Book Review

Past and the present:

An exhortation to get back to the roots

M.B.Mathmaluwe

Here is a book demanding serious attention from readers, certainly deserving the time and the energy it calls for. It comprises almost 400 pages and into it are packed 100 essays, short and long, classified, broadly according to their fields of interests which are extensive and far-flung: they are informative, educational and entertaining. Everyone of these essays has been published in one or another of the country's foremost national newspapers, The Island , 'Mid-week review', the Daily News or the Sunday Observer.

They fall within a time-frame, too as stated by the author himself, the last half century. Helpful to the readers the classification of these essays is given: 1. Classical cameos, 2. A popourri of Essays, 3. From The Island 'Mid-week review', 4.A selection from unconsidered trifles, 5. A selection from Miscellany, 6. Book reviews.

Interests and fields

A casual glance at this list itself shows the multiplicity of interests and fields ranging from the prestigious ancient Chinese civilization to our humble 'Dambala'! Words like 'Pot-pourri', 'Miscellany', 'cameos' etc that are freely used in the list, prove this: it is regretted that in a short Newspaper Review, only a peep into this vast wealth of material can be given.

In the first section appropriately, the author S.Pathiravitana (SP), begins at the very sources, the social and cultural milieu of Sri Lanka's late Medieval era, ie., in the reign of Rajasinghe II with references to it by Robert Knox. Heydt, Raven Hart, John Davy et al, who dwell quite exhaustively upon that period in books like Knox's "A Historical Relation". In SP's essay Ceylon to Paradise, he says Knox creates a vision of Ceylon as a 'Land of Lotus Eaters' revealing the lives, ways and practices of the 'Chingulays' as he names them and their peasant culture that prevailed at the time living as they did, close to nature, close to the gods. The image of Knox as presented by himself as he escaped to the Dutch camp on the coast, is fairly representative of the probable dress and figure of the average Singhala peasant of his time.

The longest, the two-part essay in this section, 'English Education in Ceylon' is a serious narrative of the vagaries of the English Language in Ceylon, commencing with the advent of the Westerners, is brought upto 1948. It focuses upon the set-backs the native languages suffered until 1956, when Sinhala and Tamil came to their own, with a measure of affection, SP deals with the felicities of the Sinhala Language and refers to specialist opinion, that a child's early education should begin in his mother-tongue with the supportive views of Rev. Bonjean and Governor North. He warns us of possible pernicious effects of the neglect of this need, namely, his alienation from his social and cultural heritage, in the absence of which, would lead him to:

"..... the serious evil of existing schools producing a class of shallow conceited youths who have learnt nothing but to look upon the conditions they were born in, with contempt. "P.52 .Sendall's views, in his (1867) Education Commission Report.

While being on the felicities of the Sinhala Language, it would be diverting to draw attention to an interesting aside, which SP, in his usual manner, drops about this renowned writer:

"Martin Wickramasinge is a poor advertisement for the richness of the Sinhala Language". (P. 91).

This certainly would come as a shock to readers who are used to only hearing hosannahs chanted about M.W!.

Here, SP reminds us that it was not only in Sri Lanka that there had been a problem in the use of National Languages: England too, has had it: it was as late as the 17th century that in England, English was admitted to the status of a national language there: before that, French was the language used for official purposes and for communication among the upper classes: Greek and Latin were widely used among the more educated, Like it was before 1956 here, in England, English was looked down upon as the language of the Servants and the peasantry.

Evidence

Evidence is not lacking for his understanding of the great civilizations and culture of the East: he refers particularly, go the civilization of China, one of the world's oldest. He mentions the great advances China had made in the discoveries or inventions useful to mankind such as paper, printing, gunpowder, sericulture and their prestigious Mandarin Civil Service which all the West borrowed and, as is their way, soon abused them, even for the destruction of fellow men.

