Sri Lankan readers suffer from island mindset, says author

it seems correct, see the various comments of facist singlese with the crooked hatered mind with filthy language without any substantiation proves the above theory correct.

Sri Lankan readers suffer from island mindset, says author

By Madhusree Chatterjee, New Delhi, June 16: Islands breed their own kind of somnolence. People would rather stand at their gates watching life pass by than read a book, says contemporary Sri Lankan writer and popular television arts show host Ashok Ferrey of his country.


"Sri Lanka does not have enough people to read. They would rather read to clear the A-level examination than read a book for pure pleasure," Ferrey told IANS at a recent literature conclave here.

Ferrey, the author of two acclaimed novels "Serendipity" and "The Good Little Ceylonese Girl" as well as two anthologies of short stories, "The Colpetty People" and "Love in Tsunami", is alswo the host of the "Ashok Ferrey Arts Show", branded by critics as a "one-of-its-kind" of arts television programme in South Asia.

The 30-year civil war in the country has destroyed the culture of reading that existed in the 1970s with its legacy of fear, violence and short attention spans - caused by trauma, the writer believes.

Television acts as a stepping stone to generate interest about arts and literature among youngsters because they find it easy to relate to visuals, says Ferrey.

"I interview painters, writers and singers - mostly young talent who form Sri Lanka's emerging post-war arts fraternity. The shows are humorous. I use unconventional styles to interview my guests to grab eyeballs and draw new segments of audience to culture," Ferrey said.

Comparing the literary consciousness in India and Sri Lanka, he said: "In India, books are important; but in Sri Lanka they would rather buy a fast car. Most people have no books on their shelf... They might have a radio. Call it the small island mentality. Life is supremely satisfying. All that you are looking forward to is your next meal... It is that general feeling of being laid back."

There are other points of departures with India as well.

"Life is hard in India... Life is hard in the west. It is rigorous and disciplined. You are interested in brain food. It influences the literature of the two countries," he said.

One reason why Sri Lankan literature has not been able to evolve into a refined art is the education system of the country, which the writer says "was creaking at the joints".

"Education is free and the system can't cope. Some groups of people oppose private universities. But these groups send their wards abroad. Once they go abroad, they don't come back."

The maverick writer, like all other young men of his generation in Sri Lanka, went to a boarding school in England and studied pure math at Oxford, but says "he chose to return home in 1988 to write in English like a colonised master".

Ferrey, who has put in fingers into a variety of odd jobs, likes to describe himself as "failed builder, indifferent mathematician, barman, unpaid film extra and personal trainer to the rich and famous". He builds his brawns (muscles) and abs in leisure.

Ferrey's new collection of short stories , "Love in Tsunami" published by Penguin Books in May, is a chronicle of death and hope brought by the 2004 killer waves.

"Very few writers have written about the tsunami. It involved somebody's mother, somebody's aunt...I think it is the real reason I wrote the book. Everyone had a story to write about the man in combat. All the stories in the new book have death featuring in some form. It is a ghost of an idea," he said.

Ferrey has been one of the early protagonists of Galle Literary Festival - Sri Lanka's official fine print carnival.

"Five friends conceived it in my home three years ago and an eccentric English millionaire based in Sri Lanka, Geoffrey Dobbs, agreed to pump money - under severe opposition from everyone including the Sri Lankan academia because it felt threatened," the 50-something Ferrey (he refused to divulge his age) said.

Sri Lankan readers suffer from island mindset, says author

By Madhusree Chatterjee, New Delhi, June 16: Islands breed their own kind of somnolence. People would rather stand at their gates watching life pass by than read a book, says contemporary Sri Lankan writer and popular television arts show host Ashok Ferrey of his country.


"Sri Lanka does not have enough people to read. They would rather read to clear the A-level examination than read a book for pure pleasure," Ferrey told IANS at a recent literature conclave here.

