Features
Rediscovering Martin Wickramasinghe
By Uditha Devapriya
The Martin Wickramasinghe Collection at the National Library in Colombo contains over 5,000 books. Most of them are worn out and dusty, though well preserved. Some are recent additions. The oldest among the collection date to the early 1910s. Straddling different periods, genres, and subjects, they remain a useful guide to the man who owned them, read them, and wrote on the topics they covered.
Arguably the most interesting point about them are the annotations. Wickramasinghe was a voracious reader, “omnivorous” as he called himself, and he spent much of his income on books. He was indiscriminate yet critical in what he read. This comes out quite well in the annotations. Some of the older books have notes every few pages. The more recent ones hardly have them at all. This shows that Wickramasinghe was learning about these subjects for the first time through these texts, and that he was reading as much as he could about them. As he read, he remembered. As he remembered, he annotated.
Most of these annotations are marginal comments. Some point to other sources. Many are critical, hardly any laudatory. On the side of one page in the 1934 edition of Caroline Rhys Davids’s Outline of Buddhism, to give one example, he argues the author seems “ignorant of modern anthropology.”
In his copy of Maurice Baring’s An Outline of Russian Literature, published in 1914, he critiques the author’s characterisation of Leo Tolstoy: responding to Baring’s comment that “Tolstoy wrote about himself from the beginning of his career to the end”, Wickramasinghe writes, “This observation is wrong”, adding that “it is… altruism which impels Tolstoy to confess all the wrongs he has committed.”
Between Baring’s book and Rhys Davids’s, there is a space of 20 years. During this period Wickramasinghe had matured and evolved. Beginning his life in Colombo as a bookkeeper to a shop owner, he went on to write articles to the Dinamina. In 1914 Wickramasinghe wrote his first novel, Leela. His preface to the first edition makes it clear how much of an influence the books he was reading had upon him. In no ambivalent terms, he notes the futility of drawing lines between Western and Eastern philosophy, science, between ways of looking at the world. The story itself unremittingly critiques tradition and order.
Such attitudes could only have been fostered through the books he was devouring. As he himself recounts in Upan Da Sita, he started reading rationalist and Western texts almost as soon as he shifted to Colombo in 1906.
Wickramasinghe’s granddaughter Ishani remembers his library all too well. “As a teenager I read D. H. Lawrence, Tolstoy, the Russians, from his collection,” she says. “For him, reading was a window to the world.” She recalls he was insistent that his children and grandchildren read English and that they did not limit themselves to Sinhala literature. “He regarded Sinhala literature highly,” she notes. “And he had a complicated relationship with Western culture. He critiqued it, yes, but he also recognised its value.”
The leading litterateur of his day, Wickramasinghe was one of the leading Sri Lankan, South Asian, and Asian cultural figures of his time. As Sarath Amunugama reminded me not long ago, he was a contemporary of not only Piyadasa Sirisena and W. A. Silva, but also Ananda Coomaraswamy and Cumaratunga Munidasa. Yet despite having passed away almost 50 years ago, Wickramasinghe’s life, work, and thought have yet to be studied fully by scholars. Last week marked his 135th birth anniversary.
In her study of Geoffrey Bawa, the historian Shanti Jayewardene notes that we have still not understood the intellectual modernists of South Asia. She includes in this pantheon not just Coomaraswamy and Cumaratunga Munidasa, but also George Keyt, Lionel Wendt, Chitrasena, Lester James Peries, Ediriweera Sarachchandra, and Ian Goonetilleke. Writing of Coomaraswamy, she notes that they all remain “poorly understood.”
Jayewardene also includes Martin Wickramasinghe. She refers to Anupama Mohan’s point that he “projected on to the rural, the possibility of recovering a subjectivity unsullied by colonial inequities.” Mohan’s book, Utopia and the Village in South Asia, dissects his writings on Sinhala rural culture and his supposed idealisation of it.
Whether Wickramasinghe’s framing of the culture he came from was as romantic as Mohan makes it out is debatable. Yet those writings, influenced as they were by the books he read at an early period, represent a rupture in the intellectual trajectory of colonial Sri Lanka. This is why it is difficult to place Wickramasinghe in the same league as Keyt, Wendt, and the 43 Group. The latter had to study the culture they were born to. Wickramasinghe, on the other hand, was a product of that culture. He did not have to study it to write on it.
