Featuring renowned literary doyen: Dikwelle Kamaal

By Surya Vishwa

Writing is the greatest gift awarded to humanity. 22,000 years ago humans produced the first pictures in the caves of Lascaux in Montignac France; drawing and pictograms being the first form of human com- munication laying the basic foundation for the creation of language which was to emerge another 17 millennia later.

Likewise, verse, poetry and literature gradually followed as the visual conjurer of the written word where images were created in the mind of man in the likeness of experiences human beings face and which can be related to wherever and whichever geographi- cal location s/he lives in this earth. Sri Lanka is a small nation but it is rich in literature belonging to Sinhala, Tamil and English languages. With the language gap being apparent between ethnic communities in Sri Lanka with most Sinhalese not being knowledgeable in Tamil and some Tamils and Muslims not being able to understand Sinhala, much of literature, whether it is poetry, short stories or nov- els by the Sinhalese written in Sinhala are not read by the Tamils and Muslims while those writing in English in Sri Lanka, often do not get exposed to Sinhala and Tamil writings.

One objective of the Harmony page is to link human beings, whether it is through spirituality, culture, arts, literature, entrepreneurship, practical and integrated education, traditional knowledge or environment. With regard to language and literature we have dedicated this space to featuring Sri Lankans who lend a major service towards the concept of national unity through literature and by translating the different literary works that otherwise would not make an entry to a wide readership.

So far we have featured interviews with veterans of the Tamil and Sinhala literary and translation circuit such as T. Gnanasekaran, Hemachandra Pathirana, Denagama Siriwardena and Nakiyadeniye Wijesekera. Today we feature a unique Sri Lankan who has dedi- cated his entire life to writing in Tamil and translating Sinhala language literature into the Tamil language.

As with the previously mentioned writers we are proud to be the first English language newspaper to interview veteran educator, novelist, poet and translator, Dik- welle Kamaal, a Sri Lankan Muslim who could be de- scribed as a model citizen in how he looks at national identity and the concept of patriotism. Dikwelle Kamaal has been recognised at the State Literary awards nine times and has won scores of other accolades from private literary associations across Sri Lanka. He has in particular been honoured by the annual literature awards ceremonies organised by Godage Publish- ers for the past 30 years.

He is known for presenting a range of themes connected with Southern Lankan village life, the relationship between teacher and student, little focused aspects on Sri Lankan identity in Muslim culture as lived out everyday. For him patriotism is another dimension of human- ism that signifies love for the country as well as all of its people.

He explains that as a devout Muslim who follows the required dictums of his spiritual path and that he uses his religion which emphasises peace, as a practical measure to bring understanding between people. His novels in Tamil language that have been translated by various translators into Sinhala include the novella, Raliya, the short story collection titled Kandulaka Kathawak and the children’s stories Udaya Puraya. Other books written by him from a total of over 30, include Vudathalai, a novel, Pukali Soham, a poetry collection and Veedu, a novel and Kodayum Varambai Udayakum a collection of short stories, which was his first work and published in Tamil Nadu by N C B H Publishers. Six of his books have been translated into Sinhala by diverse translators.

He has also translated over 30 novels and short stories of other Sinhala au- thors such as Denagama Siriwardena, Kamal Perera, Jayathilaka Kammellaweera, Gunasekera Gunasoma, Tennyson Perera, W.A. Silva and Sydney Marcus Dias. In this interview he looks at aspects such as the link between language, literature, national identity and how these relate to enhancing the harmony of a nation.

Following are excerpts of the interview done in his home in Atulugama in Bandaragama where he has lived ever since marriage.

Q: Your identity is entrenched as Dikwella Kamaal. Do you have another identification such as your full family name?

A: Yes. My father’s name was Mohammed Jalaldeen and my full name as given by the parents is Mohammed Jalaldeen Mujisabha Kamaal. But I chose to be known as Dikwelle Kamaal in my literary persona and even all the Muslims call me Kamaal Sir! Sir, because I was a teacher. The name authentically should be pronounced as Kamaal but all the Sinhalese call me Kamal and so with most Tamils! 

Q: You stated in our discussion that although Sinhala and Tamil newspapers had interviewed you that this is the first time an English mainstream media establishment had shown interest in your work?

A: Yes. Many Sinhala newspapers have interviewed me as I have translated the work of many Sinhala language literary giants. This lack of focus by English media in Sri Lanka on Sinhala and Tamil language writers and those who carry out translations seem to be the norm here due to language based polarisation and seclusion. It is often the same in Sinhala and Tamil media where the focus is segmented according to the language medium of the media channel or paper. For example, I do not write in English. So people like me do not often associate or get to meet English language based writers or journalists. English media and those writing literature in English hardly come for Sinhala and Tamil language literary events. But hopefully this will change as more and more focus is given to translations and the inter-mixing of literary circles. We need a literature based national identity that interlinks the languages of Sinhala, Tamil and English. 

Q: You do not write in Sinhala?

