Suramya Rathriya

I’ve written several posts earlier about the downward moving music culture in Sri Lanka and have received a considerable number of comments supporting either way, for and against. During the process I came to realize that whatever we can achieve to retain the original soothing Sri Lankan music would ultimately be beaten by the discretion each person has over his or her selection of which music to prefer. Though as terrible as it is the damage done by the private media in ruining this country’s music culture, we are unable to blame anyone. As most people would argue, it is completely to the listener to decide what music he/she is going to listen to. Whether it is utter crap or something of high aesthetic value, it’s eventually the choice of the listener. All we could do, if we want to retain the beautiful and “meaningful” music culture we had, is to provide them a good pool of choices to choose from.

This may be nothing to some people and might even be called something that’s very appealing to the people with a “Fish-bawl attitude (as they put it). But I’ve been watching this program “Suramya Rathriya” on Rupavahini every Sunday at 10.30pm and from what I believe, it is the best Sinhalese music program currently being telecasted on any TV channel in Sri Lanka. Presently, it is the only Sri Lankan music program that creates the opportunity for the true Sri Lankan music we’ve been accustomed to for many years.

People used to argue with me and challenge me if I could define Sri Lankan music. Honestly, I can’t. Obviously we had a lot of influences from different cultures around the world, not only in our music, but in every aspect of our lives. But listening to the songs of the artists of the yesteryear though this program, I feel so much at home. So much Sri Lankan. It’s totally contradictory to the new wave of electronic songs or the meaningless jumbles of words we hear at present. Truly, it’s like a meditation.

Thanks to this program, I now have at least one TV program in all the TV channels in Sri Lanka which I can watch and enjoy in a truly meaningful manner. I would gladly recommend everyone to watch this show, at least once if you still haven’t seen it. The people who are conducting this show are doing a commendable job at choosing the best Sri Lankan songs and the best Sri Lankan artists, all of which and whom are gradually being forgotten by the new generation.

So remember, Sundays @ 10.30pm on Rupavahini. Enjoy.