Making a sincere attempt to bring an unimagined and unexplored treasure trove of modern Sinhala literature to the English reading community, Montage is bringing Mahinda Prasad Masimbula’s award winning novel ‘Senkottan’ translated by
Malinda Seneviratne, veteran journalist, writer and poet.
‘Senkottan’ (The Indelible), a remarkable creation of literature by Mahinda Prasad Masimbula was his debut effort in his literary career for which he won the State Literary Award in 2013 and short-listed in Swarna Pusthaka Literary Awards and many other Literary Award Festivals in the same year. The book has been published by Santhawa Publishers and ‘Senkottan’ has blazed the trail in the self-publishing industry as one of the best-selling books in Sinhala literature.
CHAPTER 2, PART 4
Once the act was done, she buried her head between her knees and wailed. There were dried leaves and twigs among her disheveled hair. He could not flee from responsibility now. She had cast the most terrible spell in which a weakling could be entrapped.
“Why did you do such a thing to me?’ she continued to wail. It was as though Nambu Henaya had expended every ounce of energy in him. He was terrified about that area in his body that had suddenly gone numb. Unable to suffer his silence, she pinched him and screamed.
“Tell me…tell me! What have you done to me? Look at me! I am so scared. How can I go home? How can I face my mother?”
Unable to remain silent any longer, Nambu Henaya found his voice. The tone was utterly deferential and it trembled.
“Sister, my dear sister, even I don’t know what happened. My entire body has gone lifeless. I am scared that I’ll die, sister. I am dizzy. My head is turning round. What on earth has happened? What on earth is happening? You gripped me so hard that I felt I would die right there, upon you. Dearest, all you have to suffer is the pain of what happened. My entire body is hurting. I have heard here and there that when men and women are together they do this dirty act. I now feel it is far better to leap from the Dahaiya Ella, down to the swirling waters below. I don’t know what ill-begotten fate brought about this. To be honest, all I want now is to go to the hut in the lower paddy fields and relax for a while….”
This enraged Podina once again.
“Really? Relax! Having done the act in the manner of an expert, you want to relax, do you? I will tell the entire village what you did to me just now. I saw well the lustful look on your face. You tricked me. You took advantage of me, tricked me, when all I asked was that you help cure me of a simple ailment! Sinner!”
“Oh god! What are you saying Podina nangiye? You are just rambling and talking nonsense. When did I trick you? Are there no gods around to witness the calamity that is going to befall me?”
“You can wait and watch until the gods cast their glances your way. Before that happens, I will tell the entire village, your haughty sister and everyone about your vulgarity!”
“Please, dear one, don’t. I’ll go on my knees and worship you, please don’t. Please don’t tell my sister. She’ll kill me! I will touch your feet and worship. I’ll wash your clothes as long as I live. Please don’t get me into trouble.”
He was desperate. He was totally beholden to her. Things were to some extent moving in the direction she had desired.
“Why are you still hanging around here? Get lost! Go get me another piece of cloth. There’s no saying what could happen if I went home wearing this!”
Having sent off Nambu Henaya, she laughed to herself.
A month later Nambu Henaya took up residence in her home. The story that Nambu Henaya had raped her while she was washing clothes spread like wildfire around the village. His sister Garu Ridee was secretly proud that her wimpy little brother had possessed enough manhood to accomplish such a thing. And to those girls who had teased her about what a weakling her brother was, she said, “now it would be good for all of you to be more careful!”
All this came as a shock to Nambu Henaya. He was severely distressed by the amazing experience of that evening and what happened thereafter. Moreover, from that moment onward, Podina seemed to be angry with him. She would scowl at him whenever she saw him. She never responded to him, however kind his words were. He concluded finally that this was his fate.
He had so many things to discuss with Podina about this situation. He wanted to prove to her that he had never intended it to happen. Podina, however, was uninterested. She had conjured up a story, stuck to it and continued to accuse him. There were times though when Nambu Henaya thought to himself that it was alright to be berated thus and even suffer an occasional slap.
‘It could be worse if I responded each and every time she’s inflamed…it’s best to let her have her way, give her the pride of place and mind my own business,’ he told himself. ‘And after all, there were innumerable times when she neither scolded nor assaulted me…’
She felt sorry when in the light of the lamp she saw the face of her son bathed in drowsiness. That face took her to a very different story. Responding to a call from Malma Ridee, Nambu Henaya took Baba Henaya’s hand and went inside to have some rice. Podina stopped weaving for a while and from Baba Henaya’s face moved to that other face which was indelibly etched in her mind and the amazing story associated with it.