Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Hanusha Somasunderam

Illustration by Nelusha Lindagendara- nelushalindagedara@gmail.com

Once there was a woman who worked on the bright, verdant hills of Nuwara Eliya. The sun was piercing and leeches sipped at her blood as she plucked tear shaped leaves off the vivid, green bushes. She tossed them over her back into a basket that hung from her head. The weight of it pulled against her scalp. It was heavy and it was hot. It hurt.

Many years later, her granddaughter caressed the worn, bumpy crown of her grandmother’s head, and thought deeply about the hearts and hands that made this prized, signature export possible: Ceylon Tea. Her granddaughter’s name is Hanusha Somasunderam. Hanusha is an artist.

Being represented by the Saskia Fernando Gallery in Colombo is a big deal. It’s an achievement for any artist, but perhaps even more so for an artist who faces the overlapping challenges associated with being a woman and a Hill Country Tamil, one of Sri Lanka’s most marginalised, overlooked communities.

The habitual cup of tea, quietly integral to a sunny afternoon or an office lunch break, is the focus of Hanusha’s work. She reframes everyday objects like the tea strainer, the teacup and the tea bag and demands that you look at them more closely. It’s not enough to ask where our tea comes from. Who does it come from?

Although Hanusha grew up watching her mother leave for the tea plantations from their line room, she didn’t always think of the struggles that lay beneath the surface of the much advertised beauty of the hills. In fact, while studying art at the University of Jaffna, Hanusha was particularly struck by how beautiful Nuwara Eliya was in contrast to Jaffna’s more arid, spare terrain. This is what she would highlight in her final project. But a probing question from her lecturer changed her course. “Is Nuwara Eliya really beautiful?”, he asked, “Who are the people who make it this way?”. Hanusha was surprised. She thought about this deeply, questioning how she might have overlooked the challenges and issues facing her community to rest her gaze on those bright, verdant hills of home.

Stirred by this question, Hanusha turned her eyes to her own life experiences and those of her community. Likewise, her art demands that you move beyond passive looking to more purposive seeing. Look beyond the surface of the everyday tea object and see the world that exists behind it. As Hanusha says, “I want people to think beyond the beauty of the hills to see the reality of the issues that face the people who make it beautiful […] You can only help us if you first see us.”

The Hill Country Tamil community provides our tea, but they rarely drink it themselves. They drink ‘dust’ — the dregs left behind after higher quality tea is sent for export or to shops in the cities. Look at Hanusha’s art. You’ll see this asymmetry in the stories of her family and friends, inked in symbols across stained tea bags and teacups. Leeches, line rooms, infants, the hands on a clock. Imagine drinking from one of Hanusha’s white, porcelain cups. As the warm tide of sweet milk tea flows past your lips, you might notice the inked outlines of crying infants reaching for their mother; when you’ve drunk your fill, your drained cup might disclose the small, sparse square of a line room inked at its base.

Hanusha’s art is the cover of anthropologist Mythri Jegathesan’s Tea and Solidarity, an ethnography of the Hill Country Tamil community. A collage of teabags forms the canvas, a woman traced on blurring patches of sepia; one hand clasps a full, pregnant belly, the other delicately holds a tea leaf, fingers curved in a mudra. Her bare breasts and the stained, ochre tones allude to the Sigiriya frescoes, highlighting the absence of women like Hanusha, her mother and her grandmother from the nation’s mythologies and narratives, both past and present. In Hanusha’s words, as recorded by Dr. Jegathesan,

“This woman working on the plantations is the backbone of her home.

This woman is the backbone of the nation.

The women of Sigiriya stand high on a mountain.

These women also stand high on mountains.

The women in Sigiriya have delicate fingers that hold slender leaves.

The women here also have delicate fingers but hold tea leaves […]

I am asking those who come here to look at them.

To look back.

To see.”

In spite of the oppressions she resists, Hanusha is joyous. She’s deeply thankful to the allies she’s had along the way — her parents, who helped her buy art materials, and her university lecturer, Dr Thamodarampillai Shanathanan who was a true mentor and teacher. “Dr Shanathanan taught me what art really was and opened many doors of opportunity, I must have done something good in a past life to have received him as my teacher.”.

Hanusha is an artist. She is a mother, a wife, a teacher and a daughter.

Inequality and inequity, fulfilment and agency are both encapsulated in her work. The tea bag is a symbol of exploitation; it’s also a symbol of Hanusha’s identity and the profound joy she experiences when creating art. She finds release in telling her story and in giving utterance to the typically erased voice of her community. “I used to be someone whom no one knew about,” says Hanusha, “If I don’t keep doing my art, I’d get lost. I’d be forgotten. For people to know that a person like me exists, I need to keep on doing something. If I do a good piece of art, I don’t need the effects of yoga or meditation — where you feel that freeing of tension and peace of mind. That piece of work gives me my happiness. My art gives me this kind of peaceful, joyous mentality. ”

In creating art, Hanusha finds aathma tripti — a deeply felt satisfaction of the spirit. When she speaks these stories in ink, she says she feels like she’s flying.

(Shruthi Mathews is currently an online graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, studying Liberal Arts. She was a co-founder of the food review site YAMU and covered arts for the Hindu newspaper in Chennai. She’s a graduate of University College London and a mother of two.)

Reference Links and Further Reading

• On Hanusha

1. Works and Bio, Saskia Fernando Gallery, https://www.saskiafernandogallery.com/artists/52-hanusha-somasunderam/biography/

2. Hanusha Somasundaram, wammuseum, https://wammuseum.org/artist/hanusha-somasundaram/

3. “When you look at them you look at us”, Sunday Times, 27th March 2016, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160327/sunday-times-2/when-you-look-at-them-you-look-at-us-187578.html

• On the Hill Country Tamil Community

1. Tea & Solidarity (2019), Mythri Jegathesan

2. Class, Patriarchy, and Ethnicity on Sri Lankan Plantations (2015), Kumari Jayawardena and Rachel Kurian

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy

Illustration by Danushri Welikala- danushri.welikala@gmail.com

Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy identifies herself as “not fully an activist, not fully an academic,” but as someone who has always been fueled by the necessity to “fight against social injustice.”

Born in Colombo, her father’s occupation at the United Nations meant that her childhood was spent in New York — an organization and city that would remain central to her eventual trajectory as lawyer, human rights advocate, academic, and at present, a household name. While the melting pot of United Nations International School was foundational to her understanding of racial and ethnic difference as a non-starter, she credits her roots in Nallur, Jaffna, for those early lessons. Each April and August spent in her grandparents’ home; she listened starry-eyed to her granduncle’s stories of Gandhian resistance, the Indian Independence movement, and advocacy for the marginalized. These stories not only nudged awake a human rights consciousness at a very young age but ensured this consciousness was entrenched in principles of non-violence and humanism.

