Old photographs

Old photographs are valuable historical documents and what I have published here are photos collected by me over the years. The name of the photographer and other details are given if  known. This photo was given to me by Dr. Navamani Selvarajah of Jaffna. It shows the cast of a drama produced by the registrar of the Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai in the late 1960s.

This very old photograph shows a waterfall at Kuttalam, India. It was taken on 14/01/1953. It was given to me by Dr. Selvarajah. She says" "My late sister studied economics in India."

The photo carries the name Thawamanie S. on the back, so the photograph was presumably taken by Dr. Selvarajah's sister.

This photograph shows two actors posing for a publicity shot for Bertolt Brecht's play Puntila, which was produced in Sri Lanka by Finnish director Helena Lehtimaki in the mid-1980s. Seated behind the steering is Mahendra Perera, who is now a top film and stage actor. Standing next to him is the late Nihal Silva, who played Puntila (he was killed a few years later while driving past a military checkpoint).

The car belonged to Mr. Jayasuriya, a collector. Puntila was staged at the Lionel Wendt theatre. The owner drove this car on the stage via an improvised wooden ramp through a side entrance.

 The photo was taken with a Rolleicord twin lens reflex camera by photographer Edmund Gunasekara.

Old cameras and photographic equipment

I never owned a Nikon, when owning one seemed to be every photographer's dream. A Nikon was a status symbol back then (I apologise for the rough picture. This and all that will be featured today were taken by my elder daughter, who is facing an exam. Neither she nor I have the time these days for more careful set ups).
This 70s Nikon full manual camera is as solid as they come. It was gifted to me by Donald Gaminithilake, a keen amateur photographer. Thanks a lot, Donald! Both body and lens are in mint condition, in much better shape than any camera used by me, and those spots on the lens are reflections from the cracked cement.

This is a rare find for me (gifted by Donald. Thank you again!) for magnesium flash bulbs were gone out of use by the time I took to photography in the 1980s. This is an unused set and just looking at them takes me back to my childhood days, when I used to collect spent flash bulbs at weddings. Pity I didn't keep any of those.

This is another find (again thanks to Donald, a million thanks!) the folding type of flashgun which fired those magnesium bulbs. After use, the 'umbrella' can be folded back manually very neatly so that the gun will fit into a small vinyl carrying case.

The Yashica 635 twin lens reflex, an old workhorse camera which took 6 X 7 cm pictures (12 shots per roll). They used to say those who couldn't afford Rolleis bought Yashicas, which is really unfair because this is a very good camera. By the time I got into photography, twin lens reflexes were out except as studio portrait cameras, in which role they used cut film backs. I loved the look of them and bought the first I could find. The lens was still OK then for black and white, though not for colour. The camera still works fine and listening to the precision shutter is a pleasure. You can take pictures from ground level with it and also take them while holding it upside down, high above your head (in crowd situations).
Actually, I feel my daughter took a splendid portrait of this Yashica even though this is a hastily set up shot.

A necessary tool of many photographers a generation ago, though I don't know of any who still use one in Sri Lanka except myself. This isn't the one I use, this is an antique Weston I bought from Mr. Wijetunge, a noted photographer in the 1960s and 70s.

Tsunami pictures

I took this picture of the south-bound 'tsunami train' a week after the catastrophe. The train is back in service now (though at least one carriage is still in the sea) and there was talk of creating a museum at the disaster site. But this being Sri Lanka, it never happened. Most people have no time for yesterday's disasters, they live in fear of what tomorrow might bring...and the 'authorities' are absolutely callous in this regard.

Motorcycle touring/off road riding

I'd been riding motorbikes for twenty years before I discovered that what I'd been doing all my life is called motorcycle touring. This can happen when you have to teach yourself most things. I got into trail bikes and off road riding rather late in my biking life, about seven years ago. Nothing breathtaking, no daring jumps and leaps, just loved riding the bike into places like this rubber plantation. Enjoyed every minute of it. Had to stop this activity two years back due to finances (inflation and petrol sold by what we euphemistically call the government at black market prices).
In the meantime, hanging on to my two old trail bikes because you don't want to give up. You want to hang in there till better times...hope they come along before I get too old.
This old model Yamaha XT250 is a lovely bike but I exchanged it for an equally old Serow, which is a much better machine for off road riding.

