Meeting Tissa through "Bringing Tony Home"
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When I first read the novella "Bringing Tony Home" , I fell in love with the book, turned nostalgic, got on my mo-bike and went in search of the remains of where the old Kotte road met the "New Road" ( always, the High level road to me - since it was never "new", for me ). I found out that most of what Tissa had identified could still recognized, that I had seen them albeit with passivity and ignorance till then. Round about that time I had read "පිටගංකාරයෝ" (The Outsiders) as well, and to me the nostalgia was over-whelming. I even wrote a letter Tissa, which I never posted.
Since then Tissa Abeysekara found an international publisher for his novella, to which he added three more stories of the same vein. Having re-read the story "Bringing Tony home", and the book by that name ( meaning the other three stories ), I would say that this is where Tissa came to re-read his life; his attempt to come to terms with his life. It is largely confessional, very "Sinhalese" in his English writing (hope I make sense - if not, read the book to understand ), and a trip with the end result of probably accepting him for what he was, (if i may venture so far as to dare comment ) .
These tales are all about his him, his grandparents, parents, his loves, his mistakes and most importantly his life, which to me appears as one which has been lived to its' fullest. His writes of his love for his mother, his love-hate relationship with his father, the sudden change in his family's fortunes, his troubled adolescence, his love affairs and marriages - and their failures. We see here Tissa doing his own portrait, not as a biography but as glimpses of his life, and he appears to have been as true as he possibly could. We see here, a man now in his mid-to-late sixties, telling the world about the village he grew up in, it's associated histories, it's fauna and flora, it's landscape, and how it changed irrecoverably in front of his own eyes, a phenomenon which had begun even at the time of his birth and, he cries for it. The book is full of nostalgia and the mood is melancholy. Elsewhere (in "Roots, Reflections and Reminisces") Tissa had conceded that however much he tried to be non-partial and unattached to in his writing, he has failed (gloriously, so ) , and emotions creep in to take over whenever he writes. Contemplating which, maybe that is the very reason why Tissa wrote his two-part Sinhala novel පිටගංකාරයෝ in the style of a movie script, to filter out emotion, with only an essential description of the happenings available to compliment the script, leaving the reader to formulate his own emotional tapestry.
One thing I noted was that in this particular international publication he had an eye for the international readership, over and above his own countrymen. An instance where this becomes clear is with respect to වෙරළු (Weralu) trees, fruits and flowers. In the original novella the fruit is referred purely as වෙරළු ( maybe it's similarity with olives are mentioned in passing ) - yet it is ultimately and purely a වෙරළු tree we all know, it's fruits, it's flowers and it's fragrance. In the third story of the book "Elsewhere - something like a love story", වෙරළු plays a significant part in the atmosphere in which the story is created - but it is no longer our වෙරළු, but the more distant olive - the difference in the two is quite significant, although both are said to be of the same family. Not knowing the fragrance of the olive flower, I am at a loss to figure out whether olive would become as natural in the landscape of the story as වෙරළු most obviously was. I felt that Tissa bungled here, albeit the lone instance so, in this book.
Another noteworthy aspect I think I should note down here, is the ease with which a Sri Lankan reader (not necessarily a Sinhalese ) could construct Tissa Abeysekara through these stories. I do not mean the history that he himself has written down, but the mental make up of the man. Tissa was an individual deeply in love with the Kelani valley, and possibly was till his dying day. He was in love with his people, his culture, their language, their customs and the landscape. It is unlikely that his forte that of script-writing ever offered him the opportunity to bare his true self, and come to terms with himself as his latter day writings did.
A little dive into each of the four tales follow (Best left unread until book is read in full ):
In "Bringing Tony Home", the plot a very thin one, was quite literally the fact that Tissa had walked from Depanama , Pannipitiya to Egodawatta, Wijerama with his dog, Tony, tied to himself, with the family's rations in his hands, and the priceless ration cards down his sweaty shirt (i.e. they had moved houses previously, leaving the dog behind.) The exercise spent him, made him delirious with high fever for three days. While the bravado could be appreciated for what it was, it is the fabric that he had woven it in that makes the tale a much loved one, and binds the reader into a spell. The surroundings at Depanama and then at Egodawatta, the still very young අලුත් පාර (new road - i.e. high level road ), the change in his family fortunes and most importantly the realization that the past is past, and one cannot walk back to it however much one yearns for it, which is the closing "theme" of the tale, all but make the reader hear the writer cry for the times that were.
