By Gayanga Dissanayaka –

Sumudu Vihanga Fernando is a visiting French lecturer at Alliance Francaise. She started writing in Sinhala somewhere around grade three. “I remember getting a colouring activity and there was an elephant in it. I wrote a couple of lines about this elephant. For my parents back then it was a huge feat and they showed what I wrote to everyone. They were the first people to believe that I could write. Then later I wrote short stories at schools for literature competitions but I didn’t have any platform to show them off. I also remember writing a Sinhala science fiction story during school as well for a competition to which I got a merit award. I used to write a lot of poems as well,” she said. Today Sumudu’s writing skills have emerged as a book as she published her Sinhala short story collection, Ispanchi Bakeriya (ඉස්පංචි බේකරිය) through Ola Publications, Sinhala imprint of The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.

Sumudu began writing on Facebook In 2019, and that also was initially poetry. Around the same time she also started a blog in which she wrote a few short stories.The first piece she wrote was a story revolving around her mother. Sumudu’s short stories fall under the genre of slice-of-life, where she writes about her day-to-day experiences. It’s always something she observes along the way. “When something happens to me, my immediate next thought is that someone would like to read about it. Whenever I go through any situation, the story behind that remains in my head. And luckily, so many interesting things happen to me in my daily life. Even on the day I came to collect my books, the whole incident was painted in my head like a story and I wrote a story about that too. People around me also say that they are a bit careful because if something happens, I would go home and write about them,” said Sumudu. She always looks at the situation like an outsider, and observes it like a third person. This is why she adds her name as Sumudu at the end of all her short stories on Facebook. She sees herself in the story, and everything happening in her life becomes a story as well.

“My first plan was to publish an English book because English is a widely-read language. I wanted to write a set of short stories in English as well. That genre was a little different because they would talk about deeper topics with a little bit more weight to it. But a Sinhala short story collection was never in my head, they were just appearing on Facebook and people simply read and enjoyed it,” mentioned the author. However, when people saw Sumudu’s stories on social media, they started encouraging her to publish a book.

Sumudu already had the cover art made, which was designed by Muthuhari Attanayake, who was introduced to her by another lecturer. She explained how making the cover with her was a very beautiful experience. She added how the title of the book also changed quite a number of times, so along with these titles, the covers were also changing. “I considered several titles before finally settling on Ispanchi Bakeriya. My brother gave a lot of his input during this process as well and I decided to go with a title with a Sri Lankan touch to it. Finally I was able to design a wholesome cover that depicted myself, my brother, the bakery and my kittens. The idea of a bakery is a dream of mine even though I never really decided to own a bakery in real life. Initially in the cover there was only one kitten, and my mother saw that and asked me where the rest of our cats were because we had three of them. We made a few tweaks such as that to the cover and finally it became what I envisioned. That happiness seeing the final cover will always be with me,” recalled Sumudu.

When inspiration strikes her, she mentioned how she has to write that short story around the same time. She described how they used to have a passion fruit tree that would hover over their roof along with a Beli tree which would create a nice shade. So at times Sumudu would climb on top of the roof and write her stories up there. On the roof, other than the noises of birds and animals, there would be no other disturbance or interruption. “I personally want to live a simple life, have a cup of tea, eat something nice and spend the day… I believe many people deep inside want that as well. Even with my students, I’m not strict. I think that characteristic came from my family as well. Of course there are times when we have to be serious but taking life as it is and finding simple joys is something I learned over time,” explained the author.

Among her favourite novels that inspired her to become a writer herself, are “Black Tulip” by Alexander Dumas, and Sinhala translations of Sherlock Holmes. “I have also always watched and loved cartoons as well even as an adult, such as TinTin, Asterix and Obelix, etc.” she said. Among her favourite Sinhala writers is Martin Wikremasinghe. However, a book that inspired her to do Ispanchi Bakeriya in particular is “The Old Man and His God” by Sudha Murty whose writing style Sumudu admires a lot. She also mentioned R.K Narayan’s work as one of her favourites as well, because they are relatable and based in the simple day-to-day life. “The writing in them is not heavy, and the descriptions were comforting, meaningful and beautiful, this is exactly what I love to read and how I like to write” she said.

“Finding a good publisher was initially a challenge for me but luckily, The Jam Fruit Tree Publications’ Sinhala imprint, Ola Publications happily accepted my book. When I realised they took Ispanchi Bakeriya I was overjoyed and over the moon. It was like magic when I saw the book published with my name on it as the author. It was like holding my baby,” she recalled fondly. Being able to hold her book in front of her father was another memorable moment for Sumudu. “My parents were extremely proud because publishing my writing was something they always wanted me to do since I was a kid. And my brother was someone who, in his own way, supported me and encouraged me through every step of the way. He used to always remind me of important things that I kept forgetting throughout this journey and kept pushing me. He always told me that the universe wouldn’t give me anything, unless I work for it,” said Sumudu. “I was waiting to achieve something big and publishing this book is definitely among the best achievements in my life. Whenever I look at the book, I get reminded that it was created by me. I did it. That pride and joy is beyond words.”

According to the author, all of her memories connected when she started to write these short stories, and she stitched these stories together like patchwork. ”Most of the people who read the book told me that this reminded them of several things that they did and experienced in their own lives. So I am positive that those who read this book would be able to connect it in their own way. When I talk about university, the reader would remember their own campus, when I talk about home, they would remember their own family. Because trees are everywhere, flowers are everywhere, people are everywhere and we experience similar situations everywhere as well,’ noted the author. The book is scattered with small joys that the author observes and interacts with on a daily basis. The author’s teaching background in French has also influenced most of her stories in Ispanchi Bakeriya.

“What I want to tell my readers is that if you read this book you would be encouraged to think twice about the small yet beautiful things in life. Having the ability to look at everything in a positive light and live life with optimism is really important for anyone,” said Sumudu. “Seeing a tree bearing fruit, listening to my favourite singer sing at least a small part of a song, or a flower falling onto my head is more than enough for me to feel wholesome and happy. I love the soft and warm feelings of humanity and my book is replete with them. Anyone of any age can read this and become a part of this, and maybe see themselves in it too. Sometimes we don’t realise how beautiful a situation is until it’s gone, and it’s up to you to give value and beauty to any passing moment.”