Immortalization of an ageing icon
Edwin ARIYADASA
A heartwarming season seems to have come around to ritually
felicitate ageing Icons. In the recent past, two high-profile ‘living
legends’, were accorded conspicuous mass adoration.
Ninety-two year old Lester James Peries has a foundation set up in
his name. The celebrations, pivoting round the event, elevated it to a
memorable national occasion. Then came the intimate Puja to Pandit
Amaradeva, whose frail and fragile presence is verily the perennial
embodiment of the musicality of the Sri Lankan soul.
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W D Amaradeva and Wimala Amaradeva.
Picture by Nissanka Wijeratne |
The simple but elegant evening ritual, that has been arranged by
Indian High Commission assumed the significance of an Indo-Sri Lankan
symphony in its moving refinement. The central urge of the ‘symphony’,
was exquisitely ‘orchestrated’ by Ministers Sarath Amunugama, Vasudeva
Nanayakkara, Professor G L Pieris and by Prof K N O Dharmadasa.
The inspiring and beaming High Commissioner himself was, so to speak,
the ‘Conductor’ of this charming musicale. Pandit Amaradeva, of course,
was the ‘central theme’ of the total arrangement. His living presence,
his responsive and alert attention to what was going on, added a
touching dimension to the evening’s ritual.
What is impressive is that each individual member of the elitist
audience possessed an intimate experience about the Pandit’s music or
his personality. Minister Sarath Amunugama set the tone of the personal
warmth of the get together, when he wittily reminisced about Amaradeva’s
personal and musical history.
His words and the subsequent speeches enabled cumulatively to
re-capture the colourful evolution of Pandit Amaradeva - the aesthetic
hero.
“I have had the good fortune to be familiar with certain areas of his
early career. This was when I was an undergraduate in the then
University of Ceylon (Presently the University of Colombo), in the late
1940’s.
In a building, then known as ‘Samson’s Bungalow’, the undergrads had
occasional Musical Melas. Vinnie (Prof Vinnie Vitharana) was among
those, who took the leadership in this initiative.
We listened in rapt attention to Sunil Shanta. Vinnie brought along,
a seemingly shy, young person to these Melas, to transform us into
musical trances, with his violin and vocalizations. He was from
Moratumulla.
Never did we know then that this individual would scale unprecedented
musical peaks. As a young person growing up in Moratumulla, Amaradeva
demonstrated incipient musical talents. His father gifted him a
home-made violin. Those folks in the neighbourhood, adored his music.
He, in turn, would obligingly regale them, with whatever music he would
produce for them.”
This mass-base helped him when he needed to promote his musical
ambitions. When he desired to pursue his musical studies in Bhathkhande,
Lucknow, he could not count on institutional support. No prestigious
‘garana’ (Traditional Musical School) could extend him a helping hand.
But the only ‘garana’ he was familiar with - the masses - came to his
rescue. He travelled to Bhathkhande, with funds raised by the ordinary
folk for him.
His mentors at Bhathkhande recognised his talents and nursed them
into classical refinement. Eventually he attained the status of mass
musician by synthesizing classical and folk strands.
Over and above his musical dexterity, he possesses philosophic
depths. He is admirably articulate in the expounding of ideas and
concepts related to aesthetic and cultural issues. He is adept at
composing lyrics as well. It is well known that when lyrics are brought
to him, he enhances their aesthetic and musical quality by refining
them.
An admirable personality trait of Pandit Amaradeva is his capacity
for sustained listening. When you have a conversation with him, he will
hear you out without interrupting you until you have exhausted your say.
Over the years Pandit Amaradeva has endowed a keen poignancy on the
compositions and concepts of lyric - writers. Persons of the calibre of
Mahagama Sekera and Madawala S Ratnayake acquired their extensive
reputation as writers of lyrics, primarily because Pandit Amaradeva
converted them into memorable songs, infusing a new life to those words.
Pandit Amaradeva is, in every way, a mass aesthetic hero. Mass
support ensured him his academic studies. His film-songs, beginning with
his vocal contributions to Asokamala of 1947, echo and reverberate
within Mass memory. His cadenced voice smoothened myriads of minds. And,
it still does.
He is the golden voice that proclaims world-wide, the allure and the
charm of our national soul. His tonal triumphs inspired generations of
musical voices to emerge, to nourish our indigenous musical tradition.
India has set us an esteemed example by felicitating one of our ageing
cultural icons.
This drives home to us, unerringly, the need to recognise our
inescapable national responsibility and duty, to arrange the
immortalisation of these geniuses.
The ad hoc Award, stray souvenir, would not do at all. Sustained and
substantial measures should be taken to immortalise the handful of
ageing Icons we possess. And, the time for it, is now.
An anecdote quoted by Minister Sarath Amunugama has a singular
aptness in this context. Once an acquaintance of Amaradeva needed him to
entertain his friends at a party. Wanting to be polite, he asked
Amaradeva to come home for diner and, added that he brings his violin.
Seeing through his perfidy Amaradeva retorted, ‘my violin does not take
dinner’.
The nation has to go much beyond that, if they are keen to safeguard
our immortal heritage, for generations to come.
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