THE UNCONTESTED OR PARTLY CONTESTED MASTER(S)' MIND NEEDS CRITICAL AND CRATIVE MINDS!!!

TRIBUTE TO OUT GREAT NONCHIPODI 'ANNAVIYAR'- GREAT MASTER OF KOOTHTHU AND OTHER TRADITIONAL ARTS OF THE TAMILSRI LANKA(1913-2013)

Gratiaen Prize has ‘leavened Sri Lanka’s cultural scene’

Text of the address by Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, chairman of the panel of judges, at the awarding of the Gratiaen Prize 2013 in Colombo on May 4, for what is adjudged as the finest creative work in English for the year, by a resident Lankan.

The Gratiaen Prize was established twenty years ago and in these two decades, not even its most caustic critics can deny that it has leavened our cultural scene. Creative writing in English contributes significantly to the contemporary Sri Lankan ethos far out of proportion to the minority that engages in it as practitioners and those who appreciate it as readers. The far-sighted companion H.A.I. Goonetilleke Prize for the best translation ensures the cross-fertilization of the writing talent in our country in all three languages. The debt of gratitude to Michael Ondaatje for establishing this prize, unlike our foreign debt, will be borne for decades to come with pleasure. Ondaatje identified one of his aims in making this generous endowment as being, "to celebrate and test and trust ourselves. To select and argue about the literature around us. To take it seriously, not just to see it as a jewel or a decoration." Four years into the period of healing and reconciliation after the end of our 30-year trauma of conflict, the focus on the role of the creative writer in our society has intensified. We do need "to celebrate and test and trust ourselves" as equal citizens in a richly diverse nation with lessons to be learned from an ancient history. My thanks to the members of the Trust for honouring the purposes of Michael Ondaatje so conscientiously and so efficiently. I must also thank the sponsors - Standard Chartered - for this meaningful demonstration of their corporate social responsibility.

On the 22nd of March, my colleagues on the panel of judges and I announced the short list of 5 works of creative writing from among the 59 entries received this year in the annual competition for the Gratiaen Prize. On behalf of the panel of judges I thank all the participants in the competition. We recognize the hard work that went into your writing. The short listed five are, undoubtedly, works of outstanding literary merit of which Sri Lanka can be proud. Of these, three were novels; one a collection of poems and one the script of a play. If creative artists are indeed the antennae of a society then these five writers have transmitted messages to us based on their imaginative transmuting of their experiences of contemporary Sri Lanka into novels, poems and a play that can give us joy and cause for deep reflection.

We have already made our assessment of the five short-listed works in the citations which were read out on March 22nd and which, I believe, have been reproduced in the media obviating the need for me to repeat them. Four of the short-listed works can be read and appreciated by the reader. Reading the script of a play however is a limited experience. The script comes to life when it is acted on stage and the play Kalumaali is best appreciated when staged. Reading the script one has the impression that this is therefore like a musical score awaiting performance since much is left to the reader’s imagination. The theatrical rendition of a play adds a special dimension and the judgment of the script as words on a page in comparison with a novel or a poem seems to me to be placing the playwright at a disadvantage. A separate prize for the scripts of plays may be considered at some future stage. Despite this the lyrical parts of the play, the interplay between magic and reality and the tensions of domestic life do come out in the reading of the play Kalumaali.

Together with the scripts of plays I think a separate prize should be awarded for poetry as in other countries. The comparison between the prose of a novel and the words on the page of a poem is an invidious one. The dimensions are different. In my days as a student of literature - a very, very long time ago and I quote from memory- I recall reading one time Poet Laureate of the UK Cecil Day Lewis’s description of a poem as, "a concentration of words, thoughts and feelings." In Malinda Seneviratne’s slim volume of poems, Open Words are for Love-Letting, there is indeed a concentration of thought and emotion in powerfully charged language. The evocativeness of his poetry cannot be matched too easily where the poetic voice is able to convey a touch and tone beyond the personal. The imagery of Seneviratnepoems holds the reader in a "heart-palm", to use his phrase, while the rhythm of his poems subtly supports his themes.

