Away from her (aka Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship,Marriage) - Alice Munro

 Alice Munro wrote 14 original collections of short stories in her distinguished career. And with, 'Away from her', I've read eleven of them - eleven books over eleven years, where I've never been disappointed with  any of the books. 'Away from her', which was originally titled 'Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship,Marriage', (HFCLM) was her tenth book. The story "The Bear came over the mountain", one of her more renowned stories, captured in at least one anthology, has been renamed as "Away from her", carrying the title of the motion picture produced by Sarah Polley, which was based on that short story, It is a moving narration of where a husband is required to institutionalize his wife of many decades of marriage due to her deteriorating state with amnesia. In classic Munro style, the reader is left to guess which actions of the wife is caused by her sickness, which by convenience, as she finds rather preferred company at her new 'home'. The reader is left to ponder even if this is 'get even' times for her with her husband. A further point that the reader may mull over is, whether in the overall scheme of thing, a life long love is proven by its sustenance despite temporary betrayals, and instances of giving way to temptation. In 'Away from her', Grant, despite his excesses stands by his wife in her most difficult times, when he was losing her in more sense than one. (Further, the foreword by Sarah Polley, is almost a short story by itself, as she recounts what the short story meant for her, how in a grander scheme of things, it resulted in finding her, her then husband.)

In "HFCLM", (a second title story for the collection, depending on which print you carried) is a story, where a prank by two girls, causes a union - a successful one at that - for Johanna, whom the two girls wanted to take for a ride. It is a projection of unexpected circumstances, that one may find herself or himself in, and how it may still work out for your favour, if you only grasp the opportunity - even when the odds are stacked against you. However compared to other stories in this collection, although the  plot is interesting, I find myself rating this story a couple of notches below the ones I enjoyed more.

About half of these stories center on an episode of a chance encounter of an infatuation. And, to a person, all such stories encounter a woman - be it the first chance of kissing  a married woman for a youth (as in 'Floating Bridge'), the passion of a bush doctor for a woman he meets at a funeral, which she experiences just one day in her life and which she  relives all her married life as a precious episode ( "What is Remembered"), or the chance meeting of her childhood friend, who when met as a young man holds a chance of passion which they get to experience very briefly ("Nettles"). Of these, "What is Remembered" made the most impression on me, as the details of her capitulation - which was not something that she had in mind - but upon experiencing it, her necessity of storing up in detail for future, made such a convincing case when caught in a long term marriage.

“The job she had to do, as she saw it, was to remember everything—and by 'remember' she meant experience it in her mind, one more time—then store it away forever. This day’s experience set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside.”

It is almost as if Alice wanted a collection of stories which focused on the temporary release of a long term bonding, read as marriage, in which the woman had no logical reason to end, but a one time relief, was most welcome. This mental balancing act is nowhere more clearer than in the short story 'Post and Beam', where our protagonist is prepared to compromise in her mental prayer of something precious to her, to be pardoned for her mistreatment  of a relation, who had made sacrifices on her behalf. And what does this barter amount to ? Giving up a young man in a debate with her mind, with whom a chance romance was blossoming. She gives up her chance of release in barter, in conversation with her mind, as long as the "worst" doesn't happen to her relation. Even when a marriage is life long, and is limited to one partner, there is at least one instance of an infatuation - as is the case with Nina and Ed, as we find in "Comfort" - where the materialist ideology of Nina's husband, Lewis, is so important to him, that she could possibly be looking for a momentary respite from the arguments between those for and against God.

"Family Furnishings" is another top story here, as Alice subtly leaves the building blocks around for us to construct the relationship between Alfrida and the father of our protagonist. Alfrida's daughter, of whom we don't come across till the last moment says this to our protagonist,  

"You want to know what Alfrida said about you?”
Now. I knew it was coming now.
“What?”
“She said you were smart, but you weren’t ever quite as smart as you thought you were.”
I made myself keep looking into the dark face against the light. Smart, too smart, not smart enough.
I said, “Is that all?”
“She said you were kind of a cold fish. That’s her talking, not me. I haven’t got anything against you.”

Years of bitterness, from the mother and the daughter delivered as a punch, to our protagonist, who wasn't quick enough to understand that she don't need hear it. A classic finish to a classic short story!

The collection concludes with "Quennie", a short story in which one step sister has a genuine affection and regard for the other, but whom she loses in her youth, as Quennie states that she cannot survive "without love". Another story which doesn't come quite close to the best stories here.