Cycling, mountain biking, hiking, just plain enjoying myself

The rider in the picture is Shantha, who joined me once for a mountain biking trip in a tea estate. Mountain biking is still new to Sri Lanka, and village people look at you as if you are aliens, which really puts you off. Luckily, we hardly saw anyone during this trip.

Close up of Shantha.  He's a bicycle mechanic who says he was going to be a doctor, but that didn't happen.  I invited him along because I like him and also because I felt sorry for him. Hope that doesn't sound condescending, but you do feel sorry for people because of their bad luck and circumstances.

Miniature waterfall in full splendour, frozen at a low shutter speed. One of the dividends of getting out of the city and heading for the countryside.

1970s Yamaha RD

This was one of those dream bikes. My only experience with a Yamaha RD was taking a friend's bike for a short spin. It felt formidable. Very nippy in traffic and I enjoyed that two-stroke snarl. Thirsty machine but petrol was cheap. Many RDs are lovingly looked after the world over, but I haven't seen a good classic example in Sri Lanka yet.

Collecting on the postal theme

This is another first day cover on the postal theme. Look for similar issues from other parts of the world.

Stamp collecting on the postal theme

There are millions of stamps printed all over the world every year, and it isn't possible to collect them all. Many collectors select a theme and limit themselves to that. Flowers, birds, cars, trains, famous people, flags -- these are but a few of such popular themes. Here's another interesting theme -- postal items and events. The world post day is celebrated on Oct. 8 every year and provides a theme in itself.

Photography

This may not be the decisive moment but, as I had been sitting there for a long time in the verandah, camera in hand, waiting for something to happen on a desolate rainy day, this felt close to it. There was a moment of jubilation when this couple riding a bicycle, a common enough sight in Sri Lanka, passed my view in the viewfinder. The lamp post looks ugly but I always believed in candid photographs in being, well, candid. This is  a slice of life as it is. The bicycle is framed firmly between the car and lamp post, and it would have passed the car in another moment. So I guess this was the exact moment to click the shutter.

Camera Canon FTbm lens Canon FD 28mm, film Fuji neopan SS100

Motorcycles

This is the Indian version of the much-loved Italian Vespa (vasp). I thought India no longer makes any scooters, but I'm told there is a Sri Lankan agent for this scooter, and someone riding a newly-registered one has been sighted. This old model looks a very sprightly-little machine, and was very popular in Sri Lanka until the Indian motorcycle invasion started in earnest in the late 1990s. . I don’t see any of the early models running around now, but I do hope some enthusiast somewhere is preserving one. 

Pets and other creatures

Another of those cats. This fellow is now sick and survives only due to constant medication. He has a special place in our cat family tree because he is the only surviving offspring of the grand old female mentioned elsewhere in this blog (called Maha Poosi or the Matriach).

Sudu Pusi (white cat) was a neighbourhood stray who took a liking to three cooked meals a day and settled permanently in our garage about three years ago. Soon afterwards, she gave birth to these two kittens. The one on the right got run over by a vehicle but the upright one next to mom showed every sign of growing up into a sprightly cat. Soon after this photo was taken, I saw both mom and son sitting under the street lamp outside our gate one night. Sudu Pusi has a habit of nocturnal walks. There was a thunderstorm late that night and, the next morning, she returned alone. I looked for the kitten all over the neighbourhood without any luck. He must have followed her out and got separated from her in the rain. Very sad.

After this, I got Sudu Pusi sterilised. She's still a permanent guest in our garage.

Philately

It is with infinite sadness that I learn about the death of Mr. Francis Gunasekara, Sri Lanka's foremost philatelic journalist since the 1950s to date. He was 87 when he died.
A man of boundless energy and always passionate about stamps, Francis was the penultimate stamp collector, collecting everything under the sun and always keen on handing over the flame to the next generation -- children.

The news of his death surprised me since it never occurred to me he could die one day. Such people are truly immortal.

The picture shows a booklet he published for children.

