his unfortunate and unplanned murder of Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, to celebrate their marital union. It is a crucial night for everyone; the House of Capulet, the House of Montague, Romeo and Juliet, yet the young lovers risk everything, and even a chance for Romeo to safely run away to Mantua until they think of a further plan, merely for their lack of patience to give in to each other’s physical attraction and mutual sensual desire.

It is an often asked question regarding this fleeing of Romeo, as to why he doesn’t completely elope with his newly wedded wife when she is more than willing to go to any length just to be able to be with him. Not only would a duo elope have proven to be easy and effective but it could also have prevent the many deaths that took place after their wedding night. For it can be unmistakably said that neither Romeo nor Juliet paid any heed to their families’ hurt or angry feelings as a result of their offensive marriage.

Least of all their activities displaying their naïveté, what in my opinion is most upsettingly silly is the poor communication and very hasty actions that Romeo and Juliet take in the pretence-turned-true deaths of the couple. Firstly, it is most disappointing that Friar Lawrence takes the consequences of the sleeping potion and the message to Romeo rather lightly than would have been expected of him. It is of course a tragic twist of fate that the messenger Friar John fails to perform his duty, which turns out to be the most important duty of all, and which would have been the one to have been regarded as the highest priority.

Also, it is a shocking misfortune that Romeo seemed to have taken the lifeless body of Juliet as it is, without even trying a desperate attempt to shake her awake, for if he had done a simple action as such, she would have woken up, given the fact that his arrival is almost nearly simultaneous to her awakening as the power of the potion declines.
Yet that is the way William Shakespeare has plotted down this story of the unfortunate star struck lovers, which is said to have been based on a true story that took place in Verona. It can be argued that the story lacks the touch of real life, where this story would have had a better ending, yet it cannot be criticized as such for the tale of the immaturely innocent and naïve, passion-bound Romeo and Juliet have proven through the ages to be the best love story ever to be written.

Bombay through Jewish eyes

I was recently fortunate enough to lay my hands on a book by Anita Desai called Baumgartner's Bombay, the book explores the experiences of a German Jew who fled to India to escape the Nazis. Having earlier seen a report on CNN about the small scale migration of Jews to India during the second world war, I found the theme of the book intriguing.

However, upon reading it I found that it contained little factual representation of the narrator Hugo Baumgartner's situation but instead was a tale concocted out of extremely personal experiences chosen at intermittent points through out his life. I found this style of writing extremely refreshing and also very binding from a reader's point of view.
Instead narrating the story from start to end, Desai's technique of story telling tells you of emotional flash points in Baumgartner's life. Another interesting aspect was that she had vividly described the setting in each situation so that the reader is veritably transported through Germany, Venice, Culcutta and finally ending up at Bombay.

Though the story is representative of the suffering of Jews during the Nazi regime and obviously the heartrending situation of Baumgartner who was neither here nor there.
"Too dark for Nazi Germany and too fair for Bombay" aptly describes Baumgartner's predicament.

However, the book delves into something deeper than just Baumgartner's longing to belong and the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Through out the book the scribe describes in great detail Hugo Baumgartner's affection for his Mutti ( mother), she uses this to convey the universality of human feeling; everyone loves their mothers. It also helps to express that whether we live in Germany or India and whether you are of Aryan or Semitic descent that deep down inside all of us are the same.
(pic. Anita Desai)
Desai also takes a jab at the maxim " the enemy of enemy is my friend". She describes how many nationalistic Indians warmed up to Baumgartner because he was German.
"We are fighting the same enemy -the British", lest did they know that though he was German he had lost his mother ,his home and his country because of the Nazis. At one point she elaborates further and says that there were many Indians supporting the Germans and the Japs because there was school of thought that the Axis powers would liberate the Indians from the British. This coupled with Baumgartner's predicament heightens the irony of the storyline.

The book also exposes the dark underbelly of India and the abject poverty of its citizens. Large portions of prose are dedicated to describing the squalor and the unhealthy environs of Indian cities. Thus, exposing the hypocrisy of the Indian upper classes that build luxurious hotels for foreigners but yet let its own brethren suffer silently.

She dwells on this topic (hypocrisy of the Indian upper classes) further by describing the affair between Hugo's friend Lotte and a Bengali businessman. It is touched upon again when Hugo looses ownership of his race horse following the death of his wealthy business partner. This is in stark contrast to genuine Indian citizens such as Farrokh who befriends Baumgartner.

The iron cast perceptions of Indians towards the lower social classes also come under close scrutiny as the drunkard who reported Baumgartner's death becomes the chief suspect, despite the real culprit making away with the "silver". Fairer skin can get you quite far - is what Desai seems to saying in an undertone.