As judges we looked in all the pieces of writing for sensitivity to the social environment; for a fusion of innovative thought and authentic experience conveyed vividly through image and idiom that was distinctively original and for a freshness of themes and a distinctive approach to them. With the novels, the sharp delineation of character and a coherent structure was important. An innovative use of language and the avoidance of clichés and stereotype descriptions was a vital aspect in all the short-listed works identified by us.

Of the three novels, It’s not in the stars, presents a unique perspective of our society with insights into the Malay community but without sentimentality. It does not balk at facing the tough harshness of middle class life and its preoccupations and persuasions, the mundane and yet enduring nature of love, sex and marriage. It presents a complex picture of the 80s, and 90s with the dark events of July 1983 as a seminal event shaping the plot and the characters in it as they live their lives here and abroad.

The Professional was a bold text both for its innovativeness and subject matter. It presents a sensibility of alienation that cuts across generations and multiple locations; traversing once again marginalities ranging from being a down and out immigrant and a hustler in London to an ageing man, desiring and yet acutely aware of the transience of those desires. The unsentimental creation of a cityscape of Colombo where marginal people are central to the plot provides an aura of loneliness that the characters feel without ever naming it as such. One of my co-judges said," The two older women reminded me of the daughters in The daughters of the Late Colonel by Katherine Mansfield, though these two women are more worldly wise than Mansfield’s Constance and Josephine."

Finally, Playing Pillow Politics at MGK is an unusual and extraordinary novel." Our citation is self-explanatory. The bold, unconventional and innovative story telling is indeed impressive. It is a work of our times and yet not just of our times. It is exciting and formally quite inventive, mixing realism with the allegorical. It is also a work that touches upon working class lives and handles that well without descending into the usual clichés and stereotypes that are often substitutes for authentic experience. Instead it provides a formally daring perspective on urban social and political life. It is quite successful in pulling together different strands of the narrative together, mixing genres quite easily.

Conceived as a story told by an invalid boy to a CFL bulb, it portrays life in the diverse and fascinating community that inhabits the mountain Maha Geeni Kanda (MGK). The dismantling of the community and its replacement with a boutique hotel - the Cassia Palace - is the backdrop against which we are introduced to the characters in the community, the interaction amongst them and their turbulent life stories. Dedicated to the Federation of University Teachers’ Association, the author also includes myth loving people and myth denying people in his dedication thus encompassing a broad swath of his readers. The novel begins and ends with brief but eloquent quotes from the poetry of the 1996 Nobel Prize winner for Literature – the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska. Her Nobel citation referred to, "poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality". Writing in prose, Medawattegedera does use irony very skillfully in the episodes he gives us depicting the lives of the MGK dwellers.

The novel succeeds best at the level of allegory. It is therefore an extended metaphor of our community with all its political, economic and social complexities treated with supreme irony - witty at times and at other moments with deep sympathy. Even when he is amusing in his description of the MGK characters Medawattegedera is not laughing at them but compels us to empathize with them. Scene setting is done with deft strokes whether it is the opulence of Cassia Palace or the subsistence life of the MGK citizens in their shantytown, "where things disappeared more than they appeared, and where life bludgeoned you on to hard surface – like the way a washerman or washerwoman dashed clothes on to a rock…" Concurrently a streak of irreverence pervades the book. Nuggets of rich imagery appear functionally. In the midst of the narration we stumble on sentences like, "The defeated twilight sun staggered like a wounded soldier into a bloody trench at the horizon." The episodic structure of the novel is highlighted by the diary-like recording of events on the seven days of a week followed by a conclusion nine months later.

Out of the narration of events there emerges a succession of characters - all earthy working class figures eking out an existence as illegal squatters in their shantytown. They are a contrast to the characters we meet at the commencement of the novel who are the owner and staff of the Cassia Palace with Mr. Kodiwinner’s face described as looking "like a simmering chicken curry". The reactions of the working class visitors to the plush hotel are both hilarious and touching. The multi-bulb chandelier is seen as a lunatic exercise for a huge electricity bill (and that was before the recent electricity tariff hike!); a decorative fountain is used to wash one’s face and the dress of the hotel stewards aping the dress of the ancient Sinhala kingdoms inspires amusement rather than awe. The image of the pillow is presented right at the beginning as part of the plush furnishing of Cassia Palace and at the conclusion of the visit to Cassia Hotel the invalid boy and his aunt Tandoori Nanda are gifted two pillows with the hotel logo. The visit provokes the boy to probe "an old gunny sack of memory" and extricate the story of his life in MGK and the characters he has lived with. They are presented in a parade rather like the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales together with interesting stories connected to them.

