Reading `GNANAM- Timeless Wisdom’

a book by Selvi Sachithanandam

Nesta Karunarane is a voracious reader. She goes through at least a couple of books per month if not more. Recently she had started reading all the Sri Lankan authors.

“Some are good and some are not so good,” says Nesta.She would normally go and pick up some books at Perera Hussein Publishing House at their cool joint at Horton Place, where one can buy Sri Lankan authors at a bargain price.

But ‘GNANAM- Timeless Wisdom’ came to her through her daughter Shemali who was at the recent launch at the Barefoot Book Shop and she had managed to get herself a copy. The book with its image of a grand matriarch on the cover, immediately attracted Nesta’s attention. The author was Selvi Sachithanandam whom she knew as an Architect. It spurred her curiosity to read what an architect may have written about timeless wisdom. When she started reading, she was carried away inadvertently into the realms of the eclectic and the book gave her an unusual and rewarding experience.

“This book stands out.” says Nesta. “I really enjoyed it.”

“From the beginning I realised there was so much of my life in that book. Gnanam the matriarch, whom the book is about, was like me, a Trotskyite, and she also did not like wearing hearing aids. She lived her life according to her principles and never compromised on them, the same way I have lived my life.”

The story that spans five generations of a Tamil family from Jaffna, depicts the lives of women, starting from colonial times through independence, ethnic strife and political turmoil that followed, while informing the social and cultural norms of the times. ” I learnt a lot about the cultural traditions in Jaffna”

Gnanam was able to circumvent and rise above the gender bias at the time. Nesta admired the personality of the matriarch who overcame gender constraints and afforded herself a degree from the University of London in 1942. Nesta’s years at the Peradeniya University in the years 1954-58 were not that different in terms of gendered approaches but she found her years at the university as formative years for her, when she first tasted freedom; both from parental control and societal constraints.

“I was also the first woman president of the UNISOC and other associations in Peradeniya University. My fiance was a leftist and I got married without my parents’ consent. As Trotskyites my fiance and I used to work off days and Sundays in the villages around Peradeniya. We talked to the villagers and found out what was missing and advised them. We had our own society for this purpose there back then. At that time I was not married to him. After I finished my degree I got married.”

Nesta reminisced nostalgically “We used to be in whatever strikes that used to happen in Kandy, holding placards and standing right in front. My father used to work for the Post and Telecommunications Department When I see my father’s car coming I

would bold the placard covering my face. He would say ‘I did not send you to university to do this. I sent you to study.’ There was no freedom as such at our homes. Our first taste of freedom was at the university.”

“This freedom allowed us to attend LSSP party meetings and sometimes we even came down to Colombo for the May day rallies and walked with them. LSSP had good leaders in early times like N.M Perera, Bala Thampo and Covin R.De Silva. Batti Weeerakone was a couple of years senior to me at the university. They were all very dedicated people. But after they passed away LSSP went ‘

down and down and down. Then labour also became politicised. The important omission on part of the leaders was that they did not force their dogma on the union members. They only wanted to act for the workers. It was part of their thinking.”

“We had Trotskyites and Stalinists at the university and we were at loggerheads. The conservative parties in the country had no hold, and no interest in the university students. But we had so many protests at the university. The famous one was when John Kotelawala came for our convocation which was held at the gymnasium at the back. He started talking and the students did not like his attitude which was a result of an elitist life that he lived. So some students hooted. He got very annoyed and there was a rumpus. There were about 10 people taken into custody. The next day there was a huge demonstration. The police were called in (during those days police were never called in). So we said all the females come in front. The police had some respect for females in those days. They did not do baton charge or any thing if females were in the front.”

“Once we had gone to meet Nicholas Attygale on one of the controversial matters and he started talking to us in four letter words. I was the only female in the group. He looked at me and he said you go out. I said “No I am going to stay here, I am not going to be sent out.”

“After a degree in Economics I was teaching for a few months and later began to work in the Labour Department at the Central Employment Exchange which was located at Lotus Road in those days. All the jobs at the harbour and other government posts, not the professionals, but all the clerical posts were filled through the exchange. People used to bring letters from the ministers to get jobs. I used to tell them not to come to me with any letters from anybody. I don’t care. You must go on your own with the number of years you have been registered with the exchange and show all your qualifications. That’s all.”

“So I always used to have tiffs with the ministers like A.C.S Amin but they were all nice to me. I even went to parliament to meet them and have lunch with them. At the same time I would not give in; I would not do anything that went against principles of life. But I was never punished for it.”

“Even when I met with companies like Lever brothers to resolve an industrial dispute, they were nice. Both parties were nice. Even the trade unions were good and their employers were good. They never made you feel you were trying to fight with them. It was never a case of rioting or workers vs management It was a case of give and take and try to settle before it goes to the labour courts or tribunals.”

For Nesta reading ‘GNANAM-Timeless Wisdom’ was interspersed with long periods of self reflection and introspection.

“Half way through I had stopped reading because I was trying to remember all the Tamil names but could not remember, so it got me down a bit. Then I realised that the book is always there and I can always go back to it.”

“When it came to the final chapters I was really laughing at myself for saying no I can’t read it It’s too sad. I am not going to read the last two chapters because Gnanam was so alive. The way Gnanam had been portrayed up to that point in the book; She was so alive. When I knew that it was not going to last much longer it was sad; it was something I was trying to get away from. It was too much of a trauma. But I am glad that I finished it.”

“The book is really really good. It keeps your attention.”

“The strong message that comes through in the book is to be positive. Always be positive. Carry on with your principles. Don’t give up your principles. Gnanam never did. Learn to love and treat all people well. When people come home I share whatever I have with them. It may not be the best But I share it with people. I would never send a person home if they came during the meal time without giving a meal. Gnanam was also like that. It is the old way of thinking. I take my hats off to that lady because during the ’58 riots she cooked for 86 people in the house. Oh my god! she must be a real wonder. Because I would not have been able to cope. A lot of people in this world could not have coped.”

The most important life-and-death issues were sorted out for Nesta when she read the book.

“I value the book because of what it gave me. It gave me a lot That I will always have in my mind. It helped me to get over the hurdle of death. It is not an easy thing to do. The way that Gnanam looked at death. It is just another dimension you go from here. It is ok. There is nothing to worry about. It is just another dimension. The way she gave up food and water shows that she was a strong-charactered person. If you have lived your life and fulfilled what you wanted to do and if you are happy with what you have done you don’t need to just hang on.”

“I have got over the hurdle now, after reading Gnanam. I was having a little, sort of you know….. I would get up in the morning and think Ok I will die and what about the problems associated with it. Where am I going to be born, what’s going to happen? But after reading this book now I have no qualms about anything. I am ready to go forward. Actually it brought tears to my eyes and I was emotionally moved at that point. It was a satisfactory conclusion to the book.

The book ‘GNANAM — Timeless Wisdom’ is available at the Barefoot Book Shop on Galle Road, Colombo 3 and Poobalasingham Book Shop, Wellawatte. The panellists at the launch were Gayathri Sriskanthan, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Sarojini Kadirgamar, and Raaya de Silva.