Overall out of the nine short stories found here, I could clearly say that most of them are quite excellent and for the eleventh time, I close a collection by Ms. Munro, awestruck with the details of human nature, failings of men and women which when taken in perspective are forgivable, and how in this journey called life, one can only be true to himself or herself. 

Rating: ****1/2

 

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

 I started reading Moby Dick, first, back in 2014 or so, I think. I got a physical copy from Jarir, (or was it the books section of Lulu), but read most of it using the kindle, as is my wont anyway. I read as much as near the 60% mark, before postponing its completion, day by day, and it got abandoned. I never thought that I abandoned the book decisively. But to be honest, there was so much of detail, that I couldn't bring myself to go through the many chapters - some which serve as introduction to all of the families of whales, its physiological system, the reference to whales in times gone by especially in ancient Art etc. and its inaccuracies, all of  which serve very little to the purpose of the book, as we may interpret it today. Back in the day, say one hundred years ago, equipped with a copy of Moby Dick, which was possibly going to be your only means of entertainment for the next month or so, the above detail may stretch your term of enjoyment through elastic means. I don't mean that this was the author's intent. The author verily believed that every word wrote, brought in a sense of enjoyment to his intended audience. But I read it - actually I listened to the unabridged audio book version as available in spotify - and that way I could afford to go through all those chapters which I read a good ten years or so back - and then those I had yet to read, while not shaving off my limited reading time.

So what did I find ? There are places which offer good entertainment - especially the initial chapters before Ishmael and Queequeg boarded the Pequod, the patter by Stubb across the book which I found very witty and was presented in such a manner that I couldn't help liking the character and of courses Ahab's tyrannical - at times philosophical, at other times obsessed, spitted out words. All these are as expected with works of literature from an earlier period - rhetorical, most times serving no purpose other than offer a moment of deep insight, shock, or for the reader to ponder over. Yet in the overall scheme, offer the reader good literature from a time gone by ( for example I still enjoy Charles Dickens immensely). But the swaths of digressing that I mentioned in the first paragraph are, on top of these traits of classical literature (which a reader expects if she so decides to turn to a book of the times), and their lied the problem with the book, and hence my modest rating.

I feel that most of those who read Moby Dick has awe for what Melville achieved. Awe, yes, I too have for the work that he had put in. But I can't shed my skin that of a modern man, who is in constant battle with time - read as slots of my life - and the lookout for return of investment is so deep grained, it is a constant battle to select what to read, and what to postpone for a day (if and ) when I have time to kill, and no one is after my time anymore. Hence, as this is my review, and I have to be true to my sentiments, I can only recommend this to those are into audio books, and may they absorb this in small doses, or as they deem digestible, if they want to explore what the fuss is all about this book, and why some call it the greatest (American) novel. For me, I'd rather spend more time on authors like Saul Bellow, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, or Cormac McCarthey etc., in my discovery of great American novels, than take on chapter after chapter that leads no where, interspersed with Ahab's megalomania, all the way to its almost abrupt end. But still I've competed it, after a couple of failed attempts. Thank heavens for the audiobook!

Rating: ***

2024: A Look At My Reading - Or Not Reading As The Case Maybe

 I had a look at my reading for 2024, and what is obvious to me is that during the last three or four months, I've been playing catching up. I scarcely made the 40 books. This result (for it is not achievement), is not that different to my results in other areas I was involved in, this year. So am going to give consistency priority this year, over every thing else. Maybe the reasonable time over the last 2-3 months I've spent on physical fitness, which is all about consistency, is starting to have an effect on other areas - I hope.

To get back to the reading:

Here's how it looks:

- Of the forty, I've read fourteen English novels, which include two audio books ( Moby Dick and The Longest Journey), and  a Y/A book (i.e. A Monster Calls) - a book I bought Thevidu, but one which I felt I need to read too, One Translation, and one novel from a Sri Lankan author (i.e. Vihanga). Of these fourteen, I think I enjoyed, Buddha of Suburia most, with Inheritance of Loss possibly as a runner up. The Prophet Song was very good too, and honestly a fear infusing read, but its dystopian nature nagged me from possibly holding it on a pedestal that other readers may keep it on. Is it just me, or are there to many modern dystopian novels about ? Is it a reminder of how we should not go back to a stage where a Nation was deemed more important than anything else - a notion which one can agree with - but are we having too much of a good thing ?  On the Road too was an enjoyable read, but if only that kind waywardness instills a sense of freedom and beauty in you, instead of a judgemental impatience. Fear of Gambling too has its attractions, as its self indulgent narration more often than not keeps the reader interested.

