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Two creative minds at work

Most of us are born with cre-ative minds. But it is only a few of us who really put our minds to work and end up being successful in life. In this case it was two creative minds put together that resulted in a successful story.

For Jayasena Rajapakse and Reginald Inch creating designs out of wrought iron was nothing new. Having studied magazines and books and using their own creative imagination, Rajapakse and Inch have succeeded in turning out some unusual and unique works of art for their discerning customers.

Today this duo has opened their very own shop 'Home Collection' at Anderson Road, Nedimala, Dehiwala with the intention of providing their longstanding customers with good quality products at a reasonable price. 

When walking into their small but cosy shop at Anderson Road you may think twice about what this place has to offer. But it is only when you speak to Inch or Rajapakse that you realise what this duo is capable of offering their customers.

Home Collection had on display beautifully designed pot holders, mirrors in oval and square shapes, plant stands, candle stands, serviette holders, sauce bottle holders, wine bottle holders, garden furniture, garden benches, indoor furniture, towel racks for 'His' and 'Her' and candle holders that can be fixed on walls made out of wrought iron. Inch and Rajapakse use the trunks of the kitul, coconut and arecanut trees to frame posters of Lord Buddha, thereby creating unusual designs for photo frames.   

Home Collection also has original kithul treacle, jaggery, sandalwood soap and jute bags for customers who are on the lookout for those original and genuine products.   

Speaking to The Sunday Leader Inch said initially he and his partner were designing wrought iron furniture and ornamental products and supplying to shops and stores in bulk supplies for the last three years. Inch and Rajapakse had no prior experience in designing wrought iron products. However their interest in marketing a new product was what made them decide on studying the subject and putting their creativity to good use. 

"We didn't have our own shop. But then we realised that as our customer base grew bigger day by day that it would be a good idea for us to start our own shop. There is nothing like having your own place. While giving our customers the best in quality and price we are also providing them with a personalised service," Inch said.

He added that any customer can give them their preference be it furniture, ornaments or a pot stand. "Whatever the customer wants we will make it according to their request, as our main aim is to cater to our customers' requirements. In that sense we provide a service that other shops that sell wrought iron products cannot give," Inch explained.

Book Review

Shehani Gomes' debut novel

Reviewed by Lakmali Gunawardena

In the time given her to thank, at the launch of her first novel, a  very young woman writer, described as "exceptionally perceptive" in the striking back cover of the book, called herself rather "eccentric", and confessed to having "dropped out" of law-school. She also revealed that while others doodled drawings while taking down notes, her notebooks while following classes at CIMA were filled with doodled writing. The makings of a writer?

 In the opening chapter and paragraph of Learning To Fly, Shehani Gomes plunges us into that all too familiar childhood game - a paper-boat race between the principal character Kala and her friend Sumi.

The reader takes a paper-boat ride right through the book, not knowing where the current of words will carry, with a young girl attending classes, drawn into an emotional love triangle with a young man with a learning disability - Dylan, whom she meets in church, and Nadia, his friend. We move through an affair of working girl to a married woman expecting her first child. All through the reading, one wonders where fiction - which the novel is - begins and ends in Kala's mind.  

Kala's world is definitely urban and modern, as the publishers Perera-Hussein term it. The English the writer uses is that of the young - hip, irreverent and at times vulnerable. Clarity is hardly sought in the outpourings of emotional hypersensitivity at times, becoming a characteristic of the writer and her characters. The words, in short sentences and clipped dialogue, move us through the denouement of the novel.

The language is tender when Kala is with her sister Nirmaleen, protective of her first flute recital nerves, wondering if the blind felt love the same way. It hardens when Kala reacts to her boss or a parent who beats a son or daughter. Occasionally, the reader is given brief reflective, poetic glides of prose that slow the tempo of the writing.

Kala carries the shock of the sudden accidental death of her friend Sumi, in bursts of touching flashbacks of girlhood experiences shared, titled 'Rituals with Sumi'- of singing loud and off key, lighting candles, watering plants in the night while out at camp in school.

The affair of a young office worker with her boss whom she describes in brutal terms, propels us into the sudden death of a parent, the brutality of physical abuse of children by parents who react violently to the behaviour of their offspring. 

At times one wonders where one is in this Sri Lankan novel as when one sees the romantic front cover. I am reminded of Asoka Handagama's film, Thani Thatuwen Piyabanna, again made for a "globalised" audience which could have been filmed and located anywhere - in South America or one of the island ports that ring round the equator. In the film one was anchored to our island by one of the languages we speak - Sinhala.

In the novel just as one wonders where one is, a term "Nadia baba," or "do you want a toffee?" or "lorry" bring us into our small island. It's only towards the end, with the suicide of a preschool teacher that words get mixed into the English of the novel, linking the link language into the indigenous.