There is Sujatha Meniyo the high priestess in MGK whose shrine was venerated until it was abandoned to make way for the boutique hotel. It was she who began the invalid boy’s career as a boy god. His caretaker is the pragmatic Tandoori Nanda who interprets his howls to all and sundry except the horror howl intended to chase away devils. Entering the ‘auras’ of people the boy is able to read the minds of the characters to whom we are introduced. There are the usual petty rivalries and disagreements among the citizens of MGK. Toyota Nanda is a municipal council parking attendant who lives a frugal life helped by the generosity of others while storing her savings in a Krisco tin. Her tragic-comic infatuation with the magazine cover of a Bollywood actor is described with sensitivity as she weaves her make-believe world around this phantom romance. When the bubble bursts Toyota Nanda hangs herself on the durian tree and a silence descends on the community haunted by the ghost of Toyota Nanda. There are other unforgettable characters - Victoria Malli, Bassa, Natami and others with their own stories surrounding them. Natami’s ability to read people’s thoughts from their pillows becomes a powerful tool and attracts a number of clients. The community of MGK is bound together by a strange solidarity. There are no ethnic or religious differences among them. Their poverty unites them as human beings. It is the same human solidarity that one would find in a favella in Rio or a Soweto slum.

The language used by Medawattegedera is appropriate for his shanty dweller with a homespun colloquial style interspersed with a powerfully original use of language effortlessly and smoothly combined. For example, "Bung" - the Sinhala equivalent of "mate" - is blended into the conversations among the characters highlighting the fundamental comradeship among them. Folk beliefs are woven into the tale with devils or evil spirits hovering around. At the same time modern liberal ideas of feminism are put into practice uniquely with Sujata Meniyo’s curse on liquor salesmen until alcohol related wife-beating ceases in MGK. The role of Sujata Meniyo’s shrine, its evolution and function in the community is itself skillfully described. The shrine attracts politicians’wives and a variety of high society persons but Sujata Meniyo also has her limitations exposed as she tries to curb the drinking and singing of the three wheeler drivers and ban Tandoor Nanda’s chicken farm.

Medawattegedera’s MGK is thus a mix of tragedy, comedy, drama, love, jealousy and all the elements that make up life, featuring characters that the reader can relate to. It is an enjoyable book containing a story well told.

One final word. I have enjoyed working with Sumathy and Lynn - my fellow judges -and must thank them for their patience with me and for their remarkable insights as we participated in the judging process over the last four months.

I now have great pleasure in announcing that the panel of judges have agreed unanimously that the Gratiaen Prize for 2012 should be awarded to Playing Pillow Politics in MGK by Lal Medawattegedera.

(Jayantha Dhanapala chaired the panel of judges appointed by the Gratiaen Trust. The other judges were Dr. Sumathy Sivamohan and Lynn Ockersz)

VEMKAT SWAMINATHAN: ART AND LITERARY CRITIC OF TAMILNADU, INDIA

A need of time: Magazine for Theatre By Dr. Ajay Joshi

 

Three youngsters stepped into my office, bubbling with zest and a hope in their eyes, inviting me to write for their newly launched e-journal, dedicated entirely to theatre. And adding on their plans to bring some of the issues in print. Had I heard right? A magazine dedicated to theatre? Did this not ring bells of similar sentiments voiced over the years and aborted attempts of this genre of journalism. Not being sceptical but definitely wary, I didn’t intend to dampen their enthusiasm, but surely sat back to contemplate on the plight and the unsuccessful run of many such ‘Exclusive for theatre Magazines and Journals’. I started by asking few questions but ended up with tsunami of unanswered issues and hiccups in this endeavour. In these musings I don’t intent to encompass similar exercise across India, but restrict to the ones carried out in Maharashtra or the ones I have  personally being associated with. With a touch of caution, I admit that I have no scholarly research to back my observations- something that is the dire need of the time- but definitely have been witness to many such botched attempts.

