By Gayanga Dissanayaka –
Ever since childhood, Eranthi Gunaratne moved easily between many activities and interests. “My mom was the driving force behind us who gave a lot of attention to detail. She always raised the bar for us and always advised not to compare ourselves to others, but to look at where we stand and compete with ourselves. As a result, we excelled in a lot of things,” she said. Eranthi did athletics at Musaeus College, was the under 19 swimming champion in school, the deputy head girl in the primary, a senior prefect, a president’s guide and the swimming captain at university. Today she is also the author of a children’s poetry collection, “Swirling Scoops of Whimsical Magic” published by The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.
Eranthi Gunaratne
Along with everything else, Eranthi also had a deep passion for the languages. She received English language prizes during her school years, and for ALs, she did both Sinhala and French, where she received prizes for Sinhala as well. “My Sinhala teacher during ALs, was like a walking dictionary. She would make stories and make them come to life. She enlightened us so much on the subject of literature and she was a great inspiration and mentor to me. The main reason I chose Kelaniya university is also because it’s well known for languages.” Eranthi graduated with a first class in philosophy at university and was later absorbed into the philosophy department itself as a temporary assistant lecturer which became her first job.
Becoming a teacher was more of a calling for Eranthi than a career. “I love kids, I think they live in a very innocent world. In 2005, I joined Gateway College as an English teacher and I absolutely loved it. During this time, I wanted to get a Touch and Feel book for my son who was at the time just one year old. A friend of mine suggested that I go to the library and check. When I saw the children’s books, I was nostlgic and in awe. This period of time was challenging for me and I was very busy with work and my son. But I couldn’t rest or sleep because all these story ideas were coming to my head. That’s when I wrote my first poem, The Mermaid’s Tea Party,” said the poet. Eranthi was writing way into the night after her son had slept, composing her poetry on a piece of paper during those small stolen moments. According to her, this was a turning point in her life as a writer because since then, ideas have been rolling in her head.
After that, Eranthi happily served as an English teacher at Colombo International School (CIS) for thirteen years, so she rarely had any time for herself. Therefore for twenty-one years, these poems were solely in her diary. Sometimes she would write a particular poem in 2005 and revisit it in 2008. During the holidays, she would take this book and check and jot down her ideas again.
Eranthi also worked at Lyceum International School in the special needs section and became the head of department of special needs at Alethea International School. “They were the most rewarding years of my life. It was a different world and again, these experiences inspired my poetry. When I talked to these kids, they also came up with various interesting ideas. Little things that they would say would make me go and bridge the gap in my poetry. I have worked with kids a lot at different levels. From 2005 to 2025 I’ve been writing these poems. I’ve been polishing, revisiting, tweaking, editing and changing. There are also more poems that I’m planning to include in my next collection,” said the poet.
The poet herself was an avid reader and was always drawn to Enid Blyton and the settings that were portrayed in her stories. “I have never seen Blyton repeat anything in her stories. But my mother used to be very strict. Even as a child, I was always feather-headed and was always zoned out. I would read throughout the night and go to sleep in the early morning hours,” reminisced the poet. “The reason I wanted to write whimsical poetry is because there are no limits to whimsy. Nowadays children are extremely stressed with all the subject matters and are stuck inside a box. The goal of my poetry collection is for kids to think outside of that box and come up with their own creations,” mentioned the poet. She added that early learners from age 7 to 11 are very impressionable and creative and even the most silent and unresponsive children would think extraordinarily if you give them a creative prompt.
Eranthi explained how she tried to break certain stereotypes in her book while making it engaging, vivid and vibrant. “I also mentioned a few destinations incorporating whimsy into it since these would spark curiosity in kids, especially those who like to travel. Talia Tickleme is one of my poems about Tasmania which many kids would find interesting. The idea is for parents to sit with the kids and ask some questions and maybe facilitate a creative dialogue, instead of children being passive listeners,” she said.
She added that when you tell children to create their own stories and characters, you are giving them a lot of room to reflect and do something imaginative, with the characters that they want with the things that they don’t get in life. “When I give kids a prompt or a story, I get back a hundred different versions of that same prompt which in turn enriches my own mind. I feel like, as the author, I also vicariously live through them,” the poet said. “There is a lot of bullying happening in schools and I wanted this book to help develop self-love and empathy in kids and be kinder to one another. I believe that developing these qualities through whimsy is more effective,” she said.
“I always wanted to publish this book but the timing was never right. There were a lot of things that happened in my life but whoever I showed my poems to, be it my assistants at school or anyone else, would always tell me that they shouldn’t be in my diary and instead be published. Everyone who read my poetry was motivating me,” she said. “However, as much as I recognise how blessed I am, a lot of things were battles to me as well, but I always believed that if certain things didn’t come my way, they would come to me at a later date. This book has been one of my biggest dreams.”
She added how her illustrator, Shumaila Musafer did a fantastic job with the book. Since her book is very colour-specific, she wanted the colours of the art to be spot-on. “Shumaila brought my vision to life exactly how I imagined it. I told her that the book should be the most vibrant and sparkly book that a child would want to look at. I think her illustrations really enhanced my book and raised its value,” explained the poet.
When Eranthi was teaching, she loved the space she would get in the morning to write her poems because she rarely had that kind of time for herself. She explained how she would first write the title of the poem, then write the sentences, phrases, words, vocabulary, and the colours. After jotting down all of this, she would write the rough draft. However, she herself wouldn’t know what the finalised poem would be. Sometimes ideas come to her head when she’s busy and she would somehow secure them somewhere. Then she would go on to cut and chop her writing, incorporating different colour variations. After the poem is somehow drafted, she copies it into a CR book where she would further edit, polish and finalise it. Even the poem’s sense of direction also changes, especially when she revisits the poem after a long time. Writing whimsical poetry was a liberating outlet for the poet as well. She noted how it helped her a lot as an adult because being whimsical and colourful in her daily life helped her through several difficult times.
“When I saw the book published, I felt overwhelmed with a lot of emotions because it was indeed a personal accomplishment. The first time I had the book in my hands, I sat down and started reading it because you cannot compare that feeling to anything else. When I gave it to my father, he was extremely happy and that is also a memory I hold dear to me. My husband is also a talented writer and he was really happy and proud when the book came out, and told me how I inspired him to write poems too,” Eranthi recalled fondly.
“Rather than buying this book and giving it to the children to read, the parents could have a meaningful dialogue with their kids,” explained the poet. “I suggest asking them questions as to why these characters do what they do and ask them their opinions and ideas as well. By engaging them in the story, children’s critical thinking skills would develop. This would help them be much more open-minded, resilient and capable of seeing the world from new perspectives. Most importantly, the parents can guide them towards kindness, acceptance and love. And even at a later age, remind them to embrace their uniqueness in this world.”