Ferrey, the author of two acclaimed novels "Serendipity" and "The Good Little Ceylonese Girl" as well as two anthologies of short stories, "The Colpetty People" and "Love in Tsunami", is alswo the host of the "Ashok Ferrey Arts Show", branded by critics as a "one-of-its-kind" of arts television programme in South Asia.

Ferrey feels "the awareness of reading as a means of entertainment, knowledge and creative past-time has not been allowed to foster".

The 30-year civil war in the country has destroyed the culture of reading that existed in the 1970s with its legacy of fear, violence and short attention spans - caused by trauma, the writer believes.

Television acts as a stepping stone to generate interest about arts and literature among youngsters because they find it easy to relate to visuals, says Ferrey.

"I interview painters, writers and singers - mostly young talent who form Sri Lanka's emerging post-war arts fraternity. The shows are humorous. I use unconventional styles to interview my guests to grab eyeballs and draw new segments of audience to culture," Ferrey said.

Comparing the literary consciousness in India and Sri Lanka, he said: "In India, books are important; but in Sri Lanka they would rather buy a fast car. Most people have no books on their shelf... They might have a radio. Call it the small island mentality. Life is supremely satisfying. All that you are looking forward to is your next meal... It is that general feeling of being laid back."

There are other points of departures with India as well.

"Life is hard in India... Life is hard in the west. It is rigorous and disciplined. You are interested in brain food. It influences the literature of the two countries," he said.

One reason why Sri Lankan literature has not been able to evolve into a refined art is the education system of the country, which the writer says "was creaking at the joints".

"Education is free and the system can't cope. Some groups of people oppose private universities. But these groups send their wards abroad. Once they go abroad, they don't come back."

The maverick writer, like all other young men of his generation in Sri Lanka, went to a boarding school in England and studied pure math at Oxford, but says "he chose to return home in 1988 to write in English like a colonised master".

Ferrey, who has put in fingers into a variety of odd jobs, likes to describe himself as "failed builder, indifferent mathematician, barman, unpaid film extra and personal trainer to the rich and famous". He builds his brawns (muscles) and abs in leisure.

Ferrey's new collection of short stories , "Love in Tsunami" published by Penguin Books in May, is a chronicle of death and hope brought by the 2004 killer waves.

somebody's mother, somebody's aunt...I think it is "Very few writers have written about the tsunami. It involvedthe real reason I wrote the book. Everyone had a story to write about the man in combat. All the stories in the new book have death featuring in some form. It is a ghost of an idea," he said.

"Five friends conceived it in my home three years ago and an eccentric English millionaire based in Sri Lanka, Geoffrey Dobbs, agreed to pump money - under severe opposition from everyone including the Sri Lankan academia because it felt threatened," the 50-something Ferrey (he refused to divulge his age) said.

TOILET NADU HINDU TAMILS you too have the same mentality.

MUDALIAR CHENNAI wrote:

it seems correct, see the various comments of facist singlese with the crooked hatered mind with filthy language without any substantiation proves the above theory correct.

So called Tamil history is based on attacking Sinhala history and trying to discredit it. Of course they struggle because all archaeological evidence supports what is contained within Mahavamsa (they try to silence Sinhalese from referring to or defending the Mahavamsa by blackening this great document as “racist”). Thus questioning them about anything including their bogus tales of “discrimination” and fraudulent “grievances” is “racism”. Intriguingly the moment the history debate turns sour for Tamils (upon citing the lack of archaeological evidence) they and their white backers are quick to state “history is not important, it is about the today and the now”.
When you dig up so called Tamil history in the North and East you find the ruins of Sinhala civilisation beneath.
Even the world “eelam” is the corrupted Tamil/South Indian word for “Sinhale”/”Sinhala”. As that is the name given to this land for its inhabitants by its inhabitants. It is only in 2007 they realised this “mistake” and changed it to Eezham or something like that. For all this time they had been demanding a “Tamil eelam” they were calling for a “Tamil land of the Sinhalese”. Their whole “homeland” project was nothing more than theft and deceit engraved in the name itself. That said Tamil culture is built on theft and deceit and they have no problem with doing so if it means self-advancement.

