Vihanga Perera: From bus enthusiast to academic

Saturday, 28 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Vihanga Perera (VP), born in June 1984 in Colpetty, moved to Kandy with his family four months after his birth. He was educated at Kingswood College [1990-2003] and read for an Honours Degree in English at the University of Peradeniya [2004-2008]. His breakthrough publication ‘The(ir) (Au)topsy’ in 2006 was shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize. He was shortlisted a second time for the same prize in 2008, for ‘Stable Horses’. A lecturer in Literature and as a mime artiste, VP worked at the Universities of Peradeniya and Sri Jayawardenapura. He heads his own institute, School of Samos, which experiments in mime art and mime culture. Between 2004 and the present he has, periodically, been a writer for a few national newspapers. Rock and cricket are two of VP’s life-shaping influences. He is an avid reader of both subjects and a close follower of many team sports. Following are excerpts of an interview: By Sarah Hannan Q: When did you get into the habit of reading and writing? A: Reading as a life skill came at a later stage of my life, say around 14-15 maybe, par with writing. When I was writing at the age of 17-18 I used to write to the girls I was infatuated towards more in the freq

uency of Shakespeare, if you are looking at the volume of poetry. When I was around 20 there was this sudden shift; when I started working on my first collection of short stories I saw that the quality of my writing and the approach towards the same had improved. Q: What was your earliest life ambition? If not a writer and lecturer, what did you want to be? A: My first ambition in life was to be a bus driver and at the age of four I had a huge obsession towards buses. I used to observe the buses on the road and when we go to the bus halt to board a bus I would start to look underneath the bus and look at the dashboard. If a box was brought to the house, I would create a bus out of it. If I lived in a continent I would have become a comedian or an actor, something in that direction. When I was old enough I wanted to be a film maker, especially during the time I was reading for my degree; I wanted to pursue a career in the film industry in the line of documentaries and feature films. Teaching came up like a thunderbolt, it hit me overnight. I hope it is just a phase and that it will pass. Q: Your style of writing from the days at school and now; has it changed? What influenced your writing? A: My writing has evolved with a changing dynamic set of interests and approach towards life. I think my writing has also changed say from 2006, when I first published, to today; different approaches, different experiments in the style of writing which have not been commercially successful.

The Mulgampola landscape is very predominantly focused in my writing; it recurs and it is inevitable. My writing exercise for personal satisfaction, it has to be honest and part of that honesty has to do with the kind of images and situations that I create. Kingswood College where I studied, it keeps coming back and right now the manuscript I am working on these days has a dominant focus on both Mulgampola and Kingswood College. When it comes to my writing, there is a close connection between memory and the story. Q: Your inclination towards photography and then the story behind the capture; what can a person make of it? Are you heading towards becoming a Director of Photography? A: Someone once told me that I think in images. Speaking of writing, you see images, film, they are not necessarily watertight compartments. They easily permeate from one area to another and I think writing comes somewhere along those lines; it is the same for music I believe. But the artistic inspiration very often cuts across the board. What I feel is that photography is a highly-overrated area. Nowadays anyone who owns a sophisticated camera is a photographer, the trick is being at the right place in the right of lighting condition and the right kind of props about you. The moments I capture are mostly me being in the right place while something takes place. When I think back of the moment the story emerges there. The story comes after the shot, not before the shot.

Some of these stories that I pen down come from the images and moments of me failing to grow up. A friend of mine says I have arrested thoughts; I haven’t grown up beyond a particular point. But I would put it in a different way; childhood, the memories of childhood, the memories of us growing up, familiar locations, they have continued to stay with me. There are times where I actually very easily go back in time. Once again these are largely reflected in my writing, which is autobiographical if not biographical. From the photographs I move backwards and sometimes the story forms itself. Q: With changing life ambitions and to who you have become, have you found your footing in life yet? A: I am still looking for the direction and where I am heading towards in life. I will not label myself as a radical person and I am very conservative; but in terms of where I am heading in life, it has reflected in my writing and it is an ongoing journey of discovery. With the changing life ambitions to being a teacher and a writer, I have still not found my footing. ‘I am a floater in search of myself’ would be the one line definition.