{"id":34198,"date":"2014-10-17T22:08:01","date_gmt":"2014-10-18T02:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=34198"},"modified":"2014-10-17T22:08:01","modified_gmt":"2014-10-18T02:08:01","slug":"inapproriate-attempt-to-rename-elphinstone-theatre-after-gamini-fonseka-is-a-cheap-bid-for-political-popularity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=34198","title":{"rendered":"Inapproriate Attempt to Rename Elphinstone Theatre After Gamini Fonseka is a Cheap Bid for Political Popularity."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Lucien Rajakarunanayake<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is easy to recall the quote from Shakespeare\u2019s Julius Caesar: “What\u2019s in a name? That which we call a rose\/ By any other name would smell as sweet.”<\/p>\n

We seem to be increasingly obsessed with the changing of names, whether the new names have any relevance to a place or event, or not; and there is nothing sweet about this whole idea.<\/p>\n

The latest in this name change craze is the news that once the refurbishing of the Elphinstone Theatre at Maradana is completed it is to be named Gamini Fonseka Theatre or Rangahala, in memory of that great star of the Sinhala cinema.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that Gamini Fonseka, deserves a good monument for the major contribution he made as an actor in Sinhala films, even if we do not have much regard of the brief, and not too successful roles he played in politics. I am one who admired Gamini\u2019s acting and had many disagreements with him on politics. Yet, I believe he is fully deserving of a good memorial. Not to label a re-named theatre of old.<\/p>\n

From what we know today, the attempt to re-name the Elphinstone Theatre in his name is in fact going against his own will. This had been suggested to him by the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, when he carried out renovations to the Elphinstone. Gamini Fonseka\u2019s response had been that if they are to be renamed, either the Elphinstone or Tower Hall should be named in memory of Rukmani Devi, for her great contribution to the Sinhala theatre, cinema and singing. We also learn that when President Premadasa invited Gamini Fonseka to accompany him to the opening of the renovated Elphinstone Theatre, the great actor had turned down the request because it had not been re-named after Rukmani Devi.<\/p>\n

One can understand if an Elphinstone Theatre in India was to be renamed, ideally to remember an Indian hero of the Bombay Mutiny, which sowed the seeds of the Indian freedom struggle, where Lord Elphinstone, as Governor of Bombay, played a major role in putting it down. But to even think of renaming this once Ceylonese, and now Sri Lankan theatre, in memory of Gamini Fonseka, is to make this great star of the Sinhala cinema turn in his grave, especially for the insult of using his name to please the fancies of those whose minds have been warped by the cheap politics of today.<\/p>\n

The name changing craze has caught on with great vigour, with an almost weekly example of older names with meaning and proper context being erased to replace them with names of little known persons who have made even lesser contributions to the progress of society, even in the areas where the name changing is being done. This also true of the name changing of roads to commemorate events, that are so long in writing that they are never remembered by the people who use such roads daily. <\/p>\n

Thimbirigasyaya Road in Colombo 5 is one example. It has now been renamed after a member of the Sangha who is best known for activity in a nurses\u2019 trade union. The name is so long, with all his prefixes of honour and respect that no one ever mentions it when giving directions in or to Thimbirigasyaya, and prefer to the good old Thimbirigasyaya Road.<\/p>\n

The 2600th anniversary of the Buddha\u2019s attainment of Enlightenment certainly deserved a great memorial in this country that has preserved Buddhism for more than 2300 years. But changing the name of Havelock Road, named after a former British Governor, was hardly the best way of remembering this great anniversary. There is an important centre of Buddhist activity built at the beginning of this re-named former Havelock Road, which stands out as a good landmark. But the new name of Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi Mawatha is so impractical in usage, which is best seen by the police still not having it on the traffic sign boards they use to give directions on turning and access to it, to those traveling on nearby roads. What these signs still show, after nearly two years of name change, are sign boards with arrows pointing to “Havelock Road”.<\/p>\n

It is not an accident that most people still refer to Dickman\u2019s Road by its former name and hardly ever mention the great producer and director of the Sinhala cinema after whom it is now named, even though he lives there. What he deserves was a more fitting memorial for the great contribution he made to Sri Lankan cinema; beginning began with “Rekava” and continued through several great productions.<\/p>\n

The name change craze has been the most absurd with the removal of the name of Sri Lanka\u2019s greatest known King, Dutugemunu, from the street that was named after him that linked Pamankade and Kohuwela, and replaced it with the name of no doubt a learned and worthy member of the Sangha, which is again too long for the talking and the writing. Suddenly, reality has dawned and the road has been \u2018re-renamed\u2019 as Dutugemunu Mawatha.<\/p>\n

The municipal authorities, and other politicians, whether in Colombo or other cities, have a penchant for the changing of road names, to suit their fancy, in a mistaken belief that it is of service to the public, rather than attending to the timely repair and maintenance of roads, and the provision of other civic facilities.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping that Gamini Fonseka who should be remembered with the building of a very good new cinema or a centre for the cinematic arts, is not insulted by renaming after him the Elphinstone Theatre, which had a great reputation as a centre of the Sinhala theatre and live entertainment, and a cinema that screened some of the longest running Tamil films in the country; in a cheap bid for political popularity by the proponents of such a change.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Island<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucien Rajakarunanayake It is easy to recall the quote from Shakespeare\u2019s Julius Caesar: “What\u2019s in a name? That which we call a rose\/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” We seem to be increasingly obsessed with the changing of names, whether the new names have any relevance to a place or event, …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Inapproriate Attempt to Rename Elphinstone Theatre After Gamini Fonseka is a Cheap Bid for Political Popularity.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34200,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34198\/revisions\/34200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}