Wickramasingha
The biggest challenge for scholars of Wickramasinghe, and of cultural modernism in 20th century Sri Lanka, is a lack of familiarity with his source texts, particularly those written in Sinhala. While Keyt, Wendt, and Peries have been studied exhaustively and examined from various perspectives, Wickramasinghe remains limited to a Sinhala speaking audience and a Sri Lankan scholarship.
This is a regrettable omission, given the many contributions he made, not merely to “Sinhala” culture but also to our understanding of that culture and the ways of life, and of seeing, which underpinned it. His novels, in particular those he wrote after 1944, have enjoyed a much greater reputation because they became prescribed texts at schools and universities even during his lifetime. As the political researcher Harindra Dassanayake puts it, “When you ask the question, ‘How did you first come across Wickramasinghe?’, you always get the same response: Madol Doowa.”
Perhaps such a reading is reductive. Seminal though his fiction was, it must be remembered that Wickramasinghe wrote 13 novels and some short stories, in addition to a few plays and two books of poetry. Though he forayed into journalism some years after his first novel was published, he made use of the space he got to write as much as he could on anything and everything he had read until then. This was a formative time in Sri Lanka’s modern history, when radical politics had reared its head and calls were made for self-government, when universal suffrage was about to be granted and the colonial order was rupturing from within. Wickramasinghe’s intervention at this point, massive as it is, can be gleaned from the articles he was writing, and getting published, in the press.
In this regard, he made two seminal contributions. He began writing articles in the Dinamina in 1916 and almost immediately wrote on science, evolution, philosophy, and anthropology. In Upan Da Sita Wickramasinghe recounts attending debates, reading periodicals, and subscribing to foreign magazines, all of which helped transmit Western radical ideas to a deeply colonised society. In writing on these topics, in a mode and form accessible to a Sinhala speaking audience, he went beyond other cultural figures who lacked such contact with mass audiences.
These articles, authored under the penname Hethuvadiya or “Rationalist”, gained enough attention, and controversy, to convince D. R. Wijewardene to hire him at Dinamina in 1920. 12 years later, he was promoted as Editor.
Not long afterwards he also began writing in English. In English he wrote mostly on Sinhala culture, Buddhism, and other aspects of Sri Lankan society and history. This intervention has yet to be appreciated in full. Before Wickramasinghe very few Sri Lankans or Ceylonese wrote so much on Sri Lankan culture and history. As Senake Bandaranayake has reminded us of Ananda Coomaraswamy, such intellectuals, drawn as they were from the very colonial societies they critiqued, projected a view of the country which tended to be anachronistic and romanticised.
Wickramasinghe went beyond these frameworks and, as Amunugama observes, explored the underpinnings of Sinhala society. In this he did not have to discover or rediscover his society, as Keyt did through literature and poetry and Wendt through photography. By the time he came of age, he had immersed himself in Sinhala and Buddhist literature well enough to write on them for foreign audiences.
Taken together, these contributions make up two sides of the same coin. He was an outsider looking in and an insider looking out. As Nalaka Gunawardena puts it, he was also the public intellectual of his time, “a powerful shaper of public discourse” who made it clear, perhaps for the first time in Sri Lanka, that “one cannot become a public intellectual without reaching the public.” It goes without saying that such a contribution would not have been possible without the many books he read – indiscriminately, yet critically – and the familiarity he was able to acquire with both local and Western texts. These interventions also required much humility, a quality Wickramasinghe never lacked in his writings.
Underlined in his copy of Anatole France’s On Life and Letters: Second Series, published in 1922 and perhaps bought during that time, is an aphorism that could not have better summed his way of looking at the world:
“One seems to be almost attractive as soon as one is absolutely true.”
In being true to himself, Wickramasinghe carved his own path, his own destiny. Nalaka Gunawardena puts it well: “Rarely has he been surpassed in this country, in his time or since.” It is this that has yet to become the subject of a definitive study.
Uditha Devapriya is a researcher and author who can be reached at udakdev1@gmail.com. The author of four books, he is currently working on a study of Wickramasinghe, an official publication by the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was stark: ‘Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.’ It followed US central administration accusations that the court was unfairly targeting Americans on the basis of trumped-up war crimes charges.
However, a new plethora of sanctions has been clamped on the ICC by the US, which in turn has spurred accusations by sections of the world that the latter has unleashed an ‘assault’ on the international legal order.
