Human emotion in three faces

Nilendra has an unusual approach in the case of feature film making; parallel to his television career. It is an anti-hero characterization of three under-privileged youths living in different social strata. They become more emotional when the war against the brutal terrorist group has been brought to an end. The three friends, all of a sudden, decide to go to the north which was saved from the terrorist control. For what purpose? To have a bath in a tank at Chalai in the northern province!

That itself shows the ridiculous way of thinking pattern and their act.

From there onwards, the theme makes a twist to a number of events that makes a drastic change in the lives of these three anti-heroes! Nilendra's theme is related to the backdrop of the whole country which is celebrating the war heroes who ended the terrorist menace.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the three fellows become - not the merry makers of the given opportunity - victims of unexpected dilemma!

This is not a formula film of Indian origin, but of a western influence. Therefore it seems to be a novel experience to Sri Lankan cinemagoers. Nilendra's casting is also above average which exhibits his professional discipline.

The three main characters played by Kumara Thirimadura, Sarath Kotalawala and Namal Jayasingha is a change from the typical heroes we get to see often in Sinhala cinema. Kamal Addaraarachchi, Anoja Weerasingha and Swarna Mallawaarchchi are differently characterized. That is the positive attitude of professionalism. The filmmaker is aware of the fact that the Sri Lankan cinema should have different ways and means in the entertainment industry instead of the formula film.

A filmmaker shall not just throw away the trash in the name of feature film! It is still a big struggle in filmmaking.

Nilendra has the potential to go ahead with more experience. This is enough achievement that he must have a clear vision.

His visionary attitude must develop into more progressive thinking.

He should focus more - an in-depth study - on social issues at the grassroots level.

That is why I feel that the film's social thinking is a bit confusing. 

www.dailynews.lk - Piyasena Wickramage

Stop the violence NOW!

In a couple of days, women across the world will take to the streets and public platforms to air their views on a subject that they have long been familiar with - so much so that it has become part of their daily lives: namely, Gender Based Violence (GBV). Living in a world where almost every fabric of society has been infiltrated by acts of violence, where civil wars, ethnic conflicts, honour killings, and moral decay have collectively contributed to the rapid rise of unsafe environments, women have never been exposed to so much violence as they are today.

This has been borne out by recent studies by researchers, sociologists and feminists who have not only shocked us out of our comfort zones with their startling statistics, they have shown us how violence impacts on women’s health, their personal relationships, their marriages, their families, and stifles their potential talents and skills to the country’s development.

Of late, such violence has escalated by leaps and bounds, as thousands of women caught up in civil war and displaced from their home, live in refugee camps enduring unbelievable hardships.

Their situation is compounded by the fact that all of them married or single, old or young, are completely at the mercy of the military personnel guarding them, who sexually abuse them taking advantage of their extreme vulnerability. Added to this, is the fact that women now dominate the labour force in most countries including Sri Lanka.

Although this is a positive reflection of their advancement towards true emancipation, it also puts them at risk to sexual harassment at their place of work. The numerous instances reported of female garment workers in the Free Trade Zones who are sexually abused while returning home at night, is an example of this rising tide of violence against women.

Age

Age is no barrier to Gender Based Violence. Newspapers are rife with instances when even elderly women in their 70s and 80s have been sexually harassed.

Domestic violence victim

Whether travelling by bus, train a single woman is often marked as the ideal candidate for eve teasing, vulgar comments and even rape by the opposite sex. In neighboring India eve teasing recently led to the death of a university student who couldn’t endure the continued remarks cast by her own male colleagues.

Similar incidents have been recorded in other countries including Sri Lanka where a young woman who was stalked by a youth finally turned her wrath on him by hitting him with her phone and injuring him. Even travelling on a plane could end up with disastrous results.

From nonagenarians (and even centenarians) to adolescents and girls still on the brink of attaining menarche, no female it seems is safe from such abuse today in our society.

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has reported that by August end this year, the number of complaints it had received for this year alone on child abuse amounted to 6,973 of which 1,477 were for violence.

In addition, the NCPA also received 324 complaints of rape and 327 complaints of sexual harassment. Although male children are also included in these statistics, the girl children who have been abused sexually outnumber them by far.

Facts

No less startling are the facts and statistics that have emerged from the most recently researched edition on GBV in Sri Lanka, by the Women’s Health Committee of the SLMA which sheds light on why and who the perpetrators of such violence are in most instances.

Abuse - A questionnaire given to female undergraduates after a lecture on child abuse showed that 12.3 percent of females had been abused in childhood - their abusers being a brother, uncle or father (De Silva 1998).

Incest - A study in 2002 conducted through institutions dealing with victims of incest in the Central Province revealed that the typical incest victims were girl children below 12, the abusers being an older family member, often her father, stepfather, uncle or an older brother.

Sexual abuse - Police records of 2003 showed the majority of victims of grave sexual abuse (seduction, rape, incest and procreation) were 78 percent girls, especially those under 16 (Ministry of Health 2008).