Shehani Gomes has promised more in an interview. If all this outpouring of her creativity found form in a first novel, one hopes for more writing in print from Shehani. Learning To Fly is Published by Perera-Hussein and priced at Rs. 600.

- Lakmali Gunawardena (Univ. Ceylon, Peradeniya and Univ. of Poitiers, France) is the author of Kusuma, A Pigeon Learns To Fly, and Song For The Setting Sun. 

Galle Fest goes from good to great


 Thomas Keneally

The Third Galle Literary Festival (GLF) was without a doubt the most interesting so far and will have festival patrons talking for weeks to come about the good, bad and great bits the festival had to offer this year.

Held in the World Heritage Site of Galle Fort from January 28 to February 1, the GLF featured a spectacular line up of internationally renowned authors including Germaine Greer, Pico Iyer, Edna O'Brien, Romesh Gunesekera and Moses Isegawa as well as the cream of local talent.

One of the highlights of this festival was Booker Prize winner Thomas Keneally, author of the international best seller Schindler's Ark, who guided the audience through his other celebrated works in one of the most anticipated sessions titled Beyond Schindler. Kshanika Argent caught up with the round bellied, cheery storyteller who took time out from a hectic schedule to talk about the festival, Sri Lanka and Biggles the Pilot.

 Q: Do you ever regret leaving priesthood?

A: No, never because I think I would've been a very miserable priest. Not only because of celibacy but also because of the suppression of my personal opinions. Because you'd be committing the sin of pride, but it's really the sin of original thought. I don't think that the church or I lost much in losing me. 

Q: Are you still a spiritual person?

A: I'm not so sure about that.I drink wine and I'm trying to lose weight - so not sure at all. But I am very interested in the way landscapes embody presences which may or may not be divine; spiritually inhabited landscapes. I can understand the Australian aborigines believe in that. But I am interested in spirituality and theology whatever it may be - Hinduism, Buddhism etc.

Q: Your first time in Sri Lanka?

A: My second in fact but the first time barely counted. It makes me want to come back because I've met many British, Australian and Europeans here who seem to be captured by Sri Lanka. I'd love to have the time to come back as a tourist, spend a few days in Galle and in Kandy.

Q: Any South Asian authors who have caught your interest?

A: A lot of Indian and Sri Lankans. But the only problem is that the Sri Lankans you know are the ones being published in English like Michael Ondaatje and Romesh Gunasekera and you don't really meet the non-expat writers like Shehan Karunathilake (The Painter and Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew) who seemed very interesting to me. Had I not come to this literary festival I would never have met him so literary festivals help bring that sort of thing about.

I mean in Australia we don't even read New Zealand writers and they don't read about us. It does strike me that there are a lot of young Sri Lankans who are very literary, kids who really want to write and Moses Isegawa who's just a terrific writer is a great example of what happens in a post colonial situation, of the talent that a country can produce.

Q: Schindler's List has and still is your most acclaimed piece of work. How do you feel about that?

A:  It's like being a mother I suppose. You have one child that wins school prizes and excels in everything he does and is great and that's your most visibly successful of your kids; but then there are other children who can't but they're the most precious as they need more support. I wish Spielberg would turn all my books into movies!

Q:  You said earlier in your session that Sri Lanka doesn't get much coverage in the international media, why do you think that is?

A: I think the situation here is very misunderstood internationally; it gets a simplicity treatment in the world press but then that happens with every conflict in the world. And then there's the problem of just accepting the government press handouts. My theory is that if big resources are involved they get big attention. There's oil in Sudan but it's not always oil.as long as there are Western companies, Western investments and Westerners in danger then yes there'll be major coverage. 

Q: Why does the world continue to watch?

A: We live in a passive community that has allowed many bad things to happen around the world. Take Rwanda for instance; we're better at looking back at history and saying 'Oh what a terrible war, what a horrible way to treat people,' but when our own society is faced with a war.we're just not good at problems that occur in our lifetime. After reading finished writings on wars and things we're in a position to say 'oh how horrifying.' It's easier to identify problems of the past.

Also, politics can confuse us on problems of the present and we go into conflicts with our own prejudices. A minister in Australia once said that I'm anti-Australian because I opposed the automatic detention of immigrants. Because I opposed a policy I was unpatriotic, it's a common thing. But still I believe we're lucky to have the level of freedom we enjoy in Australia - although there have been all kinds of crazy policy's introduced after 9/11.

Keneally is one of Australia's most popular and prolific writers, having published more than 30 novels, dramas, screenplays and books of non-fiction. He was short-listed for the Booker Prize three times before winning it for Schindler's Ark, which was later made into an Academy Award winning film Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg.

