Go Slowly, Lovely Moon

by Vinita Piyaratna Samayawardene Press: 2010

Make morning into a key and throw it into the well, Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly...

Let the morning sun forget to rise in the east, Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly....

Anon

As Bradman Weerakoon says in the Foreword to Vinita Piyaratna’s Go Slow, Lovely Moon, this is the story of a woman of immense courage who is disabled unexpectedly in mid life by a neurological disorder that has no known cure. Bradman goes on to say that the book is an inspiration to the reader and paraphrases the story, giving snippets of interesting and humorous text to follow.

Vinita’s husband Sarath recalls in the Preface their life together of some 30 years, happy and wondrous. Vinita follows with a short preface of her own, where her theme is gratitude, eloquently expressed. Through a mixture of memories and dreams, some poignant and some comical, she takes the reader through a labyrinth of emotions and creates for him a mirror for introspection.

I had to read this eminently readable book twice in one sitting in order to decipher the message I could derive. I must say I received not one, but three. First, that any story is told for a reason; second, that one becomes unique and content when one lives out one’s dreams; and last but not least, that sorrow visits one when there are unfulfilled expectations.

The author is clearly one who has lived out her dreams and has no unfulfilled expectations. She conveys the basic message that love and gratitude triumph over ambition and remorse and that if one has a conclave of sincere and loving relatives and friends, one can get through anything in life.

With regard to the first message that any story is told for a reason the author articulates her reason quite clearly in the opening chapter entitled ‘I am blessed’, and shares some simple facts about her life, her family and people she met while walking this planet.

She explains further that now she is able to sit and watch a raindrop fall, a cloud that moves across the sky and a bird or squirrel frolicking in the streets. There are overtones of Gabriel Garcia Marquez who recognizes that it is more rewarding to work less and play more, sleep less and dream more.

She quotes Rabindranath Tagore and joins Sarath in his profound but true message that introspection comes with adversity and that life is like a storm which relentlessly gushes gusts of wind, only to stop suddenly, as if to catch its breath. There is much in common in this book with the philosophy of The God of Small Things where Arundathi Roy says cash your dreams before they slip away.

The second message that one becomes unique when one lives out one’s dreams conveys achievement through the sharing of love and understanding. An endearing feature in this regard are the commentaries of the author’s husband and two children and friends that endorse the character and worth of their beloved wife, parent and friend. It is also about integrating, with neither prejudice nor bigotry, with unknown people whose language and lifestyles are different. At a tender age the author settles down in a foreign land without going into an emotional hinterland as many would do under the circumstances. She blends into her new life, showing that intellectual maturity transcends material needs.

The third message - that sorrow results from unfulfilled expectations brings to bear the message of the Buddha on Dukkha, that life is unsatisfying and pleasure in the physical world is transient, followed inevitably by pain. Nothing we experience can be deeply satisfying and there is no resting place in change. Nothing is permanent. All experience is swept away in flux. Cause and effect is endless and confusing.

Therefore no one can find clarity and permanence.

Amidst this reality, Vinita portrays a surreal affirmation that contentment overcomes the stark realities of life. She shows effectively, with simple diction which is often interspersed with tinges of erudition that one cannot help the cards that one is dealt with: and that one can only play one’s hand the best possible way.

Replete with intimate recollections of the past, this book is a quintessential plea of the author for more time to appreciate life and those around her better.

Someone once said that a good author is not one who makes the reader think, but someone who makes him wonder.Vinita fits this description eminently.