“So that’s why I get really startled when people say this is some Western imperialist project,” she opines, referring to the misconstruction of human rights advocacy and the Sri Lankan civil society apparatus at large. “One of the things I want to do as part of my writing is to recover and steer people towards that history,” she says, her hope that Sri Lankans can one day perceive how rights-based equality continues from a tradition of anti-colonial thought and resistance. As a South Asian woman growing up in the United States, she was further conscious of the anti-imperial quality of movements about human rights — the Civil Rights movement, the wide opposition to the Vietnam War, and growing resistance against Apartheid in South Africa. “The commonality was humanism,” she observes, of calls for equality whether in the form of Gandhian non-violence or the civil disobedience of Dr. King. These early learnings, she maintains, have remained the guiding principle in her work advocating and protecting the fundamental freedoms of communities both at home and worldwide.

As far as people go, Dr. Coomaraswamy considers herself to be “a very clinical, analytical person on the one hand, and someone who rages against the dying of the light on the other.” Her origins as a skillful lawyer trained in American law schools, including being a student of the late United States Supreme Court Justice and pioneer feminist litigator Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Columbia, melded with her identity as a passionate human rights activist and academic borne out of those early days in Jaffna to create this powerhouse of a duality. She reminisces how Sithie Tiruchelvam, her close friend and founder of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust, would jokingly refer to this duality as a sort of ideological schizophrenic drawing her atypical Sri Lankan experience and the various social and cultural junctures that have shaped her advocacy over time. She has always felt that this duality was the creative tension that gave energy to her work.

In 1994 Dr. Commaraswamy was appointed United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women — the first under this mandate, and a position which would propel her name into international significance. Her appointment also marked the first time that violence against women was conceptualised as a political issue internationally. She recalls the resistance from human rights and feminist quarters of the day at this departure from framing gendered violence as a matter of criminality instead of a matter of intersectional politics. During her time as Special Rapporteur, she created the due diligence framework, and over 20 years later, it remains the metric to evaluate a country’s response to addressing violence against women.

Under the leadership of Kofi Annan, she also served as an Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 2006 to 2012. “So I remember my first day, and I was thinking “This must be a really interesting moment.” I was surrounded with only two women, and the rest was men. Not all white, but many significantly so”, she recalls, a moment of particular salience of how her own identity as a South Asian woman who also belonged to a minority ethnic group fit into this global human rights apparatus. The fieldwork was her favourite part of her time at the United Nations. She engaged in rigorous fact-finding and story-telling with the impetus to shed light on the diverse experiences of women and children living in landscapes of violence while also ducking the occasional warplane. An ardent feminist who, in her own words, is “wedded to the idea of intersectionality and the diversity in women’s experiences,” she opines that these missions only strengthened her conviction that these differences need to be problematized to achieve sustainable equality and justice for women everywhere.

Dr. Coomaraswamy is happiest in a small group of people discussing important ideas. The comfort and solidarity felt in discussions with like-minded people as daylight morphed into the quiet night, she says, remains to be where she did a lot of her learning. When she founded the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in 1982 with such a group, including the late Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, this solidarity, and comfort in the service of important idea are what they emulated. The organisation originated as a space for seeking out solutions to the ongoing ethnic conflict. Equally importantly, it was also a community with an incorruptible collective empathy — lawyers, anthropologists, historians, and scholars, drawing from very different vocations and walks of life, fulfilling a commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence. Recalling her work at ICES with her late friend Dr. Tiruchelvam, she states how it isn’t just about having an idea but also the dialectic to choose which idea would best apply in the service of equal protection of human rights. To Dr. Coomaraswamy, solidarity is pockets of people continuing meaningful conversations, friends with a strong sense of collective empathy traveling uphill towards equality while supporting each other on the way there.

To this day, Dr. Coomaraswamy remains steadfast that change can happen if enough people realize the power of empathy and solidarity. She fears fascism in all forms, everywhere, and is hopeful of the power of young people, their steadily growing human rights consciousness, and their fearlessness against the systems that oppress. Joan Baez’s We Shall Overcome, a song from her youth that coincided with a time when the global discourse on human rights was taking shape, remains a distinct memory, and as what she feels is a timeless message of encouragement. The message, she says, is “That there’s hope. It’s a song for today, for Sri Lanka, that we should overcome. It’s not that we will conquer, we will kill, we will defeat, but that we should overcome. There’s an obstacle, and we will overcome it together. And at the end of it, we will be home.”

(Sharanya Sekaram is the co-founder of Everystory Sri Lanka and identifies (for now) as a Sri Lankan feminist activist, researcher, and writer — working as a consultant in the gender space. She is currently reading for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colombo and you can find her on Twitter @sharasekaram and on her blog “Writing from That Sekaram Girl”)

(Saritha is a freelance writer and aspiring researcher, interested in all things intersectional feminism, queer liberation, and memory politics. Currently, she works as a social media analyst at Hashtag Generation, specializing in mapping trends in cyber sexual and gender-based violence on Sri Lankan social media)

(Shreedha Horagoda was an intern at Everystory Sri Lanka and a student at the University of Berkeley California)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Peacemaker, Radhika Coomaraswamy | UN Peacemaker

2. Radhika Coomaraswamy to Keynote at Opening Ceremony, The Women In Public Service Project, Radhika Coomaraswamy to Keynote at Opening Ceremony — Women in Public Service Project (smith.edu)

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Melanie Janine Kanaka

Illustration by Nathasha Wickramasinghe-r.nathasha.w@gmail.com

Determined. Passionate. Committed. Three words that Ms. Kanaka uses to describe herself that captures her personality perfectly. The first female outside of Europe elected Global Vice President of CIMA an Institute with a history of over a hundred years. Ms.Melanie Janine Kanaka, is a woman with a passion and an inspiration to all Sri Lankans in management accounting. Effective June 2021, she holds the prestigious office of Deputy President of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Lesser known is that Mrs. Kanaka was a national swimmer during her youth, representing Sri Lanka in the 100 and 200-meter dolphin butterfly stroke. Here, she had the rare honor of officiating the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. Born a twin with a congenital dysfunction, she started swimming only at the age of 9 but, at 12 years of age, broke expectations by becoming the first girl to swim the Ambalangoda two-mile sea swim — a notoriously all-male event. ‘Before I could go even 50 meters into the water’, she laughs, ‘the boys all overtook me.’ She remembers ‘the media photographers who had come to capture the event — took photographs of the lone female at the event and many write-ups were splashed in the Sinhala newspapers; Melanie Kanaka, the first female to swim the Ambalangoda sea swim.’

Her accolades in the water were acknowledged and appreciated by the selectors at Emory University- a top Business School in the USA — when as a Fulbroght Scholar she placed her application for a Masters before their esteem panel of selectors.. She was surprised when they pointed out to her that ‘[she] had agreed to swim a gruelling event in the unfamiliar seas of a far off rural town for which [she] did not expect any recognition, any accolades, nor any certificate.’ ‘They actually gave me a certificate with the ‘men’s event title cut off and written in pen ‘women,’ she recalls with a smile.