Harassment - Newspaper articles on the nature and magnitude of harassments to women and girls in Lankan society (Weerakkody and Kumaara 2007) revealed that sexual harassment was most prominent in 88 percent of under-aged girls, rape being the commonest form of abuse.

Domestic violence

Of all these acts of violence, Domestic Violence (DV) is the most widely prevalent form of abuse inflicted on women. That this form of violence occurs mostly within a marriage and is perpetrated within the four walls of their own homes, is even more tragic.

Domestic violence never stops, as the perpetrators rarely report such acts. In the course of this non ending battery of violence, women are beaten, kicked, burned, choked, cut with knives, their hair shorn, their faces mutilated by acid thrown at them by jealous husbands, stem from often trivial and unreasonable causes.

The big question is WHY? Yes, why do women stay in abusive relationships, even at the risk of being maimed and killed, and the lives of their children traumatised? A feminist explained: “It is directly related to our patriarchal society and rooted in the patriarchal notion that women do not deserve to enjoy the same rights as men.

What they don’t seem to realise is that women constantly subject to domestic violence affects their health, their rights and the children who are the future citizens of this country. There is thus an urgent need to address the GBV at national level and to carry out national surveys on vulnerable female groups islandwide”.

Causes

Causes for GBV have been linked to many factors. A CENWOR study of 2001 links incest among girl children to their absentee mothers.

“An increasing number of girl children of migrant women remain unprotected and become victims of incest, unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions.” A psychiatrist echoing this said, “Domestic violence has a trigger effect. A child who sees his father beating his mother is likely to do the same to his wife when he grows up. It is a vicious cycle we need to stop right NOW,” he said.

For all those now preparing to observe another day to Eliminate All Forms Of Violence Against Women, it is time to fight the negative social forces that leave women open to violence and for all women in leadership positions to combine their efforts and opportunities towards this goal.

Only then can violence against women become a thing of the past.

By Carol Aloysius - Sunday Observer

How to deal with your boss

Nothing good can come from a yelling match:

Bad bosses - whether ogres, control freaks, jerks or bumbling fools - can be found in all organisations. They are no laughing matter when you have to face him or her every working day. Having a bad boss can make your work life a misery, but it can also make you sick, both physically and mentally.

Having worked for nearly four decades in the corporate sector, of which first half with a number of not-so-inspiring bosses including tyrants and hypocrites, and the other half as a boss myself, I’ve identified three types of bad bosses and also trade secrets of how to handle them.

Who are these three are the top “bad boss” characteristics:

Micromanager

This type of a boss plays an excessively large role in the work of the subordinates. Instead of letting the team members use their own judgment, the boss makes every decision or dictates every step to take. This can be especially frustrating to capable workers, turning an interesting task into boring work.

Neglecter

This type is on the other end of the spectrum. Unlike micromanager, they fail to give any directions at all. The subordinates feel that their boss is ignoring them. As a result, they feel that they have to guess what their bosses want.

Yeller

A boss who gets angry and abuses his or her workers is probably the worst type of “bad boss.” By yelling at or otherwise belittling his or her employees, an abusive boss fosters an environment of fear. There is no excuse for this behaviour - yet abusive bosses can be found in all sorts of organisations

If you have one of these three types as your boss, it can really siphon out the enjoyment from what might otherwise be a rewarding career, and wondering whether you should begin searching for something new. Before you take that decision, let us see what you can do about it right now.

Managing the bad boss

Let me give you five tips.

Don’t act immediately. Maybe you will want to fight back. You may think of writing a blistering review of your boss and e-mailing it to the CEO. Those thoughts aren’t necessarily harmful. But thoughts don’t have to lead to action. Your boss may be small-minded, two-faced, spineless, and technically inept.

But would a dramatic gesture be worth the lost salary? Is it worth a hole in your résumé, the one you’ll find difficulty in explaining for years to come? This isn’t the economy to choose pride over practicality.

Play the game. You were been unfairly smeared. But don’t let it turn you sour or sloppy. And don’t let your boss get to you, either. Nod and smile when he delivers another self-serving sermon. Maintain a “can-do” attitude, like you have your dream job. Respect and defer, even when trust is lost. You’ll have to work with plenty of bad bosses over your career. You may as well start practising now.

Fix the micromanager. If your boss is a micromanager, first make sure that he or she isn’t merely responding to your own poor performance. If you have shown that you cannot perform good work without heavy-handed supervision, your boss may feel that he or she has to constantly look over your shoulder.

In that event, when a relatively unimportant assignment comes up, ask your boss to grant you additional responsibility “just this once.” If he or she agrees, put forth extraordinary effort to ensure that the project exceeds the expectations.

If your boss micromanages your entire team, you can be confident that it’s not just you. Your next step should be to sit down with your boss and talk about his or her overbearing supervision. It is not an easy task. You may fear that your boss will take your criticism as an attack or otherwise identify you as an “enemy.”