- I've read a total of seven novels, in my native Sinhalese, and honestly I don't rate any of them at a masterpiece level. Sudu Sevanali (සුදු සෙවණැලි) came the closest, while Girija, (ගිරිජා), and Hin Dhos Male (හින් දොස් මාලේ) could be rated next. The biggest disappointment was Thivanker Kathawa (තිවංක කතාව), since I seem to sense an inclination of one my favourite authors being self indulgent in his fiction writing of recent, resulting in aimless meandering, and far fetched semblances.

- Some excellent short story collection were read, which were possibly the most rewarding reads for me this year - Your Nostalgia is killing me, England and Other Stories, and Away From Her ( which also has the title Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage) were all excellent books.  I am truly glad that I read these, and it resulted in planning to include a couple of English short story collections going forward, besides the annual journey I have been enjoying with the late Mrs. Munro. On Sinhala short stories, although I read as much as five short story collections, I think the collections by Keerthi Welisarage and Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe were at a very high level. Eric, again showed signs of far fetched plots, while Amarakeerthi, for all his very readable writing carries a sense of the contrived, which one can't help noticing once one start to see it.

- Sinhala poems too had featured in a significant way in 2024,  since as many as seven poetry collections were attempted. I was most impressed with Wasantha Pradeep Hettiarachchi, and Priyalal Koggalage, while  Samitha B., and Bandujeewa's collections had sufficient rich moments to warrant their mentioning here.

Anyone interested in the reviews of any of the forty books I read in 2024, should be able to find them in these pages.

Here's to 2025 and consistency !

Normal People - Sally Rooney

 
This novel was nowhere in my reading plans. But one day I found myself in a 'tuk', heading towards office with about 40 minutes to kill - and this somehow was loaded in my kindle library - clearly, because I have added it at some point - the Booker long list tag, along with the fact that it was a novel familiar in sight to  someone who frequents book shops, and online book sales. Maybe my book worms discussed it at some point - they discuss books at times which I take no part in, paying just a cursory glance over, if that genre is not my cup of tea. Anyway, I got to reading it as a time pass, and here I am writing my customary note on what I gleaned from the book.

To state the obvious, it was clearly very readable, and at first it had me interested. However, I soon found the details of the main two characters, their lives as young adults, and their struggles to come to terms with their lot, who they were, and the challenges in understanding their various partners, a little out of sync with my reading preferences. I guess it bored me to some degree, and I was complaining to the fore-mentioned book worms, some of whom hissed back at me with fury. But that's another day in the life of.

However I found the book more enjoyable towards the last third or so, as it becomes apparent the extent of mental trauma that Marianne has endured. I certainly felt that her sicko brother's excess actually helped a good thing from falling apart, right in the nick of time. A little dramatic a rescue, but hey, the fans of the book aren't complaining.

To speak more objectively, and holistically, the book begs the question, as to whether there are any normal people in this world. There could be boring people, who have decided to accept their lot, unquestionably at some point, due to circumstances that brought them there - and they may appear as normal to an outsider. Whether anyone can be termed as normal, when one gets to know another beyond  the everyday facade is a moor point.

I can understand why there are many readers who like this book immensely. For me personally, the last one third salvaged what was heading to be a three star read.

Rating: ***1/2

මඳහසක මැදියම - අනුරාධා නිල්මිණි

 කිවිඳියගේ 'රිදුම් පිරි පිරිමැදුම්' කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය කියවා එය  රස විඳි හේතුවෙන්,  සහ 2016 වසරේ පිරිනැමුණු හොඳම කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය උදෙසා වූ රජත සම්මාන, සහ ගොඩගේ සම්මාන යන සම්මාන ද්විත්වයටම නිර්දේශ වූ හෙයින් ද, උක්ත කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය කියවීමට වීමි.