Crafts, jobs and working people

This man ekes out a living sharpening knives. He lives in Wellampitiya, a suburb of Colombo, and cycles 20-30 km every day, looking for work. With the grinder attached (an extra 20 km at least) it must be very hard work.
He charges about Rs. 50 to grind a kitchen knife.
On rainy days, he survives by doing manual labour and odd jobs.

The close up picture shows the hammer he uses as a support when operating the grinder, as the bicycle has no stand.

Pets and other creatures

"Chooti Poos" (little pussy cat) was the latest addition to the household cat family. Very sadly, he didn't last long, having been killed by a hit-and-run driver a week ago.

I picked him down the lane one night about five months ago. He must have been a month old then, and was sitting quietly under a tree, looking so forlorn that I didn't have the heart to leave him there. As my wife has forbidden me to bring in any more strays (not unreasonably, since we are feeding at least eight already) I sneaked him in and locked him up in my 'junk yard' room, which has all my books, newspapers and junk.

CP was an amazingly quiet little kitten but the secret was out when he miaowed plaintively one night. I got severely lectured, but I kept the kitten and cured him of the flu he was suffering from. About a month passed and, what do you know, CP managed to steal everyone's hearts.Soon, it turned out that neither my wife nor my daughters had ever seen a nicer, cuter kitten, and he began getting right royal treatment.

But I had a sense of premonition. CP spent a lot of time outside, and he had no regard for traffic. So, my worst fears came true one afternoon.

This photo was taken the day before CP died by Hiruni, my elder daughter with a Canon 3.8 megapixel camera.

Philately

This very pleasing set of three Cambodian stamps was sent to me by my American pen pal Andrew Crenshaw. Andrew is a computer graphic artist from New Jersey and we have been exchanging stamps and writing to each other for nearly ten years now. He has a special interest in Indochinese philatelic items, especially in military mail. He is part of a group of specialists in that collecting area called Imnaha Stamps.

Andrew has sent me a lot of stamps, including mint examples such as the above which I’d be hard put to find and buy in Sri Lanka. Thanks a lot, Andrew, for sharing this great hobby with me!

My advice to stamp collectors in Sri Lanka – find a pen pal, widen your horizons, and share what you have on the Web. Let others see what you have at least this way because exhibitions and clubs are hard to come by in this country.

Music

The golden era of Sri Lankan pop music -- the Super Golden Chimes at the entrance to the Kataragama Devalaya (Hindu temple) in the 1970s. This is the album cover for their hit song ‘Kanda Surinduni’ in homage to the god of Kataragama. I wonder how many would recognize Clarence Wijewardena today (second from left, chubby even then), Anil Bharathi (third from left, lanky as always) and Annesley Malewana (fourth from left, still looking very much like a teenager). These three were the crème de la crème of our pop singers of that era.  No Sinhala pop group since then (with the exception of the Moonstones, which included Annesley) has matched them in range, depth, creativity and originality. ‘Kanda Surinduni’ which very creatively mimicked the tones and rhythms of South Indian religious music, still retains its vitality and power. This was followed by a bi-lingual version, in which Sam Nathan (I believe) sang in Tamil alongside Clarence singing in Sinhala. It was very good but is hardly ever played today.

Photography

I photographed this pretty village girl while doing a photojournalism assignment in a village in the Sabaragamuwa province. She belongs to a farming family, and her daily chores including milking the cow, fetching and cutting firewood, cooking, fetching water from the well, tending to the paddy field and vegetable plots and, as can be seen in this photograph, ironing with a heavy iron. Her home had no electricity and the Petromax lamp used for lighting at night can be seen in the background. In the 1990s, the world around her was expanding, but she had no access to modern amenities. Despite this, and despite her evident poverty, she was extremely positive, hard working and looked forward to a better life.

Camera: Canon FTb  Lens Canon FD 28mm  film Fuji neopan SS100

Philately

This philatelic post card is part of a set issued in Britain to celebrate classic British motorcycles. I have it thanks to Eric James, my Scottish pen pal. He lives in Glasgow, and he has a fine collection of philatelic items from Sri Lanka, including the Ceylon period (British colonial era). He has sent me many delightful items – stamps, picture post cards, philatelic cards such as the above, air letters (aerogrammes), cancelled envelopes, besides many travel brochures, newspaper cuttings and magazines related to my interest areas such as motoring and travel. Thanks a lot, Eric, all this is deeply appreciated and I am now glad I have a chance to share with others some of your gifts via this blog.

