A pizzicato played on her mother's heartstrings

Chosen Ground Review: Carl Muller

Published by Vijitha Yapa Associates

BIOGRAPHY: Goolbai Gunasekera has always been, to me, a most entertaining writer. An accomplished speaker, too, I was told, for she did the honours recently at the launch of Yasmine Gooneratne's latest novel and kept her audience all ears.

I have had the pleasure of talking of the earlier works - those light, breezy "Kit Kat" stories that, despite their humour, made serious incursions into that awful region: the gap, that yawns between generations.

It was easy to miss this unconscious foray that was embarked on with such purpose, but, if registered, would tell us that Goolbai is a person who can use both the iron will of the kettledrum and the melting cadences of piccolo to make her persona what it surely is.

As she says in her preface, her mother's marriage - Clara Heath, American, to Kewal Motwani, North Indian, "was extraordinary even back in the 1930s".

More so, "that such a couple should have decided to settle in Sri Lanka, then Ceylon .... (I) have always felt that long-standing karmic links drew them to this island paradise.

Speaking for myself, the only Motwani of this time left in this island, Sri Lanka is the only home I have known and today, as always, I am proudly a Sri Lankan.

This biography - if we could be prosaic - makes wonderfully easy reading. Goolbai has this story-teller's knack of masterful technique, be it in moral exploration or in the testing of characters.

I have always thought that her principal enthusiasm was for the creation of amusing stories, but with "Chosen Ground" I can now make more of the symbolism of all her works.

She is telling us of her mother, true, but in the telling she also tells of the natural being, uncorrupted by civilization, falling heart-first into this, her spiritual home with education, her only aim.

Cosmopolitan society

What is offered is a veritable saga, complete with historical background and depictions of life in a cosmopolitan society. Let me begin with her opening chapters.

Very correctly, Goolbai tells of her father - out of the village of Arazi in the Sind - a boy who lost his mother at eight, then taken under the wing of Jamshed Mehta, Mayor of Karachi and, as Goolbai records, "after the first long and curious look, it was love at once on both sides.

Karachi was, to Kewal, another planet - and he soon crossed that dividing time between dream and reality but despite his formidable brain, his graduation from University, he still remained a "misfit" in the traditional and clannish Sindhi community of Karachi.

It was so simple a solution: "Go west, young man" - but Oxford depressed him and he crossed the ocean to Yale, carrying with him a letter of introduction to the Heath family of Louisville Kentucky. The green green grass of Arazi to the blue grass state of Kentucky where he would find happiness.

Clara Heath was given a convent education. As is recorded, "she acquired a genuine love of study, a stern moral code, a strict sense of discipline and a life long abhorrence of a lady ever showing her knees." It was the making of an Asian Principal.

Goolbai takes many little flying leaps in the telling of the story but does not break the story line. One paragraph will relate to the one before but subtly enough the switch is made - from the Louisville convent to Visakha Vidyalaya.

The heartstrings are plucked deftly and only fingers can play such a pizzicato. As Principal of Visakha' "one of the first things on Mother's agenda was to make sure that hemlines were worn half way down the calf.

Visakhians learned to their surprise that no lady ever crossed her legs except at the ankles ..... Mother's training had her banning athletics .... Tennis, Netball and Table Tennis were games acceptable to her Victorian code...."

Naturally one would figure that Clara would abhor sham, hypocrisy and excessive materialism. She rarely thought ill of anyone and forgot personal attacks. Her husband would remark tongue in cheek to his two daughters, Goolbai and Su, "There is a special God for angels and fools and your mother qualifies for His attention on both counts."

Clarity

Allow me now to give readers the heady strains of this pizzicato. The book is large, quite a volume in fact, but I do not wish to take away the reader's interest or take away from the freshness of the book by saying too much.

We will find as the book moves on, the plight many of us are faced with; that need for clarity and rationality when faced with the unreasonable facets of life.

The reaction of Clara's near and dear is a case in point. Marriage to an Asian was considered marriage to a black man however fair he might have been.

In Goolbai's words, "her southern relatives were aghast." It mattered little to the Yale educated Dr. Kewal Motwani who laughed at any ignorance or prejudice he encountered.

