A Vijitha Yapa Publication
Price: Rs. 1,000
Reviewed by Pooja Kalita
To come across and to eventually get absorbed by the poetry in ‘Shades’ by Edmond Jayasinghe has been a wonderful journey.
The poems by Jayasinghe could be read as an autobiographical endeavour, but beyond the narrow definition of what is popularly understood as ‘the personal.’
In other words, he weaves in personal reflections, dilemmas, quandaries with the contemporary political-socio-cultural space. Sasanka Perera in the foreword to the collection writes. “There is no mistake that these are his own experiences and feelings. But as flagged in Quasimodo’s words, Jayasinghe’s thoughts in many senses could also be my own, and that of others because he is not writing in isolation, but as a member of the socio-political and cultural spaces in which we all live” (pp.vi).
As emerged from my conversation with the poet himself -- these are snapshots of his own life combined with his engagement with Buddhist philosophy and an eagerness for finding an appropriate outlet to bring forth what his job as a former diplomat restricted him from doing and what the present conditions demands from him. His ‘Cry for Freedom’ (pp. 94) points towards this yearning of his:
I am a man nominally
Kept in a prison cell locked
Said to be in a democracy free and fair
My cry is loud and clear but falls on laws too mute
Free me from all shackles and bonds
To become a free man…
Nonetheless, it is imperative to point out that his words are not exclusive images of the Sri Lankan society, but rather they resonate with the broader issues that wraps up almost the entire world today – inequalities, sufferings, poverty, corruption and so on. From nostalgic reminiscences to lamentations to expressions of affection, Jayasinghe’s collection of poems surely stands true to its name – ‘Shades’. As a former diplomat, novelist, and a poet, all of his poems are pieces of rare genuineness and honesty.
Jayasinghe’s first novel, ‘Piyavi Asa’ (Naked Eye) written in Sinhala language has received enormous popularity and critical acclaim.
This collection of poems in some way is an extension of his critical reflections that has been previously flagged off in ‘Piyavi Asa’. Reading Jayasinghe’s poetry, one can recognise that such an understanding of the world can only come through a life enriched with experiences, as his own life spanning eight decades testifies.
I must add that it is extremely refreshing to see personalities like him who have been formerly engaged with diplomacy, devoting his life to voicing the notion of a just society through the medium of poetry and fiction. He is not a poet who detaches the ‘personal’ from the ‘political’ or the ‘social’. In an interrogative tone, he raises this question in ‘Mind Your Own Business’ (pp. 104):
“Mind your own business”
How can I?
Why should I?
I am a social animal need
to be in the thick
Of everything want to interact with
His poems have a lot to offer, especially to the younger generations. ‘American Dream Revisited’ (pp.76), among others echoes this fact. In his words, the ever so aspirational ‘American Dream’ is a great American Mirage:
Though no shortage of dreamers
talent optimism self-belief
An African American Harlem
youth in NYC
An affluent Tribeca white
youth couldn’t beat
Homeless destitute drug addicts
criminals
Are hundreds in big city ghettos
and townships
Indiscriminate random s
chool shootings mainly
By white Youth from
affluent precincts is baffling
They too are by-products of the
American Dream
People off rails to keep pace
with desires
Burnt out in mid-forties
chasing unachieved
No balance maintained
seeing family or friends
To reach shifting targets
set by man for himself
The poet recognises the dilemmas he himself is often confronted with. He sees different images of his own self and delves into self-introspection in ‘Mirror Images’ (pp.25):
Different images of the same person
How can that be?
Should be the same
Figure and the image,
Anxious confused
Touch to grasp and understand
Yet another depiction in the mirror
Cannot comprehend the co-relation
Jayasinghe also does not shy away from expressing the gentleness of love and affection that he nurtures in his life. In a poetic note to his granddaughter (pp. 109), he writes:
I say to you
I simply love you
With the hope that
We could sing together one day.
I believe readers would definitely see some shades of their lives in Jayasinghe’s poetry. This is what makes this collection unique in its own right and universal at the same time.
Dr. Pooja Kalita recently received her PhD from the Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi. She works in the areas of gender, food, material culture and visual arts