Sakuntala's 'Gratiaen' moment
Amalshan Gunerathne
The rhythmic essence of her heart wrenching poetic lines has the
melodious capacity to tingle your sensitive heart strings to the hilt.
As you move through her poetic collection, you feel your veins itching,
burning and fuming to her poetic tunes.
Recently crowned winner of the Gratiaen Awards 2011, the poet
Sakuntala Sachithanandan has the ability to move your heart along with
her lines and arouse your mind's eye to certain dilemmas in a way that
you have not seen them before.
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Sakuntala Sachithanandan. Pictures by
Rukaml Gamage |
 Joining with the Artscope, Sakuntala expressed these thoughts on the
art of poem writing. Explaining the compelling, yet spontaneous way in
which the poet's pen moves, she says, "Poets write when they are moved
by something. I guess, when they are touched by something they just have
to write.
I have never written anything for an audience. I wrote for myself and
to express myself. And also when you let your problems and issues in to
paper, it soothes you and eases out your soul."
Sakuntala wrote her first poem when she was sixteen.
"Yes I remember that day very well. I wrote my first poem to my
little nephew. I was very much fascinating by him. Of course that poem
is bit too silly and it is not in my poetry anthology. Well the first
line of the poem goes as 'Little Kushan has silky round head...' I was
very fond of him. Then I used to write about my pets. I had a lovely
hare those days and I used to write for him," Sakuntala said with a
chirpy chuckle.
An old girl from Vishaka Vidyalaya, Sakuntala went on to graduate
from Sri Lanka Law College. She got married in 1974. Then she had to
leave to Hatton with her husband where both of them practised law. Her
stay in Hatton was a very important juncture in her life, as it gave her
an exclusive opportunity to take a peek in to the wretched lives of
people who live in estates and limes. Her experiences of living
alongside those people inspired her to do many poetic creations.
Her award winning poetry collection, 'On the Streets and Other
Revelations' focuses mainly on social criticisms and raising a sense of
awareness about matters which are not talked openly in social debates
before. She arouses the reader's mind eye and manipulates it in a manner
that the reader begins to perceive things in a very different
perspective. Some of her thought provoking poems revolve around the
plight of little ones who stay in orphanages, child prostitutes and how
they came in to being, tragedies of war, animal cruelty, etc. Sakuntala
arouses your mind to the darker aspect of human life with the sheer
purpose of arousing a sense of awareness, so that the humanity could
work forward to a better future.
However the collection does not include many romantic poems which
revolve around personal themes.
"I used write about romantic things as well. But I felt better if I
keep them only for myself. I guess everybody goes through that phase
where only things that are important to you are interpersonal
relationships and romantic love. But after I got married I saw other
issues in the society. I felt that there are other issues in our society
that need to be spoken off. I worked in the estate sector. Having come
from Colombo, I was shocked by the exploitation of labor and ludicrous
social stratification. I thought of writing about these issues."
Sakuntala explained.
At the same time expressing her thoughts about the responsibility of
a modern day writer, Sakuntala says:
"Writers can only highlight certain issues, but action has to come
from other quarters. Creative people and writers can look at certain
issues in a way that other people don't do. They can touch people's
heart and arouse their mind about certain issues; still the action has
to come from those who are responsible for such dilemmas."
When questioned as to the task of a writer in building the image of
the country, she was very honest in saying: "For starters we can't build
an image that is not there. We have to be honest and create a sense of
awareness."
At first Sakuntala was very much reluctant at showcasing her works to
her fellow readers. "Those days I didn't even show some of my works to
my husband or my son," she says.
But later, she got the necessary confidence to share her work with
readers after she began to attend 'Wadiya English Writers' sessions' in
Wallavaththa Wadiya hotel.
"In 2009 Gratiaen was nothing but a dream for me. But friends at
Wadiya really pushed me to put my work in to Gratiaen contention. And
also in 2008 I won the Channels Poetry competition which also gave me
the necessary confidence to showcase my work to readers."
Sakuntala's next book will be a children's book titled 'Adventure of
lime-room mouse' which would be published under Godage publishers.
Going Gratiaen
Ishara Jayawardane |
| Those who made 2010 Gratiaen Awards a success
*Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, CEO Standard Chartered Bank
* Walter Perera, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
* Feizal Samath, Chairperson of the Panel of Judges
* Sunethra Bandaranaike, Judge
* Dinithi Karunanayake, Judge
* Nafeesa Amiruddeen, Trustee
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The Gratiaen Prize 2010 Nominees
* Rozaine Cooray - Colors of the Sun (Published Novel)
* Shyam Dissanayake- Dalada (Unpublished Novel)
* Herman Gunaratne - The Suicide Club (Published Novel)
* Shirani Rajapakse - Breaking News (Published Short Stories)
* Sakuntala Sachithanandan - On the streets and other revelations -
(Published Poetry)
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| The following is the criteria adopted by the judges to select the
winner:
“The judges took a considerable length of time to read each entry and
all our decisions were unanimous and based on extensive discussion. We
evolved our own sense of criteria which we believe in no way
disadvantaged entries we received:
* How each work sustained the readers interest through a theme or
things a reader could relate to
* Originality in the theme selected
* The manner in which the narrative unfolds
* A judicious use of language – fresh non-hackneyed language
* Detailed nuanced character portrayals.
* The use of innovative literary techniques and creative devices.
Kamini de Soysa has been a livewire of the trust will be resigning.
She was secretary from 1996 to 2008. She coordinated all programmes and
kept the cause of the trust alive. Nafeesa Amiruddeen is her successor,
who joined the Gratiaen at the busiest time of the year. Nafeesa has
already brought her sense of industry and her influential personality to
the job. |
It was the moment for Sakuntala, to whom the Gratiaen was nothing but
a dream. In the speech her expression was a fine blend of delight and
surprise.
“I can only say that I am really shocked and of course delighted
after weeks of hoping and then again suppressing my hopes. At last it is
over. I am so thrilled that my son Pubudu, who is always abroad, is in
the audience today to share my joy. He is my really cheerful mentor and
guide who encourages me. I must also mention my husband’s unwavering
support.”
Why was Sakuntala’s work picked as the winner of Gratiaen 2010? What
was in the minds of the judges?
“For the writer’s unembellished writing style and use of appropriate
literary techniques and devices, for the writer’s creative use of Sri
Lankan English and unique ability to use words from both Sinhala and
Tamil. To create an atmosphere and lend authenticity to what is
described, for the vivid portrayal of characters and their situations
which impact strongly on the reader, for focusing attention on inhuman
situations, for invoking in us a need to reassess our behaviour and
realign our practices.” Said Chairman, Panel of Judges, Feizal Samath.
The Gratiaen trust was founded in 1992 with the first ceremony taking
place in 1994. It has been established as the foremost literary event in
the calendar. The 2010 award ceremony was held recently drawing a huge
crowd of well-wishers, nominees and distinguished guests.
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