Tissa comes to terms with is parentage and the change of his family fortunes which came along side his adolescence. The second story (Poor young man: A Requiem ) is his way of writing an honest ode to his father - his father with whom he has had a love-hate relationship - the father who taught him to love the English language, his father far from perfect, but still his own father. I guess that a man starts to understand his father only upon the realization that for better or for worse, he is his father's son, and the only way to come to terms with himself is through acceptance, that he too is a flawed man just like his father was. It is this twin actions of acceptance and forgiving that makes one man love, the man who gave life to him. These thoughts are the natural culmination upon reading Tissa's tale with his father as the central figure.
The third tale is possibly the most confessional. The central character is a girl who is usually described in our circles as "fast". It is a harrowing tale of abuse, innocence, self-discovery and confession, for the author himself comes out in poor light, due to his trait of rank opportunism. This again is a tale deeply etched in the Kaleni vally, with the ever present " පුංචි කෝච්චිය" (i.e. narrow gauge rail train ), making the landscape complete as it does with the three other stories.
The Moaning pond is Tissa's translation of the word " හෝ-ගාන පොකුණ", a term largely used back in the days when a man or woman from the interior of the country, especially the central hills, made reference to the sea, which he or she may never see in their lives ( I personally feel that this is a much better translation than the one used for the misleading " වෙරළු"), for the essence of the meaning is retained. Again this is a tale with hardly a plot, but the narration, description of the environs, the culture of a people retold in Tissa's inimitable style, makes it a gem. In essence it is Tissa's journey to discover the roots of his maternal grandmother, while in ipso-facto a honeymoon.
To conclude, to me this is the best work of english fiction by an author of Sri Lankan origin, surpassing The Chinaman, The Funny boy, and even The English Patient - for it is unique in it's description of a life style that I am still part of, albeit changed from the days that Tissa reminisces.
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When I first read the novella "Bringing Tony Home" , I fell in love with the book, turned nostalgic, got on my mo-bike and went in search of the remains of where the old Kotte road met the "New Road" ( always, the High level road to me - since it was never "new", for me ). I found out that most of what Tissa had identified could still recognized, that I had seen them albeit with passivity and ignorance till then. Round about that time I had read "පිටගංකාරයෝ" (The Outsiders) as well, and to me the nostalgia was over-whelming. I even wrote a letter Tissa, which I never posted.
Since then Tissa Abeysekara found an international publisher for his novella, to which he added three more stories of the same vein. Having re-read the story "Bringing Tony home", and the book by that name ( meaning the other three stories ), I would say that this is where Tissa came to re-read his life; his attempt to come to terms with his life. It is largely confessional, very "Sinhalese" in his English writing (hope I make sense - if not, read the book to understand ), and a trip with the end result of probably accepting him for what he was, (if i may venture so far as to dare comment ) .
These tales are all about his him, his grandparents, parents, his loves, his mistakes and most importantly his life, which to me appears as one which has been lived to its' fullest. His writes of his love for his mother, his love-hate relationship with his father, the sudden change in his family's fortunes, his troubled adolescence, his love affairs and marriages - and their failures. We see here Tissa doing his own portrait, not as a biography but as glimpses of his life, and he appears to have been as true as he possibly could. We see here, a man now in his mid-to-late sixties, telling the world about the village he grew up in, it's associated histories, it's fauna and flora, it's landscape, and how it changed irrecoverably in front of his own eyes, a phenomenon which had begun even at the time of his birth and, he cries for it. The book is full of nostalgia and the mood is melancholy. Elsewhere (in "Roots, Reflections and Reminisces") Tissa had conceded that however much he tried to be non-partial and unattached to in his writing, he has failed (gloriously, so ) , and emotions creep in to take over whenever he writes. Contemplating which, maybe that is the very reason why Tissa wrote his two-part Sinhala novel පිටගංකාරයෝ in the style of a movie script, to filter out emotion, with only an essential description of the happenings available to compliment the script, leaving the reader to formulate his own emotional tapestry.