මෙය රිදුම් පිරි පිරිමැදුම් (2019) වලට පෙර ප්‍රකාශ වූවක් හෙයින්, සහ එය රජත සම්මානයෙන් පිදුම් ලත් හෙයින් ද, එය වඩාත් සර්ථක කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් ලෙස සැලකුවහොත්, එවන් අනාගත කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් ගැන බලාපොරොත්තු තබා ගත හැකි ආරේ නිර්මාණ රැසක් මෙම සංග්‍රහයේ හමු වේ. තවද, 2021 හොඳම කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයට හිමි රාජ්‍ය සාහිත්‍ය සම්මානය දිනා ගත් නාරි සූත්‍රය වූ කලි, ස්ත්‍රීවාදී දෘෂ්ඨිකෝණයෙන් ලියූවක් යැයි සැලකුවහොත් (මෙම සංග්‍රහය මම තවම කියවා නැත - නුමුදු එය 'කාලයේ විනිසුරු හමුවේ කතුන් දහසයදෙනෙකුගේ හෘද සාක්ෂි කැඳවීමක්' ලෙස පුළුල්ව සැලකිය හැකි ලෙස දැනට සිතමි), එහි බීජ අවස්ථා ද මෙහි දැකිය හැකි බව සිතේ.

 අප මෙහි එන 'ගැටපිච්ච' නම් කවි පංතිය රසවිඳින අතරම,  ඉහත කී කරුණු ද මෙනෙහි විය.

"හීනි නූලක් වාගේ දහ අතේ             පැටලිච්ච
 ජීවිත ම මහ ගොඩකි, ජීවිතේ         තනිවෙච්ච
 බවානිගෙ, මනෝහාරිගෙ සුවඳ      සැඟවෙච්ච
 ඒ බිමේ තියෙනවා පිච්ච තව            පරවෙච්ච"

මෙම කවි පංතියෙන්, තිස් අවුරුදු යුද්ධය හේතුවෙන්, විවිධාකාරයෙන් 'පරවුණු' යුවතියන්ගේ ජීවිත සෙනෙහබර මතකයනට ලක් කරයි. එහි දේශපාලනයත්, බවානිලා-මනෝහාරිලා ස්ත්‍රීන් නිසා ම විඳි අමතර තර්ජනයේ  ස්වභාවය ගැන ද ඉඟි කරයි.

කිවිඳිය, වෘත්තියෙන් මාධ්‍යවේදිනියකි. ඒ නිසා ම දෝ, ඇය සමාජ දේශපාලන කාරණා අලලා ලියනා කවි වල කවි සිතුවිලි වඩා බලවත් ලෙස ට ඇයට ඉදිරිපත් කර හැකිය. 'ආපදා සජීවීකරණය',  මීට හොඳ නිදසුනකි. මෙවන් කවි වලදී, කිවිඳිය වඩා මුඛරිව ද, සෝපාහාසය මතු වන ආකාරයකින්ද නිර්මාණකරණයේ යෙදෙනු පෙනේ.

"ඒ සෙප්පඩ මී පැටවු වාගෙ ද
 අපේ විලිරුදාවේ තරම!
 දැනුත් ලොක්කා
 වීඩියෝ කොන්ෆරන්ස් එකක
 අහසත් එක්ක
 පුළුවන් ද බලන්න
 තවත් සතියකට විතර
 දිග් කරගන්න
 මේ අනෝරා වැස්ස!
 කඳු නාය යන තරමට
 මුදුනට නැගගන්නෙ
 කවුද කියල
 බලාගත්තැහැකි එතකොට...."

පිළිකාවක් වැනි දරුණු රෝගයක් වැළඳුණු අයෙකු ට, තම අසරණබව, ක්ෂුද්‍ර බව, පිළිබඳ අදහස කවියට නගා ඇති "මං කවුරු ද?" මා තරමක් කම්පනයකට පත් කල කවි පංතියකි.

"සත්තකේ ම උකස් තියල
 සැපත, සතුට
 වියදම් කර
 අමාරුවෙන් ගොඩදාන්න
 මං කවුරු ද?"

