A memoir of the singer Narada Disasekara, written by his wife, Nilangani Dissasekara. The Sinhala subtitle — Narada Disasekara piliban mathaka satahan — describes the book plainly: notes of remembrance about Narada Disasekara. The text was edited by Inoka Perera Bandara, and it carries chapters on his life together with the lyrics of his songs.
Narada Disasekara was a Sri Lankan singer associated with Radio Ceylon. He received the Sarasaviya award for Best Male Playback Singer for a duet with Nanda Malini in the film Ranmuthu Duwa. He died in 2010, and this book was brought out in his memory; it was launched at a commemoration held at the Janakala Kendraya in Battaramulla, organised by a committee headed by Neela Dissasekara. The National Library of Sri Lanka catalogues it under the heading of literary figures of Sri Lanka, biography.
Because the author writes from inside the marriage, the book belongs to the Sinhala tradition of the personal commemorative volume rather than to formal biography — a record set down by someone who was present rather than compiled at a distance. The inclusion of song lyrics alongside the chapters on his life means the material that made his name sits in the same volume as the account of the man.
This book is written entirely in Sinhala. There is no English text and no parallel translation, so a reader needs Sinhala to use it. For buyers outside Sri Lanka, that is the first thing to establish before ordering.
It will interest readers who follow Sinhala popular song and the generation of vocalists who built their careers through Radio Ceylon, and readers of Sri Lankan memoir more generally — the kind of volume that preserves recollection and lyric together before both scatter. Collectors of Sinhala music writing will recognise the form.
Published by Godage International Publishers, the Colombo house that issues titles in Sinhala and English across fiction, biography, history and reference. Godage has a long association with Sinhala-language publishing of this kind, including commemorative and biographical works on figures from the arts.
- Author: Nilangani Dissasekara
- Publisher: Godage International Publishers
- Language: Sinhala
- Pages: 168
- ISBN: 9789553036827
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