At one end this trepidation, but at the other I am tempted to look back and trace the contribution of such writings to the theatre movement. Has it really been contributing or just a fancy of some scholars and publishers, to the theatre movement? An enormous quantum of work has been penned, both through journalistic writings in Newspapers and Magazines and scholarly expression through books. This reference material has been useful in laying the foundation for a comprehensible understanding of a period in theatre that is now the past. These have been in terms of reviews, critical writings, interviews, books etc, by scholars and thinkers in the earlier times like Madhav Manohar, Dyaneshwar Nadkarni, V.Y Gadgil, Pushpa Bhave,  Kamlakar Nadkarni, Raja Karle, Madhav Kulkarni, Padmakar Kulkarni, R.G Sardesai, V.B Deshpande and others. There writings were valued by both the theatre fraternity and the casual readers. The torch bearers of the next generation that kept the flame alive were noted writers like Mangesh Tendulkar, Madhav Vaze, Sureshchandra Padhye, Prasannakumar Aklujkar etc. They contributed primarily to Newspapers, magazines and specialised journals. A host of other litterateurs like R.S Walimbe, K.Narayan Kale, V.D Kulkarni, G.K Bhatt and many others pitched in through their writings on theatre in books.

This was a time when there was a reader for such inputs. Also theatre was a main source of entertainment. With passing times and the advent of cinema and television the equations changed. Compounding this was the changing socio-political, economic and cultural changes that the country went through. With liberalisation and globalization the scenario changed drastically. Policy matters of media, dwindling space for theatre writings, dearth of scholarship in the arts, a fast-track and techno savvy generation and a poor reader to this form of writing sealed the fate of any attempts at revival. Currently writings related to theatre are confined to newspapers and few periodicals. However they don’t do much justice as they are limited to the form of reviews touching upon appraisal. Yet critics like Jayant Pawar, Ravindra Pathare, Shanta Gokhale and a few others try to cover theatre activities to best of their capacity. These are primarily restricted to the theatre activities in the urban cities and a large body of work, especially in the rural belts and small towns goes unnoticed.

In the past couple of years there have been stray exceptions of well researched and authentic writing on theatre. All these factors have a direct impact on the sustenance of magazines or any such outlets catering to theatre. Important contributors such as ‘Samvedana Pariwar’,’Natak’,’Seagull Theatre Quarterly’,’Natyarang’etc had to shut shop and wind up for lack of funds ,a dedicated reader and off course a guaranteed buyer.  Some attempts, like the one recently made by the Achrekar Prathisthan in Kankawli, to start a theatre magazine, was nipped in the bud, much before it could take off.

One thing is indisputable. No matter how much they are shunned, these writings are an important link of the past to the present and a guideline to the future. Their presence bridges gaps. Presently there are some newspapers which give some space for reviews, primarily in the vernacular, some sporadic autobiographical books written by artistes, few e-magazines and surprisingly considerable amount of documentaries on theatre artistes, which is welcome. But these are not necessarily scholarly writings or ones with archival values. A large amount of work is not taken cognisance of, not because of any bias, but just that there is no guaranteed outlet for documenting it all. There is a dire shortage of writers who take interest in this type of writing, let alone their personal knowledge and interest in the art of theatre.

Against this realisation, newer strategies will have to be devised and put into place, along with a committed team to see it through. Mere passion and a fervent appeal to float another such venture will not work. We have to learn from past mistakes and design the future. And this doesn’t refer to the mere task of the physically bringing out a magazine or journal dedicated exclusively to theatre, but stringing in all the contributing elements, to weave a firm pattern, which will sustain. It is not an impossible task, but needs solid ground work and a firm belief in its success!

Dr. Ajay Joshi is a practicing dentist, with a PhD in theatre criticism and an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has freelanced as a theatre journalist for publications like Times of India, Indian Express, Saakal, PtNotes, Himal etc. He is involved in theatre as a media person, organiser, coordinator, judge and teacher.

