Book Review :

Autobiography with intellectual honesty

Title : A Rupee In My Pocket The Memoirs
Author : Prof. Mahasara Gunaratne
Publication : Samayawardene Printers, Colombo 2011
Pages : 328

Intellectual community in Sri Lanka is rich in variety; they are reputed intellectuals, professionals and intellectual cum politicians who, in the course of their careers, enriched the public life of this country. Still they, though own a vast fund of experience that is very beneficial to the posterity, do not record their experiences in the form of biographical writings. In other words, though Sri Lanka has a highly educated community of intellectuals with diverse professional interests, it still has not produced autobiographies, through which one can understand the impact made by such eminent personalities on our society.

Even the great political personalities, who as professional politicians, never thought of writing their personal memoirs, because of which posterity lost a vast wealth of experience of a galaxy of great men who made a permanent impact on the development of this country. The academic community, which made a tremendous contribution through the Universities and by building an intellectual community in the country, has a vast wealth of experience that could be successfully transmitted to the future generation. It, to a large extent, explains an aspect of the growth of a segment of the intellectual community in Sri Lanka.

Out of the box

Prof. Mahasara Gunaratna, deviating from this tradition, has written his autobiography titled ‘A Rupee in My Pocket’, and his journey into his life and times is an interesting piece of autobiographical writing. He begins with a nostalgic recollection of his early years, during which period his parental family too experienced many vicissitudes, which a family of a public servant is likely to experience during the period.

His narrative of this particular period, though filled with interesting information on his family and the relatives, depicts the economic difficulties of the public servants of the early forties. It was true that the public servants of the period faced enormous difficulties, which attracted the attention of the colonial authorities. His reminiscences of his school days are interesting and he claims that he was a “public school” man, about which he writes with abundant pride.

The war-time difficulties and the temporary re-location the school has been vividly described, and the manner in which the school reminiscences are recounted is fascinating. It reminded me how Sir Ralph Furse, as the Recruitment Officer of the Colonial Service, described the product of a public school in England; he said ‘as to the public school, they are vital. We could not have run the show without them. In England Universities train the mind; Public Schools train character and teach leadership'. Mahasara Gunaratna, in his nostalgic and candid description of his school days at St. Josephs, provides all kinds of examples to justify the judgement of Sri Ralph Furse.

Period of hardship

What was interesting in his description of his own boyhood was that he often made use of the narrative to discuss such matters as war defences, food scarcity and the nature of the austerity of the period. In other words, Mahasara wants to tell the reader that he and most young men of his vintage experienced economic difficulties because of the war-time inflation and austerity. Yet another aspect of this chapter is his recollection of the ways and manners of his teachers, including anecdotes relating to them. The vivid recollection of such minute details, including what happened in a class room more than sixty years ago is equally fascinating. His photographic memory is amazing as he recounted many a memories of his school days.

In this Memoir of Prof. Mahasara Gunaratna, one notices the absence of organised chapters as such and the narrative is on the basis of a kind of periodisation. The narrative was an extended story of his life and times, and it is such an interesting story that it has been carefully divided into four parts, where the major milestones of his illustrious academic career has been described. From his school days, which, in fact, was full of episodes and escapades, he chooses to discuss his undergraduate days, another stage of his life. It was in 1955 that he entered the Medical College, which period, as the preceding school days, is again full of his own experiences and he recollects the period as the ‘most exciting event in a life which until then was unremarkable'.

He considered the period as a proud moment as it afforded him the opportunity to ‘join a select band of the most prestigious professions. It was in this part of his Memoirs that he recounts his experiences as a Medical student, where he refers to his illustrious teachers, at whose feet he studied Medicine. What is amazing is that all the events and their details, including a visit to a Book shop in Fort are remembered as fascinating aspects of the narration.

Academic feats

In the process, the ups and downs of his own family are recorded, including the shifting of their abode to a new location. Such details have been represented in such a way so as to attract the rapt attention of the reader. Student perceptions of his teachers are also recorded, and the undergraduate community of this period, as Prof. Gunaratna remembers, are alive to both the weak and strong points of their teachers. A set of eminent teachers could mould the career and the future of many an undergraduate and Mahasara Gunaratne's nostalgic journey into the past is equally interesting and fascinating.

