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| Saturday, 30 August 2003 |
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Rhythm of the 'Rabana' 'Viridu Karaya' if you may remember played an entertainer's role in our lives. At central bus stops or popular street corners they were a regular sight until the mid eighties, when many things that were classed as our own began to systematically change or even worse, disappear without a trace. by Prasad Abu Bakr
At one time they went from one house to another, entertaining the household with a few "Viridus" and got some money in return. It was a familiar sight to see these men neatly clad in their sarongs, with a sack across their shoulders going about with their Rabanas in their hands. Most of them came from faraway villages in the Central Province, some from places like Ambalangoda where the Rabanas were made and they have mastered the art since childhood. What they did basically was entertain the worn out traveller and it was never a boring experience. There was a blind `Viridu' singer at the Kataragama central bus stop. He always had a fresh story to narrate, mostly of happenings in his village woven around true characters, of tragedies or humorous situations they face with, and as you listen it naturally creates a visual impact unfolding those events within the frame of your mind. This blind man used to be a familiar sight in the Kataragama town early evenings when people throng the place to take part in the `pooja'. One could hear him all the way late into the night and in the mornings he would be gone with whatever monies he collected from the devotees. Today there is no room for people like him. The noise pollution is of such a high degree that all the beauty in his verse is drowned within. Music at full blast in high stereo capacity can be heard from every nook and corner of the town, especially from private coaches and other vehicles visiting the vicinity. Even the general public of today prefers to hear `pop' music in comparison to the days when that stuff was yet to invade us. It was not an unusual sight to see the man with the `Rabana' come up to a queue of passengers waiting for their bus and begin to serenade them with his verse. It was an enjoyable experience and one overcame the frustration of the long wait for a bus in those days. But what actually happened to this `story teller'? According to one of them who travels all the way from Horana to Colombo daily who still manages to find a daily income said he now travels mostly in out-bound buses until such time as it goes out of the city limits. Then he gets off it and boards another that is arriving from a faraway destination to Colombo. He explained that it is only while the bus is stuck in a traffic jam that passengers automatically tune into what he has to say. Most often these buses have their own internal stereo systems entertaining the commuters. Some of the kinder drivers switch them off making room for him to take over and earn some money, he added. "People are too busy to stop and listen to us, so we must always catch them at a loose end while they are travelling or waiting for late night transport" said another who still operates at the Kandy bus stand. Unlike in those days people are too busy to listen to stories. With today's tensed lifestyles they pay little attention to life's simplest pleasures. Living day-to-day has become so complicated that people are looking for even far more complicated methods to relax themselves. But if we sit to think the many characters that we met around the street corner in those days gone-by, they sure added colour to our lives then and in today's context the necessity for such simple entertainment is even higher. The "Virudu Karayas" reappearance can make a change, that is if you are willing to sit and listen. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Playing the `Rabana' with his delicate fingers while swaying his verse
to the rhythm of the sounds produced by the beat of his fingertips,
touching the stretched hyde across a circular wooden frame makes up the
Rabana man. These men were not considered beggars. They were villagers who
made a living by, in fact, selling verse, making up their own compositions
of events in daily life and presenting it in a soothing manner and style
to the listeners.
