It was quite unbelievable for us to hear the demise of Professor Siri Gunasinghe (1925 – 2017). We who used to be intimate with him feel that he is still around us, shuttling from Victoria in Canada to Atulkotte, Adikaram Place in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte. He used to come from Canada at least once or twice a year to stay with his brother in Sri Lanka, Dharma Gunasinghe, the former Principal of Nalanda Vidyalaya, Colombo.
Siri Gunasinghe, our friend, teacher, and literary activist, I feel, had ushered in a new thinking vision in almost all the segments connected to arts and culture. My mind goes as far back as the late 1950s when he was a Sanskrit lecturer attached tot eh tutorial staff of the University of Peradeniya. Though he was a lecturer in Sanskrit, he was more known as a poet, an artist and a literary critic. He was more of an unconventional person who drew the attention of a free verse genre, where the peak achievement he showed to the local readership by his collection of poems titled as Mas Le Neti Ata (Bones sans blood and flesh).
This free verse collection drew the attention of many a scholar as a tour de force as well as a turning point in Sinhala poetic structure, poetic vision and experience.
The free verse genre which he denotes as Nisandas happened to be a controversial topic as it was pointed out by no other person than Professor Senarat Paranavitana that a type of free verse known as ‘Mukthaka Kavi’ has already been there prior to this tradition. But Siri Gunasinghe who was more vibrant in his views penned that free verse is not only free in structure but also should be free willed.
Followed by the success and controversies woven around the creative debut, Siri Gunasinghe brought out two more poetic works: Abinikmana and Ratu Kekula. In most discussions that ensued with him, both in literary seminars and broadcasts, he pointed out the broad vision of breaking the narrow barriers of traditional patterns of literary creative methods. This enhanced him in the creation of his first Sinhala novel, Hevanella, which was later translated into English as The Shadow by his wife, Hemamali Gunasinghe.
This novel received attention on two counts. The creation centred around a character named Jinadasa, resembling the character of Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, was more introspective than a tradition-bound narrative. This offbeat mode of writing transcended the mere plotting of a story. Then comes the literary technique in which it was written like Joyce and Virginia Woolf, Siri Gunasinghe adopted his own technique of the stream of consciousness where he excelled.
Hevanella drew the attention of most budding young creative writers who believed that Gunasinghe had paved the real track for their creative format and expression. Coming on to his research, one could find at least 50 learned articles written by him to journals of varying types at home as well as abroad.
To the well-known journal a the turn of the century, he wrote an eye-opening research article titled as Sinhala Contributions to the Buddha Statue. Gunasinghe drew attention to the gradually waning murals of most temples.
He in association with the late painter and scholar L T P Manju Sri tried the best to restore the temple murals. Manju Sri, a close relation of mine, once revealed that Gunasinghe is one of the few who knew the value of the ancient temples and other murals in various places in the country. His mainstay in research happened to be Sigiriya.
About Sigiriya, he brought out an outstanding work several years before his demise.
This work published in Sinhala and later translated into English was known to the reader as Sigiriya: Kashyapage Saundarya Pranamaya (2010). The English one was known as Kassapa’s Homage to Beauty (2008). These two contributions happened to be his most prestigious gifts to the reader.
Siri Gunasinghe’s enthusiasm in the cinema was unabating. From the late fifties until her departure to Canada he was interested in the creative aspects of cinematography. As a result, he had the chance of creating the trendsetting Sinhala film Sath Samudura in 1965, produced by Linus Disanayaka.
Those who assisted in the creative process included stalwarts such as Mahagama Sekera, D B Nihalsinghe, Wasantha Obeysekara, W D Amaradeva and Somadasa Alvitigala. They are no more. Denawaka Hamine, Edmund Wijesinha, Cyril Wickramage, Leena de Silva were some of the leading players identified with Sath Samudura. Once Gunasinghe said that he was inspired initially by an Irish play, Riders to the Sea written by John Millington Synge. Gunasinghe happened to know at least six languages: Pali, Sanskrit, French, English, Hindi and Sinhala. But he was outspoken enough to say that it is not the strict use of conventional grammar that matters but the flexibility in expression.
In a series of radio broadcasts during the mid-60s, he pressed this view. The radio talks were later compiled into a collection of essays titled as Chiranthana Sahitya Saha Kala. From time to time, he used to bring back to our mind what has been forgotten in order to kindle our interest in all creative moods.
I go down the memory lane, as far back as the early sixties. I had an assignment with the Arts Council of the then Cultural Affairs Ministry. I was commissioned to translate the UNESCO’s publication of J M L Peters’ Teaching about the Film. I was in need of help from Professor Siri Gunasinghe who lived at the time in the Mahakande of Peradeniya campus. We sat around 6 pm and went on till 8 pm at a stretch.
But I found it difficult to finish my translation as it consumed time. Even later on we used to sit together but failed to fulfil the task. I learnt a lot from the professor for which I am grateful.
I cease to believe that he is no more.
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