Kishani Jayasinghe Wijayasekara
Sunday, March 06, 2016
Every performing artist dreams of that one event. One opportunity that changes the course of his or her destiny. That one unforgettable and special song/dance/painting/sculpture/role or oration that changes life as they know it and in some cases like this, even defines them.
As an opera singer, I have worked tirelessly for over a dozen years to perfect a highly technical, respected and beautiful form of singing and attempted to perfect a craft that few truly ever master.
To be an opera singer – or any performing artist – is to commit to a vocation and not merely a career. I always imagined it would be a particularly moving rendition of Puccini in Italian; or the luscious sophistication of a French Gounod or the musical genius of Mozart in German which would define me.
Never did I imagine that a beloved song I learnt to sing in primary school in my mother tongue, would be the golden anthem that would affect my life so drastically.
Performing for the 68th Independence Day Celebrations on February 4, 2016 at Galle Face Green, was for me an extremely proud and humbling moment.
An opportunity to give something back to my beloved country in the best way I could. Through song and music, doing what I love.
That should and could very well have been the end of it. But as fate determined otherwise, within a few hours, it was picked up by an anti-government website on social media (probably as being an easy target to incite the less well informed – something we will never truly know) and gained such terrifying momentum that within a few days it had turned into a cyber war.
Sri Lankans far and wide were discussing the pros and cons of everything ranging from Politics & Culture; Western influences & Eastern traditions; Inherent prejudices & Open mindedness; Operatic style & Folk song; Island mentality & Evolution; Nationalism & Internationalism; Freedom of speech & Responsibility of the media; Feminism & Gender equality and of course that beloved song – Danno Budunge – which will now always identify my musical journey and be irrevocably linked to my life forever.
Having an opinion is a good thing. Ideally it should be an informed opinion, but either way, it is our right, afforded by way of natural justice and often protected by Statute and therefore something to value.
An issue that polarises a nation is a very real phenomenon and nothing new. It is not necessary that we all agree. Tastes differ for a multitude of reasons, and sometimes it needs no reason at all. It is just something we feel and sometimes something we relate to or not at all.