Maybe I am like Oliver Twist asking for more but let me add that the wealth of characters Goolbai introduces gives us a heaped platter.

We find pathos and irony in the social and educational history of our island. We also direct narrative interest which makes the tale all the better for the telling. Let's take our pick shall we?

Irate parent, "You have an unsuitable child in this school who sits next to my daughter in class, She is of a low caste."

Clara's reply, "When I enroll a child at Visakha I do not inquire to which caste she belongs. I am quite unconcerned with social status. My only concern is with the child's mind and her behaviour in school."

Colombo Swimming Club .. a bastion of white privilege. "Of course Mrs. Motwani, we will allow your children to swim here as a courtesy to you"

Clara ... "Do you mean my husband cannot swim here too?"

President, "I'm sorry Mrs. Motwani. Those are the rules." Clara declined membership.

Collective gaze

Bhikkhu Narada to Visakhians at a religious Day function.. "See girls, open your eyes and look at your Principal. THAT is the posture you must assume on these occasions." Mother opened her eyes to find the schools' collective gaze on her. She blushed in confusion."

Sir Baron Jayatillake, Manager of Visakha,

"Your mother took one look at the island and recognized her home."

We have everything under one hat large enough to be a Mexican sombrero. We have stories of the significant and not so significant chronicled with insight and attention to detail. Little escapes, contradictions and parleys are scattered like beads of amber and all with impeccable style.

What is most refreshing is that this is not an intellectual book. Rather I would say it carries its own naturalism that is the telling of not just one life but many. What is more, Goolbai has no need to 'create' character because all her characters have created their own stories.

Clara Motwani was wanted by almost every educational board in the country, sat on the American Fullbright Scholarship Committee, was elected to the University Senate, was President of the Principals' Association to mention just a few, but above all Goolbai and her sister learned to look on the funny side of things, "a lesson that has stood Su and me in good stead whenever life got tough."

Story of manners

We come to the War years, the departure to India, but one thing impinges. This is a story of manners, the kind of writing Jane Austen excelled in. Tradition may have its strong grip but as the years flow on one also finds challenges to traditional thought' what may be called liberal humanism.

Certainly Clara, like E.M. Forster believe in the connectability, of different races and classes and the structural devices of this biography enrich the writing considerably.

Even when Clara is offered the Principalship of large Gwalior school she opted instead for one in Jaffna. Her husband's wry comment... "If Karma ordains your Mother must live in Ceylon who am I, a mere husband, to dare thwart the fates."

From Jaffna to Musaeus College and those beautiful, homely scenes. As Goolbai records, "One thing I can say about life with my parents is that it was never dull. One parent was a school principal and the other a College Professor and their united efforts ensured that every shining moment of the day was gainfully employed by us, their two daughters."

I will leave the readers at this point. It was Goolbai's friend Shirani Captain who said, "You have a story to tell. Why not write it." And her fingers found the strings. The music began. Deshabandu Clara Motwani, .... somewhere a voice says, "Well done thou good and faithful servant."

Ideal book for English learners

Guide to Grammar and Elegant Writing in English

Author: Dr. Wimal Wickramasinghe

Author publication 6A, Malwatta Avenue, Kohuwala, Nugegoda

Pages: 204, Price: Rs. 350

Review: Mahanama PREMATILAKA

ENGLISH: As in the case of the reviews I did earlier for the books in the 'Advanced English for Higher Education' series done by the author, I thought it fitting to do another review of his recent book entitled Guide to Grammar and Elegant Writing in English (2007).

I vividly remember what Professor J. B. Dissanayaka said at the launch of the series in 2000 at the auditorium of the National Library and Document Services Board, Colombo 7: "The author should go into the Guinness Book for having done single-handedly eight books on the English language and literature, modern grammar in a theoretical perspective and linguistics, the number of pages running into about 3,600/" Ironically, this was how he appreciated the efforts made by Dr. Wimal Wickramasinghe in doing the series, with full-time research for nearly four years.

With the lapse of some six years, Dr. Wickramasinghe has brought out this compendium covering the parts of speech, punctuation marks and the prepositions with sample sentence construction for each.

We all know what parts of speech are but the subtle differences involved in using them in the proper context with the examples of sentences and how they should be used correctly are something alien to many students and others.

