Shaping the world and stopping it going to sleep has been a core motivation for Rivihara Pinnadauwa to engage in whatever social activity he engages in. This has been so since his school days. Today, he is a young lawyer and socio-political activist and recently launched his first poetry collection, Adhipeedana Mal WessaYatin, at a small but colourful ceremony at national library premises, showcasing his potential as a budding poet who believes in creating a better world.
Consisting of 54 poems, Adhipeedana Mal WessaYatin is a collection of events in life which Pinnaduwa has experienced since his younger days. He always believed in a change for society, not only did he wish and wait but he vigorously engaged in activities he believed in as good for society. Hence, almost all the poems in his book, carry a political overtone including the poems on love.
Pinnaduwa started his journey as a poet through social media. Poems which are now in print were first graffiti on his facebook wall, which grabbed much attention of like-minded people. His facebook graffiti received both positive and critical responses. Pinnaduwa thinks such mixed criticism helped him to become a better writer.
“Social media has created a good platform to write poems and also to read poems, which certainly is positive. Before social media, poets wrote to newspapers. They waited sometimes for months and years till their work got published. If not published, they realised that their work was not up to standard which pushed them to write better, and finally to become great poets. That is one thing we have lost since the dawn of social media. With all good responses, we get stuck at a point where we do not even understand how to take the next step. I also had such similar experiences” Pinnaduwa said.
He added, “Nevertheless, in my opinion, the poem is the best tool to carry your thoughts to a vast majority on social media. Other mediums of expression such as novels and short stories do not fit well in the cyberspace. This was one reason for me to continuously use the poem as my communication method”.
Despite discussing a world beyond our reach, Pinnaduwa being a young poet has been successful in analysing certain activities the majority of which are engaged daily. For instance ,one of his poems in the collection, Mama Thrasthawaadiyekmi (I am a terrorist) cleverly brings out the terror- not generated from outside but inside ourselves.
When it was time to pick a good name for the book, Pinnaduwa wanted to take the ‘match of the unmatched’. In his words, “I talk about love and politics in this collection, Adhi Peedana Mal Wessa Yatin carries these two aspects with undertones of a continuous process in both these aspects”.
The young poet also believes that the youth in the island is well aware of what’s going on and they are capable of a systematic change. “My writing is also driven by that faith vested in the youth” Pinnaduwa said.