Remembering Sarachchandra

“Sir, I have written a novel. Like you to read it if you have time.”

“Is it published or in manuscript stage?”

“It is published.”

“Who published it?”

“My own.”

“Is that your first work?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I like to read it. Have you got a copy of it?”

“Yes sir.”

And then the young writer pulled out a copy of his novel from the bag he carried and handed over to the professor. The young graduate teacher had the chance of meeting one of his honoured and favourite writers and scholars in a literary seminar held in one of the major auditoriums in Colombo. To his surprise the young writer later got a letter from the professor, indicating how much he loved reading the novel and how very refreshing it is as a welcome variant to the existing pattern of narrative writing.

“I think I can write a review about this book,” said the professor indicating his desire to help the young author at a time when other erudite persons were reluctant to embark on such ventures. The young novelist’s book received a lot of publicity when the work was reviewed briefly by the professor in one of the English newspapers. The professor said that this is one of the first novels of distinction. Then the readers were anxious to get a copy of the novel and read as some of them happened to be his pupils and some were just followers and admirers.

Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra

It was visible that even a single word that he uttered goes a long way. The book sellers said that the novel is fast moving and it had not happened in that manner for some time. The young novelist was not only surprised but also was inspired to continue writing. A whole lot of other reviewers too took an interest in the first novel of a writer and lot of reviews followed in various newspapers. This too was unprecedented.

As time passed the novel was awarded the state award for the best narrative. The professor is no other person than Professor Ediriwira Sarachchandra who had rendered yeoman service to usher in a new era of literary revival in the country. The novel in the aforesaid issue is my first attempt at fiction writing, the review of which got printed in the ‘Daily News’ in 1963.

The years have gone by but I go down the memory lane recalling some bright moments of encounter with professor Sarachchandra in the capacity of an indirect teacher cum intimate benefactor, whose word of which inspired the minds of the contemporary creator and scholar of our country. His services to the media are one forgotten entity and nobody knows the extent to which he clamoured for a better broadcasting and music culture. It was Sarachchandra who got Amaradeva to the limelight via the Sinhala newspaper Lankadipa which was edited by D B Dhanapala, one of his close associates, who denotes him as ‘our eternal youth’ in his well known work ‘Among Those Present’.

Multi faceted, Sarachchandra had the courage and knowledge on the subject of many an aspect of folklore thus enveloping them in his works enhancing better understanding of the mass mind and the way to rediscover the indigenous factors that go to imbibe the most salient socio cultural factors. In this background the result was the exuberant energy utilized to go into the making of the brightest stage contributions like Maname (based on Chulldanuddara Jataka) and Sinhabahu (based on myths and legends as laid down in ‘Mahavamsa’).

Triggering off from his own experiment on stage via Pabavati (Kusa Jataka) which was a pioneer attempt at the change of the Sinhala theatre through the source known as jataka collection venerated by the masses of the country, he continued his rediscovery of indigenous creative factors. This source the jatakas and folk tales later on became the most significant sources of creative inspiration for all of his works inclusive of narratives such as ‘Vilasiniyakage Premaya’ (Kanavera Jataka).

His minor plays include playlets like ‘Kadavalalu’ (Serivanija Jataka), ‘Elova Gihin Melova Ava’ and ‘Rattaran’ (based on folktales recreated with folk musical renderings and dance forms). It was not the mere influence that mattered in Sarachchandra, but also his creative interpretation where at times a sensitive layer of humour is intertwined. One good example is ‘Ekata Mata Sina Sina’, a playlet he wrote and produced making use of minor employees of the university based on an episode from Ummagga Jataka.

All in all, he was an experimentalist par excellence where language and theatrical vision were interlinked which was the dominant part and a significant role in his creations. He knew that the creators could be influenced not only by the Orient but also by the Occident as he showed this factor from his early experiments from the adaptations of Gogol, Moliere and Chekhov and later in Lorca. It was known that he had inspired his contemporaries to embark on the translation projects and he himself embarked in such ventures together with translators of the calibre of A P Gunaratne of ‘Baddegama’ fame.

He brought out two collections of translated short stories from Russian literature and French literature, and introduced to the Sinhala reader, the worth of reading works of writers in other countries.

In this manner he was one of the pioneer visionaries in the field of cross cultural studies, the subject area now included in the units of study in mass communication, and not literature, and he has shown signs of the need to study literature in a broader sense encompassing comparative literary studies, without making it looks narrower and narrower in vision.

Once I wanted a suitable Sinhala word for the term ‘entertainment’ and I asked Professor Sarachchandra about his view on the most suited word that could be used in the conceptual sense. Then he said that it is the term ‘vishranti’ that goes well to define what ‘entertainment’ means in the literary sense. Then he went on explaining to me the way it is used in such works as Bharatamuni’s ‘Natya Sastra’ which goes as ‘visranti jananam natyam’. The term used by Bharatamuni, he said, is the conveyor of the broadest sense, but as the term ‘vinodasvadaya’ is currently used and over used by media channels, perhaps a narrower meaning could be obtained via such a word he added. Once he went to Rambukkana with a group of us to meet a folk artist who was known for the publication of many Sinhala ballads.

He wanted to know whether there is a folk play based on sandakinduru jatakaya. The ageing folk artiste told us that there was no such work, but to his best of understanding there was a ballad or kavikathava by that name. This he mentions as a rediscovery in his biographical notes over the years titled as ‘Pin Eti Sarasavi Varamak Denne’. One of the salient lessons that he taught for the country at large is to rethink of the role of the creative artist and be sure whether you are equipped with the necessary vision. This factor he laid down with the broadcasters of his time, as I remember well. He wanted the third transmission in the night after the news casting to be known as ‘Shastrtiya Sangrahaya’ (classical compilation) where he wanted the planners of programmes to include various aspects of the literary and other areas as knowledge based broadcasting which has now changed over the years.

He wanted the musicians to rethink about the use of ragadhari forms to help build a better musical culture in the country and pioneered the way to better light songs, giving vent to such programmes as Madhuvanti, Gitamala and Rasa dhara ushering in such personalities like Danstun de Silva, Amaradeva and Samaradivakara, to name a few. He was an excellent broadcaster who was a moderator of such programmes as ‘Kalpana’ and ‘Yavvana Sandava’. His play ‘Pemato Jayati Soko’ was first written as a radio opera which he later improved to be a theatrical work.

To mark the sixteenth death anniversary of the most inspiring great artist cum scholar Sarachchandra, a memorable event was organized in the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, where two books written by Professor Ariyaratna Atugala on theatre were launched and some of the songs from the plays of professor Sarachchandra were sung by present day singers. At least some of the members of the society had the courage to remember the late doyen of arts and I wish that this may pave the way for the others to remember him and his works.

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