Exhibitions

A retrospective exhibition of painter and sculptor H. A. Karunaratne was held last week at the J. D. A. Perera Gallery, Faculty of Visual Arts, University of the Visual and Performing Arts.

Pets and other creatures

Cats have had a big place in our family. Many strays wandering past have found our kitchen a good place to hang around. They would settle down to a half-domesticated life in the garage, appearing at the kitchen during meal times. One fierce female proved to be the most durable of these, lasting some fifteen years and dying in my books and junk room a couple of years ago. The brood in this picture are her grandsons and granddaughters. They became fully domesticated since they were born inside the house. The mother caught a cancer, was treated, but disappeared afterwards. Of these four, one disappeared after maturity but the rest are all here. I’ve got all the females sterilized. I mean, there’s a limit, considering that we have several more occupying the garage as well and new visitors passing by constantly!

Family pictures

This is my wife working at the home computer with our younger daughter in the background. This picture was taken about ten years ago.

Camera Asahi Pentax Spotmatic  Lens Russian made 20mm Film Fuji neopan SS 100  handheld available light taken at low shutter speed

Motorcycles

Well, I never used one of these nor any of the later versions. But the CD125 is a solid machine and still a favourite with those riders who want to look serious (the newer models are all black!). It’s a comfy bike and a real workhose. I’ve seen the later models carrying incredible loads with the pillion seat removed. I’d love to see something this old restored to pristine condition!

Photography

I snapped this beggar near the General Hospital, Eye Hospital junction, Colombo. The maimed beggar wasn’t happy being photographed (picture in the papers could mean trouble) but I wasn’t taking this for the paper. I remember seeing this man seated at the same place for many years and he disappeared one day; I never saw him anywhere else, either.

I was struck by the irony of the murals on the wall behind him, which show victims of accidents and acts of violence.

Canon FTb manual, 28mm lens, Fuji neopan black and white film. Taken in the late 1990s.

Elephant gets ride

Motorcycles

Motorcycles have been a major obsession since my twenties. I remember being terrified of them but finally bought one and learned to ride. Been riding them since then without a major accident, I'm happy to say. It's been a happy relationship, though there have been a few foul ups (mainly spark plugs). It was economic necessity which changed me from a sedate, complacent middle class type driving a car to an often happier, occasionally frightened (close calls) and a more romantic type of road user on two wheels. All I can say is -- happy riding!

The bright smiles on the faces of this advertisement for a fast little Kawasaki two-stroke roadster of the 1970s says it all for the hopes and dreams of the young. There was an infinite variety of Japanese two-stroke motorcycles those days and it looked as if they’d never end, but they did. In Sri Lanka, it’s mostly Indian and Chinese motorcycles on the roads now, and they are four-strokes. The era of two-stroke road motorcycles has almost come to an end.

Photography

Photography was a major obsession ever since I picked up my first SLR camera -- I was only 23, and it has been an exciting and often frustrating but rewarding journey for three decades since then. I have largely taught myself (the mistakes are there for all to see) but the pictures that remain are often satisfying. I have done some press work but funny enough, never considered myself a pro (maybe because I earned very little from my work). But I set myself goals and became a documentary photographer in the 1990s, photographing family, friends, people, places, old buildings, vehicles, posters and billboards. Put together, I Hope it'll be an interesting photographic record of changing times. I do very little photography now because I have taken to studying music and hence have little free time (and also, frankly, I'm tired!) but this documentary project is lifelong and will go on.


This is one of my favourite photos – taken as usual haphazardly, without pre-planning, having spotted a picture idea while walking down the street. This is the entrance to Odel fashion store from Ward Place, from the Eye Hospital side. These billboard ads keep changing every few months, and this picture of two models was there for a while way back (around 2000?) I found the nonchalant pose struck by the cyclist in sharp contrast to the sophisticated pose assumed by the models. The contrast between lifestyles too, becomes stark – the models represent high living while cyclist is down-and-out. The stippled shadows cast by the sun provide excellent atmosphere, which is one of repose even though this was at a busy Colombo intersection during the rush hour!