This is the same with respect to the use of punctuation marks. Also, the correct use of prepositions is not generally found in many texts, except mere listing of them.

To the author's credit, he has cited each and every preposition together with a sample sentence, so that the reader is able not only to understand them but also to use them correctly; how they are used in sentence form?

Generally, prepositions are followed by conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives, verbs, etc. and this is where the novice finds it difficult to know which part of speech that should be followed.

This tricky problem is solved to a greater extent by the author. On the face of it, these grammatical parts may appear to be too simplistic but it is not so when it comes for the use of them. This is where the author's contribution is.

Grammar

We encounter many difficulties in the use of grammar. One clear attribute of the author is lucid explanation of grammatical forms in simple language, rather than involving the reader in the complexities of advanced grammatical terminologies and theories and linguistic jargon.

If the reader is interested in them, the author has earlier published a book entitled Advanced English for Higher Education: New Theories of Grammar, and Linguistics and Its Related Disciplines (1999).

The present reviewer has seen many books on English grammar written by Sri Lanka scholars but these texts explain grammar in the most conventional pattern rather than mentioning their dynamic change with the passage of time, forgetting that not only the language but also the grammar keeps on changing.

Such changes in grammatical usage in the modern time are explained by the author, profiting from the modern grammar texts.

The subjects such as conformity to agreement, use of absolutes, tag questions, voice and participles, the word order in sentence construction, proper use of plurals, apposition, active-passive relationship, irregular verbs, etc. are explained vividly.

The use of grammatical forms without errors and the reasons involved in making someone to make such errors are explained thereafter, citing some authoritative texts.

Tautology or faulty use of writing with unnecessary and repetitive words is often made by Sri Lankans (and even others).

The author gives an array of such examples with the citation of correct sentences. Other useful topics that are dealt with are the use of pronouns, split infinitives, positives, comparatives and superlatives, double comparatives, infinitives after superlatives, and the and very with superlatives.

Etymology

Etymology (the study of roots from which the words are formed) as well as understanding of foreign words that have greatly gone into the English language are the subjects that have not been explained by any other Sri Lankan scholars.

This is an important contribution in the text. As the author himself says, knowledge of the roots may enable the reader to know the meaning of words or at least make a guess at the meaning. Many examples of English words from Latin and Greek roots as well as French and Italian words in English are given with their meanings.

In another chapter, there is an important account of British and American words used for the same context, underlying the importance of using British English as the medium of instruction. Or, in the alternative, he says that one should use only one language with respect to spelling for the sake of uniformity.

There is also a brief account on pronunciation as an aid to good speech, followed by some proverbs, idioms and the words of slang that have gone into the received dictionaries.

The author seems to have been aggrieved over the non-settlement of the books distributed in the earlier series among some booksellers on a consignment basis.

Upon enquiry from him, he seems to be determined to sell the copies to insurance companies, banks, universities, public libraries, students of tuition schools, etc. on a personal basis, making also copies available at his residence, 6A, Malwatta Avenue, Kohuwala, Nugegoda, and anyone can contact him on 2853491/2854746 cell phone 077 2217617. This is a book for O/L., A/L and university students and professionals, including the teachers of English.

Bilingual dictionary useful for Sinhala learners

Dictionary of Sinhala Antonyms

Author: Prof. W. S. Karunatilake

Publisher: S. Godage and Brothers, Colombo 10.

Price: Rs. 550, Pages 442

Review: Dr. Wimal WICKRAMASINGHE

LEXICOGRAPHY: This dictionary is designed for those who desire to study the Sinhala language, the selection of the headwords being based on the traditional literary texts as well as modern written and spoken usages.

The composition of the dictionary is such that it includes the most difficult headwords with meanings given within brackets and their English translations.

It is not the practice of the inclusion of simple meanings of the headwords in a dictionary of antonyms but the author has done so. It is presumed that such an exercise would be useful to the students. The author's hope is that this dictionary would be beneficial to the students who study Sinhala.