When asked to look back at her childhood, it is with a fond smile that Ms. Kanaka recalls her carefree and energetic childhood, which included ‘Brownie activities, elocution classes, the swimming lessons, climbing trees with my sibling, my brother, and the neighbors and riding bikes across the garden.’ Her experience doing sports at Bishop’s College, Colombo, taught her how to take a win and a loss — a lesson she finds invaluable through her career. ‘I think who you are today is actually a reflection of the experiences, exposure, and the circumstances you’ve gone through in the past, she says. She shares that her maternal grandma played a big role in her life growing up. ‘I remember lots of stories with her, playing Ludo or playing cards, or trying to cheat while playing cards and getting caught,’ she laughs, saying. Ms. . Kanaka does not fail to mention her Principal while at Bishop’s College, Ms. Jayasuriya, a spirited lady with a salt and pepper look and sporting a natural streak like that of the late Indira Gandhi. . I had the good fortune of studying Divinity with her in our school chapel and the stories that she shared were so practial that she made the Bibile come alive ‘She’d make the [divinity] class so interesting that some of those reflections are quite vivid even today.

She recalls her entrance into the world of Management Accounting (CIMA) as a university student when she was reading for a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura. ‘The four years [of university] actually ended up to be six years, she says, because of the JVP activities and the student unrest in 1987 and in 1989. . Nevertheless, she had finished her CIMA exams and subsequently secured a job as a management trainee at DFCC in 1989, all while being an undergraduate student. When asked if she would have done anything differently, Mrs. Kanaka is pragmatic in her reply that ‘in the context of the environment in Sri Lanka, in the mid 80’s and early 90’s , I doubt I would have done anything different. Because of the situation options were limited, and the avenues of opportunity and options were extremely limited’.

Ms. Kanaka’s journey within the CIMA is a long one, and one that consisted of highs and lows, but through it all she is most convinced that t ‘the comeback will always be greater than the setback’ as she describes her three decades of service. She was on the Vice President’s seat of the CIMA Sri Lanka Divisional Council in 2008 but faced a setback when the governance structures were changed. . Subsequently, with her elected entry to the newly formulated CIMA Sri Lanka Board s she soon realized the politicizing of the Board and opted to divert her energy and passion at a more global level. This was a natural transition since she had already been at CIMA for over two decades at the time and was already serving the profession as a Global Membership Accessor. Ms . Kanaka was elected to CIMA Council in 2013 from f South Asia. She was subsequently co-opted to the CIMA Council for her second term, given her contributions at numerous CIMA policy committees and her undoubted passion for the profession. . Before her second three-year term on Council was up, her peers on the Council identified her to be their Vice President nominee and she was subsequently elected to the position by the global membership of the Institute. . ‘Honest professionals will always recognize committed hard work, coupled with passion and patient perseverance, leaning on ethics and doing the right thing is fundamental,’ she advises, speaking from her experience.

Her pride in becoming the first Asian female Vice President of CIMA is apparent as she displays the badge of Office she received as Vice President — crafted and designed by the Queen’s jewelers themselves. ‘I’m the third female Vice President, but the very first outside of Europe, of the Chartered Institute of Global Management Accountants, she says, ‘and It with pride, and honour that I say that I brought this badge for the very first time to Sri Lanka, to my motherland.’

When asked about any resistance she faced from her peers while working at an international platform like CIMA global, primarily due to her cultural identification as a South Asian, Ms . Kanaka is quick to point out that internationally, people are more attuned to the diversity. of work. Diversity y and inclusion is a big piece and internationally it is something that is encouraged and appreciated. ‘Internationally, for any female, I can only say that boundaries are endless,’ she says, encouraging women to work towards their goals ‘without compromising your standards, values, and ethics.’

Ms Kanaka’s work ethic is admirable. A fearless advocate against bias, favoritism, and unfairness, she is proud to stand in solidarity with like-minded people who have stood against politicizing areas that never should be politicized. ‘That’s the lesson I have learned throughout my career, she says, is that ‘nothing is impossible’ and encourages young girls in Sri Lanka to ‘start putting your efforts no matter how small, because your commitment, your passion, your drive, and for doing the right thing; you will be recognized.’ She hopes for a future where gender disparity is erased, true diversity and inclusion are embraced, with people given their rightful place based on merit and society has the required strength and ability to oppose biasness and favoritism. Her mantra for success? Be determined. Be Passionate. Be Committed.

Hansathi Pallewatte is an eighteen-year-old student on a gap year and is one of the youngest members of the Everystory Sri Lanka team. An avid speaker, reader, and debater, her loud opinions and unwavering dedication to proving her haters wrong often land her in a spot of trouble with her elders. She hopes to further her knowledge of women’s rights advocacy and international relations and pursue a degree in Law at the University of Cambridge come September 2021.

Research Links:

Melanie Kanaka — First Asian woman as Vice President of CIMA I Daily MirrorCIMA Global Council’s first Asian woman invited to serve a second term I Daily FTSri Lankan woman creates history in Global Management Accounting Profession I Lanka Business News.

NotesThis article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Vishaka Nanayakkara

Illustration by Rashmi Natasha Wickramasinghe

Vishaka Nanayakkara always knew she wanted to get into the field of Computer Sciences thanks to her deep love for ones and zeros. In fact, when she was in school in the late 80s, she was certain she wanted to become a computer scientist. Little did she know she would soon embark on a fulfilling journey that married her love for computer engineering with her love for teaching.

“No one knew what Computer Sciences was at the time,” she shares. “And, Sri Lankan universities didn’t have computer science programs. You had to first do a physical science degree, and go elsewhere to do your IT degree.” Fortunately, in 1986, University of Moratuwa started a Computer Science and Engineering program, and with encouragement from her teachers at school, Vishaka scored a spot in the program after her Advanced Level exams. It was halfway through her degree that she realized she didn’t want to become a scientist, but a teacher.

Sharing her wisdom, nurturing, and inspiring the brightest minds around her to be and do better are what Vishaka has dedicated nearly 27 years of teaching to. Revolutionizing what it means to be a teacher, she encourages her students to take on new opportunities and never give up. “When people give up easily, it drives me crazy!” Vishaka says with a chuckle.

Growing up, Vishaka was never told not to do certain things because she was a girl. There were never gender-based roles or chores and she was always treated equally. When she moved schools from Galle to Visakha Vidyalaya, she felt the push to be independent even more. “Being in a girls-only environment really gave me that confidence because you didn’t know anything different. If you had something you had to do, you never relied on someone else, because everyone was on equal footing,” This experience worked to Vishaka’s advantage when she moved into a lecturer role at UoM.

Vishaka’s can-do approach to bettering the university, faculty, and her students led to a swift promotion as the Head of Department of the Computer Science and Engineering faculty at UoM. “I never questioned if I’d be able to do something. I always thought this is something that needs to be done and just did it!” she shares.

Stepping out of comfort zones is a part of growing up, evolving, and taking on new challenges. Vishaka has always been a firm advocate for constant growth and independent thinking. It has boggled her quite a bit why so many are resistant to change until she realized that fear of the unknown and of failure were driving factors. She solves this particular problem by leading through example.

