The Absence of Plurality in Sri Lankan Culture
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Tuesday, February 23, 2010 The absence of plurality in Sri Lankan culture I was invited by an Indian colleague to attend the mini conference at the ViBGYOR international film festival in Thissur, Kerala from 15 to 21 February, 2010. Unfortunately for me, an unavoidable commitment here in Sri Lanka that could not be altered on my sole wish, denied me the opportunity of being part of the discussions in Thissur, that I believe would have been contagiously inspirational. Nevertheless, expecting something positive to happen at least during the last hour, I drafted the paper below as a discussion note on Sri Lankan culture in the context of ethno – linguist polarisation. Denied such opportunity, leaving it here for any comment. In Sri Lanka, unfortunate indeed, but no media would talk of this Kerala based unique film event that has Sri Lanka in its discussion forum. In Sri Lanka, the talk is of a victorious end to the 30 plus years of ethnic conflict, even at forthcoming elections to its parliament. A victory for the Sri Lankan government that used its state security forces to eliminate the LTTE which led the armed struggle for a Separate “Thamil Eelam” State for the Tamil people, in the North – East of Sri Lanka. These two districts together are considered the homeland of Tamil people in Sri Lanka, that have over centuries emerged as a culturally distinct society, with a language and a religion of its own. It should be stressed that the Hindu religion in Sri Lankan Tamil society has its own distinct social and belief variance to that of Hinduism in India. The majority Sinhala community with Buddhism borrowed from North India which is no more a significant religion in Indian demography, settled in the Southern parts of Sri Lanka with its own distinct culture, again evolved over centuries. The Sinhala society has during the past decades developed an ideology that makes them feel ethnically superior and behaves politically with a logic that defines them as the historical heirs to the country. The present conflict in its ethno - linguistic form begins with this ideological polarisation, more after independence in 1948 that eventually led to the savage war, considered and calculated from after the 1983 July pogrom on Tamil people. This Sinhala supremacist ideology is what left Sinhala culture dormant in its modern life and therefore its aesthetic life mediocre, during the past few decades. It is a historical fact that civilisations flourished, only when their cultures were open and assimilative. All cultures that closed up looking inwards, left civilisations crumbling. The Sinhala cultural life could not surpass this truth. Ancient Sri Lanka, better known then as Ceylon, was without any worthy tradition(s) of music and song. Culturally, the Theravada Buddhist influence on ancient Sinhala society with its interpretation of human life with attachments on pleasure and greed as sinful, philosophically decried ambitions for secular joy and wealth in living. This turned into a social philosophy with feudal State power, that played negative on any growth of culture, rich in pleasurable pursuits of daily life. Philosophising a “middle path”, Theravada Buddhist influence on social life promoted mediocrity in culture sans art, music, song and dance forms. Culture was restricted to the creation of statues that venerated Lord Buddha in most. The famous Sigiriya frescoes is considered an accident with the influence of Mahayana Buddhism that established Sigiriya as a monastery during the period AD 477 – 495 and after, contrary to popular lore. Thus, when then Ceylon looked for cultural inspirations and strength during the British Colonial period, the Sinhala culture had to turn towards India that had a national independence movement against the Britishers, providing strong influence to the more subdued Ceylonese independence “struggle”. It was therefore no accident when Sinhala society and its culturally awaken activists were drawn more towards Hindustani – Uttara Bharatheeya music traditions, while the Tamilean culture was influenced with Karnataka and Dravidian music and dance traditions. What was nevertheless conspicuous and also startling in this cultural awakening of the Sinhala society is the absence of Sinhala Buddhist artistes in fostering music and song in the first two decades or so. Pioneering musicians and singers in pre independence Sinhala society were all, either Malays or Moors or Catholic/Christian Sinhalese. These Catholics/Christians smoothed their talents within church choirs and the Malays and Moors were of Indian origin and therefore with a strong musical background. Famous names of this pre independence Sinhala music world of Ceylon that prove it was nurtured by non Sinhala and non Buddhists were names like Lakshmi Bhai, Mohideen Baig, Daisy Daniel (Rukmani Devi on stage), M.K. Vincent, Ghouse Master, A.M. Raja, George W. Alwis (a Christian who later became Ananda Samarakoon