Since archalogy dept is with shit lanka govt. control, you can hide any evidence, wihtout publishing it, Tamils too were BUDDIST AND JAINS once upon a time. Plenty of archlocical evidence is proff for this. check it yourself.

MUDALIAR CHENNAI wrote:

Since archalogy dept is with shit lanka govt. control, you can hide any evidence, wihtout publishing it, Tamils too were BUDDIST AND JAINS once upon a time. Plenty of archlocical evidence is proff for this. check it yourself.

Shitlanka.... tha name says it all

Truely, there brain is almost the size of an aricanut.

Thats' why they take long time to grasp things and see history from history perspective and not from mahavamsa dubakur kdubukku angle.

MUDALIAR CHENNAI wrote:

Since archalogy dept is with shit lanka govt. control, you can hide any evidence, wihtout publishing it, Tamils too were BUDDIST AND JAINS once upon a time. Plenty of archlocical evidence is proff for this. check it yourself.

Challenged and made helpless by the hard evidences in the form of archeological remains found length and breath of north east which are corroborated by the chronicles of their existences, the Eelamist have gone to the extent of resorting to claim an existence of a Tamil Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka. Case in point is Kadurugoda Viharaya Tamilnized as Kanthrodai

The parallels between the LTTE and Nazi ideology are also revealing. Examples: a false exclusive mono-ethnic traditional homelands, ethnic cleansing, indoctrination of the gullible by raw racist propaganda, undisputed rule by one man, brainwashing of the young through a fictional history.

The Nazis were in power for its propaganda only for a period of 12 years from 1933 to 1945 compared with the nearly 35 years of propaganda the separatist forces carried out among Tamils in Sri Lanka. This propaganda extended to a massive invention of history. For example, the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) findings of Sinhala Buddhist remains at Kandarodai in Jaffna in 1917 by Paul Pieris and Rasanayagam, the author of Ancient Jaffna were changed by Jaffna academics during the LTTE control to be "Tamil Buddhist" unconnected with the rest of Sri Lanka. A total new fictional history indirectly justifying separatism was created and fed to the Northern population for several decades.

The lessons learnt from Germany are very clear. Decades long, brainwashing does not vanish after a military victory. The problem is not with the Diaspora, it is here among the brainwashed. Concerted efforts should be made to clear the virus. In our case, it is to remove teaching a false invented history with fictional traditional homelands. All those who subscribe to this should be removed from government and university employment. Indian Tamil separatism was stopped after the 1962 China war through its 16th Amendment banning separatism.

Hi cut and paste Nalan a hindu/tamil god imposer,

what morality you have to write detailed note under stolen identity.

Pow stateless demala howlong like monkey. LOO

one line writer punc,

you do not deserve any reply. your posting alwasy have no relevance to the topics.

Shiva shanker sharma and MUDALIAR are the two people who put forth new informations for deliberations.

Chennai Boy wrote:

one line writer punc,
you do not deserve any reply. your posting alwasy have no relevance to the topics.

idiot demala, then why do you reply? are you a retard? you must be a retarded demala monkey. LOL

Hi one line Punc Mama,

You Idiot mama, what i had written is you do not deserve a reply,i did not say i wont reply you back, but i will you give u reply. Understood makku useless time waste modaya singala.

I think you would have taken more than normal time to understand the above statement, because you seems to be makku always.

lol
how about donating books to sl
will they read them?

Zionist wrote:

Truely, there brain is almost the size of an aricanut.

Thalivars brain was even smaller than that, everyone saw it when the pakays head was cut open like maggot. ROFL.

Zionist wrote:

Truely, there brain is almost the size of an aricanut.

even that is bigger than both your balls together. ROFL.