One thing I noted was that in this particular international publication he had an eye for the international readership, over and above his own countrymen. An instance where this becomes clear is with respect to වෙරළු (Weralu) trees, fruits and flowers. In the original novella the fruit is referred purely as වෙරළු ( maybe it's similarity with olives are mentioned in passing ) - yet it is ultimately and purely a වෙරළු tree we all know, it's fruits, it's flowers and it's fragrance. In the third story of the book "Elsewhere - something like a love story", වෙරළු plays a significant part in the atmosphere in which the story is created - but it is no longer our වෙරළු, but the more distant olive - the difference in the two is quite significant, although both are said to be of the same family. Not knowing the fragrance of the olive flower, I am at a loss to figure out whether olive would become as natural in the landscape of the story as වෙරළු most obviously was. I felt that Tissa bungled here, albeit the lone instance so, in this book.
Another noteworthy aspect I think I should note down here, is the ease with which a Sri Lankan reader (not necessarily a Sinhalese ) could construct Tissa Abeysekara through these stories. I do not mean the history that he himself has written down, but the mental make up of the man. Tissa was an individual deeply in love with the Kelani valley, and possibly was till his dying day. He was in love with his people, his culture, their language, their customs and the landscape. It is unlikely that his forte that of script-writing ever offered him the opportunity to bare his true self, and come to terms with himself as his latter day writings did.
A little dive into each of the four tales follow (Best left unread until book is read in full ):
In "Bringing Tony Home", the plot a very thin one, was quite literally the fact that Tissa had walked from Depanama , Pannipitiya to Egodawatta, Wijerama with his dog, Tony, tied to himself, with the family's rations in his hands, and the priceless ration cards down his sweaty shirt (i.e. they had moved houses previously, leaving the dog behind.) The exercise spent him, made him delirious with high fever for three days. While the bravado could be appreciated for what it was, it is the fabric that he had woven it in that makes the tale a much loved one, and binds the reader into a spell. The surroundings at Depanama and then at Egodawatta, the still very young අලුත් පාර (new road - i.e. high level road ), the change in his family fortunes and most importantly the realization that the past is past, and one cannot walk back to it however much one yearns for it, which is the closing "theme" of the tale, all but make the reader hear the writer cry for the times that were.
Tissa comes to terms with is parentage and the change of his family fortunes which came along side his adolescence. The second story (Poor young man: A Requiem ) is his way of writing an honest ode to his father - his father with whom he has had a love-hate relationship - the father who taught him to love the English language, his father far from perfect, but still his own father. I guess that a man starts to understand his father only upon the realization that for better or for worse, he is his father's son, and the only way to come to terms with himself is through acceptance, that he too is a flawed man just like his father was. It is this twin actions of acceptance and forgiving that makes one man love, the man who gave life to him. These thoughts are the natural culmination upon reading Tissa's tale with his father as the central figure.
The third tale is possibly the most confessional. The central character is a girl who is usually described in our circles as "fast". It is a harrowing tale of abuse, innocence, self-discovery and confession, for the author himself comes out in poor light, due to his trait of rank opportunism. This again is a tale deeply etched in the Kaleni vally, with the ever present " පුංචි කෝච්චිය" (i.e. narrow gauge rail train ), making the landscape complete as it does with the three other stories.
The Moaning pond is Tissa's translation of the word " හෝ-ගාන පොකුණ", a term largely used back in the days when a man or woman from the interior of the country, especially the central hills, made reference to the sea, which he or she may never see in their lives ( I personally feel that this is a much better translation than the one used for the misleading " වෙරළු"), for the essence of the meaning is retained. Again this is a tale with hardly a plot, but the narration, description of the environs, the culture of a people retold in Tissa's inimitable style, makes it a gem. In essence it is Tissa's journey to discover the roots of his maternal grandmother, while in ipso-facto a honeymoon.
To conclude, to me this is the best work of english fiction by an author of Sri Lankan origin, surpassing The Chinaman, The Funny boy, and even The English Patient - for it is unique in it's description of a life style that I am still part of, albeit changed from the days that Tissa reminisces.
This book made me very happy,sad and emotional. I was born and bred in Gangodawila ,Nugegoda in 1960s. And Tissa Abeysekara's London surroundings in this book are my present day living and working areas. Sadly we miss you Mr.Tissa Abeysekara. I finished reading this book for the second time by yesterday.
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