In his description of his Final Year at the Medical College, he refers to a galaxy of eminent Professors, from who he learnt the techniques and the manner in which one has to practice Medicine. This, he described as the ‘journey across the turbulent seas to reach the safety of the bank'; what a way to describe his success at the final examination, which, in his own memory, was certainly a great triumph with which he was able to put behind many a obstacle. He saw the 1961 legislation for Compulsory Service as yet another major obstacle, and he, in his own way, justified the social reasons behind this piece of legislation; reference to it has been included in order to make the narrative complete.

With a brief description of his early career as a House Officer, he ventures into a discussion of his entry into an academic career which constitutes a major part of his autobiography. It is in this section of his Memoirs that one comes across many a story during his post-graduate studies in London.

He, as stated earlier, recounts them with remarkable ability in discussing specific details, his conversations with his mentors are mentioned. It was after his return from UK that an academic position at the Faculty of Medicine at Peradeniya is offered. This period of his is full of things relating to the Faculty of Medicine and the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya.

Nostalgic descriptions

It was his first ten years, which, in his own assessment, ‘were the most productive'. Ob-Gyn Department was in a temporary building; for the matter, most of the buildings of the Faculty of Medicine at Peradeniya were temporary buildings.

The difficulties which a young academic experiences in regard to research in his own specialised field are carefully recorded in order to press the point that one has to find his own way with regard to research in an environment of academic rat race. In addition to his nostalgic descriptions of the world of academia, there are references to his own personal experiences in Peradeniya for nearly four decades. His journey into the past shows that he enjoyed teaching at Peradeniya which, according to Sir Ivor Jennings, was ‘one of the most beautiful environments in the world'. Mahasara Gunaratne, like many a academic of his vintage, believed in the dictum ‘publish or perish'.

Academic tragedy

In my own experience at Peradeniya, I have seen many an academic perish without a single worthwhile publication. The section on Professional Stakes, Prof. Gunaratna indirectly refers to many an intrigue of the period, and it has been mentioned with the sentence ‘wires began to buzz, and it soon became evident as to the favoured candidate'. The appointment of a new man, overlooking the man who toiled for years to build the Department, is certainly a great disappointment. It was with this disappointment that he undertook to go to France on a scholarship which gave him an opportunity to travel in Europe. The amazing thing is that Mahasara recollects his past with a photographic memory, and this, in itself, is a great feat.

Mahasara recognises the introduction of private practice for University Dons as a milestone in the careers of Medical academics. It, in his own view, afforded them the opportunity to come in contact with the people in general. It was certainly an incentive for all professionals, and it, as anticipated, interfered with the ‘Brain Drain'. Mahasara was a don with many and varied experiences; his period in the African continent (1978-80) was another chapter in his life and times.

The part three of his memoirs refers to his period of sabbatical leave; it was during this period that Professor Mahasara Gunaratna was appointed to the Chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and every enterprising academic, at some stage of his career, aspires to get a Chair in his specialised field. It, in fact, is the crowing achievement for a University Don, and it has to be earned with consistent research and publication. It was a period in which he experienced many an intrigue, and those controversies have been discussed revealing his own intellectual honesty. Such intrigues are not unusual in the world of academia.

In the last section of his book, he discusses his retirement, and the substantial relief and freedom which he enjoys as a very successful academic who made a very noteworthy contribution to the intellectual life of the country. It was his determination to spend a quiet retirement, which helped his to produce his Memoirs and it, in my view, provides many a lesson to the present younger generation whose values are entirely different from those of ours.

The admirable quality of Prof. Mahasara Gunaratna's Memoirs is his intellectual honesty which he displays in his narration and the candid manner in which he described difficulties of his student days. The very title of his Memoirs is pregnant with meaning as it embodies the thesis that one who suffers achieves a lot later. Many a University Don retire after a long academic career but they do rarely pen their own experiences in life. Prof. Gunaratna is one from who the generations to come can learn as to how one can succeed in life through commitment and dedication. Therefore his Memoirs, A Rupee in My Pocketis is certain to inspire all who aspire for a successful professional or academic career.

- Prof. Wiswa Warnapala