An Alluring Poetess With An Enigmatic Beauty - Malathi Kalpana Ambrose

Her poetry captivates  readers' souls mysteriously. Her enticing poetic essence transpires the beauty of her enigmatic soul for the love of humanity and nature. Amid the chaos of life, the celebration of her creativity remains clam, serene and undisturbed. Her deep understanding and undying passion for writing have paved her the way to reach the heights as a poetess with a great sense of stoicism. She is none other than Malathi Kalpana Ambrose: An alluring poetess with an enigmatic beauty. 

If you wish to feel the tranquility of stillness, she sincerely requests you to visit the silent shore of her poetic soul and collect the sea shells of poems. If you have more time, she also requests you to sit beside her to talk about the sands of people who generously served the world and left with broken hearts as the sleeping ocean which is being constantly broken by waves. She also allows you to shed tears of pearls on behalf of the long forgotten, thousands of people who have shed their blood for the betterment of society even where their poetic foot prints and art had faded away without any due acknowledgement. Further, she behests you to stand for the forbidden poems while kissing the footsteps of forgone and stirring the waves to give a new life to the shore of humanity in silence.

What inspired you to become a poetess?

As a child, I never questioned what’s real and surreal. My entire childhood was a film which kept changing its backgrounds. When the cleanest winds were blowing across the greenly pastures, I saw how Duishen was helping Altynai at Kurkureu which was situated in a plateau at the foot of mountains where in mean time the witch of Babayaga was helping Apu to hide his playing tools in the forest.  Zhenya in Flower of seven colours & Karino in Gad Fly were my friends.  All these fictional characters were real to me and they used to haunt in my mind.

In my real life, I am an ardent lover of nature. The days I spent on groves, rubber estates, paddy fields, water streams were countless. Life was as simple and smooth as the sweet melodious hymns sung at our village chapel where the ten commandments were the only guilt. The library at the corner of the village generously and silently enriched our souls. Life wouldn’t have been the same without the love, care and kindness I received from my family, relatives and friends, for which I am forever thankful.  

My four year stay at University of Peradeniya, undoubtedly can be called as the most serendipitous and mesmerizing years of my life where I learnt the beauty of life in many ways.  From tiny flowers fallen on the roads to blissful evenings at Sarathchandra Wala, from the spellbinding sierra of Hanthana to Akbar bridge, my life was splendid, vivid and enchanting. 

Since the childhood days, I have a penchant for writing and it kept growing ceaselessly. Through thick and thin & ups and downs of life, my love for literature has always been aside. My undying love for literature has been within throughout my life nurturing the seeds of artistic & poetic feelings. These might have been the reasons for me to engage in writing and I am quite enjoying my being as a poetess as well.

In your terms, how do you define poetry?

For me, poems convey the untold beauty of unshed tears and breathes held back. I believe words are powerful and mightier. So does the nature. If you could listen carefully, you would probably hear the throbs of respiring trees, stars, waves and pouring silver rains. So do the poems, they are alive.

As a talented poetess who has been able to mark your name in the sky of literature, don’t you think you have been overwhelmed by positive criticism?

Well, it is true in a way because almost all comments I have received so far have been very positive though some constructive criticisms were expected. Yet that doesn’t mean I have not been subjected to negative and deconstructive criticism. One such constructive criticism which took my mind was an opinion given by one of my poetic friends, where the language used in my first poetry collection was arduous and it had an effect on the reader's understanding. This was taken very positively and it might have had an impact on choosing poems for my second book. Having said that, I must also convey the fact that it isn’t the need of mine. As a writer or a poet, we are bestowed with the liberty of choosing the best possible way to convey the message. The irony of the story appears when the language that has been used in my first book (Me Nihada Werala Enna) being warmly embraced by the scholars. However, differences do make the world beautiful, so do the opinions.

When you are being constantly acclaimed for the work you do, Don’t you think there’s a higher probability of creating a frame of expectations? What are your thoughts?

Well, it is quite inevitable that people would build expectations based on the work you do.  Yet when it comes to writing, it all become irrelevant, because as far as  I believe, poetry is one of the healthiest ways to release suppressed emotions. As a writer, my primary intention is to release the bottled up abundance of emotions and liberate my soul. In such a context, meeting the demands or rather the expectations of fans become secondary.

In most of your poems, you have consumed cogent and compelling experiences to address the unaddressed leading the reader to an emotional upheaval. What are your thoughts?

Creating a positive emotional turbulence is invariably a delicate and powerful process where the thinking pattern or the sensual world of the reader can be influenced. This cannot be done vehemently because writing itself is a spontaneous process. As far as I believe, this happens when both ends: the writer and the reader become united. Or in other words, this isn’t a one-sided game. It needs both ends to transpire the real essence of a poem. Further, the readers should also have a kind of similar experience where he\she shares an emotional attachment to the core of its message or they should be ready to embrace the depth of poet’s feeling/experience for its effective transpiring of real essence. This affiliation is needed in everywhere to reach the unreached.

In a context where the poetry and its standards are being heavily criticized, can we draw a line to discriminate poetry and its standards based on a litmus test?

Well, in a society where the people are conditioned to think alike or rather think accordingly, none can easily assess the beauty of poetry and its standards through a simple litmus test. Especially when we are conditioned to think not by our own, seldom we could appreciate the difference. This is a pathetic situation which hinders the growth of any social structure, hence caution has to be practiced. When your preferences are decided based on the inputs you’ve gained from outside, it is highly questionable to judge what is good and bad. Although there’s an internal baggage of opinions, none can deny the impact of outside inputs. Hence, it is hilarious to use the yardsticks given by the society to discriminate poetry and its standards. Further, the essence of a poem can never be experienced similarly, hence can be considered as subjective. This can be considered as an ideal situation, where poetry can be considered as a representation of poet’s preferred experience or a style. Yet this might not be the case in a more pragmatic scenario where there can be limitations to the ideal concept. Limitations can be based on technicalities, novelty and experiences based on with discrimination is possible. However, this cannot deny the importance of emotions which can evoke the taste buds of one’s soul. In addition to that I would also like to address the recreational value of a poem that can bring oxygen to the lives of people. Isn’t that what we need?

How can youth be trained to restore the recreational value of art & poetry?

This has become tedious due to many reasons. Especially, in today’s context life is no longer simple and smooth due to the impacts of globalization, urbanization, technological advancements etc. As a result, people face much difficulty in articulating the innermost feelings of themselves.  

Although It’s true that not having a proper artistic sense has its own consequences, the society as a whole is liable for not being able to make them feel the recreational value that is also caused by many other root causes. Individualization and many other socio-political issues have invaded the space for in-depth conversations about one’s self and others’.These have paved the way to a senseless society and having hopes on such condition is also questionable. This can be hugely changed with education and media. Yet we are a society who spends billions of rupees for wars and weapons, luxurious cars and all other frills than education. Can we expect a change in such situation?  If so can we restore the recreational value of all kinds of arts? These must be answered soon, if not repercussions would be disastrous and beyond the expectations. As far as I believe reinstating recreational value of poetry and art is important as a minor remedy to solve the upsurging social tragedy we all are part of.  Thus, a socio-political and economic contextual change is craved more than any other days before.

By: Shenal Rajakarunanayake