 මීට අමතරව, "ආරි, සත්තයි - මං කැතයි", "මතක ද", "ඇගේ නම මල්ලිකා", "ඔවුහු පුරුෂයෝ වම්හ", "ලොකු එකාගේ ලියමන" ආදි කවි පංතිත්, නම් සඳහන් නොකල කවි පංති කිහිපයකුත් මා සාපේක්ෂව වඩාත් රස වින්දෙමි. එනමුදු, "අනුලා බිසවගේ සිරියහන් ගැබට රහසින් පිවිසි ආගන්තුකයා", "යන්නේ අපි දැන් දිවිය ලෝකෙ ද", "පෙෂාවෝර් කඳුළු", ආදියේ කවීත්වයේ යම් අඩුවක් දැනිනි. එහි විෂය නොව, විෂයය එසේම තිබිය දී, කවිය තව ඔපමට්ටම් වන්නට ඉඩ තිබුණු බවකි, අපගේ සාමාන්‍ය පාඨක රසාඥ්ඥතාවට දැනුනේ. ඇරත් "මොනිකා", "පිල් මොනරියේ" කවියේ පද ගැලපීම සහ, ශබ්ද රසය රකිනු පිණිස ම වදන් භාවිත කොට ඇති බවත්, සමහර කවියක පේළියක් පමණම, රසාස්වාදයට යමක් එක්කාසු නොකරන බවකුත් අපට හැඟෙන්නට වුණි.

කවියක්, එය ට ජීවය ලබා සිටිය හැකි උපරිම සූක්ෂම තත්වයට ඔපමට්ටම් වීද යන්න ගැන සිතන්නට වන විට, කවි නිර්මාණය කෙතෙරම් අපහසු දෙයක් ද යන්න, එහි කිසිදු නිපුණත්වයක් නැති අපට පවා වැටහෙති. මේ සටහන වූ කලි, කාලය වියදම් කොට කියවාපු කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයෙන් අප යමක් ලබා ගත්තේ ද යන්නට අප අපට ම දෙන පිලිතුරක් පමණක් නුමුදු, මෙය බෙදාගන්නේ  කියවන්නට සිතුනු කෙනෙකුන් ගේ පරිශීලනය සඳහා ම පමණකි. ඒ අර්ථයෙන්, සමහර කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් කියවීමට ගත කරන තරම් කාලයක්, මෙම සංග්‍රහය උදෙසා වියදම් නොකලෙමි. ඊට හේතු දෙකකි - කිවිඳිය ගේ සමාජ- දේශපාලන කාව්‍ය සහ, නිසදැස් ආරේ කවි බොහෝමයක් සරල බසකින් ලියැවී, තේරුම් ගැනීමට පහසු ආරකින් තිබීමයි. ඒවා බොහෝමයක අර්ථ රසය අපට ගෝචරය. ශබ්ද රසය රැකීමට තැත් කල සිව් පද ආරේ බොහෝ කවි වල, ශබ්ද රසය උදෙසා ම මිස, කවියේ සමස්තයට යෝග්‍යතම පද භාවිත වී නැති බවකි අපගේ සාමාන්‍ය වැටහීම.

එසේ වුවද, අපි මේ සංග්‍රහය කියවා අවසන් ව, 'රිදුම් පිරි පිරි මැදුම්' ගැන අපගේ සටහන කියවුවෙමු. අප ට වැටහුනේ මේ කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහට වඩා බොහෝ ඉදිරියෙන් එම සංග්‍රහය තිබෙන බවකි. ඒ අනුව නිතර තම කවීත්වය ඔපමට්ටම් කරමින්, විෂය පරාසයන් හි දි විශේෂයෙන් වඩාත් නූතන කවියක් වෙනුවෙන් වෙහෙසෙනා කිවිඳියක් අපි ඇය තුලින් දකින්නෙමු. ඒ අනුව, 'නාරි සූත්‍රය' පමණක් නොව,  ඉන් පසුව ප්‍රකාශ වූ කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් පවා, අපට කාලය ලැබෙන අයුරින් කියවීමට සිතා ඉන්නෙමු.

ශ්‍රේණිය: ***1/2

Socio-political Aspects of Modern Sinhala Poetry

This essay attempts to reflect on the socio-political aspects which  serve as subject matter for modern Sinhala poetry, focusing on contemporary poets - Mahinda Mas-imbula, Lakshantha Athukorala, Ruwan Bandujeewa and Saumya Sandaruwan Liyanage. It selects, but four of the poems which portray the sentiments of the populace, it's regrets, it's shock and even paralysis, and finally its' hope, as seen by the poets, analysed by a lover of poetry, albeit a layman.

