Midnight visit to Minister

THEATRE: The Junior Minister Mr. Gamani Jayasuriya had got up from his seat when the lights came on. Suddenly I remembered we were on a preview a serious one at that. I was about to go on stage to congratulate the cast, when I saw that Mr. Jayasuriya was summoning me. I went up to him.

As a first reaction he smiled with me. He gave me that rather disarming smile of his. Then he pursed his lips and told me seriously, “Henry, I am going to meet the Minister. You too had better come there. Do you know the place?”

I told him I was not sure where the Minister lived. “He lives down Sunethra Lane, Narahenpita. You know the big church. The lane is right by the side of the church,” he told me. “I know the lane”, said Santin who had come up to us. “We will be there, Sir”, I told the Minister.

The Minister left immediately. Santin and I followed him in a taxi. We must have reached Mr. Iriyagolla’s home just a few minutes after Mr. Jayasuriya arrived there. They were seated already and in conversation, by the time we arrived there. I looked at the Minister. Obviously he had been awakened from his sleep.

He was in a white sarong and a rather faded vest. Without his glasses he looked different. His eyes were downcast either through sleepiness or through annoyance of being put up in the middle of the night. His silver streaked hair was dishevelled. My heart ached for this poor man.

Santin and I were standing near the door. “Sit down, sit down,” said a weary Mr. Iriyagolla. When I saw his weary face at that time, I felt a deep sense of guilt within me. “This man is like a father to me. Why have I woken him up in the dead of the night? I have sinned against this poor man”. When my mind was in such turmoil, the Junior Minister spoke.

I heard his voice from afar like in a dream. “How can I recommend this play to my Minister?” He was saying. It was more a statement than a question. I would say it was a half-hearted statement. I kept silent. So did my friend, Santin. I could discern a tolerant smile, a certain composure of the face of Mr. Jayasuriya, that kept me silent. He was obviously trying to sound out the Minister, not us.

Foolhardiness

“Why, Gamani, why do you say that? I also read the play last evening in the Parliament canteen .I thought it was a well written play.” The Minister countered. We saw the Junior Minister’s face relaxing, softening. He has won the main battle. His Minister is personally NOT against the play.

Even so this is a decision that has to be taken in the backdrop of a whole regime a whole Government. Although the play is not directly against the Govt., its approach, certain sayings in it, certain songs and certain hints clearly satirize the foolhardiness and the short sightedness of the Govt. In fact it pinpoints the folly of several regimes.

“Yes. Sir. I agree it is a well written play. Nevertheless at certain points it criticizes you and the Government.” After a pregnant pause he added. “It even satirizes us.”

After this initial “showdown” we discussed the play jointly for about two hours. We discussed its merits and demerits. Its good and the bad. The Minister informed his Junior that I had already agreed to delete certain words such as “magodiyo” [rascals] and “Baladhari” [Competent Authority] from the play.

The Junior Minister sighed a sigh of relief at such information. I WAS chastised too by the Minister during the proceedings mostly for not approaching HIM with my problems. Without trying to be “too good” and a smart aleck at which I bowed my head in silence. One thing was certain.

This man called Iriyagolla, this fine Sinhalaya was magnanimous enough to tolerate even “magodiyas” like me. He was tolerant enough to accommodate even young rebels like me who showed a love and a concern about my country, my people, and the young generation.

“Let’s allow this play, Gamani. Let’s allow these boys to have their say. It does not matter if it criticizes me. Even a personal attack. We must give the freedom of expression to those who are concerned about the affairs of the country.

“The Minister told his Junior at long last. He looked at me and gave me a rather weary smile. Obviously the man was tired out. “You are a bit of a rascal too. A crafty fellow. Never mind. I will not interfere with your freedom of expression”. His tired smile seemed to say.

Captivating smile

Santin and I looked at each other and sighed sighs of relief. We smiled at each other. Santin always had a captivating smile. It seemed even more captivating this midnight! “So, now, everything is okay Jayasena?” The Minister was telling us. “Just ONE small problem, Sir.” I replied rather hesitantly.

“Now, what is it this time?” The Minister was obviously not pleased. “Today is the 17th of August.” I explained to the Minister as respectfully as possible. “With your kindness we can now go ahead and have the opening show tomorrow. But there is a small snag. We have to obtain a Municipal Licence before we could perform the play.

