Interesting titbits on ‘Grass for my Feet’

The Sunday Times Magazine of September 4, carried a reminiscence of the schooldays of Chitranjan Pethiyagoda and of his discovery, quite by accident, in 1958 of the book ‘Grass for my Feet’ by Jinadasa Vijayatunga, first published in 1935 by Edward Arnold & Co. London.

The scenes set out in the 28 chapters highlight the details of the many characters who were apparently awaiting the arrival of a sensitive and sympathetic writer to record with proper rhyme and rhythm, village life seen by the author way back in the early years of the 20th century.

Incidentally when the book was published in 1935, it was the first time, a Sinhala writer had thought it fit to commemorate the many characters of his ancestral village in the English language, a practice followed by many later on.

In the book ‘What I Think’ published in 1948, Vijayatunga in the chapter ‘Why I wrote Grass for my Feet’ states: In London especially during its depressing winter I was constantly thinking of my village where I spent my childhood. The landscape, the dust of the village road, the sand of the foot tracks, the very earth of the village and its people became vivid to me.” All these would have crowded round his inward eye and danced before him and the result was ‘Grass for my Feet’.

When Sir Andrew Caldicott arrived in then Ceylon to assume the post of Governor, he was asked by a journalist what knowledge he had of the country and he answered that he had read ‘Grass for my Feet’, thereby giving the book huge free publicity among the English reading public which resulted in three reprints in 1940, 1948 and 1953.

Quite a record for a Sinhala author in his maiden book in the English language.

W. Panditaratne

Kandy