While dwelling on these practices of the West, in putting the knowledge and artifacts borrowed from the East, it is worthwhile to note, as SP says, what they understood of East's social, cultural and religious practices: for instance, even as late as the 19th and 20th centuries there were, even among those so-called educated, men like D.H. Lawrence who carried very garbled versions and views about the East's great religious practices.

Practices and beliefs

A relieving feature is of course, there were among them who did understand our religions and cultures and spoke so understandingly about them such as L.H. Myres, at the other end. But judging by what SP says in general, one cannot overlook the deep prejudice with which the Westerner viewed everything Eastern, right from the Native's dark skin to their practices and beliefs: for instance, the early Western settlers in Australia thought that the Aborigines were less than beasts and that they should be exterminated. They of course, did not know that the Aborigines for their part, thought of the Australians and their ways with contempt as vermin who had forcibly occupied their home-Iands. The author makes clear the totally different views, arising out of the two cultural milieus, of the concept and practise of work.

To the Easterner, work was only a means of securing sustenance for a comfortable day-to-day livelihood and a reasonable provision for a tomorrow and not for amassing wealth for ostentation or luxury or to 'keep up with the Joneses' as is the practice today. He refers in this instance, to the teachings of the Buddha, that 'economic striving' was for Right Livelihood and not for cut-throat competition to eliminate others.

As regards the ethics of work, SP refers to a 19th Centaury American who, as an experiment with this concept of work, started, as SP says, a project of cultivating a Chena: he was an Economics Professor at the U.S. University of Wiconsin (Incidentally, he was the Prof. of Econ. of our own Philip Gunawardena, in his day!). In this manner Prof. Scott nearing cleared a forest in Vermont and lived on the 'Chena' for 10 years. In passing, I may say that this was not the first Educated American who experimented with this concept the Buddha's work ethic: there was Henry David Thoreau, who did the same: he cleared a forest patch near Walden Pond and lived for four years cultivating the Walden Farm of his.

Going through the book from end to end, if a perceptive reader were asked to give in a single sentence, the message SP carries, he should be impelled to say, it is, "Get back to your roots! You have been straying far too far, and far too long, from them for, all your woes are because of this".

White Coat Syndrome

A good example for this is what the author says in, what I should say, is his seminal piece of writing, "The White Coat Syndrome": in essence, it is a frontal attack upon our present Western system of medication, of compelling patients to swallow numerous medical drugs:

"Drugs have a tendency to hide the symptoms of diseases but end up by creating their own diseases. Thus, a patient treated for diabetes may end up with hypertension!" P. 119.

He says, doctors themselves agree that around 75 percent of the patients who loiter around the hospital corridors need no medication: a little rest and perhaps some kind of peasant home remedy may help. This invaluable advice to a nation now trapped in a monstrous/network of medication (Western) ingeniously laid for us by a well-organized system involving doctors, specialists, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacists and drug (Medical) barons, is very timely!

In all the writings of SP in this book, his preoccupation with the clash of cultures, between the native and the imported (from the West) between languages, customs, manners and values, surfaces every where and he avers in no uncertain terms, that in this clash it is this country that has lost heavily; it is the inferior and the debased from the West that are considered as moribund and vulgar even in those countries that have displaced the better and the more desirable of the locals: the two essays, 'Clash of Cultures' and 'A Question of Dress and Undress', this is highlighted.

For instance, displacing the more rational, liberal and natural dress codes that existed in the East, in our own country, it is the silly, prudish 19th Century Victorian dress ethic that has taken over, totally inadmissible either in the light of our climatic conditions or the demands of our moral codes.

The exaggerated Victorian sense of Shame and sin introduced here at that time, were quite unwarranted in a moral climate that prevailed here, where our views on sexuality, nudity sensuousness were different as seen in our art, sculpture and painting in places like Ajanta, Bharut and Sigiriya: there was never a question ever of hiding them under a heap of clothing the Eastern concepts of propriety/impropriety on Nudity, Ertica, Genitalia were more rational and liberal. think of the Sri Lankan 'Goviya' who spends the whole day almost entirely naked, but for his few inches of clothing (if it could be called that), the 'Ambuday' - what better clothing could be devised for a man working in the burning sun ten hours a day.