We have to obtain it at least four working days before the event. We could not have applied for it without the Censor Board approval.” “When did you submit the play to the Censors Borad, Jayasena?” The minister was annoyed. He calls me “Jayasena” only when he is annoyed. At normal times he calls me by my first name. Anyway, I had expected this question.

“I submitted the script ONE MONTH ahead, Sir.” I told him the truth The Minister believed me. “Look, Gamani. Look at what these fellows are doing. We appoint Boards. When they receive a script they sit over it for months. Then they take the wrong decision, put us into difficulty and evade us. We have to bear the brunt of it all! Day before I tried to talk to some of them.

Not one was present. There was only one fellow and he tries to give me a lecture about freedom of the artist and about the power of the Press. Did not that fool know that I am also an artist? That I am also a “kalakaruwa” much more than a politician!

The Minister was very annoyed and he was speaking his mind out. I felt deeply sad and worried about this man. “It does not matter Sir. We have no time to publish an advertisement in the papers.

But we can place an announcement at the gates tomorrow. We ourselves can be there and explain. We can say that the play has been postponed by one week. I am sorry I worried you so much on this matter.

Sir.” I told him. “That will be much worse Jayasena. Then the people will think that we banned the play and that we lifted the ban because we were scared of the Press.” The Minister observed - quite wisely too.

“Sir, I can include in our ad that the Minister decided to lift the ban.” I was desperate too. “That would be even worse. The public will then say that what they have been saying has been proven right that the Minister has accepted that his Censor Board is incompetent. That even he has no trust in his Board”.

Outburst

The Minister laughed out loud after this outburst. “But of course, it is true that these fellows have behaved like a pack of cattle!” And he laughed even louder. That was not too good a sign either. Not only the Junior Minister, but even we understood that the situation was volatile.

We kept absolutely quiet. “No, Gamani, let’s do it this way. Today is Saturday. Tomorrow itself send out a special letter to the Colombo Municipal Council to treat this as a special occasion and to issue their Licence to Jayasena. Please explain to them that the delay has been ours. That the Censor Board has been sleeping over it”.

Then he took a pause. He looked at me. It was a heart breaking look. It seemed to say “Jayasena, why did you choose to give me so much trouble, without coming to me before all these complications cropped up”.

I could not break down before him but I felt like going down on my knees and worshipping this man of the soil this man who was like a father to me. Although I did not do so physically, I did so mentally. If I actually DID fall at his feet, it would have looked too melodramatic and selfish too. “I will do so in good time”. I told myself.

The Junior Minister promised us that every thing will be done as the Minister wished. He said the special letter will be delivered to the Colombo Municipal Council, first thing next morning.

“The Minister will be away at Kuliyapitiya tomorrow for a meeting. But do not worry. You will get your licence.” He said smiling. Santin and I got up to take leave of the Minister and the Junior Minister. “Sir, please do come and see our play, whenever you can..” I pleaded. “Then you will realize that this is NOT a play against you”.

“I will think about it Jayasena. This is an inimical period for me. Even the good turns against me”, said a tired but smiling Minister.

Thought of the week

One of my young friends Jeevanthi Senanayake whom I call Podi Duva, has done me a great favour. She has lent me some of the finest old films from her collection. So I had the immense satisfaction of seeing golden oldies such as Gone With the Wind, The Great Dictator, My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday and How to steal a Million Dollars.

My friend Jeevanthi is an incurable Audrey Hepburn fan. In fact so am I. That face, that composure, that verve COULD steal, not a million but even a hundred million dollars any day!

In Roman Holiday she displays so many moods and the final scene with Gregory Peck in her regal role as the Princess is so brilliant it simply chokes you over! In How to steal a Million she is up to all the tricks that the handsome rogue Peter O’Toole can conjure up. Audrey Hepburn is a TREAT to watch, any time any day. I cannot think of any other actress doing so devastatingly well in My Fair Lady.

Gone With the Wind, they say is the best movie that Hollywood ever made. It could well be. With dashing Clarke Gable and the bewitching Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland giving of their charm, wit and verve, one hardly feels the nearly four hour time taken viewing the film.

All those beautiful, handsome, bewitching and rugged faces reminded me of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray. That beauty, that sparkle, that bewitching beauty have been preserved thanks to the wonders of celluloid.

Where does one find heroes and heroines of THAT caliber now? Where have the Hepburns, the Gregory Pecks, The Vivian Leighs and the Clarke Gables gone? Thank God we had them at least ONCE on this uneasy planet called Earth!

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