What some of the sanctions would mean for the ICC was outlined by Rubio: ‘We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us.’
The ICC has shown consistency of purpose over the years. Despite some operational constraints it has indicted a large number of political strongmen from around the world, accused of war crimes and other governance excesses that come under its purview. Two such recent figures are: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rather than enjoy a mere nominal presence in the world community, the ICC has proved its effectiveness by detaining and bringing to justice scores of VIP politicians and others of their ilk who have been found guilty of human rights abuses and kindred excesses that come within the terms of reference of the ICC.
Accordingly, the international justice system would be stymied considerably as a result of the ICC being dis-empowered, particularly financially. Needless to say, potential and real perpetrators of the species of crime coming under the jurisdiction of the ICC would stand to gain most from such anarchic tendencies. That is, political repression globally would be enabled to enjoy a new lease of life.
A detailing of the types of crime coming under the purview of the ICC provides an idea of what it would cost the international community if the ICC’s operations are gravely hampered. They are mainly: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
That is, the part of the world to be worst affected would be the global South, since the latter is awash with the mentioned crimes. Needless to say, a chronically-disaffected South will sooner rather than later undermine the well being of the world dangerously. The world is already being put through these paces.
At the time of writing, ‘illegal migrants’ from the South, for example, are aggravating many a Western economy’s woes, besides creating for them acute law and order issues. The fact that these migrants’ presence goes on to become a virtual test of the migrant receiving states’ ability to forge domestic social inclusion in the face of jingoistic protests by mainly white supremacist groups is evidence of the latter. As is known, the US, to take just one example, has been up against this crisis for quite a while.
Accordingly, it will be in the best interests of the West if ‘illegal’ migrant arrivals on their shores are stemmed. If the socio-political and economic problems assailing the South are effectively managed through North-South collaborative, ‘trouble-shooting’ efforts the causes leading to ‘illegal’ migration and connected issues could be resolved at source as it were. For, it is the aggravation of the South’s material questions that lays the basis for the emergence of repressive and anti-democratic regimes in the hemisphere.
Until such time that the aforementioned issues in North-South relations are visited afresh and addressed urgently, a vibrantly functioning ICC would be needed. For, the latter would prove a deterrent to Southern political and military strongmen, highly prone to power abuse and like excesses, from coming into being in the wake of the South’s chronic material woes and the wars and conflicts that result from them.
It stands to reason then that the US would be acting in its own interests by enabling the ICC to perpetuate its mandate without hindrance. For a crop of issues that impinges negatively on internal law and order would be defused.
Meanwhile, there needs to be a meeting of minds among the rest of the West to put back in place a North-South dialogue process aimed at reducing some of the economic pressures that are weighing on the South.
Since economics usually drives politics it will be in the interests of the world community to scrutinizingly re-visit North-South issues of the past and put in place economic relief packages for Southern publics that would enable them to tide over their material hardships rather than permit the latter to aggravate into social disaffection and eventually armed militancy. It is the latter juncture that paves the way for the emergence of authoritarian rulers in the South who then go on to be a blight on their publics.
Accordingly, the Southern-based global development thinking of the past that envisaged a more equitable world economic order needs to be seen as an urgent need. That is, NAM’s international development paradigms need to be resuscitated to the extent possible.
It is unlikely that rightist governments of the West, such as the current Republican administration in the US, would find these projects feasible, but democratic states of Europe, led by perhaps the UK, are likely to think otherwise. For it would not be beneficial for the democratic world to be having on their hands repressive governments in the South who would be gravitating towards the major military and economic actors of the South, such as Iran and North Korea, who tend to be in constant power struggles with the West.
However, until such time that the mentioned, pro-people initiatives are given serious thought the ICC would need to be enabled by the international community to be in place comfortably and carry on with its mandate of bringing repressive rulers to book. Besides the ICC should pave the way for the peoples of the developing world to enjoy some substantial respite from the political repression and even terror which tend to be their lot.
Meanwhile, the wars of West Asia are relentlessly aggravating the economic hardships of people everywhere, driving the point home to enlightened sections that there is no alternative to peacemaking. A challenge is to convert the US under President Trump to this line of thinking.
This week, I give you five simple, time-tested homemade remedies that help reduce the appearance of blemishes, control excess shine and leave your skin feeling softer and smoother.