For Mas-imbula (2012) , when he writes about his loving Nugegoda, giving it a human form - chin protruding towards Pagoda, Kohuwala, it's sibling - he cannot forget the bomb explosion that changed many a life on that fateful evening. Many a couple immersed in their plans, a lover awaiting the other, a parent rushing back to his loved ones, and a tired student rushing home back hungry, fell that day. The poet reminisces how not withstanding the "plastic surgery" done "on its' cheeks" later by the agile staff of the famous clothes store there ,  how on  that evening, the sword of  fate  severed and felled to the ground "my one and only heart."  The poet doesn't make the destruction a political statement. It is as if, like many of us then, resigned to our collective fate, he laments his loss in the middle of a town he knows like his own palm. It is the grief and the picture of isolation in a crowd, as he seeks his lost one, that leaves an etching mark in our hearts while the cause of the loss, is not the poet's focus.  This resignation, has an effect of adding depth to the feeling of isolation. L.T.T.E. terrorism was a part of everyday life for all of us, and it was the most fortunate who were lucky not to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even the prompt repairs by the shop owners suggest,  the populace at large has decided to move on, leaving behind loss to be grieved by the affected individuals.

The poem, "Dwarf", found in Lakshantha Athukorala's collection "Ee" (Arrows, 2014), takes us into the mind of a former soldier,  drowning in self pity,  having lost both his legs. He ponders, and asks  the Buddha, how he is to unstrap his artificial legs at the footsteps, as others ease out of their footwear, at the entrance? He has a sense of regret for the demerits earned in the war field, and implores the Buddha to consider him, as another Angulimala, and treat him with compassion. The soldier, drowned in self pity, begs the Buddha to visit his room since he cannot visit the Enlightened one in his  piteous state which doesn't even qualify him for the robe. Sinking to the depth of self pity, he begs the Buddha to let him be yet another on the dwarf line wall of the temple, as a means of seeking solace at the feet of the Enlightened one. From a social aspect, outside of the Colombo district especially, there are many a family which sacrificed a son, in the war front. Hence the poet attepmts to capture a generic frame of mind, of the thousands who paid with their eyes, limbs etc. The mental state of the injured soldier is far from the ravages of the war. His hints that even his family members try to stay away from his room, while he  looks at the crowd which flock the temple through his window. It is only once denied, that even a routine visit to a temple gives it a value, that the healthy could never appreciate. Hence it is his mental state which work on him, and convince him that ending up a dwarf on a wall, is better than being ignored and confined to his room.

One of the socio-political backgrounds which led to recent changes in the political front was the free hand that even petty regional politicians had, which boomeranged back on to the highest levels. Ruwan Bandujeewa (2013) was so shocked by the news that such a political animal celebrated the seduction of One hundred females, exclaimed that even Manik Ganga ( A River in the deep south ) couldn't stop her urge to relieve itself on her shores, from the shock. The poet was daring enough to suggest part of the politicians' nickname. The poem exemplifies the shock of the poet, as he contemplates on the burning eyes and the forcefully stripped undergarments of the victims, and contrasts this with the ovation of the celebration of this seducer. The poet uses his imagination as he compares these acts of corruption to slicing a mango while goddess Pattini, ( famed for her chastity, and believed to be born off a mango ), was still inside.

If Bandujeewa was shocked, his contemporary Liyanage (2013) went a step ahead, and warned that even spilled blood  could ablaze on a day, not too far away. In a moving poem, the poet subtly mocks the people who invoked blessings on the military (while the war against the terrorists were raging ), as the same guns now targeted some of them. The poet scorns the popular religion which blessed the guns that won the war. Engaging in a change of address, he then warns  those heroes, even blood could ablaze,  now that it has been spilled for  the crime of asking a drop of  unpolluted potable water.

The four poets highlighted are all considerably young. Their language too is on different scales. While Athukorala favors a more traditionally poetic language similar to the previous generations' stalwarts like Nandana Weerasinghe, Bandujeewa opts for a language more inclined towards one used everyday. Another aspect that has to be highlighted is, of the four collection in focus, although poems of a common theme were selected, the percentage of poems specified for political themes differ. While Mas-imbula favour themes of Romance relatively, Athokarala appears to have the broadest spectrum of subjects, and treats all of them with equal measure. In contrast Bandujeewa and Liyanage both devote a considerable portion of their respective collections for socio-political aspects. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to suggest that the latter even sounds like a harbinger for change, given how successfully he has managed to grasp the then political climate, the frustrations and hopes of a people, who just a year or so  hero worshiped the same rulers.

