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| Tuesday, 27 April 2004 |
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Letters | |
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The recent announcement of a code of conduct for Alliance MPs deserves unreserved praise. The code involves a wide range of matters such as use of government vehicles, appointment of personal staff, deployment of security staff and foreign travel. One important matter that should have been included in the list, but has been perhaps inadvertently left out is the declaration of assets by MPs. The present position is that even though there is a legal requirement for candidates seeking election to Parliament to declare their assets to the Commissioner of Elections, many of them fail to do so. Apparently such failure does not disqualify them. Once elected, the MPs, like all other persons holding responsible public offices have to declare their assets, in this instance to the Speaker. A fresh declaration has to be made once a year. However, the general public have been unaware of the actual position in the past. It will not be surprising if some MPs did not comply at all with the requirement. Therefore, I would like to request the President to kindly include in the code of conduct, the declaration of assets by MPs. This will not be enough. It will be necessary for one of the independent MPs to raise the issue in Parliament from time to time. The large majority of voters in this country who yearn for a corruption-free and clean political culture will be very grateful to the MP who will undertake this task. This is to enable the voters to know who are the Members, if any, who fail to declare their assets within a reasonable time. Mr. Editor, I am sure that if these two measure can be implemented in the new Parliament, it will help a great deal to pre-empt many corrupt practices and restore public admiration and confidence in the nation's supreme legislative body. SAK, Battaramulla The recent article DN April 12 by Premasara Epasinghe makes me add to this great musician and rare human being of unparalleled principles, which principles would be unheard of today. In his article Epasinghe speaks of Sunil's refusal to do a programme called Aradhana for the Bank of Ceylon, in spite of being offered princely sums at that time, which was in the mid seventies. This refusal is attributed to Sunil saying that his voice and singing were not what they were earlier and therefore it was not right to accept such large sums of money. This I think is correct as even in the mid sixties there was evidence of this deterioration. I was an ardent fan of Sunil from my undergraduate days and later when I was stationed in Galle in the mid sixties, I suddenly saw one day an advertisement in the papers that Sooriya records were marketing Sunil's original songs on 45 rpm records. I made a beeline to Colombo and bought the records. However when I played them I noted that the voice and articulation of notes were not what they were in his original music. Later I came to know that he was down and out in life, mainly because of his principles, and the commercial recordings which were his first and last, were a desperate attempt to raise some much needed funds. Later this Aradhana programme was done by Victor Ratnayake who gave his customary religious flavour to it. Sunil was at his brilliant best in the forties. I remember my elder brother who was at University coming home and raving about a concert given by Sunil at K.G. Hall where he was greeted by encore after encore. There is a vivid description of this concert in an article by Stanley Jayaweera of Avadhi Lanka fame, the date of the article being June 1994. Jayaweera also mentions in this article that Prime Minister Premadasa, who was noted for helping artistes, wanted to donate a house to Sunil. When Sunil was told about this his reaction was that if any politician no matter how high he was, wanted to give him a house, such politician should come to his hut and hand over the keys. Such were the high principles of this humble man who was hounded out of Radio Ceylon by jealous artistes and officials. Rather than accept injustice he began repairing radios for a living. In the early forties Ananda Samarakoon broke new ground in Sinhala music. However his style and composition were a trifle laboured and rather stereotyped. When Sunil came on the musical scene, it was like a breath of fragrant fresh air. The simplicity, rhythm, melody and the composition were all something new and his popularity began to shoot up dramatically. This made other people jealous and his records at Radio Ceylon were vandalised by scratching and they were not broadcast. In 1970/71 for some unknown reasons which perhaps other readers can explain, Radio Ceylon began broadcasting his original music without any distortion. I lost no opportunity in thankfully recording them on spool tape. These tapes remained the most prized possession in my collection of oriental music, until recently when I transferred them to CD for the sake of posterity. However I feel sad that most young people today do not seem to appreciate Sunil Shantha's beautiful music which is really timeless. Abroad whenever Sri Lankans gather at parties the singing is never complete without Olu Pipeela and Handapane. A few years ago, a local TV station had a commemorative programme on Sunil Shantha. T. M. Jayaratne and another male singer sang most of his songs while a girl called Nisansala gave a superb rendering of his lilting lullaby Sigiri Landakagey Malwattiya La. This song has a haunting melody and though I also appreciate