A timely book on hope
Kamala Wijeratne has published her poems and short stories since 1983 but she released her maiden novel ‘An Untold Story’ just this year. She received the Sahithyarathna - Life Time Award in September 2019 and has won State Literary Awards thrice for her poetry and short fiction, as well as awards from publishers S. Godage & Brothers . From 2013 she has been invited to India by the SAARC Festival of Writers and Literature to present her research and also poetry.
The cover of this book has a ‘Vatapatha’ - a fan used by Buddhist monks giving an indication of the theme of the novel – kindness and compassion to all beings, the Buddhist philosophy. Ne hi verenaverani sam man t id ha kuda can am a verena ca sam man ti es adham mo sam ant a no
“Hatred is no concession to aggression, it can only be soothed and pacified by loving kindness.”
The story revolves around the relationship between a Sinhala youth Vineetha and Mariaseelan, a 14-year-old LTTE child soldier brainwashed to believe that taking up arms will solve his problems. Both from very poor families, Vineetha aspires to become a doctor and Mariaseelan’s “dream was to be an engineer and migrate to Canada.” These hopes are shattered due to the war. Vineetha’s mother and baby brother are killed by the LTTE and Mariaseelan’s brother- an LTTE Sea Tiger, by government forces.
Yet the two decide to appease their loss in different ways. Vineetha becomes a Buddhist monk. “He realized his approach had to be different. He had taken to the yellow robe to seek his own peace, to fight and root out his anger within himself.” His guide was the Dhammapada.
Disodisan tam kaira V er iv a pan ave ran am Mic cap an hit an cit tam Paiyonamtatokaro
“What the ill placed mind does to him is far worse than whatever a foe does to his enemy.”
Mariaseelan joins the LTTE. “He was a reluctant recruit at first. He would lose going to school…..But the news of his brother’s death came like a stroke of lightning. His mother was asked to bring him to meet the leader.”
The story brings out the true emotions of the two, their strength of character and endurance.
Their paths cross when a badly injured Mariaseelan is found by Vineetha. Heen Naide, the village physician is summoned but refuses to treat the boy saying “Both of us will be killed for our pains. Have you forgotten? There is a war raging in the North. The army will brand us traitors!”
“To save an LTTE cadre! Your feet are not on this earth Podi Hamuduruwo! The LTTE will also kill us if they come to know that we are harbouring one of their cadres. They’ll think we got information from him.”
Vineetha ignores his excuses “You are born to a family of healers, and you have learnt the art. Use it to save his life.”
Later, even Mariaseelan, who was out for revenge understands the compassion of the monk, Heen Naide and the villagers, and changes his attitude towards taking revenge.
Vineetha wins a scholarship to enter King’s College but his happiness is marred when he is bullied by the sophisticated city boys. He is befriended by Suraj who even visits Vineetha’s humble home during school holidays and enjoys the quiet village life. “His stay in that arid, coarse environment was surprisingly idyllic. Walking the village path with Vineetha and the village children teaching them basic steps of football…..” The book draws on popular village culture, the way of life and the hospitality of the villagers.
This is a gripping story of fiction and reality of a 30-year war. It is an emotional experience looking back on the black days of the senseless war.
Mariaseelan loses his hand and Bandare who joined the army again due to poverty loses his leg. “We’ll come back in sealed polythene bags.” “It is better than living like this. Living like the dead….at least our families will be paid compensation.” It is the poorest of the poor from both sides who really ‘lost the war.’ The affluent Suraj is able to pick-up the threads and lead a normal life. He and Sughandika “sat under a flowering Cassia tree. The ground was covered with pink petals she noticed.”
A very readable novel, the author’s message is one of the importance of hope in times of adversity.