There definitely is an upsurge of publishing of creative writing in English. The obvious reason is that more writers are getting their work published. Time was when the urge to creatively write was indulged in but the writing itself lay tucked away under one’s mattress (true!) or languishing in one’s secret drawer (also true! !). Not so now.

Mercifully publishers like Vijita Yapa, Godage and M D Gunasena’s are ready to take risks by publishing books that may not sell fast enough to earn them or the wriers profit.

Another strong impetus and encouragement is the annual Gratien Prize. Thanks to Michael Ondaatje and the Gratien Trust, new creative writers in English are shyly presenting their work to be considered for the prize and often having their mass published after the award is made or before.

I don’t know whether the collection of short stories of Maheela Rajon I comment on here was an entry to the annual competition, but it definitely seems to be the bold outing of a creative writer. Titled The Dance of Life: a collection of short stories, what first caught my attention was the arresting cover, designed by Priyanjen Suresh de Silva. On it, at the top of a flight of ancient rock hewn steps is an exotic dancer in an exotic pose. It’s a Bharata Natyam dancer I presume, but no matter her style. She is beautiful and within the pages are beautifully written short stories, some very short, of everyday people and everyday Sri Lankan life.

The title story, the back cover blurb says, won an award at an all Island competition conducted by the State in 1998 to promote sustainable ethnic harmony. I personally preferred some of the other stories, which to me were superior to the prize winner, both in inducing ethnic harmony and writing skills kills.

What struck me most forcefully was that though most of the stories deal with the ethnic question, they are without preaching and prejudice.

This welcome fact forcefully caught my attention as I read the twenty short stories. Maheela Rajon writes of Sinhalese people, Tamils and Muslims, rich and poor; men and women. Thus her canvas is large but her brush strokes delicate and restrained with not one dash or dot of sermonising, fault finding or judging. In fact it was so pleasantly surprising to find her stories, often dealing with the major problem facing the country - LTTE fighters, ethnic bloodshed, security checks and the bold wearing of a Kunkumap pottu completely unbiased. To her the Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims are all people of the land she seems so proud of and loyal to. This is the spirit and attitude and heartfeeling that will eventually bring peace to this land, in spite of political mismanagement and stubborn and completely heartless terrorism.

Kalakeerthi Ashley Halpe in his foreword says that: "The unaffected simplicity of Maheela Rajon’s style and her unfailing quietness of tone form a limpid, translucent medium for perceptive sketches from life as well as imaginative evocations of less familiar strands in the tapestry of Lankan experience." True, and so to the point. Professor Halpe has perceived and commented first on the lucidity and sincerity of the author’s writing. He ends thus: "Permeating all the stories is a generous sympathy with the human condition.... the whole becomes an encounter with a deeply humane mind."

Yes, there is sincerity in the writing and obvious kindness when writing about people as diverse as a crafty woman beggar; a man who possessed and lost an heirloom of a ring with nine precious stones each set on the 9th day of the 9th month for 9 years; the servant girl denied of even a lotus to offer to the Buddha; the maid in Oman. Soma, Bertie, Yaso, Kanthi, Tissa’s wife, all parade rapidly through the pages in their short stories titled with their names. There’s also Porolis Mudalali who lost a son but took in a little orphaned Tamil girl, Meena, to grow together as best friends with his daughter, Meena, along with many other characters who pass rapidly across our reading minds, but make their mark.

Maheela definitely concentrates more on people than events. There’s no blood and intrigue, no rape and sex to titillate in various ways the reader. Actual, believable and often trivial happenings are dealt with, but the writer keeps her reader interested and immersed in the twenty stories.

Maybe the brush strokes could have been more detailed; the writing more in-depth than skimming over people and everyday happenings. But here again, its sincerity to her style and expression that makes Maheela write as she does.

In her preface, the author says that this collection of short stories was written over a period of five years and publication encouraged by the Wadiya Group of writers. This latter is another encouraging feature of today - creative writers getting together in a helpful group and tentatively exposing to each other and the general public their creative writing. She dedicates her maiden publication to her husband "for sharing love, care and understanding". Maybe she’s been a lucky Sri Lankan wife, hence her sympathetic treatment of all the diverse characters who walk gently through the 116 pages of her publication. She gives voice to their actions, reactions and emotions in the first person, thus bringing them to life to meet us, her readers.
Nanda Pethiyagoda