References:

ඇහි පියන් ඇහැරිලා - මහින්ද ප්‍රසාද් මස්-ඉඹුල (2012, සන්ථව )

ඊ - ලක්ෂාන්ත අතුකෝරාල ( 2014, සරසවි )

මීළඟ මීවිත - රුවන් බන්දුජීව ( 2013, රුවන් බන්දුජීව )

හැටේ වත්තේ මග්දලේනා - සෞම්‍ය සඳරුවන් විතානගේ ( 2013, සෞම්‍ය සඳරුවන් විතානගේ )


(originally published in 29th February, 2016)

මල් සුවඳැති හිසරදයක් - වසන්ත ප්‍රදීප් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි

මට කවිය සමඟ අරෝවක් ඇත. කවිය ම උසස් සාහිත්‍ය කලා නිර්මාණය යැයි විශ්වාසයක් තිබේ. එනමුදු කවිය රස විඳීමට වැය කල යුතු කාලය සුළු පටු නැත. එසේ කාලය වැය කොට අප කියවා ඇත්තේ සාමාන්‍ය මට්ටමේ කවක් ම ය - එය විටෙක වචන සම්ඟ සෙල්ලම් කරලීමකි -  විටක 'පට්ට ගැසූ' භාවයක් නැවත කවියට ගෙතීමකි - විටෙක 'අයිස්ක්‍රීම් සමඟ සීනි සම්බල්' ආරේ වචන මිශ්‍රිත ය - විටක දරුණු ගැට ලිහා බලන්නට පොළඹවන ආරෙන් ලිඛිතව ලිහා බලද්දි අරුමයක් නැති දෙයකි - විටෙක පද බැඳීම දුටු විට 'හානේ මටත් කවියෙක් වෙන්න පුළුවනි' කියා සිතෙන අයුරකි - මෙවන් ප්‍රතිඵළ පමණක් බහුලව ලැබෙන බව දුටු කල, ඒ එතරම් විස්මිත නොවූ කව වෙනුවෙන් මා ගෙවූ මගේ ජීවිතයේ කොටස, හෙවත් කාලය ගැන මට කම්පාවක් ඇති වේ. සිතා හෝ නොසිතා හෝ, අවිඥ්ඥාණික ව හෝ, මා සමඟ පොත් කියවන බොහෝ මිතුරන් (අයෙක් දෙන්නෙක් ඇර) කවියෙන් ඈත් වී සිටින්නේ ඒ නිස යැයි සිතමි. මෙහෙව් වට පිටාවක දී කලින් කල ඇත්තට ම රස විඳිය හැකි කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් හමු වීම කවියට ගත කරන ප්‍රතිලාභ උපරිමයෙන් ම ලැබීමක් නිසා ඉන් ලැබෙන සතුට සැලකිය යුතු තරම් ය. පසු ගිය අවුරුදු කිහිපයේ මෙවන් අවස්ථා උදා වූයේ නම් ඒ අල්ප සංඛ්‍යාවක්ම ය. මෙසේ මට කාව්‍ය රස වින්දනය බොහෝ සේ ගෙන ආ සංග්‍රහය,  2022 පළ වූ හොඳම කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය වෙනුවෙන් ගොඩගේ සම්මානය, ලක්ෂාන්ත අතුකෝරාල සමඟ සම සම්මානයක් ලෙස බෙදා ගත් වසන්ත ප්‍රදීප් හෙට්ටිආරච්චිගේ 'මල් සුවඳැති හිසරදයක්' ය.  2023 වසරේ මාධ්‍ය සාහිත්‍ය සිරස් තල වල කියැවුනේ, ලක්ෂාන්ත අතුකෝරාල ගේ 'හැඟුම් ගඟෙහි හැංගිලා' අප රට ප්‍රධාන කාව්‍ය සම්මාන හතර ම ජය ගත් බවකි. ලක්ෂාන්ත ගේ දක්ෂතා අප දන්නා හෙයින් එම සංග්‍රහය ගැන බලාපොරොත්තු තබා ගෙන එය කියවීම අන් දවසකට කල් දමා, මා කියවීමට තෝරා ගත්තේ 'මල් සුවඳැති හිසරදයක්' ය. කුමන කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය සියළු සම්මාන දිනූ ලක්ෂාන්ත ගේ කවියට සම වීද ? ඇරත්, ගොඩගේ හැර අන් කිසිදු සම්මනායකට නිර්දේශ වීමට හෝ සමත් නොවූ ? මා මේ කවි ටික බලන්නට පටන්ගත්තේ තරමක සැකයකිනි. එනමුදු, පළමු කවි පංතියේ සිටම එම සැකය කෙමෙන් දුරු වෙමින්, මෙය සාර්ථක කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් ම බව මට පසක් විය.