When Sri Lanka faced the first wave of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown in 2020, many educational institutes and universities were fast considering an online teaching model to bridge the learning gap. While Vishaka was all for doing it, she was met with resistance from her own faculty who had reservations about teaching online. “When people don’t know what to do, they resist change,” she says, thoughtfully. Addressing this was her first course of action. She took the time and taught anyone willing to learn how to conduct entire lectures online utilizing all the necessary tools. Today, UoM has data-free resources for all students, and even has exams online. “Be the change you want to be!” she enthuses.

Throughout her professional career, Vishaka has shaken up the IT industry, leading by example for students and peers alike. Her openness to learn from her students and younger colleagues no matter how small the idea propels her forward with vigor. You see, Vishaka lives by her own code: as a teacher, you should always teach anyone willing to learn. Back in 2011, Vishaka was about 6 years into her tenure as Head of Department when the Trade Union went on strike. Although Vishaka agrees that it’s important the government appreciates the services of its lecturers, she was not keen to take out any frustrations on the students. So despite the authority the Trade Union holds, she continued her classes outside of the university. And this did not go unappreciated.

To show their gratitude, all her students came together to put on a stellar cultural show, complete with a guest speaker, from first to final years. “They were very scared — scared that people might attack them or me. But despite this, they put this show together,” she says. Vishaka defied the norm and took a stand. This paid off when this same batch of students graduated earlier than everyone else.

Everything Vishaka does is to encourage her students to foster self-confidence, disrupt the norm, and never back down irrespective of your gender. Vishaka has always done this, but she says, “If I could tell my younger self one thing, it’s to believe in yourself.”

(Shihaam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and leveraged her knowledge in Psychology in marketing, media and public relations, events, education, clothing retail and food & beverage. Shihaam is the former Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka and continues to spend a lot of her time chasing after an exciting story and mentoring aspiring writers. She created the country’s first 35 Under 35 list of dynamic young Sri Lankan women making waves and leading the charge in their respective industries. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her whipping up a cocktail or two!)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Vishaka Nanayakkara, Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lWxScqsAAAAJ&hl=th

2. Vishaka Nanayakkara, LIRNEAsia, https://lirneasia.net/board/vishaka-nanayakkara/

3. Vishaka Nanayakkara, Linkedin, https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishaka-nanayakkara-31a53617/?originalSubdomain=lk

4. Remembering Arthur C Clarke: Vishaka Nanayakkara, Arthur C Clarke Trust, 14th December 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-loZki_HtA

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Shiranee Mills

Illustration by Danushri Welikala- danushri.welikala@gmail.com

Ms. Shiranee Mills sees herself primarily as an educator — be it in her role as a teacher and then later Principal of Uduvil Girls College, or in her current role as Executive Director at the Women’s Education Research Centre (WERC). Her deep drive to go beyond sharing knowledge and inspire those she educates has led her to build a profoundly powerful legacy as a teacher and feminist.

Shiranee (as she insists on being referred to, shying away from other monikers) draws inspiration from Harriet Lathrop Winslow. Harriet Winslow was an American Missionary who spent the bulk of her life in Jaffna, focused on developing education. She was also the Founder Principal of Uduvil Girls College — the first all-girls boarding school in the region. This journey has inspired Shiranee deeply. From 1978, in her first post as a teacher at Uduvil (which was also her alma mater), it has been a driving force. A small, green-bound book. “The Memoir of Mrs. Harriet L. Winslow” travels with her as a reminder of this force, “I give it to all the principals and educators I know when they get inducted.”

Born in Jaffna, Shiranee moved to Colombo following her secondary education to complete her Bachelor of Arts in English and Western Classical Culture from the Kelaniya University. She moved back in 1981 to take up a teaching post at Uduvil Girls College before returning to Colombo in 1990 after her marriage. Later with her husband living in Kuwait for work, she returned to Jaffna, despite the growing conflict, to teach again at the school she loved, but the challenges and danger would leave scars. She describes holding her two children under tables when they heard helicopters’ sounds above and running to bunkers during bombing raids.

Uduvil Girls’ College is a private school that comes under the purview of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI), and Shiranee returned as Principal in 2005 on the request of the then Bishop. Despite her immense popularity and the rapid development of the school, complex forces resulted in her termination in 2009. Students and parents protested however, ensuring her return to continue her work. Through her visionary leadership, selfless dedication, and tireless hard work, she guided the school to numerous high achievements and accolades, not only in education but also in sports, performing arts, visual arts, and IT during her 12-year tenure as the Principal. She speaks of teaching as a chance to shape a generation, “it is difficult to create awareness and change amongst the adult community as gender stereotypes are ingrained in us, and it is difficult for us to change the older generation — our generation. This is why I say we must start with the very young ones.”

Once again, in 2016, the same forces used the opportunity of her turning 60 to terminate her services. Despite continued protests from parents and students, Shiranee, with deep sadness, was forced to step away from the institution she so deeply loved and served with passion. The students at the school and their parents interviewed by the media during the protests showed their regard for her as one of the most outstanding and democratic educationists to serve a school in Jaffna. Reflecting on Shiranee’s tenure as Principal of the school, the alumni and parents who participated in the protests saw in her a strong personality who could withstand the intimidation and bullying she had to endure. This outpouring of support is what Shiranee sees as one of the most extraordinary acts of solidarity she has ever experienced. “I still think of that, and I get emotional,” she says.

Shiranee is now the current Executive Director at the Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC), a post she took on from Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran — whom she credits with being the biggest inspiration in her journey as a feminist. WERC was founded by a small group of feminist researchers and activists to highlight women’s status in the country and publish material which women could use in their struggle for liberation. Shiranee recalls the strong sisterhood of feminists she forged when pursuing a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies from the University of Colombo and the work she has been able to do in her stints within the development sector.

As a Teacher and beloved Principal, she had empowered many young girls to follow their dream. She paved the way for their fearlessness with immense patience and a bright shimmering smile. A woman of indomitable strength, grace, and principles, she continues to find ways to combine her religious and feminist values to fight for women’s liberation. “I am passionate about two things,” she says, “One is about teaching feminist values to the next generation. The second is redefining my faith through a feminist lens because I very much believe that Christian principles are very much feminist.”

(Sharanya Sekaram is the co-founder of Everystory Sri Lanka and identifies (for now) as a Sri Lankan feminist activist, researcher, and writer — working as a consultant in the gender space. She is currently reading for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colombo and you can find her on Twitter @sharasekaram and on her blog “Writing from That Sekaram Girl”)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Ms. Shiranee Mills, Women’s Education and Research Center, http://www.wercsl.org/ms-shiranee-mills/

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Amila De Mel

Illustration by Eshana Rajaratnam- eshanarajaratnam@yahoo.com

They say, “what you see is what you get,” and there is no better phrase that describes Amila — her easy-going, slightly eccentric, and outdoorsy persona is infectious to all those who interact with her.