The opportunist nature of humans are also illustrated using the characters Lily from Shanghai and the Aryan Boy.

Though many have termed this book as being a literary creation that explores Baumgartner's wanting to belong to something, I personally believe that at a much deeper level it explores a plethora of psycho-social problems plaguing Indian society.

On a personal note I also felt that as Sri Lankans we can all relate to Baumgartner's situation when taking into account the tens of thousands of Sri Lankans who have fled the country to escape death. Some have left to escape the cruel LTTE regime, some following the bloody '83 riots and others to escape death at the hands of government death squads during the late 80's.

Whatever the case maybe, another parallel that we can draw from the tale of Baumgartner is his unwillingness to leave India even after the war is over. He does so, not because of any special affection for India but because of hopelessness;he cannot come to terms with the disappearance of his beloved mother, loss of his father etc. I wonder how many Sri Lankans feel the same way?

Thank God (if there is one) for small mercies..

A rather unusual title for a post, especially for an atheist like me but then again as Buddhists aren't we all. Hmmm religion in this country is such a potpourri of cultural fusion and overlapping it is difficult to differentiate where one religion or ethnicity begins and where the other one starts, another point for proving the futility of an armed struggle to carve out a mono ethnic Eelam.

Anyways it seems as if I am veering off the intended subject of my post, my apologies for the extremely detached tangent, sometimes I find it difficult to stop rambling, similar to perhaps Rumpole... who was meant to be the actual subject of my post.

Who is Rumpole you may ask.. well he doesn't really exist, rather he is a fictional character in a book or rather a series of books by John Mortimer, he is a defense attorney practicing in England somewhere in the mid 70's or 80's. Like all (or many) defense attorneys his perception of morality is bent and disfigured beyond any hope of repair and he has a knack for regurgitating verses of poetry and lines from Shakespeare's novels at inappropriate times.


Though not a ground breaking literary creation it was a throughly enjoyable novel, tainted with dark humor and a hint of satire. Being an armchair anarchist Rumpole's eccentric thouhgt processes and his primeval sense of justice makes the reader think twice and examine their own personality(or personalities). To question themselves as to whether their own perception of justice and morality is as insane as Rumpole's.

Anyhow, I do not wish to make an elaborate critique of Mortimer's book, because I doubt it was meant to be an intellectual work to be dissected and analyzed by literary critics. Rather it is a simple but highly enjoyable read , one that I would like to define as being a small mercy of life.

A work of art that one can enjoy without giving the neurons too much work and without having to stop ponder the philosophical meaning of a sentence. Rather it is meant to be consumed as it is and meant to alleviate the sufferings ( maybe this a trifle too far fetched, but it helps )of an average reader through a small dosage of comic satire.

Yes, Rumpole and John Mortimer may not change the world but they will help to keep it spinning. Thank you for creating small mercies and thank you John for Rumpole...

Vivacious Vivimarie.

Nothing Prepares You
By Vivimarie Vanderpoorten
Zeues paperback
Reviewed by DRG

I got a glimpse of this book accidentally when I was doing my routine book search at upsatairs of Sarasavi Book shop, Maharagama. I knew nothing about her or her poetry at that time. But when I read couple of pages of her work I sort of like her stuff and thought of buying it. The main significant quality that strikes my mind about her poetry is the simplicity. The words not forced to appear on behalf of her feelings but just poured out from her pen. Her style is simple and not so flowery. But it’s flamboyant. As an university lectures of English language, I’m kind of surprise to see her choice of words. But thinking about it again understood that I am the person who is ignorant and learning the craft and she just mastered it. Wow! What brilliance…

Cavity (page20)
…I want you to reach across one continent
And two oceans, (from where you’re
Probably still asleep)

And hold my hand.

The Proposal (page 33)
…but today among my e-mails
there’s one from him
Sifting through junk e-mail: offers of endless credit
free porn sites and
drugs to “enlarge your penis”,…

Another main aspect of Viv’s poetry is that the use of her personnel experiences as the plots for her creativity process. The sad times, the happy times, the little romantic ventures in her life. She just uses them to enthrall us in her wordplay. The poems such as “For DS”, “Burial”, “Reward” and wittily written “Single Brown Female, 1998” are few from many examples I can quote to prove my point.

Viv goes in to explore another dimension by dedicating her creative expression and valuable to write about the dilapidating state of our society especially this 20 year long raging war. Her poems don’t discuss the problem straightly but with little bit of creativity and story telling she makes a deep remark in readers’ hearts; “ Death of a Cartoonist”…

Explosion (page 35)
…out of the broken window
of a damaged car-
dead driver-
the radio blared, unscathed
on a commercial break
a man’s pleasant voice
announced
that big or small, insurance
protects them all .