As a young man, Keneally studied for the priesthood but left just before ordination. From 1960, he worked as a school teacher, coached football and studied law part time. His first novel was published in 1964 but it was only after the publication of his third novel Bring Larks And Heroes did he become a full-time writer.

Some of his favourite books from his childhood include Treasure Island and The Biggles Series about a pilot called Biggles who 'flew all over the place.'

February 13 and 14 at Lionel Wendt Theatre

Elizabeth Moir School presents Animal Farm!

For their annual school play, Elizabeth Moir School have decided to produce an adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. This promises to be one of those rare plays that will appeal to all ages.

Set against colourful sets and vibrant costumes, children can enjoy the comic value of the animals on display, whilst adults will recognise the analogy of the farm itself and the perceived ideals of communist governments.  In this regard, it is a must see for students of literature, history and social sciences. 

The well known story focuses on the rebellion of the animals on Manor Farm, who take on the task of governing themselves. As with communist Russia during the revolution, they dream of a world of equality and common goals. Predictably the pigs soon become corrupted by their creature comforts and assume power of the new regime.

Although the play explores serious themes, it will be produced in an enjoyable, lively and humorous manner. The power hungry pigs will be played by Angeleen Renker, Anithra Basnayake and Emily Hayward and Inshard Haqque assumes the role of the negligent farmer. The heroic Boxer will be played by Ashley Karunarajah, the maternal Clover by Sabrina Ghouse and the ditzy Mollie by Amelia Ball.

Other noteworthy performances are given by Tariq-Ur Rahman as the sarcastic donkey Benjamin and Tamara Imboden as a startlingly realistic cat. This cast represents an interesting blend of experienced actors and those who have not had leading roles before.  This manifests itself in a fresh and original take on the characters and the play itself with amazing costumes made by Rishard of Raheem's Tailors.

The students of Elizabeth Moir School have worked extremely hard to make this stage adaptation relevant and accessible to any audience member and their enthusiasm ensures a fine production. Tickets will be available at the Elizabeth Moir Senior School.

For a romantic rendezvous

By Nirmala Kannangara

Six more days to Valentines Day, and the Mt. Lavinia Hotel where the tale of a love affair between the then Ceylonese Governor Thomas Maitland and Lavinia Aponsuwa began more than 200 years ago is ready to offer many choices for those who want to indulge in a romantic rendezvous.

According to Director, Food and Beverage, Mt. Lavinia Hotel, Kamal Munasinghe, due to 'popular demand' Love Nests would be created on the beach for those who want to experience absolute privacy on Valentines Day.

To attract the lovers

"This concept was introduced mainly to attract lovers who wish to spend time together in a romantic atmosphere. Each nest could accommodate two and is fully covered and opens to the Indian ocean," Munasinghe told The Sunday Leader.

Unlock your lover's heart at the Baywatch tower, which is set high above on stilts with an astounding view of the limitless horizon where the more adventurous are assured of a memorable experience.

Or why not rekindle your fire at the Governor's Rooftop where you could prepare a meal for your beloved on your own Hibashi grill?

Rekindle the fire

Here, only four couples could get the opportunity to rekindle the fire so privately and for those who need to be alone for a while away from the children, professional nannies would be available to take care of the kids.

The oldest nightclub in the country The Hut will be the venue for the Caribbean Valentines Party and for those who wish to dine under the canopy of glittering stars, it's the Terrace where you could hold your lover tight, and whisper sweet nothings.

A professional nanny service is available for the convenience of  parents who need to have their little treasures nearby.  For the lovers who wish to pamper themselves in ultimate romance this Valentine's Day look no further than the Mt. Lavinia Hotel where many more surprises await.

A mix of the old and new

Enjoy the sound of the waves that crash against the beach mixed with the best retro music provided by one of the talented bands in town, 'Vision' on Valentines Day at the Beach Restaurant at Berjaya Mount Royal Hotel, Mt. Lavinia and revive your love life.

Fall in love under the glittering stars at the Valentines Day celebrations with your lover and no doubt this would be an ideal chance for you to indulge in the best of Sinhala and English evergreens - old and new-  dished out by veteran Mariazelle Gunathilake and Damayantha Kuruppu.

This would be a great chance for those who really need a break from the monotony of life and Berjaya Mount Royal Hotel is fully geared to provide you with the best of cuisine and beverages to throw away your boredom.

The celebration is scheduled to start at 7.30 p.m and will go on till dawn and those who have a liking for DJ music too would not be disappointed as 'Outburst' will provide music to keep toes tapping.

According to the organising committee prizes and surprises await those taking part. Tickets are available at the hotel and Video International, Nawala Road Rajagiriya.

 

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