Amila grew up in the suburbs of Colombo and describes her upbringing as being by her family, in a close-knit neighborhood, and with the freedom of growing up in the 60s and 70s — where children spent more time outdoors than in their classrooms. For her, these factors were pivotal to bringing her closer to nature and building a relationship with animals and the environment, “Yesterday, I saw a beautiful gas gemba (tree frog) — those fellows that jump in every direction. Really cute guy. I was thinking, gosh, this should freak me out — but it didn’t, so I think I’m just accustomed to it.” It is this relationship that features strongly in her work.

Amila began her artistic journey at the Melbourne Art School (Cora Abraham Art Classes) at the tender age of 5. Stemming from an interest in ceramics, pottery, and sculpting, she pursued her interests by following a Fine Arts degree. However, she soon discovered a deeper connection with students in the architecture department whom she befriended. Thus, in her second year, she pursued architecture out of an art school, spending more time in the studio sans the formal learning found in more conventional architecture programs.

Following her return to Sri Lanka, Amila secured a placement with Anjalendran (a leading Sri Lankan architect whose work was renowned for capturing the vernacular Sri Lankan aesthetic with a modern twist) at his studio, where she worked for over a year. After that, she joined Geoffrey Bawa (GB or Mr. Bawa as she fondly calls him), dubbed the Father of Tropical Modernism in Sri Lanka. He greatly influenced his students and young architects such as Anjalendran — the latter being Amila’s previous employer. Through her work with Bawa, she received the opportunity to be involved in some of his key projects. These included Kandalama Hotel and Lighthouse Hotel, Galle, both continuing to define the landscape of Sri Lankan architecture. She reflects on this defining time, saying, “Anjalen was quite fixed in his ways, and Mr. Bawa was completely unfixed — they were so opposite the way they worked, which was very interesting… Anjalen taught you how to think, and then when you went to Mr. Bawa, you were asked; why are you doing this?”

Through these experiences, she formed close friendships with her colleagues, who encouraged her to complete her architectural qualification and pursue a professional architecture career. Their eagerness to see her through was equal to her excitement when designing and building spaces she refers to as being ‘fun.’

Amila’s work is a testament to her persona — open spaces connected through simple forms with intricate details. Her work most often revolves around highlighting cultural elements and creating an identity around each building form she generates. Each project is also a learning experience — be it incorporating a water purification system at a handloom dying plant or adopting alternative technologies for a low-cost housing scheme — she is aware of all the intricate details that can enhance each project, improve lives and mitigate environmental damage.

However, these projects also come with frustrations in red tape — the low-cost housing scheme (In association with Habitat for Humanity) in particular, was at first a moment of victory as they received a sizable grant through an INGO to facilitate and build housing for people in the North and East of Sri Lanka. This project involved those who had lost their homes due to the Sri Lankan Civil War. Amila’s office was instrumental in developing the designs for over 3000 houses, which didn’t meet with the same enthusiasm with which it was designed. “If you’re giving aid for a house, who said it should be a two-bedroom house? Who makes these rules?” she asks in frustration. Despite their belief in their original design, the final result had to succumb to the pressure, and the initial drawings were lost in translation.

On the other hand, Amila shares other examples of work that do not strictly follow the architectural norm that has brought her joy. The Ena de Silva (a Sri Lankan artist and designer primarily known for her work in the Batik industry), Aluwihare Heritage Center is one such passion project where Amila is now involved with the task of keeping the local art form alive and showcasing its value in the global sphere. Similarly, she describes her involvement in the reconstruction of Ena de Silva’s house. “I didn’t set out to do it; it’s just that I am not afraid; I will go and undertake it,” she says. Perhaps one of the most outstanding architectural preservation examples in Sri Lanka, this project which was open to the public in 2019, involved a complete uprooting of the entire house from Colombo and a transfer to the Bawa Gardens in Bentota. Here, Amila coordinated the project and ensured that architects, engineers, archaeologists, and contractors stayed true to Bawa’s design and Ena’s spirit.

Amila is a go-getter. She gets her hands dirty and is not afraid to learn and teach. Be it experimenting with brick forms, spending time at home with her dog, or outdoors with friends — her persona and work resonate strongly through her sensitivity to the environment and natural formations. “I don’t want to build. I think the less we make, the better this world will be,” she says — defying all expectations of how one imagines an architect would see the world!

(Sareena is a young Architect from Colombo, Sri Lanka, who dabbles in numerous creative forms including writing, dodge spot hunting and content curation. She is constantly searching for the perfect mix in her travels and day-to-day life experiences with a keen eye for art and architecture. )

(Varsha Sekaram is an architect currently working with a firm based in Sri Lanka. Alongside her work as an architect, Varsha works with Everystory Sri Lanka as a Curator for their work documenting and visually interpreting the stories of girls resistance and activism in South Asia.Varsha’s avid interest in the great outdoors and all things design related has also fueled a deep relationship with gem and jewelry design which she believes lies at the intersection of design and nature)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Sri Lanka: Ena De Silva’s moving house, Architexturez, https://architexturez.net/pst/az-cf-180188-1474470845

2. Animate Her: Amila De Mel, British Council Sri Lanka, 10th March 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nKNZWSL8eQ

3. After Minette — Stories of Female Sri Lankan Architects, Sri Lanka by ish, https://www.srilankabyish.com/blog/2019/3/3/after-minnette-stories-of-female-sri-lankan-architects

4. Garden Room in Sri Lanka by ADM Architects, The Architectural Review, 25th June 2014 https://www.architectural-review.com/awards/ar-house/garden-room-in-sri-lanka-by-adm-architects

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive —Anomaa Rajakaruna

Illustration by Rashmi Natasha

Growing up in the village of Malamulla in Panadura, Anomaa Rajakaruna developed an early love for storytelling. She would stand on chairs at family gatherings and create plot twists into well-established children’s stories. She would also make her way into small teacher-student groups at a very young age, insisting that she be included wherever a story was being told.

She first began writing and publishing while in school and soon moved to work in film. She created her first short film at the age of 17, using expired film stock and saved up pocket money. The film centered around Sri Lanka’s civil war and focused on one woman and her different relationships with two men. However, Anomaa experienced one of her first challenges, professionally, when one (of the only available) broadcasting corporations refused to air a film of such complexity. She was told to focus on “children’s stories” instead. “I was actually crying inside when I went home,” she says, recalling a lonely bus ride from Colombo back home to Panadura, clad in her school uniform. However, undeterred, she pushed back until a second network agreed to air the short film. Her first success led to many more as she soon became renowned for her ability to tell stories across various mediums.

