Sumithra Rahubadda: A penchant for the pen

Ruwanthi Abeyakoon

Bringing out the unseen side of women through her novels Sumithra Rahubadda has achieved fame as one of the best women writers in Sri Lanka.

Journey begins

Starting the journey at the Soviet Embassy as a translator/ journalist of Russian literature for media she was compelled to write. "I didn't start writing straight away. Before I established myself as a writer I read a lot of books which enabled me to have a better view," she said.

Woman in words

Her first novel `Bumuthurunu' published in 1978 was highly praised by the critics. Her novels brought out different angles of a woman. At the time she started her writing the norm of the woman was to attend the household work and raise children." Women who live upto this social expectations were considered good," she said.

Bringing a change

"This is the attitude I wanted to bring out," she says. In her novels she presents the woman as an individual human being who should discover herself. Daisy in her novel "Itipahan" shows how a woman tries to free herself from the ties that keep her bound whereas Daisy's mother Dulina endures all the troubles and becomes a heroine through the strength she demonstrates.

Draw the line

Rahubadda points out that women should realise their limits. She never answers the issues raised in her writings but she leaves it for the society to make amendments and comments. The attitude towards women which is under going a change is commendable but still there is a lot more to be achieved, she says.

"The husband should also shoulder in raising children and other family responsibilities," Rahubadda noted.

Asian woman

The position of the Asian women is pathetic than that of the European women. Laws have to be much stronger and a change of attitudes is highly desirable, she added.

Mother courage

Rahubadda is an epitome of strength. After the death of her husband she has brought up her daughter with a lot of courage. "I am like her shadow," she says. "I am determined to bring about a positive change with my pen," she said.

Face off; Women show their true face in Kabuki

DRAMATIC ENTRY: Japan's traditional Kabuki Theatre is a man's world, with male actors even in the roles of women. But there is also a passionate flip side: The Takarazuka revue - a troupe by women, for women.

The rigorously trained company, which has performed for nearly a century starring young single women, has drawn generations of devoted, yet decidedly mild-mannered, fans.

In the early years; both men and women acted in Kabuki plays. Later during the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate a powerful Japanese comparer forbade the acting to women. Several male Kabuki actors are therefore, specialised in female roles.

Hisako Fujimatsu, a 35-year-old office worker, has been going to see the Takarazuka since her grandmother took her to one of their plays at the age of three.

She has already booked tickets for several performances this year.

"Actresses playing male roles are attractive in a different way than real men," she said. "They are gentle, stylish, beautiful and broad-minded. Above all, it is good that they exist only in a dream world on the state,"

In a rigid training regiment akin to kabuki - which has banned women from acting since the 17th century - only graduates of the Takarazuka music school are allowed to take to the stage.

They study for two years between ages 15 and 18, with about 50 girls entering annually. Their careers at the revue can be short-lived, as they must quit if they marry, although some go on to lucrative television and film positions.

The troupe, with a theatre in Tokyo and several others in western Japan, has some 470 performers, divided into five troupes under the names flower, moon, snow, star and cosmos Takarazuka's motto is, "modesty, fairness and grace". Zee News