{"id":231330,"date":"2023-02-11T02:17:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T20:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=231330"},"modified":"2023-02-20T14:30:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T09:00:54","slug":"ayyo-saami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ayyo-saami\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayyo Saami"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jagath Asoka<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Dr. Jagath Asoka<\/p><\/div>\n

I wanted to try something new today. I’m too lazy to write. It’s not that I don’t like writing, but I’m too lazy to type because I’m not very good at typing. So, I thought I would dictate this article to the computer, and the computer would act as my stenographer. So far, it is amazing!<\/p>\n

As I am highly opinionated, I am going to express my views about this song, Ayyo Saami, its significance, and its impact. Please feel free to correct my facts, but not my opinions.<\/p>\n

Is it the melody of the song, the mellifluous voice, the voluptuous nubility, or the soulful dewy eyes of Windy Goonatillake, expressing failure of love that made this song famous? This song has its Sinhalese version, but I think the Tamil version<\/a><\/span> achieved the worldwide fame. It is both cool and emotional, both Apollonian and Dionysian, inspired by the gods. I also think the omniscient gods Google and YouTube also play a big role in this phenomenon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"I use the word art to denote the products of man’s creative activities; works of art collectively, the visual arts, music, drama, dance, and literature.\u00a0<\/span>Art in general unites us by evoking the mystic feeling of oneness. Life without art would be vapid and bleak.<\/p>\n

What is the cultural significance of this song? I think it is a watershed moment in our country. Did Amaradeva, Nanda Malini, Victor, TM, Sunil Edirisinghe, Gunadasa Kapuge, and, of course, Jothipala sing any Tamil songs to promote harmony among various ethnic groups in Sri Lanka? Most of them were trained in India as musicians and revered and promoted meditative, melodious Hindustani music based on ancient ragas. Even today many in Sri Lanka would sing Hindi songs even though they do not know a single Hindi letter, let alone a single Hindi word. Many Sri Lankans usually do not behave the same way toward English and Tamil songs. On the other hand, Manoharan, a Tamil musician and actor, sang Surangani\u2014I am not aware of a Tamil version of Surangani\u2014which became very popular both in Sri Lanka and India even before gods Google and YouTube came into being.<\/p>\n

Artists as individuals through their creative work, improve social and psychological life and create harmony, especially among fractious and disgruntled nations, races, and ethnic groups.\u00a0<\/span>Art\u2019s joy unites disgruntled nations, races, and ethnic groups as one living being. In Sri Lanka, did our artists make a conscious attempt to unite Sinhalese and Tamils? I would say most of them promoted Sinhala-Buddhist bellicose feelings toward minorities, involving the idea that Sinhala-Buddhists are superior and have the right to dominate Tamils and Muslims who were inferior. Even now when most Sinhala-Buddhists say that they believe that they are not racists, it means that they do not believe that they believe that they are not racists.<\/p>\n

When I was watching and listening to Windy\u2019s Ayyo Saami, I wondered why our artists could not envision and use their artistic creations to promote harmony among various fractious ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. I think the answer to my question was given by Nihal Silva, who was a Sri Lankan comedian and actor. He was very popular because he played sergeant Nallathambi in an eponymous play. The character was making fun of a stereotypical bald headed Tamil Hindu policeman with a razor thin moustache, wearing three horizontal lines of white ash with a dot on his forehead. This play\u2019s joy did not unite our fractious ethnic groups in Sri Lanka as one living being, celebrating and affirming life and art in a wide sense. I wondered how Tamils in Sri Lanka felt about this play. The three horizontal lines connote and denote various spiritual concepts. Was the holy Trinity of Hinduism ridiculed and violated by this play? For Hindus, Brahma Creates the world, Vishnu maintains it, and Shiva destroys it. These three lines also mean Shiva\u2019s threefold power: will, knowledge, and action. Nowadays, in Sri Lanka one can end up in prison for an unspecified time without a trial for calling the sacred tooth relic \u201clabba.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems like nowadays there is more unity among various ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. I do not know for how long this ostensible harmony will last. So, most Sri Lankan politicians are constantly looking for ways to divide ethnic groups. Sri Lankan politicians can be very creative at destroying ethnic harmony. I wonder, after getting our independence in 1948 if our artists had a vision of promoting harmony among ethnic groups, what would have happened to our country?\u00a0<\/span>Where would we be today?<\/p>\n

Did our dramatists and poets\u2014Sir John de Silva, Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Chitrasena, Henry Jayasena, and Mahagama Sekara\u2014try to alleviate ethnic tension through their creative art?<\/p>\n

So, I cannot think of any examples from the visual arts, drama, dance, and literature that tried to promote harmony among ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Please let me know if you know any examples. An artist through his creative work can instruct and transform societies and make them more refined, civilized, and courteous.<\/p>\n

As far as I can remember, in 1979, Sarungale (The Kite), a Sinhala movie directed by Sunil Ariyaratne with Gamini Fonseka and Farina Lai in leading roles portrayed the inter-ethnic, communal violence between Sinhalese and Tamils.<\/p>\n

I surely do not know how this song is going to impact our society. First, without knowing who Windy is, I thought she was a Tamil musician. This can be a trend. This can be extended to other areas of art. The only other Tamil song that I can remember is Adi Ennadi Rakkamma<\/b> because Jothipala used its melody.<\/p>\n

In Sri Lanka, this is the beginning of what Dostoevsky said: At first, art imitates life. Then life will imitate art. Then life will find its very existence from the arts<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you are done reading this article, please watch Windy on YouTube singing Ayyo Saami.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am sad to say that soon the stenographers are going to be like the ancient scribes who copied books.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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