Humanizing, De-colonizing and De-politicizing Archaeology & Heritage Management

Humanizing, De-colonizing and De-politicizing Archaeology & Heritage Management

By Dr.SUDHARSHAN SENEVIRATNE

(TEXT OF ACCEPTANCE SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA on January 4th at Seattle. USA)

President Bartman, members and professionals of the AIA, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Dr. Sudharshan Seneviratne addressing Archaeological Institute of America Awards Ceremony, Jan 4, 2013

I was honored to receive a communication from President Bartman stating my name as recipient of the 2013 Award for Best Practice in Conservation and Heritage Management. It also gratified me to note that heritage initiatives carried out in Sri Lanka during the past few decades have been recognized by one of the oldest standing professional bodies of heritage in the world and by the community of global heritage professionals at large.

Our commitment towards professional excellence was seen as an investment for the future protecting the tangible, intangible and mixed heritage of humanity. By doing so, we placed a high premium bench-marking best practice for the next generation of archaeologists and heritage managers. Among a wide range of initiatives undertaken I wish to make special reference to: surface, sub-surface and maritime heritage excavation and conservation achievements at World Heritage sites; establishment of state of the art museums unfolding the inclusiveness and diversity of an island society; multiple programs on heritage empowerment, capacity-building and revitalization; sustainable heritage tourism; heritage as an outreach program for conflict resolution and reconciliation and peace.

Heritage practice as a team effort

While thanking you most sincerely for this recognition conferred upon me, I do not stand here today to be honored as an individual. We archaeologists and heritage managers are team players. It is with a solemn sense of gratitude that I note the professional investment made by my predecessors in the fields of archaeology and heritage management in Sri Lanka. Our present achievements are “constructed” upon their vision, experience and dedication. I also accept this honor on behalf of the University of Peradeniya; Archaeology, Conservation and Administrative Directors, young archaeologists, architects, engineers, site managers, research officers and especially on behalf of thousands of nameless site workers of the Central Cultural Fund (the Custodian Organization for UNESCO Declared world Heritage Sites) in Sri Lanka. They stood by me as we placed our vision plan for heritage initiatives on track and carried them out to a logical conclusion. It is due to the concerted and dedicated engagement by all of them, as a team, that enabled the launching of ambitious and impressive projects showcasing Sri Lanka’s heritage to the world.

Heritage initiatives

Our tasks were undertaken and implemented while Sri Lanka was reeling under the bloody carnage of a 30 year old civil war. Under such negative conditions we needed to work with a positively pro active mind set. We mobilized professional, intellectual, material and financial support from the public sector in Sri Lanka, UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS, and foreign missions, especially the Netherlands and Japan. Public – private sector partnership participation through Corporate Social Responsibility was initiated and awareness programs were carried out beyond the metropolitan areas through stake holder UNESCO school-clubs and people to people connectivity. In addition, out-reach overseas heritage exhibitions were launched while artifact replica reproduction was fine tuned and trilingual heritage publications revitalized. Such multiple activities ensured that our UNESCO declared World Heritage sites do not have a stand-alone policy but also incorporate all stake-holders and maintain a ripple and counter-ripple momentum.

Sri Lanka is now reaping the benefits of such heritage initiatives during the post war period. In just four years after the conclusion of the war, Sri Lanka is recognized as one of the ten most sought-after destinations for eco and heritage tourism in the world. Today the 4th Century AC World Heritage site of the Sigiriya rock palace alone nets US$ 10 to 15,000 per day during the high season. Similarly, the 17th Century AC World Heritage Site of Galle Dutch Fort is not only a vibrant multi cultural hub blending tradition and modernity but also a high-end tourist destination and a portal of convergence for international art and literary activities.

Heritage, identity and contested spaces

There are however short and long term ground realities, concerns and implications on the qualitative sustenance and application of the science of archaeology and heritage management. In my part of the world an archaeologist and heritage manager plays multiple roles. He or she is a professional field practitioner, teacher, mentor and social activist – all blended into a single personality. This is inevitable. Heritage practitioners of today are faced with critical challenges over their intellectual and professional space as reading the past itself is under siege in a global context.