Never have these thoughts been presented in any book, before Pathiravithana has done it so well in this book.

Another matter that SP laments over the pernicious effects of Western industrialisation and its fall out in countries like ours.

The West, for three centuries is irretrievably trapped in the treadmill of supply and demand; they have to keep the system going and they have created today's consumerist society and consumerism and as a natural extension to it, advertising has grown in equal proportion: so, it is a vicious circle, each keeping the other flourishing.

Buying on tick

SP points out that in US it will come here eventually: it is only a matter of time as only a rational corollary to it, the habit of 'buying on tick' has come to stay, so that, the enslavement to money is complete.

Under these circumstances, the old system of values, economic independence, self-respect, human dignity etc. have been sacrificed for greed, gluttony and selfishness. This, in effect, is the 'Paradigm Shift' that Prof. G.L. Peiris being speaking about so volubly.

In our own part of the world, this 'shift' has led to many social evils abandoning in the village, where our pristine and time-tested values were functional and migrating to the Town, urbanisation, where cut-throat competition and setting man against man is the order of life.

Power and wealth

It is in this same trend of thinking, in an earlier Section, that reference has been made to the imminent possibility of discovering oil in the North Western coastal areas: here, he poses the question whether that would be a boon or a bane; today, oil is power and wealth and it is the belief of many that all our economic woes would vanish if oil is discovered.

But SP calls us to some sober thinking: he poses some disturbing questions: how about the massive pollution that will invariably follow; already, we are near suffocation with plastics; the effect it will have on politics, nation and international; he reminds us that in U.S. the previous triumvirate of political power, Bush, Cheyne, and Condaleeze Rice were Oil Barons or at least heavily involved in oil. And, what long-term effects will it have on national identity and social morality? he ends up by quoting a well-known entrenched truism:

"Ill fares the land, hastening to prey,

Where wealth accumulates and men decay".

One more Section is the Collection under, "Unconsidered Trifles"; the so-called 'Trifles' he presents in several pieces, are really not Trifles' to be trifled with! At least some of them, like the pieces, 'Racialism in Ceylon', 'A Source of Indiscipline', 'Education and Middle-class Values' etc. are certainly, are no common 'Trifles': they are tremendous Trifles.

Finally, here is a book that keeps the reader's interests unflagging, where the author presents scenes, experiences, people, events, as a rich harvest garnered over a long period of years of his travels, meeting people here and abroad.

The evidence available here, is that his travels abroad, have been both extensive and extended in England, U.S. France, to name only a few: No wonder then, that he can write so author itatively, authentically and knowledgeably on so many matter he discusses. Add to this, a lifetimes wisdom and his experiences gathered on man and matters as a long-time journalist and as the Editor of a National Newspaper like the Daily News all in all, it is a veritable feast of delectable reading; among other virtues, is SP's style of writing which should say, is elegant conversation, going direct to the heart and last but not the least, his wide, wide reading!

Largely, the material he presents can be new to many a reader the author knows this; that is why he very often prefaces his stories with phrases like, "What is not so well-known is..." "Many may not know....." "It may come as a surprise to some...." etc. One more matter calling for comment is his sense of humour, which is pervasive yet unobtrusive and never vulgar.

The reader may feel the author is just behind him looking over his shoulder, with a benign and knowing smile.

He quotes the Prince of Wales as saying: "I have no particular professional experience except as a representative of the world's oldest profession, the monarchy, I hasten to add.....", again, referring to the word, 'Proprintine' which some writer has used, SP says, on hearing that word, the reader would make a Bee-like either to a good Dictionary or to the toilet! or again, on the harrying question of printing errors, he says,"..... the theological fiction, the Devil, has been trying, ever since Guttenburg set up his Press, to mislead the will of man!" etc.

The book is the last word on elegant book production, bound in hard cover, printed in very legible print on strong, thick paper, is a delight to handle to a true book-lover.