Canon FTb manual SLR, Canon FD 28mm lens, Fuji neopan SS 100 ASA

Paper cuttings

This article dated Feb. 21 1988 (in colour) was published soon after actor-politician Wijeya Kumaratunge’s assassination by a JVP gunman in those dark, distant days of terror in the late 1980s. Wijeya was a left-wing presidential candidate and had a good chance of becoming the country’s next president.



Film actor Gamini Fonseka (article in black and white) voiced his disgust in this Sun newspaper article at the politicizing of Wijeya’s funeral. Gamini himself became a successful politician, though he took to centre-right UNP politics in contrast to Wijeya’s left-wing populism.
Gamini was older and the undisputed No. 1 male star of the Sinhala screen until Wijeya came along. Gamini’s leading position was challenged not just by the arrival of the younger, dashing Wijeya, who had the physique of a Western actor (Gamini worked hard on his physical appearance, but his age was beginning to show by the early 1970s.)Wijeya’s rise was made easier by the dispute between Gamini and the Sri Lankan cinema’s No. 1 female Star, Malani Fonseka, which reportedly occurred on a film set. The two vowed never to act together again (though they did so many years later) and this left a big vacuum, because the Gamini-Malani combination was a sure box office recipe. Thereafter, though, it was Wijeya-Malani and this combination proved to be equally successful.
There was never any ill will between the two men despite this. Both were bigger-than-life characters not given to pettiness.

On hobbies and collecting

I've realised over the years that few Sri Lankans have hobbies and, if they do, they are usually ignorant about the scope of their hobby. One aim of this blog is to impress upon people the value of having a hobby, and also that you don't have to be rich to have one. Collecting paper cuttings is a low-cost hobby. So is basic stamp collecting. You collect what you fish out of the dust bin.
Secondly, Sri Lankans who do have hobbies and collections are like hermits. There is no sharing of knowledge (look up and see how many SL websites or blogs are there on hobbies and collecting. Another aim of this blog is to let people see what I have collected over the years, and see show them the possibilities of collecting for pleasure and information.
Finally, for those who grumble there is never any money for hobbies, all I can say is that I have ridden a bicycle some 150,000 km over almost 30 years, and saved a lot of money that way. I still cycle, because I still want to collect. Also, the money that may have gone for alcohol and cigarettes has gone into this. I'm not setting myself as an example here. The choice of what to do with your money is yours. Sacrifices have to be made for the sake of a hobby. If you can't, then don't grumble!

Philately

I threw myself into stamp collecting in a big way around 1998, reviving a childhood hobby. I had to scale down the intensity about four years ago because inflation was running high and there was little money left to buy stamps with. But this break proved to be a blessing in disguise, because it gave me some perspective into what I was doing. While I could no longer buy mint stamps, there were plenty of cancelled ones to be had. So, the hobby and the interest goes on and on, though I have little time to realize my initial dream of being a philatelist.

During the initial stages of my rediscovery of stamp collecting, I got lucky and found this bag full of old covers and stamps for sale on the pavement. It was second hand book seller Bala who sold it to me for a thousand rupees. These were the leftovers of a big time businessman collector. After his death, the unwanted stuff ended up on the pavement. It was a treasure trove to me all the same. This old cover is one example. This man had a business somewhere on Keyzer Street, Pettah, Colombo, which was the business hub of the city till the 1970s. You can see ‘Ceylon Favourite Store’ with the address on the cover, post marked 1959 and mailed from the United States. The bag had many such covers and I feel that this man got his business associates to mail these covers to him regularly for the sake of collecting. Quite a collector, this man. If this bag had the leftovers, I wonder what the main collection was like.

The thing about collecting old stuff is, it takes you back to a very different world. I was just one year old when this letter was posted from the US. And naturally I have no memories of the year 1959 (which I’m sure sounds ancient to those born in the 1980s, 90s and thereafter). Well, the space age had just begun, we had steam trains and Morris Minors (if you have any idea what the world was like in 1959, email me and I’ll post your comment).

Also, you realise that philately is more than collecting stamps. An infinite variety of old covers, post cards, cancellation marks, air letters (or aerogrammes), old albums, post office memorabilia, photos of postal equipment and architecture -- you name it, and you'll find a lot of such things in this Philately section.