Sharing Spaces-A personal exploration of the idea of 'sharing' through lived places - Episode 2 - සීයලා ගෙදර ; An American Style House

Part 1

Our grandparents’ house or the 'සීයලා  ගෙදර' (Seeyala Gedara¹meaning grandfather(s)' house - See notes below), which we used to call it, was a special place where we used to live in the annexe of the same house even before moving to Kurunegala (once when my father was working in Dambulla). From time to time we used to visit our grandparents, especially during the vacations and during weekends. I later learnt at Architecture school that it was an American-style house, built during the 1960s (my guess is 1964), which was the trending architectural style for houses among the new middle class (emerged after 1956). 

It would be wrong to say that he was originally from a middle-class background. He was born into a wealthy family in Galle, but had to face many difficulties after his father's death. He was well acclaimed for his brilliance in his studies among his peers especially in Physics passing ALs with flying colours in theory. However, he could not take part in practicals due to an illness. The worsening financial situation after his father's death led him to give up hopes of entering the Medical College. However, he was awarded a scholarship to study agriculture at the School of Agriculture for his brilliance. He then became a government servant who worked in the Department of Agriculture; an officer involved in the infamous 'Waga Sagramaya' Project initiated by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. He had been travelling all across the island; Ambilipitiya, Dambulla (Pelvehera farm), Ambalantota, Polonnaruwa (Kanduruwela Farm), Bandarawela, Higurakgoda, Elehara-Bakamuna (during the first youth uprising against the government in 1971- my grandfathers' life was spared while he was travelling with salaries, by a mob since one person in the gang recognised my grandfather and told the gang that he is 'good man'), Kandy; while his family (my mother's family) stayed in their hometown, Galle. When he got to work at the Head Office in Peradeniya permanently, he finally chose Kandy as the residing place (This could be the reason for my own family to end up in Kandy.); where he built an American-style house. 

    The house is a single-storey house with an American-style lean-to roof above it with a 600mm eave. The house sat on a higher elevation with a steep stone-laid driveway up from the gate. The house could be easily recognizable because of the expressive and distinctive features; the diamond-shaped cement grills, stone walls, large rough plastered walls with horizontal grooves, outward projecting concrete porch and the outward projecting concrete sunshade around the window frames with tapered fines (probably pre-fabricated). The entrance porch is the first recognizable feature at a glance for someone walking up the terrain. It had a flat concrete slab (to which a classic octagonal lampshade was mounted) resting on two tapered concrete fins. This was a memorable place since we loved the ringing bell which had a funky sound. It was also a place for conversations with outsiders either on the road or in the front garden. I remember watching the road below from the porch like a guard placed on a high hill.  Though taking photographs was a rare occasion those days, the entrance porch was the ideal location where we gathered to pose for photographs.

    The front door leads to the lobby surrounded by diamond-shaped cement grill work from two sides; the usual hangout spot of my grandfather on his ‘hansi putuwa’ (Folding, Adjustable, Sling-Back Plantation Chair with Extending Leg Rests) placed in the corner of the lobby. The ‘hansi putuwa’ was not meant to be shared although my brothers and I used to rock in the cloth sling. No other person, visitor or family member sat in it recognising not just the personalised space of our grandfather but also recognizing him as the head of the house. My grandfather being an outgoing person had many friends and contacts in his social network. The lobby was their place of discussion and the family members made sure that the discussion went undisturbed by retreating into bedrooms or the kitchen. The visitors would sit on the two wooden chairs with cane-vowed seats and backrests. Three of us laid down on our bellies on the ground in the front bedroom (which was in line with the lobby and living room) to sneak through the gap between the floor and the curtain with our paper pistols ready to fire. 

[tbc]...more stories from 'සීයලා  ගෙදර'

Note - 

1. සීයා  (Seeya) means Grandfather in Sinhala; ගෙදර (Gedara) means house/ home in Sinhala. For some funny reason, we used the term 'සීයා ' (Seeya) in plural though we obviously knew it was the house of our grandfather (my mother's father). Just for the record, we unfortunately have never met our father's father since he passed away long before any of us were born while my father was a medical student at the University of Peradeniya. Nevertheless, I shall later write about my father's ancestral home in Kontahela Village in Bandarawela; my first experience of a Walauwwa (Manor House) _which I fell in love with.

2. This house was built in stages as per my mother, which I hope to describe later. 

3. Read Wijetunaga, N. R. (2014), පුරා තනයේ සිට නූතනත්වය කරා  - විවිධා ංග වා ස්තුවිද්‍යා  රචනා  සම්මුච්චයක්.  for more information on American Style Houses in Post-colonial Ceylon.

4. The second paragraph (on my grandfather) was written to document historical events which would help to draw the connection between class and architecture in Post-colonial Ceylon.

 

A photograph from the front 

(Probably taken in 1970s) 

A photograph of my mother's family_at the entrance porch 

(Probably taken in 1970s)