The author of this dictionary is now Senior Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, who has written a number of texts such as his unpublished PhD dissertation at Cornell University, USA, Historical Phonology of Sinhalese: From Old Indo-Aryan to the 14th Century AD (1969), An Introduction to Spoken Tamil (1978), together with Professor James W. Gair (an American from the University of Cornell, USA) and Professor S. Suseendirarajah (a Tamil at the University of Jaffna), Tamil Sinhala Dictionary (2002), An Introduction to Spoken Sinhala (1992), and many research papers, including some on Gypsy-Telegu like 'A Phonological Sketch of Ceylon Gypsy-Telegu,' Anthropological Linguistics, 16 (8), November 1974, 420-424 and 'Nominal Inflection in Sri Lanka Gypsy-Telegu: An Outline', in Don Peter Felicitation Volume (1983), Colombo, 143-150.

The present reviewer, who has published nine books in the 'Advanced English for Higher Education' series, has previously published a review of Professor Karunatilake's Tamil-Sinhala Dictionary (2002), in Pranaama Professor Nandasena Mudiyanse Felicitation (2006, pp.349-359), edited by Professor Gamini Dela Bandara of the University of Kelaniya.

The reviewer has also had the distinction of having his review of Studies in Sri Lankan Tamil Linguistics and Culture: Select Papers of Prof. Suseendirarajah (1999), edited by K. Balasubramaniam, K. Ratnamalar and R. Subathini (Chennai: Student's Offset Press), published in the International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, 2001, pp. 157-166.

In addition, his publication entitled Advanced English for Higher Education: British English, American English and Sri Lanka English (Volume Three, 1999) has subjects such as Sri Lanka's Ancient Literature including Grammar (pp. 135-147), Lankan Scholars in English with their publications (pp. 147-174), Research in English on Sinhala (pp. 174-185), Lankan Writers of English novels, poems and short stories with their publications (pp. 185-218) and poets (English) in Sri Lanka: Known and Not-so-known (pp. 218-227).

Professor W. S. Karunatilake is a graduate of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, majoring in Sanskrit (first-class honours), has a Master's Degree in Linguistics from the University of Puna, India and his PhD dissertation at Cornell University, USA is Historical Phonology of Sinhalese: From Old Indo-Aryan to the 14th Century AD (1969).

He has used his stints of sabbatical leave at various foreign universities doing research in languages. Having been a teacher before joining the staff of the University of Kelaniya, he ended his academic career at the age of 65 retiring as Senior Professor of Linguistics. He is now a full-time freelance researcher who continues to do research on various subjects of languages and linguistics.

The author is credited for having published a comprehensive Dictionary of Sinhala Antonyms on a scientific basis, the only one of its kind. A majority of students in Sinhala are, I presume, unfamiliar with the most difficult words in Sinhala but the author makes such words known to them by giving simple meanings to them supplemented with words in English.

Sometimes, it appears that the headwords given in Sinhala are more difficult than those in English. Those who are familiar with English will understand these headwords by reference not only to the meanings given in Sinhala but also to the English words given as antonyms.

The author of a dictionary of this nature ought to have a sound knowledge of both classical as well as modern Sinhala with an insight into English. He fits into all these qualities surpassing many other scholars.

There are many other English dictionaries dealing with antonyms, one of which in the possession of the present reviewer is Chambers Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms (comprising 170,000 words in A-Z form), edited my Martin H. Manser (first published in 1990).

This dictionary is only in English. But Professor Karunatilake's dictionary is a bi-lingual one, helping the reader master both Sinhala and English. It has 7,726 headwords. He has written this dictionary as well as other books of language interests out of fascination with Sinhala (and English), a tedious task based on decades of research and teaching.

If the books on Sinhala and its grammar are to be divided into two segments, i.e., (a) based on serious research together with pains-taking labour and pain and (b) those written plainly without benefit and citation of research material, this dictionary no doubt belongs to the first category and such texts are rare in the literature.

But the other ones are too many and simplistic. This means that every scholar is not a serious researcher, whose arduous task is of high magnitude. The present reviewer has seen many books in Sinhala on language, grammar and usage which are written keeping an eye on the market; though they are popular, they rarely carry the label 'research'.

In that sense, Professor Karunatilake's publications on various languages, including Sinhala, have decades of research behind them - an unparalled experience. He is a scholar par excellence.

I have the pleasure in commending this dictionary to every student and scholar for furthering their knowledge in Sinhala.