The cover of the second edition. Sunil Tantirige presenting his book to Sinhala novelist Mohan Raj Madawla in Toronto, November 2019. Picture by Kosala Makuloluwa
The House of a Thousand Memories. Author Sunil Tantirige. Published by Iguana Books, Toronto. 2019.
Reviewed by Somasiri Munasinghe
The House of a Thousand Memories is a memoir written by Toronto’s Sunil Tantirige, gathering the fragments of his life into an immensely readable cohesive work of art.
The writer attributes his love of science to Sir Arthur C. Clerk’s film 2001 Space Odyssey. “My first steps to an engineering degree were taken that day at the Majestic Theatre in Colombo while watching Space Odyssey,” says Sunil.
As a promising beginning to his science career, Sunil received his chemical engineering degree from the very hands of the Space Prophet when the British-born luminary was the Vice-Chancellor at the Moratuwa University, where he studied chemical engineering. Incidentally, the iconic space writer lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death in 2008.
Sunil also achieved a childhood dream by sitting at the Apollo Control Center at the NASA, watching the moon landing simulation, reminiscing about the cardboard replicas of the Saturn V rocket he made as a child. The writer also considers walking in the shadow of the giant telescopes scanning the universe on the summit of Mona Kea in Hawaii as a surreal experience.
The House of Thousand Memories reminds me of Shyam Selladurai’s Funny Boy a lot. Their experiences in Colombo growing up as kids have many similarities though Selladurai, as a Tamil, grew up in a racially divided country with significant social disadvantages, becoming a victim during the infamous 1983 riots.
Other than Sunil, I know only one other Toronto writer connected to the atomic energy sector. He is M.G. Vassanji of Indian-Kenyan descent, a nuclear physicist, and a two-time winner of the Giller award, the most prestigious literary honour in Canada.
One of the most interesting chapters in the book is when Sunil talks about his hereditary. His father hailed from the Malayali community that settled down in the coastal areas of the south. He was the son of a trader who joined the Education Ministry in a senior capacity after graduating from Peradeniya University. Sunil’s mother, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter, grew up in a house close to the tallest lighthouse in Asia on the southern edge of Sri Lanka, directly exposed to Antarctica 10,000 miles away. The name Tantirige means House of Music in the Malayalam language. True to the name Sunil dabbled in music, mastering several instruments as a kid. The author reveals that his sister Mala is more accomplished than him in music and singing.
Sunil and I belong to the same generation but come from two different social backgrounds. I was born in a village in the island’s central hills while Sunil grew up in Colombo where he studied, and visited his parents’ villages only during summer vacations.
But we crossed paths on a day in November 2019 when I launched my two English translations in Toronto. I had not met Sunil before, and it was a pleasant surprise to see him there. He attended the book launch and presented several copies of The House of Thousand Memories to us. He was also introduced to famous Sinhala writer Mohan Raj Madawala who came from Sri Lanka to participate in the book launch. Madawala is the author of the two books, Aadaraneeya Victoria and Loveena, translated into English as Dear Victoria and Loveena.
Describing his studies at Thurstan College, which was not in the top tier of the city colleges, Sunil says, the classes were ‘uninspiring, the teachers looked overworked…with a couple of exceptions. It was a drag to get through the school year.”
One wonders why he could not enter a leading boys’ college in Colombo since his father was holding a senior post in the ministry. When Tantirige’s mother was looking for a school for Sunil, his father was in Australia on a scholarship. But judging by the senior Tantirige’s character as an old school disciplinarian and an experienced educationist who did not bend the rules for personal gains, it is hard to imagine whether Sunil had any other options.
The writer is thankful to Aquinas College, a private school run by the Catholic Church, from where he passed his university entrance exam with flying colours. If he continued at the Thurstan, his life would have been quite different.
There are many interesting anecdotes in the memoir, and one I like very much is when actor Eddie Jayamanna borrowed Sunil’s sister’s copy of Madol Doowa. Sunil’s family lived opposite the mansion, which belonged to the yesteryear star couple Eddie and his wife Rukmani Devi. Sunil’s father used to visit Eddie for a chat in the evenings. One day, the actor had borrowed his sister’s copy of the book written by the prolific Sinhala writer Martin Wickremesinghe. I am not sure whether the comedian who was like Jerry Lewis of Sri Lanka wanted to write a script or make a film. The interesting fact is he never returned the book to Sunil’s sister, who started complaining to her father. Later, Dr. Lester James Peiris made a critically acclaimed film version of the book with Ajith Jinadasa, who lives in Toronto, in the lead role.
Sunil’s long walk down Memory Lane touches on various other exciting facts of Sri Lankan society, culture, religion, politics, music, travel and food.
The memoir, written in deft, sparkling language in a laidback tone, echoes the author’s sentiments throughout, cheery when he talks about his achievements and sometimes melancholic and sounding hurt talking about his parents and his inability to compensate for their hard work to bring the two children up on a government servant’s salary.
Talking about his father, who figured prominently in his life as a student and an adult, Sunil says. “I don’t think I ever said to him, ‘Thank you, Dad, for what you did’. If we Buddhist had tombstones for our dead, those words would be on his stone.”
Sunil left Sri Lanka in 1980 to study in Canada and finished his university life with an MASC and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. In 1982 he got married to Kanthi, whom he met during the Moratuwa university days. They tied the knot while still engaged in graduate studies and his son, Sanjay, arrived a few years later.
He adds: “In that story, there are up and downs, happiness, heartbreak, smiles, tears, times that were as high as the Everest and as low as the Mariana Trench. My Canadian journey has a few more kilometres to go. The end is not yet known, so the story will have to wait.”
Is Sunil hinting to us that there will be a continuation to The House of a Thousand Memories?
The author, who loved music and played for the college orchestra and later, in a band, fittingly closes his memoir with a Sinhala translation of a famous melody sung by Clarence Wijewardene, who sang the anthems of our youth.
“As the moon was setting in the west
And the sun was about to break free
I stood reminiscing one early dawn
About a world that once was part of me.” © (newstrails.com)
