‘Footnotes of a Protest’ – A Response in Verse by Tennekoon, E M

The book ‘Footnotes of a Protest’ – A Response in Verse by Tennekoon, EM was handed to me by a close associate, with a request to write a review, if possible. I declined at first because I felt that it should be done by a person more competent than me. Nonetheless, he insisted. True enough, English Literature was a subject I followed for my Senior School Certificate exam, and that was over seven decades ago. English usage has changed considerably since then.   
I have not met the author, nor seen her even from a distance. The image I have of her is from her own introduction of herself as a ‘stubborn citizen’, who is knowledgeable and aware of her constitutional rights.   
The contents are of the events that occurred in 2022; the memories of which are perhaps fading gradually except in the minds of a few. On the back cover, the author writes: “Some days are best forgotten: and others worth remembering forever. 2022, was one such year and while the poetry that flows through these pages attempts to capture the emotions of living through upheaval; it is the timeline of events stamped on the edge of each page that binds us to the realities we experienced.”   
On this, I fully agree with her. What has been penned in verse gets life and meaning only when viewed in that context. I read the book twice over, which I should say is very well presented with illustrations by Farah Fazly. First, I read the poetry with the timeline of events as they happened, after which I read only the musings of the author that have been presented in verse. Both were enjoyable.   
In the timeline, the author has recorded how ‘sporadic citizen-led protests’ in different places of the country gradually grew into the so-called aragalaya that brought persons of different age groups, social statuses and vocations to congregate in front of the Presidential Secretariat clamouring for a Systems Change. The daily occurrences on different fronts not only of those in the vanguard of the protest but also of government and international bodies like the IMF, and the political changes that were happening during the period: March 01 to September 04, 2022, have been reminisced succinctly by the author for which she has to be commended. Two examples of the timeline and the responses (indented) are given below as illustrations.   

1) 3rd April – Protests continue – sporadic and mostly small-scale. Largely urban and middle-class / Student-led protests in Peradeniya / All 26 Cabinet Ministers tender letters of resignation to the President / Social Media is blocked, then unlocked / Bandara granted bail, SM posts show many lawyers present in support.’   

3. What we need:Is for those already elected to grow a spine,   
 Appoint from among themselves the most suitable for each portfolio regardless of party,   
 Leaving out the lot we know has failed us time and again   
 And once appointed, act out of character and actually do their job!   

4. What we don’t want or need:
Is for you to lie to us, shuffle the cabinet, have talks behind closed doors that go nowhere.   
 Promote your personal agenda by saying you are with us by not accepting posts so that you can appear good and, at the same time, get out of cleaning up the mess.   

We ARE NOT Stupid! (Page 15)   

2) As June Progresses
The severe shortage of LP Gas has resulted not only in long queues and agitations but also in people actively seeking alternative methods ranging from wood stoves to electric ovens / Scarcity of electronics is seen as well as soaring prices / Also innovations to traditional stores.   
‘Disaster seems to result in both widening disparity and strange equality’

Captive

Them cylinders:   
 Yellow. Blue.   
 Groups; tied; chained.   
 Guarded. Priceless.   
 Empty and useless;   
 Unwilling hostages   
 of a nation’s fate.’ (Page 37)   

During the period March to September, there was much anxiety and uncertainty about what would happen next. With all the turbulence in the air, life too had to go along. Hence, at times, it is difficult to have a consequential timeline. The author has overcome this by inserting interspaces between one series of events and the next. The first such interspace in verse has the title ‘Exam Hall’ referring to the GCE (O/L) Examination held in May, when children in spite of electricity outages, restricted transport due to the fuel crisis, closing of schools etc., were to sit their first public examination, which was of crucial importance to their future. There are nine interspaces in the book, allowing the author space to philosophize. Some that caught my attention were: ‘Called’, ‘That Darned Document’ and ‘Civil Aspirations’. I felt that the interspaces were an ingenious method profitably used by the author to convey her almost sarcastic view of happenings around, which cannot be condoned.   
It was Karl Marx, the German philosopher and political theorist, who said “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce’’. The happenings during the period of the protest have been a reminder of this oft-quoted remark. I felt that the author has penned her thoughts in verse as a day or week passed. Some events have reminded the author of the apocalypse or total destruction; Medusa - a human female with living venomous snakes instead of hair in Greek mythology, and Hecate and Graymalkin (witch and cat) mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. Subtle humour was encompassed with anger. In the context of July 13, 2022, referred to ‘as a day to be marked like no other’ the caption given to her thoughts was ‘Premature …. (Sinhala name for kiribath).   

‘Kiribath ill befits a revolution   
 for anything fought for,   
 won or lost,   
 is no clear-cut celebration   
 nor a birthday for rejoicing   
 but a birthright/ to be nurtured,   
 guarded,/defended from marauders,   
 and kept alive no matter the challenge   
 for in the balance hangs   
 the survival of a nation.’ (Page 60)   

One last quote:   
Context: grinning MPs, theatrical protests, arrests and bail, debts not restructured and bailouts never happening.
Despair
A knife to my wrist   
 A dagger in my broken heart   
 The shards of hope lost   
 Cut deeper than shattered glass. (Page 55)   
Time and space are inadequate to do adequate justice to this very commendable endeavour, and I am fervently of the view that the book deserves greater recognition among literary circles.