The confession - පාපොච්චාරණය

 There are two things now going on especially on WhatsApp and in Facebook. Both related the Man Booker or the Booker award/prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka. Shehan K won the prestigious award Monday night bringing fame to this broken island. On that evening a PDF was going rounds in WhatsApp and that was his award-winning book “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”.  

To be honest I also received PDF and shared with trusted friends less than handful. I did with the guilty feeling and with the note do not share it. This morning from a same friend I received the other image asking not to do so. Anyway, I am not a fan of PDFs, and I can’t read books in PDF versions, except academic or something related to work or studies. I need to and want to feel smell and everything in books. The paper in English books specially imported ones is so incense. Any how in Sri Lanka we can’t use that paper it will be wasted and damaged I assume that is because our climate and weather.

So now I have done a crime and I did with consciously. This is not the First book I received in WhatsApp. I have received many. Despite receiving them I haven’t read or completed one of them. Not just English books but Sinhala books too.

I was a full-time newspaper journalist for almost a decade. So, I understand the worth of writing and I am still fond of it. Writers spend hours to write even a sentence. They do read, research, and spend many hours pondering, thinking, imagining and spend other hours purposelessly and simply.

Take notes whenever they can in their mobile phones or in random papers on their notebooks.

I am here writing this not to justify but to look back.

Sri Lanka is a country which lacks respect for writes but just writer but to many content creators. There are so many instances original creation was stolen, taken away, or used without even giving simple courtesy. I have faced this too. Here in this tiny island, we lack intellectual discipline, and we violated intellectual property rights.

That is a discussion for another day.

In Sri Lanka the books, mostly the English books are so expensive. At least for me, I can’t speak for others. For me the English ones are expensive compared to others. Yet I used to, and I still however buy from my salary.

That is a one reason why English books and the Maali Almeida going rounds in WhatsApp.

For certain years I couldn’t afford even the Sinhala books.

Until the age of early 20s the most expensive English book I had was the 8^th Edition Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. When my father bought it, it was around 7k. He gets it for me because I got selected spell master competition. He used rattle and rehearsed about it when got some spirits. At that time, it was a big chunk of money for us.

I do not what to say at the end.

I read both Sinhala and the English for WG Karunasena’s story of Pradeep Mathew. The Chinaman.

For a sometime I wanted to read Chats with DEAD.

With Shehan K winning the eminent award and with the guilty feeling sharing his book at least people I wanted to buy Chats with the Dead.

Then I called number of Sarasavi outlets in Colombo and the only answer I got was that it is over. I think it is same with the book The seven moons of Maali Almeida. I checked in some online delivering outlets as well and they got the same answer of “out of stock”.

Anyhow I found the book in a place I usually go but easy to go since it is in a road with one way. It is very close to big man’s house.

That is the only copy and that is hard cover as well. It was reserved for another, but he/she hasn’t appeared for it.

The price gone more than the double of the original price when the book was out.

So, this is my confession.

What is yours?

 

I started writing this hoping that I will write this in both Sinhala and English since Sinhala is easy and am not good at English. Now I am lazy to do so. May be some other day. 

Image courtesies - WhatsApp screenshots The Booker Prizes Shehan Karunatilaka Books