The Honey and Lemon Brightening Dab:
For stubborn blemish marks, this is a classic. Mix one teaspoon of pure bee honey with three to four drops of fresh lemon juice. Apply gently, only on the affected spots, and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing with lukewarm water. While honey soothes and softens, lemon helps to brighten naturally. Use twice a week in the evening.
Besan and Rose Water Oil-Control Pack:
An ideal remedy to combat shine, especially on the T-zone. Take two teaspoons of besan (gram flour) and mix with sufficient rose water to form a smooth paste. Add a pinch of turmeric for its antiseptic goodness. Apply evenly, keep for 15 minutes and wash off. It absorbs excess oil without over-drying, leaving a beautiful matte finish.
Aloe Vera and Cucumber Ice Soother:
Blend fresh aloe vera gel with the juice of a grated cucumber and freeze the mixture in an ice tray. Each morning, wrap one cube in a soft muslin cloth and gently rub over a cleansed face for 30 seconds. It calms, tightens pores and imparts a baby-soft smoothness.
Oatmeal and Curd Gentle Polish:
Roughness and old blemish marks need gentle exfoliation. Combine one tablespoon of finely powdered oatmeal with one tablespoon of fresh curd (yoghurt). Massage very gently, in circular motions, for one minute, leave for five minutes and rinse. It removes dead cells and unveils softer, clearer skin.
Multani Mitti and Green Tea Magic Mask:
Brew some green tea and allow it to cool completely. Mix one and a half teaspoons of Multani Mitti (Fuller’s Earth) with the tea water to make a fine paste. Apply for 10 to 12 minutes – do not let it dry and crack completely – and wash off. It draws out impurities, fades blemishes and bestows a fresh, shine-free glow.
A Gentle Reminder:
As with any natural remedy, always do a patch test on your inner arm first. For those with oily or combination skin, avoid heavy coconut oil application and harsh scrubbing, as they tend to aggravate shine and blemishes.
Dream of performing on a world stage? Well, here is your unique, golden opportunity!
The World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) — the one and only official “Talent Olympics” — is the world’s premier global platform for aspiring singers, dancers, actors, models, instrumentalists, etc., to compete, shine and be discovered!
And, yes, this world stage is open to YOU, Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka and overseas!
Held annually in glittering Las Vegas, WCOPA brings together over 70 countries, all competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals, just like the traditional Olympics.
Lakisha Bernard: Will represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027
Outstanding performers vie for the coveted titles of Junior and Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World, with winners and standout participants awarded over $500,000 in scholarships, cash awards and prizes to catapult their education and careers!
Sri Lanka is already making waves! At WCOPA 2026, Natharie Wickramasinghe, representing Team Sri Lanka, made the nation proud by winning a Bronze Medal in the Ethnic/Folklore Dance category!
Lakisha: Accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate
Recruitment for this prestigious competition is handled through a system of scouts and licensed National Directors — and this is where our very own Chris Rajendra, now based in Las Vegas, and National Director for Team Sri Lanka, comes into the scene.
If you are a singer, dancer, actor, model, instrumentalist — if you have talent burning inside you — contact Chris Rajendra today for registration and, who knows, you may find yourself in Las Vegas, and proudly draped in the Sri Lankan flag, at WCOPA 2027!
The contact address is: Chris Rajendra, wcopa.nationaldirector.sl@gmail.com
or chris.rajendra@gmail.com
Meanwhile, a star is born for 2027, in the form of Lakisha Bernard who is all set to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027.
Originally hailing from the sun-drenched coastal city of Colombo and now carving out her creative career in Canada, 22-year-old Lakisha is stepping into the international spotlight.
This accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate has officially been appointed as the Team Sri Lanka Promoter for Canada as she prepares to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA in Las Vegas.
Lakisha brings a unique blend of high-fashion sensibility, captivating camera presence and expert garment design to the Team.
Having built her career, from local college shoots to high-glamour concepts, Lakisha’s inspiring journey embodies the true spirit of cultural bridge-building and creative resilience, bringing immense pride and recognition to Sri Lanka on the global stage.
WCOPA 2027 will be held at the legendary Westgate Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, from 12th to 20th July – the very same iconic arena where the late, great Elvis Presley himself performed!
Your moment is now. Your stage is Las Vegas, so hurry and contact Chris Rajendra.
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