Now known for her filmmaking, writing, poetry, and photography, she has traveled extensively, documenting and telling the stories of many, with a particular focus on women and girls’ lives. Anomaa was always fascinated with people and events around her, from the achcharu seller in front of her school, the light filtering when taking a photo, or the moving of a pottery wheel in dips and turns. She explains her work as being influenced by the stories and lives around her and her own experiences: “I think at a very early age, I realized that girls are treated differently than the boys in the family. Because there are always instructions: how you should speak, how you do this, what to learn, and where to go, and with whom you should go, and all that. And then, the opportunities, the voice, the freedom…at an early age, I realized that others took decisions on behalf of me. As a girl child, what I felt was reflected in my short stories, in my poetry. And then, later on, in my films.”

Anomaa’s career rests on her perseverance and the ‘fighter’ within. With little guidance and space for upcoming filmmakers, she would confront course administrators who refused her participation simply because she was a girl unable to “lift the heavy equipment.” She would seek opportunities to develop her craft and to learn more about scriptwriting and film. From early days in her career, she had to struggle to be heard and accepted in the male-dominated industry, or what she describes as, at the time, very much “the boys’ club.”

Her films look deep into existing relationships among people and discuss unconventional topics. For instance, one of her early short films in 1986, ‘Senehasaka Kathawak,’ revolves around an upper-middle-class mother who experiences a stillbirth, while her short film ‘Amma Kenek’ is set during Sri Lanka’s 1983 ethnic riots. However, soon, she began facing censorship from corporations (that did not have a proper review board at the time). Several of her short films were banned for many years, and petitions were made against them. Anomaa explains the continuous censorship she faced, “I have gone through all sorts of [censorship], and I was the first creator in this country who [at that time] faced direct censorship from the President’s office. So my film which I made about the 83’ [riots] was banned, it was stopped,” she says.

Discouraged by the successive restrictions, Anomaa then moved to create documentaries. In 2000, she made a documentary called ‘Yet Another Five’ about five rape victims in Sri Lanka, and her documentary ‘The Other Woman’ discussed women and the armed conflict in the country. However, Anomaa’s work is not limited to film, and she is a reputed photographer. One of her most acclaimed pieces is ‘Women Sharing Life, Building Peace,’ which showcases women of different ethnicities in Sri Lanka sharing water from pots, mainly when the Tamil and Sinhala communities were at war with each other.

Rajakaruna is well known for her rights-based approach to her work and has won numerous awards in recognition. In 2002 she received ‘The Bunka Award’ for notable achievement in photography by the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund; in 2005 the National Honours ‘Kalasuri’ by the President of Sri Lanka; in 2012 the ‘Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite’ (Knight of the National Order of Merit) by the President of France; and in 2019 the ‘Officier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ (Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters) by the Minister of Culture in France. She has also received several national and international awards for her films, from Russia and Finland, to name a few. Anomaa has served as a juror at over 20 national and 25 international film festivals. Currently, she is the Festival Director of the Jaffna International Cinema Festival.

She is also the founder of Agenda 14, a production company designed to create a platform for young and upcoming filmmakers in Sri Lanka. She aims to provide a space for filmmakers and provide opportunities in this field, which she struggled to receive during her early days in the industry. For Anomaa, working with young people and seeing their work develop and take form has been a continuous source of inspiration. “Because I don’t believe in changing something overnight, I believe in changing one by one, a little by little, step by step,” she says.

Anomaa Rajakaruna talks about a series of strong and supportive people, from teachers to senior actors and directors, who inspired her to keep moving forward. She fondly thinks back to her childhood, and holds out a red deer till made out of clay. This “Kelani Muwa” till is meant to collect coins and be broken at the end, but has been preserved and kept safe. While Anomaa’s many awards stay boxed up, this proud deer has been by her side since she was a little girl. “When it is on a shelf, it feels like I have a friend,” she laughs and says.

Anomaa is a storyteller who has used art to question and understand the society she lives in, which has in turn has shaped her work. She states that film is a way of expressing and hopes that the making of films continues to adapt across different situations and topics.

“Sometimes, you know, changing a few minds is more important than winning the golden award. Film is a tool that can change lives, change attitudes and [can be used] as a tool across borders.”

(Sakeena Razick is a writer and feminist. She works as a Communications Associate at a feminist human rights organization. Previously she has worked in research and media.)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Anomaa Rajakaruna, Arts Council of Sri Lanka, http://www.artscouncil.lk/anomaa-rajakaruna/.

2. Sri Lankan Sociologist Pursues Peace, Suratha (taken from Shanghai Daily), 27 January 2017, http://suratha.lk/sri-lankan-sociologist-pursues-peace/.

3. Daring Journey on Documentary, Sunday Times, 12 June 2011, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110612/Magazine/sundaytimestvtimes_5.html.

4. Gearing Platforms for Collective Narratives, ARTRA, 24 April 2018, https://www.artra.lk/gearing-platforms-for-collective-narratives-2.

5. Anomaa Rajakaruna joins international jury: International Film Festival of Kerala, The Sunday Morning, 16 February 2021, https://www.themorning.lk/anomaa-rajakaruna-joins-international-jury-international-film-festival-of-kerala/.

6. Anomaa on filmmaking — then and now: ‘For all the films I couldn’t make, I wrote poetry’, The Sunday Morning, 21 February 2021, https://www.themorning.lk/anomaa-on-filmmaking-then-and-now-for-all-the-films-i-couldnt-make-i-wrote-poetry/.

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive —Anya Ratnayaka

Illustration by Rashmi Natasha

Anya Ratnayaka is a wildlife biologist passionate about Sri Lankan wildlife and their conservation, particularly small wild cats. An Associate Scientist at Re:wild since 2017 and a Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) Scholar for 2017, she has functioned as a Research and Projects Officer for Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL), Wildlife Carer for Blue Paw Trust, and Volunteer at WWF-Nepal. In 2014 she began the Urban Fishing Cat Conservation Project, and in 2017 co-founded the non-profit Small Cat Advocacy & Research (SCAR). Also a member of the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance, she works closely with the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation, Urban Development Authority, and Department of Wildlife Conservation to study, understand and protect this endangered species.

Anya has always known she wanted to work with wildlife. Even as a young child, she was more likely than not to be found running after an animal and has always preferred animals over her own kind. “Like my mom’s and my dad’s earliest memories of me, even whenever I used to go to a friend’s house for like a birthday or something, I was never with the kids,” she said and was instead, with “a fish tank, or if they had a dog, I was with the dog.” She adds, “I feel more natural interacting with animals and nature.” Thus Anya was quite taken aback by the irony when she realized just how much interaction with people was required of her in conservation.

Her “incredible” journey with the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), the only feline species named after its lifestyle, began with a chance encounter. Having finished university, she wrote a proposal on leopards, her then chosen subject of study, when a colleague mentioned that she was looking after an orphaned fishing cat on behalf of the Department of Wildlife Conservation. With attention usually hogged by larger cats like leopards, she was not too aware of the species. Giving into an easy excuse to procrastinate on writing her proposal, she visited the orphaned animal. She fell in love at first sight: “Because it was the size of a road dog, but it looked like a leopard. It was this muscly little creature. And I was like ‘oh my god, this is like the most incredible thing’.” Today she works tirelessly to help conserve this species before it is too late.