මේ සංග්‍රහයේ මට හමු වූ ම වඩාත් විඳි කවි පංතිය 'පද්‍යපානී පොකුණ පාමුල පිපාසිතයෝ' ය.

"එසේ නොකියව...
කිසිවෙකුත් බීව ද, නොබීව ද
එම පොකුණු ජලයෙහි රැඳී ඇති
මහරු අරුමය නිම නොවේ
පවත්නා රස හිඟ නොවේ...
අමිල බව වියැකී නොයේ..."

මේ කිසිවකු දන්නා තරමින් නොබීපූ අමෘතය වෙනුවෙන් කොන්දේසි නොමැතිව පෙනී සිටීම, පමණක් නොව, බ්/බැතියෙන් පෙළ ගැසීම, කාල ගෝට්ටී ඇති කරගැනීමට ද බොහෝ පසුබට නොවෙත්. කවියා මේ පිපාසිතයෝ, සහ අන්ධව ඒ වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින්නෝ ගැන අපූරු කවක් ගොතා ඇත.

ඊට නොදෙවෙනි අපූරු ම කවි පංතියකි, 'හැඟීමක් ලෙස උපදිනා සංසාරමය බාධකය', කවි පංතිය. පති වියෝවෙන් කලකට පසුව, යොවුන් හදකට නොසිතූ, සහ විටෙක නොපැතූ අයුරින් නැවත ආකර්ශනයක් ළඟ නතර විය හැක. එහෙත් සංස්කෘතියක් යදම් ඊට ඉඩ දේවි ද ?

"පුරුදු ලෙස මාස අගක
 ඔහු මාපියන් දෙදෙන
 පැටවු සනසනු පිණිස පැමිණිය ද
 ගේට්ටුව නොවැසෙනා ගැටලුවෙහි තතු විත්ති
 උන් වෙතින් සැඟවීමි

 ඒ අතර අ'ගල් තුඩ
 නොනැවතී ලියලමින්
 ගේට්ටුව වළක්නා පිණිස වැඩෙනා වගක්
 සීත රෑ සිහිනෙන් ද
 දවාලේ සැබවින් ද දැකගතිමි"

 විටෙක ජීවිතයේ එක් අයෙකුට වටිනා ම මතක සටහන්,  කාලය ගෙනෙනා වෙනස්කම් මධ්‍යයේ වුව ගලේ කෙටුවා සේ මතකයේ ම නැවත නැවත රැව් පිළිරැව් දෙයි. "අතීතයෙන් ආ කවියක්", එවැනි අවස්ථාවක් සිහි ගන්වන්නකි. 

"අවුරුදු බොහෝ ගෙවී
ඔබ නිසා මුල් වරට මගේ හිත ගැස්සුණ
පත්තර කඩය තිබූ තැන පුංචි බස්නැවතුම
තල්ලු කරගෙන ගිහින් දුරකට
තිබෙන්නේ දැන් එය
සුපිරි පොළ දොරටුව අසල"

"වෙනස් දෙන්නෙක් එකෙක් වේවි ද?",  "ප්‍රේමයේ කමටහන් නොලද්දී", "චමත්කා", "මිදුල ඇමදීම", "සොඳයි දැඩි කළැ නිසා අප උන්", "පහන් දැල්වූ ගනඳුර", ආදී තවත් සාර්ථක කවි පංති රැසකින් මෙම සංග්‍රහය පොහොසත්‍ ය. කවියා කවි මාතෘකා තෝරගෙන ඇත්තේ පාඨක සිත කෙනිත්තීමට සමත් අයුරින් සහ එම කෙනිත්තීමේ විඳීම විනාඩි කිහිපයක් ම පවතින ආකාරයෙනි - මාතෘකාවෙන් එතරම පොහොසත් නොවූ කවි තැන් කිහිපයක වුවද, ඒවාද හොඳින් නිමවුණු කවිම ය.

සිංහල කවිය ගැන වද වෙන්නෝ, අනිවාර්‍යයෙන් කියවිය යුතු කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් ලෙස දකිමි.

ශ්‍රේණිය: ****1/2