Singer Umara Sinhawansa: APPRECIATE, CONDEMN HER NOT

• Restore Namo Namo Matha in its original form 
•  It may be useful to consider the creatively diverse ways in which we hear other nations recite their national anthems 

It’s tragic that a handful of petty minded patriots have leaped out to vociferously condemn Umara Sinhawansa’s rendition of the National Anthem of Sri Lanka at the IPL opening ceremony held recently.
Indeed, it was very significant that the organizers had chosen an artiste from the minority Malay Community to do the honours. She did so with the required artistry. The discordant outbursts of these people may have emanated owing to her minority community status. Perhaps their reasoning would have been that a singer belonging to the majority race should have come to the limelight with impeccable pronunciation skills, even if he or she possessed much lesser artistic skills.  So the flaw in her diction from Matha to Mahatha was amplified beyond measure and was denounced vehemently as a crime against the Nation, despite her public apology. The defect was further magnified and was called a distortion. They went even further to denounce it as a willful criminal act.

Soon the learned Minister Vidura Wickramanayaka- despite his complex responsibilities as the custodian of the Buddha Sasana, Religious and cultural affairs- entered the fray. He sternly warned of the potential ‘legal consequences’.     He firmly declared,“destroying the Anthem could not be condoned” and added with a global perspective, “no National Anthem should be subject to distortion or alteration as it represents the essence of our collective heritage”.(extracted from media reports). Not enough, the learned Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Local Government proposed an “immediate inquiry”. Sanctimoniously he added, changing the National Anthem according to one’s will is illegal and not acceptable. It is regrettable to change the National Anthem that draws “international attention”. The pertinent question is this, who really distorted our National Anthem, in the first place?  May I come to it later? In this context, it could be said that the sonorous mispronunciations of Sinhala words by our former President, Mr. J.R. Jayewardene has never failed to evoke much amusement among our people. Compared to his diction, Umara’s mispronunciation fades into insignificance. 

In the background of the current controversy it may be relevant to relate the following. The awesome rendition of the Buddhist Bakthi Gee “Buddhang Saranam Gacchami” by the Indian born renowned singer Mohideen Baig, has never failed to inspire its listeners. It is so, despite the several pronunciation flaws of the vocalist. Thankfully none attempted to steep low to condemn his singing as an attempt to distort or destroy anything. Wisdom prevailed then.

For those who clamor for a single mono type interpretation of our Anthem as we hear in the mediocre official version, it may be useful to consider the creatively diverse ways in which we

hear the Indian National Anthem as well as the Anthems of USA and many other countries are performed. Creative interpretation of any Anthem ceaselessly continues to enhance the beauty of the original composition. Going further, the self- proclaimed guardians of our cultural heritage have deemed it necessary even to call the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate Umara’s performance! So, the sleuths will be diverted from their present onerous responsibilities to probe into the escalating crimes of murder, theft, rape etc. to question the hapless singer, regarding the intricate aspects of the Sinhala Language. They have also been instructed to find out how J.R’s Constitution of 1978 has been thus violated. Yet, going through the Sinhala and English versions and the music embedded in the constitution, to say the least, are confusing and illegible.

In this context it may be a good idea to all interested in this Constitutional side of the Anthem to go through, the annexure to the 1978 Constitution to gain a good glimpse of the carelessly hand-written score in its unison format. Will the constitutional experts with such a discovery argue that the rendition of the Anthem should comply note to note with the scantily hand written score inserted in the said Constitution.
Undoubtedly, the CID will be at a loss also to discover the military bands of the tri-forces as well as their own Police band presenting the Anthem in much enriched harmony. Now great choirs too render the Anthem meaningfully in splendid harmony to evoke much patriotic emotions. Such versions in harmony have been performed before the Presidents of our Country to earn their expressed appreciation. 

Let us now come to the important burning issue. The question arises as to who willfully truncated and distorted our exquisite National Anthem from its original form. In 1970 the then rulers suddenly “discovered” that all the ills facing our Country were owing to the Anthem’s opening words “Namo, Namo”. This superstitious belief made them blatantly change the opening line to“ Sri Lanka Matha”. So the poetic phrase  “Namo, Namo Matha Apa Sri Lanka” became clumsily changed to, “Sri Lanka Matha, Apa Sri Lanka”.( third schedule – article 7)
For the renowned author/composer it was heart breaking. His desperate appeals as well as those of eminent scholars and musicians were disregarded. When the distorted version emerged the distraught author wrote three letters and thereafter consumed a handful of sleeping tablets. The next morning his children broke open the door of his bedroom and found his dead body lying forlorn on his bed.

So ends the tragic story of our National Anthem, that even now stands mutilated and repeatedly distorted.
The time is now ripe for all those who cherish and value our culture to call for the restoration of the authentic National Anthem. Vidura Wickramanayaka and the Secretary concerned too should join together to make this demand.
Let a new recording of “Namo Namo Matha” come into being backed by a Military Band or the Symphony Orchestra, sung by a combined choir of renowned singers rendering it anew. Let it be sung to bring out the rich meaning of each phrase and its phonetic diversity with excelled tonal quality in a blended harmony. 
 Let the splendorous phrase “Namo Namo Matha” re-echo each time we hear or sing our beautiful National Anthem. Let Maestro Ananda Samarakoon’s memory be revived and preserved for posterity.