and wrote the national anthem of SL), Don Joseph John (better known as Sunil Shantha), M.K. Rocksamy, Albert Perera (later Pundit Amaradeva), Hugo Master and a few years later, C.T. Fernando, Latha Walpola (maiden name was Rita Jenevi Fernando), Christopher Paul, G.S.B. Rani and many more. What is also important is, the whole world of Sinhala music and song was designed, moulded and fashioned through independence in 1948, on Uttara Bharatheeya tradition of music, from school sylabii to ranking of artistes in Radio Ceylon. The theoretical and ideological base of Sinhala music and song was thus firmly grounded on Uttara Bharatheeya music, taught in schools and heard over air waves. The mainstream music and song thus created, left out Kaffringa (Baila) traditions of singing introduced through Dutch colonialism, as less aesthetic and Western, though Radio Ceylon had at times given them air space. Radio Ceylon, the oldest broadcasting station in Asia, aired a special service called the “Hindi Service” on short waves in early 1950's that had a massive listener audience and raked in big money from India for commercial spots. Programmes in Hindi had super popular Indian announcers contracted, in the fame of Gopal Sharma, Vijey Kishore Dubey and Ameen Sayani. So was the Sinhala film industry, that for a change had a very big influence from South India, perhaps for its proximity for production work. Initial films in fact were South Indian Tamil films that were dubbed into Sinhala and most Sinhala films of that period had Tamil playback singers. A.M. Rajah and his wife Jikki were among the most famous from Tamil playback singers, who sang for Sinhala films. The first original local Sinhala film was in 1956, produced in Ceylon and directed by a Sri Lankan, the most respected and celebrated director Lester James Pieris, with a totally Sri Lankan caste and a technical team. Yet the Sinhala film industry had a whole list of Tamil producers and directors in M.S. Nayagam, K. Gunaratnam, T. Somasekaran, Robin Tampoe, K. Venkat and a superb cameraman in M.S. Anandan. So were music directors like Rocksamy, Muttusamy and A.E. Manoharan. What is unfortunate though is that in Sri Lanka, there were no Tamil films to be talked of. There were a few attempts at producing Tamil films, but the market was obviously for the imported South Indian Tamil films. It was M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) the hero in the 50's and early 60's who dominated the Sri Lankan Tamil heart. Thus there was no space for any Sri Lankan Tamil idol to steal his popularity. Definitely, not without a good flow of original local Tamil films. The last attempt at producing a Tamil film was by a Sinhala, left leaning rebel film director, Dharmasena Pathirajah, who was respected for his contribution to Sinhala cinema since 1970's. His Tamil film “Ponmani” too could not kindle enough interest to provoke the production of another Tamil film. With such Tamil influence and a massive presence of Tamil talent, why was it not possible to enrich and nurture a Tamil culture and why wasn't the Sinhala society interested in Tamil culture ? Was it market factors that restricted the influence and growth of a Tamil culture ? It is most importantly the social ideology that was fostered with State patronage that held all such cultural growth with plurality at abeyance. The State had its working ideology from governing politics that played for the majority Sinhala vote bank. Sinhala language made the official language of the country in 1956, gradually turned the whole social and State life in Sri Lanka into thinking in Sinhala. All State planning there after and to date were thought out in Sinhala and acted out in Sinhala areas too. A singular and a very conspicuous example is State planning of development ventures that spread very much in demographically Sinhala areas. Apart from all other “Sinhalising” of life, the economy that was heavily State run till 1978, but did not change ideologically thereafter too, left very little space for Tamil cultural growth. The famous “Sarasavi Film Festival” first held 46 years ago in 1964, has never had any slot for Tamil films and continues that way to date. So is the Presidential Awards ceremony. The State owned TV media has not provided any patronage for production of Tamil Tele-films (known as Tele drama), while the State owned TV corporation has projects that produced Sinhala Tele-films. The literary field had no Tamil interaction too with such Sinhalisation of State and society. There was one very healthy but isolated exchange of experience when Parakrama Kodituwakku a poet with many credits to his creative Sinhala poetry translated a collection of Tamil poetry titled “Indu Lanka” in early 1970's. There after the dialogue just fell apart and other reputed and recognised writers like Gamini Viyangoda, with his larger expose on international literature took the Sinhala reader to the world of especially Latino novels with Garci Marquez and Allende among others, introduced in translations.