By Gayanga Dissanayaka –

Coming from a mixed family, Nelani Goonawardena draws much of her creative inspiration from her mixed parentage, anchoring herself in the ‘in-between’ space she has navigated since childhood. “We are supposed to be a multicultural and multilingual country anyway. My mum was Tamil, and my dad was Sinhalese, so we had to live together in peace and harmony,” she said. “No one cares whether you are eating milk rice, drinking wine, or eating laddu. And I believe that is the trick of living in harmony. My parents had that quality in them and instilled that in me too.”

There was a time she didn’t know how to explain this experience to others. It took her years to find a language for it. As Nelani grew older, she was prompted to write about her experiences in a creative context. Over time, she collected her work into a prose and poetry collection titled Ravings, which was published through The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.

Nelani is a teacher by profession and lovingly recalled how she got into education. “I didn’t necessarily want to become a teacher, but my classmate was Samantha Abeyweera de Soysa, who was in charge of the Yolande School of Speech and Drama. My daughter was learning there at the time. I met her at the market, and she asked me why I wasn’t working for her. That’s how I started my teaching career. I didn’t have any experience when it came to teaching, so I learned on the job and did the necessary teaching exams for qualifications. Samantha gave me a grounding which allowed me to earn my living and I’m grateful for her,” Nelani said. After she got into teaching, Nelani started loving the profession simply because she found her students interesting to teach. She noted how children are fun and unpredictable, and how they tell you things that are incredibly true but unbelievable. They inspire her to laugh more and to be more creative as well.

Since childhood, Nelani learned all three languages simply because she didn’t have a choice. When the writer was around sixteen or seventeen, she started writing to newspapers, such as letters to the editor. Initially, she never wrote about anything negative, and the first few writings she did were all optimistic – stories about the kindness and the positive attitude she experienced and saw daily. She explained how Sri Lankans have that heart which most people often don’t notice, even though we are quick to point out the negatives. “Our people are often curious not because they want to know but simply to form a connection,” said Nelani. “It’s unbelievable how kind some people are. But you need to be kind to begin with to receive that kindness back. It doesn’t matter what language you are using; the kindness starts with you. Whoever you are and however you present yourself, if you go forward with a smile and say, ‘Good morning, can you please help me?’ I’m almost sure you’ll be helped. If one person doesn’t smile at you, then fine, smile at the next person.”

Nelani was doing her OL’s when she decided to publish her articles. “I think my first piece of writing was about a smiling policeman. It got published, and a lot of people commented on the story. I was absolutely thrilled, which prompted me to write more. Then I remember writing about saving an elephant in a hotel. I didn’t write one letter; I wrote about ten letters, and I sent them everywhere. I realised that if you want something to move, you shouldn’t just tell it to one person. You need to tell at least ten people,” said the author.

Since Nelani can understand all three languages, she would walk around, sit and listen to people talk on the street and would observe fascinating details in her surroundings such as how certain dialects change over time. “I would linger in saree shops and touch some sarees, totally not interested in the clothes but just to listen to people’s conversations. Since I’m old and have gray hair, most people don’t really mind me. I consider that luck. I would even visit various shops, talk to the people there and even have small adventures,” shared Nelani.

Nelani’s writing mostly came from the oddly humorous things she saw. As the author matured and grew older, the stories started coming from her real life. “People think it has nothing to do with real life, but it does. There is a grain of truth in every made-up story. However, the sarcasm came pretty recently, and I’m not apologising. I always believe in live and let live,” added Nelani.

Around ten years ago, she won two competitions at the English Writers’ Collective. Later, she thought she would send another submission as well, which won the second prize. Again, two years later, a story of hers won the first prize and a poem won the second prize. “Come to think of it, I actually don’t know how I came to write poetry,” noted the author. “After all this, I was asked to join the English Writers’ Collective. Since then, I’ve been writing poetry even though I don’t know where the subject matter comes from. If I see something and it strikes my eyes or if I laugh at a situation, it turns into poetry,” said Nelani.

“I had pieces of paper where I would write down ideas because I tend to forget. Sometimes I would lose them, then I would write another piece, and then I would forget about it again. Then it’s clipped in the kitchen or somewhere. However, some stories come straightaway, and I couldn’t stop writing them. I stopped some of them because of time constraints, to be picked up again later. But at the back of my head, the story is always there even though I don’t write down the plot. Even I wouldn’t know whether my characters are going to live or die. The characters are there, but what they do is beyond my control. Therefore, my writing process is quite all over the place,” explained the author.

Nelani kept Ravings as a secret until it was published. “I was not absolutely sure whether even a publisher would accept it or whether it would come into the market. So I was keeping it down. But at the same time, I didn’t have any hesitancy about publishing the book as well, and I was positive about that decision. Thankfully, The Jam Fruit Tree Publications was very positive about my book,” said Nelani.

Nelani explains that she learned confidence and positivity through a number of things, mostly from her family and through her childhood. She also believes that as Sri Lankans, we should get ourselves out there with confidence simply because this is our country. “If you are not obstructing or harming someone, you should be confident about yourself,” she said. “By being confident, you aren’t doing anything bad at all. In this case, I was just writing a book. Not everyone has to like my book as well, and those who do will enjoy it,” explained Nelani. Out of all the prose and poetry in her collection, Nelani personally liked the short story, Morty, because it was a true story that she considers close to her heart. “When I first saw the book and the cover, I could not believe it. Everyone loved the cover, and my family members also thought it was nicely done,” she said.

Nelani wants her readers to connect with Ravings in their own way, and if one story or poem resonates with them and makes them laugh, that’s all she hopes for as an author. “I simply want my readers to be curious after every sentence and have them enjoy my work to their heart’s content,” said Nelani.