Sharing Spaces-A personal exploration of the idea of 'sharing' through lived places - Episode 2 - සීයලා ගෙදර ; An American Style House
Part 2
After publishing the previous episode, my mother enthusiastically gave me a better account (I could still see from my iPhone screen, the nostalgia and happiness in her eyes as she recalled these stories), especially on the photographs. I will also try to rectify some of the mistakes in the previous. Therefore Part 2 will not be my personal accounts, there of my mother's.
The American-style house was actually built by my grandfather's elder brother in the early 1960s (probably 1964); not by my grandfather as mentioned in the previous article. The house was rented out and apparently, there had been a dispute over the tenants refusing to move out after the expiration of the lease (I do not know whether there had been a written agreement). The house had the front part (as in the B&W photograph) with a lobby, living, and two bedrooms. Even though the house was American Style_ the kitchen was a separate unit made with clay walls (probably wattle and dobe) and the toilet too was separate. There were two tanks to collect rainwater; one in the front and the other at the rear (the structure is still there). Drinking water for drinking and cooking had to be brought from a public tap at a close by junction.
My grandfather left the country for a year in 1968 after receiving a scholarship to Canada, and the family moved to Matara1 (from Galle2) where they rented a house. It seems absurd to rent a house since my grandmother was from a wealthy family in Matara. In fact, they were filthy rich. A great-great-grandfather of my grandmother (Mee Mutta) had given one hundred rupees for the restoration of Ruwanweli Maha Seya_ a photograph of this gentleman is still hanging at a building in the Maha Stupa premises). So, my guess (from the stories I have heard) is that they no longer had any property by the end of the 1960s unfortunately thanks to a gentleman in the family who was too busy spending on drinking until everything came down to ground.
Returning back to Ceylon in 1969 (we were Ceylonese not that long ago!), my grandfather was assigned to Hingurakkoda3. He had saved some money while in Canada probably one of his lifelong fantasies to buy a brand new navy blue 5ශ්රී 4 Voxwagan. It was in 1970 that his family moved into the American-style house in Poornwatta, Kandy5 while he was yet again on the move from one farm to another. The lack of an adult male had to be fulfilled especially with the troublesome atmosphere in the 1971 JVP6 youth uprising. While my grandfather visited from time to time, those shoes were filled by my grandfather's younger brother (whom we fondly referred to as බෙබි සීයා _Baby Seeya), who was a bachelor at that time. The gentleman in the foreground of the B&W photo is none other than Baby Seeya. Therefore, the photograph must have been taken during those years.
Not long after moving to the American Style House in Kandy, my grandfather had to alter his Voxwagon dream; it was costly and most importantly he wanted to extend the house for the convenience of his family_ where he built an attached kitchen, dining, toilet, extend the front bedroom and add another bedroom at the rear. There are visible marks of these extensions which I plan to use to reconstruct the evolution of the house. He managed to complete the extension by selling his brand new navy blue 5ශ්රී Voxwagan, but he never gave up on his dream too; he bought a much older EN Voxwagon!
As per my mother and as photographs suggest, relatives including Baby Seeya's family (his wife_බෙබි ආච්චි/Baby Achchi and their son) had stayed in this American Style House sharing not only the rooms but also there lives for a long time.
A photograph taken by Seeya of his family (Amma is wearing a mini-skirt!) with හින්නි මා මා /Hinni7 Mama meaning Younger Uncle- I love his company_what a fine stylish gentleman he is!
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