Dr.Sudharshan Seneviratne Archaeological Institute of America, Recipient of the 2013 Award for Best Practice in Conservation and Heritage Management

Contemporary heritage practitioner has therefore to resolve his or her professional status with ‘competing interest’. The professional is challenged by individuals, groups and even by regimes in power that have appropriated the task of retrieving, interpreting and reinventing the past. Such individuals and organizations are increasingly realizing the functional value of subverting the past sustaining ideologies of legitimation and domination negating diversity and plurality. As a consequence, this process quite definitely does marginalize, hegemonize and even expunge the memory and histories of the “Other”. In the long run, it imposes from above, an “imagined” racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious homogeneity over contested spaces. Conversely, the reactive response to this is a surge of embedded reverse racism and ultra nationalism represented by various shades of fundamentalist and social fascist ideologies of centrifugal forces that invent their own versions of “reconstructed” pasts and “imagined communities”. Add to this, there is an unabated displacement and looting of heritage and cultural property perpetrated by in-country socially affluent as well as other rapacious interest groups aided and abetted by global museums and collectors. These three dynamics ultimately undermine, in an irreparable manner, the scientific and humane application of archeology and heritage initiatives investigating and presenting the past. This abysmal situation is now a shared tragedy by many developing countries.

Professional purview

In view of this, the professionals reading the past are now required to redefine their intellectual space and are forced towards a paradigm shift in their craft safeguarding scientific skills and the enterprise of knowledge harvesting the past. As such, the contemporary discourse needs to hinge on the intervention and claims of defining, owning, protecting, managing, interpreting and experiencing the archaeological heritage.

Today, we need to resort to the dual strategy of humanizing, decolonizing and de-politicizing archaeology and heritage management on the one hand and advancing country and culture specific applications in historically evolved multi cultural societies on the other.

Implementing such strategies must essentially be the purview of independent professional bodies of scientific archaeologists and conservators. There must be less or non involvement of amateur archaeologists who are in most instances the ideologues of fundamentalist “tribal” organizations; the regimes in power that often subvert the past and also predatory sections of the private sector seeking purely an investment venture. Our pledge must be to excavate and present truth for a futuristic vision plan beyond boundaries of parochialism and contours of inverted political and financial agendas. If properly applied, the “archaeology of heritage” is perhaps the most sensitive and enlightened medium to reach out and foster greater understanding and appreciation among diverse communities of their cultural pasts and shared heritage of human achievements and thereby rectify misunderstood histories. It is critical that we cross this chasm for the profession to survive in a meaningful and productive manner. I note with humility my own contribution as an engaged professional, humanist and social activist to contest negative ends and to promote positive initiatives of archaeology and heritage management.

Conclusion and mission statement

In conclusion, the Mission Statement I inscribed in 1996, for the next generation of archaeologists is noted here. The next generation essentially needs to grasp the dialectics of “present in the past and past in the present” as the very foundation of the humanistic heritage professional.

“The science of archaeology is problem-oriented and issue-related. It is essentially a multi disciplinary study investigating, documenting, interpreting and presenting human expressions, experiences and behaviour patterns of the past to its rightful inheritors – the next generation. The archaeologist investigating the past is a scientist who is objective, unbiased and unprejudiced. Above all, an archaeologist is a humanist and social activist who does not fear the past or compromises the future”.

President Bartman, I wish to convey my appreciative sentiments to the AIA and good wishes for its future endeavors sustaining, both, the scientific application and aesthetic appreciation of archaeology and heritage initiatives.

(Dr.Sudharshan Seneviratne is Professor of Archaeology. University of Peradeniya. Sri Lanka and Edward F Arnold Professor of Archaeology. Whitman College. WA. USA (2012-2013).)

Irangani Serasinghe Pioneer of Ruk Rakaganno by Ayoma Wijesundara

Irangani Serasinghe Pioneer of Ruk Rakaganno
by Ayoma Wijesundara

When the name of Irangani Serasinghe is mentioned one instantly associates her with the Art Circle of the Cinema and Theatre. She is one of Sri Lanka’s most talented veteran actresses, her talent being discovered by none other than Lester James Peries who watched her acting in the Colombo University’s King Georges Hall many decades ago and offered her a small part in a film he did for the Traffic Police called "Be Safe or Sorry." Seeing her potential he thereafter gave her a major role in REKHAWA which was a huge success. She has acted in more than 25 major films and many more teledramas.