A: No. I read Sinhala and I translate stories into Tamil. I work closely with many translators such as Sarath Ananda and Anurasiri Hettige alongside others such as Ven. Atale Piyadassi, Mohammed Razak and S.A.C.M. Kamath. We often discuss new books that we should translate. We take great happiness in creating wider readership for books which otherwise may remain unread by many. 

Q: Your hometown which you were born in is Dikwelle in the Matara district?

A: Yes. I was very proud to be born in it because it was also the hometown of the Sinhala literary icon Kumaratunga Munidasa. Especially when I was a youth I used to take great pride in name dropping of Kumaratunga Munidasa whenever I had to go out of the village. After marriage I shifted to Atulugama in Bandaragama as it is the village of my wife, Zulfika.  

Q:  What is the school you studied in and what are your childhood memories?

A: I studied till grade 5 in the Dikwella Muslim Vidyalaya. Thereafter I studied at the Al Hamra School in Dharga town in Aluthgama. Our village was and still is an incredibly lovely village. I go there often with my wife and four sons even today whenever I can. I grew up at a time when there was no ethnic or religious distinction whatsoever in children and where religion was taught to us through emphasis of being good human beings, good citizens and kind to all we come across. We had a beautiful Buddhist temple in the Dikwella village – the Wewurakannala Maha Viharaya which is the main temple in the area. There were smaller temples around it and during the traditional perahera (procession) time all of us children would join in the arrangements and take part in the procession. 

We had the most wonderful childhood. We used to play in different spots in the village. Many houses used to have a range of fruit trees and we used to be given bag-fulls of fruits such as mango and naraang. All of us children read and exchanged books written for children by authors such as Kumaratunga Munidasa. In a way you could say that Mundidasa was our first literary teacher through his books. 

The happiest times I have ever witnessed was in my beloved village Dikwella. I recall how we used to be thrilled to be invited to village weddings in which Mohideen Baig would be commissioned as the singer. We had another famous singer as well as poet and composer in our village called M.S.M. Shams who used to be called upon to sing often at weddings and functions. 

I should mention here that the veteran writer Dengama Siriwardena who became my close literary associate and friend was from the Southern vicinity, from the village of Denagama in Hakmana. I first met him when I was 16 years old and by that time I had read his writings which had appeared in newspapers and magazines. 

Overall I can say that we had an idyllic village life in Southern Sri Lanka. We bathed in the common village well. We attended each other’s festivals and were equally comfortable having a meal in our neighbour’s homes as in our own. This unity still exists in every village in Sri Lanka. Maybe we are not looking for it and probably that is why we are not highlighting it in mainstream media.

Q: You are a teacher by profession?

A: Yes. I was trained at the Palali Teacher Training College in the years 1973 and 1974 in Jaffna which is where Tamil medium teachers were trained. It was a wonderful experience. It was my first detailed glimpse of the North of Sri Lanka. 

The subjects I taught were science and mathematics and there was a high demand for teachers in those subjects even then. 

I am retired now. I am now 73 years of age. I have taught at the Kandy Rukmania Maha Vidyalaya, Al Hidaya Maha Vidyalaya in Colombo and at the Atulugama Algazzali Maha Vidyalaya which I served for 25 years from 1972 to 1997. 

Q:  At what age did you start writing?

A: From my teenage years. Initially I wrote poems of which only a few have been translated. But I started very seriously focusing on writing short stories and translating about 25 years ago with the easing of the pressure from my teaching career. 

Q: Can you elaborate on your literary journey?

A: Yes. Being a teacher one gets very busy. Especially subjects such as science and mathematics hold a lot of responsibility as they are considered tough subjects for children. Therefore I could seriously concentrate on my literary path after I retired. During this time there was a resurgence in the Tamil literary sphere and more avenues were opened for the interaction between Sinhala and Tamil writers. For many years I have been associated with the Tamil literary magazine of Dr. T. Gnanasekaran who was honoured for his lifetime literary contribution at last year’s State Literary Awards. I was tasked with the responsibility of writing about Southern and Sinhala writers and their work for the literary magazine Gnanam published by Dr. Gnanasekaran. In my early days as a writer I was contributing to the Dinapathy magazine published by M.D. Gunasena till the 1970s.

After 2009 Mr. Godage of Godage publishers helped to form the Sinhala-Tamil Writers Association and there were many valuable interactions the North and South writers have had. The challenge is to keep these exchanges going. 

Q: What is your view on the publishing industry in Sri Lanka when it comes to giving recognition to emerging writers?

A: I think the Lankan publishing industry is active in this regard and I have to make a very special mention of Godage Publishers to which many of the writers of my generation are grateful. When most of our first works were rejected by some well-known publishers it was Mr. Godage who gave us a chance, paying special attention to editing our works and giving advice on how to improve our writing. 

Q:  What is your advice to teachers and parents on not stopping their children being writers (or force them to be doctors, lawyers or engineers against their will)?

A: One could say that this world is sustained because of writers. Humanity is sustained because of poets, novelists and short story writers. A child who can see the world differently from another and portray it sensitively and creatively in sound vocabulary should be encouraged to write. We need a new generation of such writers who could especially cut across language and other barriers.