Anya believes that the lack of awareness for so-called non-charismatic animals such as the fishing cat is a pressing issue in conservation in Sri Lanka today, with interest mainly limited to megafauna. “Researchers in the country focus a lot on the megafauna, tourists focus on the megafauna, and the public focus on the megafauna in the country,” she told Pulse.lk. She sees the lack of studies on the species as a serious concern and is very vocal about this subject.

Anya views the fishing cat as a flagship species for wetland conservation and is currently researching fishing cats in Colombo’s urban wetland habitats. As the largest terrestrial predator in Colombo, she believes these amphibious animals that even dive after fish to catch them have a great deal to teach us about the health of the ecosystems they occupy. Her Urban Fishing Cat Conservation Project, which also studies how the species is adapting to their habitat’s rapid clearing, was the first project in the world to use GPS collars to track these elusive animals.

Anya’s extraordinary success, however, was not always apparent, at least to her teachers in high school. She was often bullied by many of her teachers, sent to the principal’s office regularly, and did not do well in her classes. “I think the worst thing they [teachers] have ever said was, a math teacher of mine said, ‘I’m sure your mother wished she’d aborted you if she knew the kind of student you’d become’,” says Anya, crediting her “hard-headedness,” i.e., her ability to brush off even the cruelest comments of others and move forward for making it to where she is today. She says she uses the negative comments directed at her to better herself.

She credits the support of other women, including her family, colleagues, and particularly her mentor, who has even traveled to Sri Lanka from South Africa to help her and her team. To young women and girls passionate about conservation and taking on the baton from Anya and her peers, she advises them not to stop no matter what people may say, reminding them emphatically that working with wildlife is not the sole preserve of men.

Describing herself as a wildlife conservationist, powerlifter, mother to two huge and spoilt dogs — Sirius and Vega — and a pop tart enthusiast, Anya is an introverted, stubborn, and extraordinary woman on a mission to “use the fishing cat as an ambassador, as Colombo’s animal symbol. Because Colombo is a city built on top of a wetland and fishing cats are heavily wetland-dependent animals. So it’s like you’re marrying the two together.” Ultimately, she envisions a union where, when “people think Colombo, they think fishing cat, or when they think fishing cat they think [of] Colombo.”

(Rikaza is a writer, thinker, and storyteller. For over a decade now, she has helped people, brands, and organizations find their unique stories and authentic voices and communicate them to the world. A former journalist passionate about human rights, she lives in the suburbs with one daughter, a few cats, and a pile of books.)

(Rachithra Sandanayaka works as the Finance and Admin Manager at Everystory Sri Lanka and the maiden Curator and Coordinator of the Young Feminist Network and its newsletter. Before this, she was a Finance associate for two years in a corporate setting and moved into the development space in 2020. Her passions are Theatre and Music.)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. 35 Under 35: Anya Ratnayaka, Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka, 30th May 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlanfvafbbk

2. Sri Lankan Gamechangers: Conservationist Anya Ratnayaka, Pulse.lk, 26th June 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOy2sK_DglE

3. About Me, anyaratnayaka.com, https://anyaratnayaka.com/about/

4. Wild and Wonderful, Sunday Observer, 10th January 2016, http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2016/01/10/spe-art-01.asp

5. Urban Fishing Cat Conservation Project, fishingcats.lk, https://fishingcats.lk/

6. Small Cat Advocacy and Research, scar.lk

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive — Ramani Fernando

Illustration by Nelusha Lindagendara- nelushalindagedara@gmail.com

With a passion for a frowned-upon profession when she was a child, Ramani Fernando — an iconic name in the hair and beauty industry in Sri Lanka — pursued her dream with dogged determination and support from a loving family. Even as a youngster, Ramani had a keen eye for style and loved dressing up. Her father, a respected lawyer, who noticed her obsession with the mirror, would ask her: “Every time you look, isn’t it the same reflection that you see?”

Her idyllic childhood in Kuliyapitiya was sheltered and simple. Born to Victor and Dorothy de Silva very late in their marriage, Ramani was the family’s baby, with a fourteen-year gap between her eldest sister Shirani. Although she shared a close bond with her two elder sisters — Shirani and Dharini, Ramani was closest to her only older brother Sanath, who, sadly, passed away in a tragic car accident when Ramani was not yet eighteen years of age. The family, stricken with grief, was dealt another major blow when the health of Ramani’s father, which was already deteriorating, took a turn for the worse after his 23-year-old son’s passing. Six months after Sanath’s death, Ramani’s father passed away as well, and Ramani was left feeling the acute loss of both her protectors with whom she had a special bond.

It was on her seventeenth birthday that she met her husband for the very first time. She was married to him before she turned 19. Hailing from a well-respected family, Ranjit had a passion for cricket from a very young age. His cricketing career took them both to England, and that is where Ramani’s burgeoning love for hairdressing found a foothold. With amusement for her bravado, she recalled how, walking the streets of Harrow, looking for job opportunities. Her first attempt in a salon struggling through a trim left the owner politely but firmly telling her to come back when she had learned more. Although humiliated, Ramani realized her need for experience.

A little further down the road, she spotted a sophisticated salon which had a sign on its door asking for ‘juniors.’ “So I walked in there, I had some guts,” she recalled, laughing, “you know I was just 19.” A determined Ramani walked into Gerard London — Martin Gold with trepidation, and after a brief interview, was hired as one of the 15 assistants to the 25 stylists. Her duties ranged anywhere from washing the floors and shampooing to preparing tea and coffee for the clients. Ramani learned a great deal from just observing her stylist to whom she was assigned. “I learned a lot by looking at what she’s doing. I had that talent in me,” she shared. She was eager to learn and in awe of her surroundings. When asked to describe herself in a few words, Ramani shared that her desire to learn is something that defines her. She advised that anyone who comes into the hairdressing profession must never think they know it all.

After her experience at Gerard London — Martin Gold, Ramani was ready to make a name for herself. As one of the eight junior stylists at her next job in a salon named Raymonds, Ramani worked with a very high-spirited African American senior stylist and manager by the name of Rose. An enthusiastic Ramani learned all she could, and when it was time to return to Sri Lanka, she was confident of her new-found knowledge.

With hardly any hairdressers around at the time, Sri Lanka was ripe for novelty, and Ramani’s ‘box room’ in her home at Elibank Road, which became the stage for her talent, was soon overflowing with clients. She recalled being surprised at the response she received and not even being sure how much to charge her clients. “I never meant it to be a business,” she laughed. But a business it became. Soon, her garage turned into her very first salon, and she hired assistants and got into bridals.

“The main challenges we faced with regard to hiring the right amount of people was making sure there were enough staff for each appropriate division within the salon,” shared Ramani, thinking of her business’ fledgling days. She explained that finding the right balance in the salon is never easy, but her staff does a great job of multitasking and can do more than just one service. “When handling the number of customers, we always make sure to keep enough time for each service, so the quality of our services are never compromised.”

