Authentic artistry

Amalshan Gunarathne

Fantasy is always prettier and adventurous than real life, many would say. But he proves it otherwise. With a witty knack to weave amusing and entertaining chapters of prose from real life incidents, he treats you with aesthetically pleasing page turners that could engross your aesthetic taste strings to the hilt. He is one of those rare writers that remind us that drama, angst and excitement that we find in real life could still turn out to be as adventurous as the kind of thrills that we find in make-believe worlds of modern day fiction. His Gratiaen nominated book 'Suicide Club', written from his own experiences as a tea planter, takes you in on a one such lively voyage.

Herman Gunarathne. Picture by Rukmal Gamage

All his works are written from real life occurrences and probably for that very reason the readers have endorsed his works with great affection. "I haven't tried to do fiction, all of my stories do relate to real incidents and real people. And people like to read about things they can relate to. I have no difficulty in putting those incidents down to story," he says with a sense of modesty.

As Geoffrey Dobbs, the Founder of the Galle Literary Festival notes, "Herman's memoirs will provide an original, entertaining, and perceptive insight into the soul of Ceylon which is an essential prerequisite to the understanding Sri Lanka as it stands today." Gratiaen nominee and the writer of rich human interest books, 'For a Soveriegn State', 'The Plantation Raj' and 'The Tortured Island', Herman Gunaratne joined Artscope for this week's encounter.

Q: From a passionate tea-planter, how did you transform yourself into a writer?

A: I really don't like to call myself a writer. I am disinclined to accept the appellation of a writer. I would prefer to be called as a storyteller. I have studied only up to the eighth standard at St Thomas's college and couple of other schools. What I have done through out the lonely days in plantation is that I have read extensively. I think reading improves your writing. I read anything that I can get my hands on. I have no particular choices as such, I read Jeffrey Archer, David Baldacci. What I look for most in a book is the readability. I don't read books that are heavy. I read books that keep my interest level going.

Q: How did it feel to be nominated for Gratiaen awards?

A: I told my publisher that I am not inclined to offer myself to any kind of prize. But my publisher, Juliet Coombe, said, 'Putting it forward to Gratiaen has nothing to do with me and that they are going to submit the book to the Gratiaen committee anyway'. And that is how it happened.

I have written four books up to now. Two of those books are in the seventh print which means that the readers have endorsed those books, so in my humble view I didn't feel the need to put forward my book for Gratiaen contention. However, across boards, a comment people have made is that when they start reading they didn't put it down till they finished it.

Q: All your books revolve around human interest stories, haven't you tried your hand at fiction?

A: No I haven't done that. All of my stories do relate to real incidents and real people. And people like to read about something that they can relate to.

I have no difficulty in putting those incidents down to story. My earlier books, 'For a Sovereign State' and 'Tortured Island' all depict real names and real players in the game.

And right now, I have three publishers behind me to write a book on Sri Lankan witchcraft. But characters in that might involve the highest in the land, and when I write that I may have to do some concealing.

Q: Since most of your work revolves around human-interest stories, how much research do you put into your work?

A: I don't do any such research at all. It is all from memories. What interests you always lingers on your memory.

Q: Certain people like Rex Hermon publicly alleged specific chapters of your book 'Suicide Club', saying that your book didn't do justice to his character, how do you respond to such remarks?

A: In 'Suicide Club' I switched names and players around cause I didn't want to embarrass people. But those who know would always know who I was referring to. He contested some of the things I have written and I wrote a comprehensive response to his allegation. May be he was thinly veiled in the book. I tried to conceal the identity. But for those who know, the identity was easily identifiable. But it was not malicious, it was not recuperative. It was intended to be funny. I was just outlining a series of occurrences where people haven't acted properly.

Q: What drove you to write a story about tea-planting in Sri Lanka?

A: All the books on the planting in the country have been written by British people, I thought there is essential void that has to be filled about what went on between the British and pre and post colonial stories. That is why decided to write Suicide Club, it is a series of events that transpired between us and them in those days.

The book is funny, it is humorous, and no British writer has dealt with the subject the way I have written it. It is about real incidents, and about the humiliation that we had to go through, it is in a sense a book where we laugh at ourselves.

Q: Tell us a bit about your life as tea-planter. Does Ceylon tea still have the same demand it once had in the world tea-market?

A: I am producer of the world's most expensive tea. I produce white tea which is bought by the world's richest tea merchant, Mariage Freres which is by far the most expensive tea shop in the world, the most health-giving tea in the world. It contains 10.1% antioxidants. All health conscious people support this tea.

Sri Lanka is in for the most prosperous years ahead, if we look after our tea industry. China tea has been discovered to be contaminated by insecticides and pesticides residues. But Sri Lankan tea gets the highest price for tea in the world, because our insecticides and pesticides ratio is very low.

Having said that, there is a certain lobby in the country that is trying to import tea in to country, for the purposes of blending and resale. Therefore if we bring it from china and blend it with Ceylon tea, we can't say contamination is from China and we will have to take the responsibility for such contamination as well.

Q: How do you find time for writing, without it hampering your progress in routine or professional life?

A: It generally takes two three months for me to write a book. If I have time, I can write three or four thousand words per a day. Writing a book may seem hard at first, but if you try, there is no reason why you can't do it. The credit has to be given to my editor as well.

She was very clever, it was she who gave the name 'Suicide Club', and it was a very provocative title. She exposed series of titles to some international writers, and one of the titles happened to be 'Suicide Club'. Writers must write, finer points should be enlisted to the publisher, they know how to polish it up and attract the reader.