Don’t be scared. In my experience, this type of bosses often respond well to constructive criticism from their subordinates.

Clarification then and there

Many micromanagers have an underlying fear that something will go wrong if anyone is given managerial discretion. You can address this fear by frequently sharing information throughout the course of an assignment. Don’t wait for your boss to ask how things are going; instead, send a daily email with status reports and next steps. This helps reassure your boss that, in fact, everything is under control.

Fix the ‘neglecter’. To fix the ‘neglecter’ type’s problem, you’ll have to be very self-asserting to get your boss’s attention. If you receive an assignment with unclear goals, ask for clarification right then and there. Don’t leave your boss’s office or hang up the phone until you are satisfied that you know what you need to do.

During the course of the assignment, you should also communicate more frequently with your boss. For instance, if you send your boss a key email every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 p.m., he or she will know that it’s important - and be more likely to respond to it.

If that doesn’t work, try to speak face­ to­ face with your boss about getting more direction.

Be specific about what you need and how your boss can be helpful.

Fix the yeller. The only way to deal with a yelling boss is not to take personally the fact that he or she regularly loses self-­ control. The boss’s unacceptable behaviour has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with his or her own problems, which you can’t fix.

Nevertheless, your behaviour may unwittingly push your boss’s “hot buttons” and trigger a stream of abuse. If you want to stick it out with such a boss, try to identify what those triggers are. Does your boss go ballistic if you arrive five minutes late or if your desk is slightly messy? If so, the simplest solution is to avoid behaviours that invite your boss’s wrath.

But this strategy won’t work if your boss plays the blame game and gets angry whenever an assignment turns sour. You can try to explain the key causes and suggest how you will address them in the future. You can try to brush off abusive behaviour with self-control.

Unfortunately, many abusive bosses know exactly what they’re doing. They’ll push and push until they meet resistance, at which point they’re likely to retreat. The only way to succeed with such a boss is to stand your ground.

Insist that your boss treats you with respect. Be specific about how his or her abusive behaviour is affecting your work and which particular actions are intolerable. But whatever you do, keep your cool; nothing good can come from a yelling match.

If you fail in your all remedies, there are a couple of alternatives. They come with no guarantees, but they may be worth considering.

The first is to wait it out. Bad bosses can be like bullies who eventually get tired of harassing people, particularly once they realise that it won’t get them anywhere.

A boss’s bad behaviour is visible to others, so hanging in there, without complaining, will be viewed positively. And over time, a bad boss may even self-destruct and lose credibility.

The second alternative is to seek other options, both inside and out. Use the situation as an opportunity to reassess your career, your work-life priorities, and how you define success. In the long run, the bad boss will liberate you to pursue another direction.

By Lionel Wijesiri - Sunday Observer

With gun as motif

Thanha Rathi Raga was beautiful crafted, exquisitely executed, prodigious, extraordinary, remarkable cinema - suspenseful, joyous to watch, delightful to enjoy, the masterful command of the cinema being displayed in every frame, the narrative molded with loving hands.

The slow beginning, the establishing of context and character... the motifs and notes to the drama to come, carefully or (or craftily?) planted; working at multiple layers, each layer reveals, in succession, enjoyable cinema, suspenseful cinema, cinematic misfortune... cinematic revelation.... cinematic tragedy.... in varied cinematic facets as it addresses a range of emotions while drilling down to reveal, in every sense, a representation of the national tragedy that has enveloped the (Sinhala?) nation over the 30 years.

A nation which 'accidentally' found a 'gun' and did not know what to do with it, passing it from hand to hand until the country was engulfed. All that and more packed into 2 hours of thoughtful and eventually, heart wrenching ethos and pathos. The build up to a crescendo of the great human tragedy (of our nation?) that seemed without an end.

The story unfolded, leaving an echo of so much to think through, a tale told with warmth, love and understanding of the human condition, played by artistes, a gripping narrative structure built by the script writer/s (?) combining with texture and rendition of the visuals of a very high level of cinematographic consistency and skill and unlabored, smooth, editing - they all added their own special dose of skill and artistry to the blend.

The cinematography amazed me with its consistency of texture and craft, albeit with a few brief lapses. I have seen such evenness very rarely. An evenness which is testimony to a superb grasp of the craft of cinematography, contributing so much without intrusion. Editing bore hallmarks of Ravindra Guruge's consummate skill and again made his silent contribution to the blend. Heenatigala's art direction was meaningful: each location and site 'artfully' chosen and arranged. The opening credits, like the cover of a book, laid out tastefully, setting the mood.

A remarkable achievement, not only because it is a 'first' film but irrespective of a 'first' because it is wonderful cinema, with the stamp of a mature hand, with none of the stumbles of a 'first' film. All in all wonderful cinema, exquisitely rendered.

Sri Lanka needs this kind of cinema every kind of good cinema I suppose but certainly this cinema that is rare, occasional to be exceptional, because it is vision and insight translated into cinematic artistry of a high order. 

www.dailynews.lk - Dr D B Nihalsinghe