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| Wednesday, 22 September 2004 |
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Features | |
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Dharmasiri Gamage, vintage with aesthetic values Sudden demise of Mr. Dharmasiri Gamage, the renowned & veteran journalist cum artist in contemporary times came as a rude shock to all those who know him and are very much dear to him.
Popularly identified as "Dharmasiri Aiyya," he leaves behind a void that cannot be easily filled since he remained a Guru to many, a beacon of hope for the budding generation of artists, journalists, narrators, lyrics-writers and nature-lovers. His touch and approach on the subject of environmental beauty, which he cherished very much, became one of the most-read articles in 'Silumina' because his presentation of true accounts of his destination made us touchingly feel that we were in that surroundings. Wasn't it a real journalistic skill? Our protagonist, Dharmasiri Aiyya, above all emerged a tower of compassion and kindness who could be accused at any time of the day. His human values made an impressive impact on the minds of us at all times with his remarkable qualities of composure and openness. His advice to everyone who came to him fascinated him, enlightened him and made him a pacified character before one takes leave of him. Dharmasiri Aiyya's interaction with the world of music, no doubt made him one of the most beloved lyric writers of our times. His never failing popular hits like, "Ammawarune" sung by Nanda Malini and Amaradeva's "Kandulu kiri powa" brought him to the pinnacle of reputation and respect. His song "Chandana Ellen Nala", another popular one, sung by H. R. Jothipala marked a turning point in his music career since the film the song contained became a box-office record-maker. His journalistic prowess that began at Lake House across 'Janata' tabloid at that point of time thrived and spread to every corner of the island attracting more and more novices to the field of poetry-writing and lyric-writing. To his credit, famed lyric-writers like Kularatne Ariyawansa, Wasantha Sri Kobawaka, to name a few, were his beloved followers. What strikes us most inside this great personality is the manner through which he took his message of writing to millions of readers without making his readership dull and boring. His aesthetic journey saw no bounds or borders. Hence, he was invited by various foreign based Sri Lankans and organisations to undertake tours to their destinations since he could write on his experiences afterwards on his return home. Dharmasiri Aiyya was a man of jewel and he never wanted to disappoint anyone who comes into contact with him for any reason. Invitations for seminars, excursions, lectures, and not least, for musical get-togethers poured in for him almost everyday, and our Dharmasiri Aiyya entertained almost everybody, responded positively and helped each of them meets their aspirations. After his beloved wife's departure, this personage all the time went on pondering over the concept of impermanence as taught in Buddhism. In other words, Dharmasiri Aiyya was prepared for any eventuality and looked at everything with equanimity and simplicity. He possessed distinguished qualities of paying homage to his beloved parents at all times and commemorated them while attributing his strength to the untiring efforts of his departed betterhalf "Sita" Akka. Dharmasiri Aiyya won many awards including the prestigious "Sarasaviya" one but he never ran in search of money or fame but the recognition came in search of him. A man rich with aesthetic values is always an asset to this ailing society, and Dharmasiri Aiyya was the ideal model of all those combinations. This embodiment of Buddhist values, cultural conscience, popular beliefs and his affinity with the world of arts and artists made a niche of himself among the commonfolk. This was what we witnessed in his popular TV presentations. Men of Dharmasiri Aiyya's ilk appear to be meeting their waterloo in this amorphous society, very badly affected with all germs of pollution, corruption, malpractices, etc. Dharmasiri Aiyya's sensitivity towards possible contribution to the moral development of our society should therefore be seen in its right perspective since his vision was to produce more and more men of aesthetic values and sensitivity. Dharmasiri Aiyya, in his 65-year-old life span earned more and more of his followers but certainly not a single cent of rupees. This writer himself witnessed how our beloved Dharmasiri Aiyya gave expression to aestheticisim on a number of occasions. My brief stay with him and a couple of other fellow-journalists inside dense jungles at Kalawewa when we went for an assignment while I was on "The Island" staff, amply proved the fact that he was an ardent and true supporter of nature conservation. My recollections still take to those memories at Kalawewa jungles some 25 years ago where we had a sobre interaction with the wonders of the nature. On our return, our protagonist wrote a piece about that experience and won commendation from Mr. Gamini Dissanayake, who was then the Minister of Mahaweli. Jungles, in Dharmasiri Aiyya's view, are blessed fortunes and treasures. Dharmasiri Aiyya is no more but his vision filled with true components of Buddhist ethics and values would continue as long as his dear followers live and foster great ideals of this man of excellence who rendered an indelible service to our society of aestheticism, journalism and poetry. May our Dharmasiri Aiyya enjoy supreme bliss of Nirvana! Sisira Wijesinghe, |
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