Even now, when she hires juniors, she concentrates on giving them the training she received in England, starting from the very basics.

“Empowering staff is so important, especially during these hard times,” said Ramani, adding that they provide comprehensive training programs at their academy — Ramani Fernando Training — “and even in the salon as they work with us.” She explained that the beauty industry is ever-changing in the industry have to make sure to keep abreast with the changes and trends, so their staff is continuously improving themselves and challenging themselves to stay competitive in the industry. “I’m always very happy to hear about staff that have started their own businesses. Being an entrepreneur, it’s wonderful to see people take on the skills they have acquired here under our training and then go on to become successful. I’m always happy for them, and that inspires me as well to keep going.”

With a desire to remain humble and practice the values she was exposed to as a child, Ramani is grateful to her father and husband, both of whom saw the talent and determination in her and provided her with the support and suitable environment to find herself within her passion.

(Features Editor at The Morning, travel fanatic, fitness buff, dreamer, bookworm, writer, and introvert, Jennifer Anandanayagam enjoys listening to people share their stories and finding ways to bring those stories to life through her words on paper.)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. About Ramani Fernado, Ramani Fernando Salons, https://ramanifernando.com/about-us/about-ramani-fernando/

2. Ramani Fernando, DailyMirror Online, 24th April 2021, http://www.dailymirror.lk/weekend-online/the_weekend_online/RAMANI-FERNANDO/426-210508

3. Hair and Beauty Industry Surges Ahead, ft.lk, 23rd June 2011, http://www.ft.lk/article/36223/Hair-and-beauty-industry-surges-ahead

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions

Everystory Sri Lanka presents the first thirty stories from our ongoing work to create a compendium of Sri Lankan women’s stories — featuring those whose lives, work, and experiences have shaped and are shaped by Sri Lanka’s social, political, and cultural contexts.

From the Stories of Sri Lankan Women Archive —Bridget Halpé

Illustration by Natasha Wickramasinghe- r.nathasha.w@gmail.com

Bridget Halpé is a woman who has touched lives through her teaching and is perhaps one of the most loved music teachers in Sri Lanka. Known fondly to generations of her students as “Aunty B,” she describes music as “a multitasking act” which develops your brain and your soul. Today, at the age of 85, she continues her role as the Director of the Peradeniya University Singers known as ‘Pera singers,’ the Kandy Junior Singers, and being a full-time Music Educator, while living in her beautiful home in Kandy.

Aunty B’s passion for teaching music continues to be her driving force. This is reflected in the artifact she shared — a printed book of her handwritten music notes called ‘Aunty B’s Gold Mine of Music Theory,’ gifted to her by one of her Australian pupils. She describes how this student “went all the way to England and got the software for music notation,” creating this precious summation of a part of her life’s work. Aunty B remembers her family fondly — “my family was really a very noble family that was always dealing with honesty and charity.” Having grown up with three brothers, she always felt lonely. However, her grandfather made her play all his favorite music pieces, which was a challenge to her — “he used to come after mass, put a piece of music on the piano and then say, Bridget, play that. So that was a challenge, and I knew someone wanted to listen to me, quite unlike my brothers.” Thus was the start of her musical career at the age of 6.

Aunty B had the privilege of getting a well-rounded music education. She recalls that her parents could buy her the Marshall and Rose piano from England, a rarity in Sri Lanka. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, in 1959, she went to England to pursue further musical studies with her beloved husband, Dr. Ashley Halpé. She remembers him with much emotion and love — “He’s one man who has worked so much for everything — art, poetry, literature, theatre and drama, and translations. In other words, a perfect human being, a Renaissance Man! I was so lucky to have married him.” They were married for almost 58 years, and he was her biggest ally along with her children.

About her music career, she says, “I never had resistance. It’s because, in anything, the most important factor is humility.” However, she did recall one instance where the orchestra rejected her western counterpoint for the Ragadari music composed by G.W. Jayantha for Professor Sarachchandra’s Prematho Jayathi Soko — “They rejected my music. But Professor Sarachchandra enjoyed it. However, the drama never took off because it was considered too verbose.” She also recalls how as a family, they had to go through many challenges and resistance during the university reorganization during the 70s due to “the politicizing of the Universities and the victimizing of Tamil students” which they were against. Aunty B’s warmth and kindness are reflected in how she responded to the many challenges she and her family had to go through — “it strengthened us more to love the people, despite their differences, despite their opinions.” For her, solidarity is “the most important part of civilization.” She believes that a person who doesn’t know to empathize with whoever is around them shows a lack of civility. She has experienced solidarity in several ways throughout her music career and also in her personal life. “People are quite often, very, very sympathetic, even famous musicians like Menaka, Ramya, or Soundari,” she recalls her fellow musicians.

Aunty B has been able to touch many lives with her loving ways and music. She believes she has helped to change the attitude previously held towards the teaching of music. Aunty B points out that the fundamental element in teaching music or any other subject is the bond you create with your student, the bond of love. “If fundamentally, you’re not bonded with love for the student, you’re not a success… So perhaps I have done a lot of changing of the whole attitude to the teaching of music,” she says with pride in her eyes. It was a challenge to come from a very western-oriented cultural background to the more traditional culture of Kandy and continue her teaching career. “I have managed to create a little niche of what music teaching is all about.” She articulates what gives her joy is the bond she has with all her students, saying, “I am with all humility, still a simple teacher, passionate about music, and passionate about creating great musicians!”

Aunty B looks at life in a very positive and spiritual way. She always sees the good in people and believes that everyone deserves a chance. In a time and age where everyone is distracted by the digitized world, she believes in discipline, moral values, and passion — “I’m a strong disciplinarian. Yes. Without discipline, you can’t do anything.” Her hope for the future is “that our country will be redeemed from all these unnecessary, immoral pressures” and for future generations to experience and enjoy the true sense of fulfillment and happiness through music, the way she has!

“The ‘mystique’ of love is the supreme sensibility of the spiritual, the sacrificial, and the selflessness, grounded in ‘truth’,” she says, reflecting on her life and journey.

(Rachithra Sandanayaka works as the Finance and Admin Manager at Everystory Sri Lanka and the maiden Curator and Coordinator of the Young Feminist Network and its newsletter. Before this, she was a Finance associate for two years in a corporate setting and moved into the development space in 2020. Her passions are Theatre and Music.)

Reference Links and Further Reading

1. Bridget Halpe: A Life of Music for 50 years, Sunday Times, 30th May 2010, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100530/Plus/plus_19.html

2. The Music will go on, Daily news, 27th June 2009, http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/06/27/fea20.asp

3. Remarkable Duo in Hill Country, Sri Lankan Theatre Blogspot, 16th February 2010, https://srilankantheatre.blogspot.com/2010/02/remarkable-duo-in-hill-country.html

4. The Sri Lankans: a portrait of a developing nation, Pieris. M., 2007.

Notes

This article is pending support to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil. Please email storiesofslwomen@everystorysl.org if you would like to support us with translations or if you have any questions.