light Western classical music especially Vivaldi, comparison of this song with Brahm's Cradle Song would be inappropriate. In the seventies Radio Ceylon put out on sale a 33 rpm record of Sunil's original music and this was recommended to me by the late Prof. Nandadasa Kodagoda who was an ardent music lover. However in this record which I duly bought, although sound engineers had used sophisticated noise suppressing devices, traces of those jealous acts of vandalism are evident. Sunil Shantha's birth anniversary is held in the month of April and I make it a point to attend these meetings where his favourite pupil Ivor Denis renders his originals. A few years ago on one such anniversary the government belatedly decided to issue a postage stamp in his honour and the cancellation ceremony was done by the PMG herself who was Soma Kotakadeniya. In her speech the PMG said that this was one occasion where she had no hesitation in coming and it was a privilege to honour Sunil Shantha. Sunil's wife Leela attends these meetings and I have met two of his sons who are now top engineers domiciled in U.S.A. One of them Lanka Shantha has perfected an extracting process from coconut fibre. I think Sunil Shanthas music is mostly set against a rural background and village life. Having my roots in a Southern village, it is easy for me to relate to his compositions. His melody about the lilting swaying walk of a young village schoolmistress dressed in white Hela Sariya takes one's mind to the young Iskole Hamine in the village. I think to really appreciate certain works of art, one must necessarily have a rural background. J. Vijayatunga's classic book "Grass for my Feet" can only be appreciated by someone who grew up in a village and the same goes for the film "Sikuru Tharuwa" where D. R. Nanayakkara gives an absolutely realistic performance as the village Headman. Sunil Shantha's music will live on forever and his more popular songs will be sung and handed over from generation to generation to be sung wherever Sri Lankans gather. Dr. K. N. K. WIJAYAWARDANA, Battaramulla Propagation of Erabadu trees and Tamils I was under some illusion that Erabadu are something connected only to Sri Lankan Tamils' culture until I read the article "Erabadu - bright red harbingers of Avurudu" in D/N April 09. It's good to know that Erithrina Indica is used as edible, and medicinal safety valued herb by Sinhala folks as well. Apart from it blossoms with bright red flowers (as the Latin name suggests) during Sinhala and Tamil New Year but attracts the Khoels and crows, which those birds break and eat. Among Sri Lankan Tamils this tree known as Mull+Murankai=Mulmurukku or Mulmurankai have many meanings for their culture. The Tamil name "Mulmurukku" derived as Mull means thorn and as thorns are found on its bark that differentiates if from the ordinary Murunkai. (Drumstick from the same family Legumes, a favourite vegetable dish of Tamils except for weddings). As far as the Hindu weddings are concerned the Erabadu's young long stem obtained from the tree that is yet to yield flowers kept or planted in front of the holy fire witness ("Agni sadchchi") gestures the attendance as well as the Agni that the Bride has been defending and protecting her indomitable will against all the odds that she might have encountered in marrying the man she has been imagining to marry since her late childhood, as the throny bark tree did fencing the both parties' houses. That is why ceremonial young stem is selected at the Bridegroom's house on the auspicious ceremony day of (pon urukku) melting the pure new gold for making the thali, few days ahead of ceremonial wedding. Both the ceremonial young Erabadu stems are planted at the entrance of the respective houses at end of the ceremony and budding of both indicates the beginning of happy married life of newly wed couple. Erabadu in Jaffna with denser thorns (than the southern counterpart more frequently void of throns) is a high nutritive valued fodder, for cattle and poultry that enhances quality productions and efficient reproduction. There is a place called Erabadugus Wewa off the Puttalam - Anuradhapura Road where one might come across elephant herd peeling the bark of now scarcely available Erabadus in the late evenings. Anyhow the writer may lessen her apprehension about propagation of Erabadu tree as long as the Tamils and Hindu ceremonial weddings live in this island as they are! DR. S. MAHADEVA, Dehiwela I have very strong nostalgic memories of the South Indian songstress Chinthamani. when I was a small boy, I could remember it was either in early 1930s that Chinthamani sprang into fame. She sang a number of sweet melodies (songs) which became instant hits and they were so popular that small children, young people and even old people were obsessed and infatuated with her and her songs. All songs were equally thrilling and it was truly out of the world tunes, perhaps gods' music brought through her. Chinthamani was very beautiful and fair, her hair falling behind below the knees down to ankles. She was like a fairy. Some people went mad over her and one businessman of Colombo was so infatuated with her that he went to S. India and wanted to take her hand in marriage. Such were the emotions she created. Perhaps I feel only Jim Reeves could come near her in music. So it will be very nice if the SLBC (Radio Ceylon then) could see if the records are available there and reproduce them. I am surprised that we very often hear oldies on TV but sadly never even a mention of Chinthamani. V. K. B. RAMANAYAKE, Maharagama |
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