Manjula and Dilan are more than characters

Manjula Ransinghe was the winner of the award for the best supporting actor at the 2006 National Drama Festival. His character portrayal of the policeman in Janakaraliya Theatre Group’s production of ‘Charandas’ won him that award. I met Manju only a few weeks ago when I went over to see plays of Janakaraliya when they were playing at their mobile-tented theatre in Homagama. His mentor and guru, my friend and the Director of Janakaraliya, Parakrama Niriella introduced me to Manjula as one of his senior actor artists. That was special, for Parakrama told me that he was from Hungama, the little town a few kilometers away from where I live. We parted after that first meeting promising each other that we would meet soon.

Parakrama Niriella

Few weeks later Manjula gave me a call to announce that he had come over to the village for the holidays after having being involved in a hectic six weeks of a festival of a string of Janakaraliya plays and workshops. We then met for a meal of kola-kenda and indiappa and for fellowship. Our second such meeting ended with Manjula volunteering to conduct a six weeks workshop for the youth of the village during the school holiday period and a little while thereafter.

Dilan Dunumalage is still to win any awards and is also a performer. I got to know him when he visited me seeking some support for Ape Pettuw, the special education school he runs as team leader with other like-minded young volunteers, located on Barrack Street in Hambantota. He has worked on a ‘post-tsunami rehabilitation through drama therapy’ project with the Sunera Foundation and upon that project’s ending a few years ago, got its ex-team together and decided to continue to help the special kids they worked with earlier. Utilising their own savings and help of a few kind individuals and corporate entities who believed in them, they are now developing 42 special kids at Ape Pattuw. Having experienced the dedication and the deep caring they have for these kids and the competency with which they use theatre-based-techniques to assist them, I bow my head to Dilan and the young team for the giving their all to what they do so willingly.

No easy task

Hardships they go through are many. Coming from modest low and mid-income families themselves, all 12 of the volunteers (I call them volunteers for they only get an allowance which is far below market wages) are dedicated to the core, to the task they have undertaken. Their skill sets are varied and they are able to assist autistic kids, kids with Down syndrome, those needing physiotherapy, the hearing impaired and the slow developers.

At a discussion I held with the teachers and parents to discuss their issues, I was briefed of how relatives and friends of some of the female volunteers have gone out of their way to approach their parents to tell them not to send their daughters to teach at the school. They had contended that when married, they could give birth to children with disabilities for they were working closely with these kids. I was told of how busses passed special kids and their parents at bus-stops without stopping for them and how they were being pointed to by ‘normal’ people often making mocking and unpleasant gestures. A few parents were in tears when they shared with us, how their special kids were cornered by their neighbours and how delighted they were in finding Ape Pattuw as an oasis of love and kindness. That is the oasis that Dilan and his team created and to see them at work at it is indeed more than rewarding.

One with them

Manjula’s theatre workshop attracted 24 youth and children, with the exception of Harriet akka, a 62-year-old village lady. So keen she is, she had not missed a single day of the workshop sessions so far. With three weeks and 11 sessions of strenuous but fun drama exercises, game play and meditation sessions behind, there are 22 regular participants now rehearsing a play, they will perform at the village school grounds on the 17th of this month. The continued enthusiasm of the participants, who had never before being to a theatre workshop, is certain testimony to Manjula’s skills as trainer and coach. Each day, he is at the session sharp at 8 am and lets the children go home sharp at 5 pm. That is after an evaluation of the day and a wrap-up session of what’s to come next. He eats lunch with them, sings along with them and has the ability to understand each of their aspirations. There is no fanfare about what he does. It is not for the show, but to help the youth realise their full potential.

Dilan on the other hand is, both in action and in mind, one with the special kids. Once on a visit to the school, a friend of mine commented that he thought that Dilan was himself a special kid at the school. When we arrived at Ape Pettuw, a therapy session was on with Dilan coaching the kids. He was part of a flower they had made on the ground with their bodies. I introduced Dilan to my friend only after he completed the session and came over to us. To me that assumption of my friend is a huge tribute and apt testimony to Dilan’s skill and ability. It demonstrated what it takes to ‘work’ with special kids and is proof that it is indeed a very, very special skill.

Shaping the future

The same goes for Manjula. Like Dilan, he too is a multi-faceted character. They both are good dancers, singers, listeners, communicators, speech-makers and if I was to explain who they are in a few words; they are well-rounded characters and good human-beings. Given that some of the characteristics we see in them, being possessed by a few political personalities we see and hear, I am thankful that the likes of Dilan and Manjula have opted to keep away from that profession. I am thankful that they have chosen instead to work with special kids, not so special kids and youth, for that is our future and shaping their lives, skills and abilities are far more rewarding than performing theatrics of mocking each other on platforms for cheap entertainment, making the cultural ethos of our voting public and others watching, to be wanting.

Don’t buy or sell

Today, I would venture to dedicate this column to recognise and appreciate those among us who are the likes of Manjula and Dilan. The silent workers who do not get featured on our television or radio talk shows or get written about in the magazine pages of our newspapers. By nature, what they do is to touch the hearts and minds of those they serve and do that with such caring, compassion, love and kindness. They do not seek ‘consultancy’ fees or ‘sell’ their skills and together with that their souls for mere pecuniary benefit, for that is the last thing they have on their minds.

These are very special people; the unsung heroes of this nation. I urge you, dear readers of this column, to think about the Manju’s and Dilan’s around you. And then venture to assist them to realise the dreams they have to help others with the special skills and the caring they have within them in plenty. Please do not attempt to BUY those skills to SELL them in return to some one else, for these are skills that once sold, cannot retain its purpose and meaning.

I know mine is a tough call. Some of you might understand what I seek better than others. And some will consider what I say idealistic and impractical. Some will want the status-quo to continue, while other may want it to be better than it is now.

Square pegs

When I was 14 my father gave me a gift of a book for my birthday. Its title was ‘Square pegs in Round Holes’ and the book featured the stories of the likes of Aristotle, Pluto, Galileo Galilee, the little Dutch boy who held the leak on the dyke and Mahatma Gandhi, people who helped change the world. I would never forget the impact that book had and would add the life stories and thoughts of The Buddha, Christ and Prophet Mohammad to that as well.

Each time I meet Manju, Dilan and the likes of them, I learn lessons. Lessons that teach me more, than I can learn from reading any book or listen to any speech. For, they are ‘characters’ or I should say they are more than characters. They are extremely productive and efficient teachers and coaches, though not in that profession as recognised ‘professionals’. They think and act differently and perhaps even work differently. Who they are, can best be described in Sinhala terminology in one word and that word would be ‘Sanvedi’. I would need three English words to explain to you what that exactly means and those words are; empathy, compassion and sensitivity.

renton@ wow.lk