Economy of a writer-engineer

Sajitha PREMATUNGE

Ayathurai Santhan

Unlike other writers who are forced to research on the conflict Santhan experienced it first hand. Throughout the 77 riots, the exodus and the IPKF misadventure he chose to remain in Sri Lanka, although he could have easily landed a job in a foreign country. An engineer by profession, he was a writer long before.

On our encounter on Daily News Artscope, we spoke to Tamil writer Ayathurai Santhan, on his signature ‘prose-poetry’, writing style bereft of embellishment and curiously enough, atomic reactors, among other things.

Q: Do you think that art is for art’s sake or does literary art have a wider purpose?

A: Not only art, but everything under the sun is for the sake of mankind; for the betterment of humanity. Literary art, especially, has a wider purpose of bringing in an enhanced understanding among all the peoples across the globe, despite language and geographical barriers. It should make people understand that human experience and human emotions are same even beyond times and lands.

Q: An engineer by profession what prompted you to start writing?

A: In fact, it was the writer in me who emerged first. As a result of avid reading, I started writing during high school days and my first story, in Tamil, appeared in a reputed literary magazine while I was awaiting my A-L results. Following which, the first collection of stories came out while I was still a student at the Moratuwa University, then College of Technology, Moratuwa.

Q: Though you could have easily secured a job abroad, during the riots, you never left. What kept you in Sri Lanka?

A: Badly affected by the 77 riots, in the years that followed I decided to return to Jaffna and to remain at the place where I have always belonged. Fairly soon war broke out and the changing situations and the plight of the innocent people reinforced my determination to continue to remain with them. Thank heavens, not only I managed to survive those long terrible years, but was also able to contribute whatever I could to my fellow beings at a time of hardship.

Q: What prompted you to start writing in English?

A: Neither because I thought I was going to contribute to the wealth of English literature nor because I thought that my standard of English was perfect; but simply because to tell the outside world, about the life in the war-torn North. The works of those who ventured from the safe havens outside, though their creative works were good, lacked reality and were abound with factual errors and other absurdities.

Consequently after writing in Tamil for two decades, I decided to try my hand at creative work in English. I started writing, thinking that however infinitesimal it may turn out to be, let it come out as an authentic living voice from the ill-stricken land.

Q: Why do you make use of ‘prose-poetry’ in your poems?

A: There are three reasons: One, I don’t believe in genres; they are there for the sake of classrooms. Two, my prose started condensing more and more; so when Survival and Simple Things was published, I had to find some label to put on it. Three, the influence by Solzhenitzyn, the Nobel prize winning Russian writer turned anti-soviet, who has written a collection of small gems of conciseness and insight under the title ‘Prose Poems.’

Q: You seem to prefer the short story form more than the novel, why?

A: The world renowned Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe once, after writing four reputed novels, said that the era of novels has gone and it is the time for the short fiction. But my reasoning is not that. The prime reason may be my nature; going for brevity. Or, maybe the amount of work needed for a novel and the time factor may have induced me to write more short stories. I really don’t know. Anyway, brevity in form need not be a limitation. Writing short stories always remain thrilling and interesting like solving a mathematical problem.

Q: Your writing style is bereft of embellishment and perhaps even stark, your comment?

A: I am always very particular about accuracy and economy of words. Some of my acquaintances and critics say that this is due to the influence of my profession. However my point is that a writer should not interfere too much the freedom of the reader. We should not try to spoonfeed the readers or thrust every detail into their minds, but give them enough space to figure things out by themselves.

Q: Most of your stories are about mundane incidents, why?

A: There is nothing that could be looked down on as ‘mundane’. A mundane incident could easily be viewed as a microcosm of some bigger or an exotic issue. Moreover aren’t there beauties and marvels in things which are commonplace? A dew-drop on a blade of grass in the morning for example. Even ordinary incidents affect me as a writer and I always consider handling such themes as challenges.

Q: The Whirlwind remains apolitical about a highly politicised situation, by focusing only on personal relationships and fears of the Northern Tamils during the IPKF misadventure, why?

A: In my view The Whirlwind is not apolitical. Those relationships and fears focused on in the novel are political themselves; or rather the outcomes of that highly politicised situation.

Apart from these, I didn’t want to make direct comments or commitments, which in my opinion, is beyond the scope of a fiction writer.

Q: You steer clear from the LTTE- sympathetic ideologies that some northerners harboured at the time, why?

A: I always had my own views and course for my writing, which I never gave up for anybody. Most of these LTTE sympathisers only tried to win over the writers and not compel them, which gave me fairly enough free space. My writings always reflected people’s aspirations and there were times the rebel ideologies tallied with people’s ambitions.

Q: Is Tamil writing sufficiently represented in the Sri Lankan literary setting?

A: Yes, as far as the representation of Tamil writers go, the state policy provides equal consideration, through government institutions, to the other two to languages. And now, leading publishers like Godage Brothers too are doing a praiseworthy task of recognising the Tamil writings and writers. But with all these, it is disheartening to see the lack of awareness at public level.

Q: Do you think that English creative writing in the country reflects social realities adequately?

A: Not adequately, but to some extent, unlike in native languages. The reason is obvious: the majority of English writers are from the elite and cosmopolitan Colombo and there is little chance for them to gain first-hand knowledge about the lives and troubles of the downtrodden and the rural folk, who comprise the bulk of the country’s population.

Q: Why is there a dearth of English writing on the conflict from the Tamil perspective?

A: Leave alone ‘on the conflict’, there is a general dearth of English writing from the Tamil perspective as a whole, at present. On second thoughts, there cannot be a Tamil perspective and non Tamil perspective as far as the conflict is concerned; but only correct perspective and incorrect perspective.

Q: How did the experience of a life of a refugee following the exodus affect your writing?

A: Not very much, like what happened to me after the IPKF incident. During the exodus I didn’t go far; just crossed from Valikamam to Thenmaradchi.

And a good number of people have experienced displacements even earlier at various times. Though I had to face a lot of hardships, curiously enough I did enjoy that life during the exodus.

It was in a way a form of communal or clan life, in the mid of ever present dangers. But the real difficult times were after the return. Losing my life-long collection of books, during the time, hit me hard.

Q: Have you got any other interests or concerns apart from your writing and profession?

A: Yes; Environment. Environment warrants an immediate attention from all global citizens.

As far as our country is concerned, several aspects warrants immediate attention, while urgent attention should be directed towards atomic reactors. Our scientists deserve much praise for saying ‘no’ to such potential destruction. But still, we cannot forget or ignore the fact that the danger is still eminent as there are potential risks within range. We can be certain of one thing: radiation does not differentiate between Sri Lankans and Indians or Tamil and Sinhala, in case of an unfortunate disaster.

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