Village Goes Town by J. Vijayatunga | Prose summary | Phoenix of literature

 

“Village Goes Town”

                                                                                           -J. Vijayatunga

MONEY AND MATERIALISTIC POSSESSIONS MEAN NOTHING WITHOUT JOY, PEACE, AND LOVE. WE ARE MADE TO SERVE PEOPLE, NOT TO SERVE THINGS.
                                   - THE SPIRITUAL DIVA

 

Vijayatunga was born on 1 January 1902 in Srilanka. He was an author, teacher and journalist. His notable works are Grass for My Feet and Island Story. He was mainly written on the themes of ancient kings and heroes, need of water, island neighbours, green fields and valleys, gardens, islands, his neighbours etc…  In Village goes town, the writer talks about his childhood memories in Srilanka and the beauty of his village. He highlights the fairs and bazaars in that village and the journey of the villagers by foot to the town Galle gives thrilling and adventurous experience to them. The poet also describes how the villagers lead their life peacefully. 

 Description of Village and Town

            There are only two shops in the writer’s village, one is owned by his uncle who is the head man of that village and the other shop is run by village millionaire’s eldest son which is divided into part pharmacy and part grocery shop but now the atmosphere of the village encouraged the development of bunch of shops. The road from writer’s village to Galle town is intercepted by the Baildegams-Udugama road along with the temple of Vanduramba temple has a regular shops. The name of the village ‘Galle’ came from the word ‘Galla’ which means resting place for bullock carts. Bicycles, sewing machines, piles of java sarongs ( a large tube or length of fabric, used to wrap around the waist), cheviot tweeds(thick woollen fabric used for clothing), dried Maldive fish, Swadeshi salted fish, Japanese enamelled wash-basins, German aluminium pails etc… are made for the buyers in the town. The shops are always crowded with peoples. The village headman with his servant, the police man from Nagoda or Baddegama station is standing with his blackish blue uniform and he want to maintain his majestic look in front of the other people and some young men are chatting there. English schools, hotels, Government offices, jails and hospitals are running for the rich peoples and white people are living in the Southern part of the town.

            The village people go to the town to buy or sell things. Some people go to town to catch their train for their pilgrimage and other for court cases. The people not only buy things for them but also for the other villagers. The village headman’s double bullock cart goes to town Galle twice in a month specially to take a rubber load.  Usually, the cart goes to town at night sharply 10 o’clock. The driver of the cart looks brown and strong muscular man from Vanduramba village receives instructions from the dozens of people to buy things such as jade, salted fish, cooking pans, tobacco, sea fish, vegetables etc… All the orders are given orally by the villagers and the cart’s driver noted them mentally and buys it when he has return to the village.

The Jungle Foot Path

Then the writer talks about the journey of people by foot to the town. They are travelling for different works. It’s almost twelve kilometers to reach the town but in short cut, they can be reached the town by ten kilometers. The villagers start their journey in the midnight and become excited about it. It brings fresh air and peaceful environment. Sometimes, they walked in the way of woods and they refresh themselves in the water from waterfalls. The rocks are in friendly manner and did not disturb the passenger’s journey. Both sides of the road, trees are grown well and give pleasant sight to the travellers. They reached the town in the early morning when cock welcomes it. The peoples are crowded in the bazaars for buying and selling their products. In the evening, they return to home after finished their work. They are excited to meet their family and share their experiences with them. They feel very happy and safe to lead their life in the village. But in this materialistic world people rushes for money and possession. They misses happiness and peaceful living with their family. Everyone has needs, the villagers also have  some needs that they have  need in their life but the Modern peoples lives for their needs and forget how to live happily.