Siri Gunasinghe felicitated:

Legend of an epoch

A felicitation ceremony in honour of Prof. Siri Gunasinghe was held at the National Library Services Board recently organized by Godage Publishers and the University of Ruhuna. Professors K. N. O. Dharmadasa, Sasanka Perera, Tissa Kariyawasam and Edwin Ariyadasa paid their tribute to the scholar. Ishara Jayawardane met Prof. Siri Gunasinghe at his residence and gathered views

Charming, modest and humble scholar now takes his respite at his residence. Calling him multitalented is in no way an exaggeration. Siri Gunasinghe is a poet, film director, novelist, art teacher and art critic all rolled into one.

You taught Sanskrit at the Peradeniya University. How did that help you in your artistic career?

Studying Sanskrit has done me a great service. It gave me a sense of logic and organization. Unlike modern languages that keep on changing, Sanskrit is well established. My interest came through my research into technical manuals on Sanskrit texts dealing with the techniques involved in early Indian classical paintings. The manuals were in Sanskrit, so I made a combination with my Sanskrit and Art History. I have a first class in Sanskrit, but still you can call me a student of Sanskrit.

How had been your childhood and youth?

I grew up in Galle close to the border of the city. I attended a village Sinhala school run by the chief monk of the temple. Then I went to a bilingual school in Ruvanwella, and after that Mahinda College, Galle. To pursue higher studies I went to the University College. Before becoming the University of Ceylon, it was just a college. it became a university only in 1942.

You have expressed your creativity in many ways: as a poet, filmmaker, novelist, art teacher and art critic. Which media do you enjoy the most?

Well, literature is my favourite. But there are two. My main interest is poetry. An artist of any sort needs to express himself. Sometimes the expression is poetry. Sometimes literature, Sometimes painting. I used to paint. There is no limit.

You directed one movie and that was hailed as a masterpiece. Why didn’t you produce more films apart from Sath Samudura?

For one thing I left the country. If I stayed in Sri Lanka maybe I could have done more. With the new set up in Canada you can’t do that. There were time constraints.

I was teaching at the university, so you have to prepare lectures, read articles and publications related to the subject. Unlike here where you can dabble in many things, there you are unable to do that. There is hardly any time.

Following your return, how do you continue your work here as an artist?

I have not returned! Although when I come if time permits I attend other artistic exhibitions. But my own artistic actions, I have no time to look into it. Other than that I sort of participate in artistic activities going on in the country but not getting into it as a working artist because there is no time for that.

For instance drama. I could very well get into drama. When I was here before leaving I took part in drama quite a bit. I could probably do those things, production, costumes and stage sets. But there are other people in work. I have neither the time nor inclination to go into these sort of things.

You are an academic in Sri Lanka as well as abroad. You have a lot of experience with student life. What do you think of the present day student politics?

A. I really don’t know the situation because I am no longer in the university or politics to understand what they say. I think superficially looking into the problem, when we were undergraduates we did not get involved in national politics largely. But now students are in the centre of politics. In other words, national politics is sneaking into the University. They have their preferences and loyalties. The young people are more enthusiastic and active both mentally and physically. So there is a big difference now.

Do you see a great difference between the students now and then?

Very hard question to answer. What I have heard is the students now are much more politically motivated and some of them are less interested in learning. These are not my own ideas. What I realize is that the library is the place where you can judge the attitudes of the students.

I feel the Colombo library is not fully used by the students. Even the Peradeniya library, undoubtedly the best in Sri Lanka, is not fully used.

They go to the library, review the lecture notes and read them over and over again until they learn them by heart. The lecturer lays emphasis on certain topics making the students imagine that such and such a question would come. When we were students we did not have that system.

We used to study previous question papers and it so happens, most of what we suspected would come, did come. When you open some of the books in the library you realize that they have not been opened for a long time. There seems to be a kind of deterioration in learning since they limit themselves to the lecture notes.

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