What most of her fans would not know about her is her absolute dedication and love for the environment which has been no secret yet not publicized as much as her film career.

Her days are filled with a busy schedule with shooting of teledramas demanding most of her time, but she allocates time for her environmental work. She identifies herself with the serenity and the calmness that the trees around her affords. Her love for unspoilt nature she nurtured in Balangoda and Ruwanwella in her ancestral homes lives on as nostalgic memories. She has not abandoned them, yet working diligently in her spare time planting indigenous trees such as Sandalwood, Bulu, Nelli, Kahata, Kudu Dawula in her tiny estate in Belihuloya Pambahinna, not deterred by the forest fires and the deadly Kachan winds that rage every year destroying most of the endemic and indigenous trees and plants of the region.

In 1972 she embarked on her crusade to safeguard our National Forests which were being destroyed by various acts of vandalism by the government and the people. She formed a small society, named it "Ruk Rakaganno" (Protectors of the Trees) with a handful of dedicated members and worked zealously towards the salvation of our forest land.

She was a Member of the Wild life and Nature Protection Society, but she soon discovered that it was difficult for her to reach the ear of the villager and win their confidence when she identified herself with the wild life organization, as some of them had a certain animosity towards wild life, due to the fact their cultivations being destroyed by elephants and pigs. They would not spare time to listen to her talk on promoting the planting of trees and sparing trees, when she introduced herself as a team member of the Wild Life Organization, hence she embarked on her own path, by forming her own "Tree Protection Society." She spearheaded various programmes in villages and city schools educating school children about the treasures of our national heritage, our endemic plants and trees, their preservation and use, the medicinal values of our herbal plants much ignored in the past but now awakened with the growing interest of Ayurveda.

She encouraged so many to grow plants and trees in their compound not only for their aesathetic value. Ruk Rakaganno also supported other environmental organizations when it came to the issue of Sinharaja Forest, where a part of it was earmarked to be felled for a Plywood Project.

They actively lodged various protests to Mr. J. R. Jayewardene when he was the Prime Minister against potatoe cultivation in the Horton Plains, whereby the farmers were destroying the most treasured species of river fish and polluting the rivers with insecticide used for these projects. The springs were drying up, which caused alarm to most environmentalists as Horton Plains was the source of many rivers and water falls, not to mention the breathtaking Bakers Fall found and named after Samuel Baker.

Currently, Irangani is busy helping plant trees in the tsunami devastated areas of Galle, with the help of a British NGO which is supporting the work of Ruk Rakaganno in their endeavour to replace the plants, trees and shrubs that were washed away by the tide. They are busy planting pandanus, (Wetakeiya) Barringtonia (Mudilla) a lovely fruit and flowering plant that comes in two varieties, one by the sea and the other that grows by rivers. The Anglican Church has allocated land to help Ruk Rakaganno to maintain a nursery in Galle, whereby they could grow their plants and sell them to tourists who would buy a plant and plant them in places where they had been destroyed. Leading hotels of the area are also very thankful for the Project and have been helpful. The Light House Hotel is one such institution

Irangani says her burdens are lighter now and her work load is not heavy, and she wishes to devote more of her time to spread her message throughout our little island for the people to understand and appreciate the lush greenness of our country, to protect it and grow more trees than the ones being felled.

She has left a legacy to us all even by getting her organization to print and publish books that would help the novice to recognize these valuable endemic and indigenous trees. It is now a challenge for all of us to promote this venture for a "Greener Sri Lanka."

Courtesy: The Island

Art should never be about competition : Irangani Serasinghe

It is quite ironic that people today always talk about the teledramas and films of the past Too much nationalism is bad. Nationalism tends to create divides between people and that is no way to develop a country—we must portray unity and universal values I think women should get involved in politics and public life and introduce a softer note to politics and ensure, in the very least, the well being of their own kind

Veteran theater, cinema and television actress Irangani Serasinghe is a Lankan legend, with her grace, poise and warm smile she is the epitome of an ethereal “movie star”.