By Dr. Charuni Kohombange
Following his controversial debut novel Thi ha Tha, Surath de Mel brings in See + for his readers. As it was with his debut, See + has captured the hearts and souls of the readers with its amazingly simple writing style and the explicit description of the roller-coaster ride of youth lifestyle.
This story is woven around three girls, Manasi, Dil and Muthu, who are university students coming from three different socio-economic backgrounds. With this novel, Surath describes how social, cultural, and economic backgrounds impact the behaviours and personalities of people. The author uses the main characters to describe the difference between social strata and its impact on their lives.
As the story flows around the university life of the three girls, the politics inside the universities and some darker sides of the behaviour of university lecturers are also exposed, mingled with the story. In this manner, the author exposes multiple deficiencies, irregularities, and corruptions in the society and systems. He also points out the deficiencies in the current education system in Sri Lanka and emphasises the importance of education reforms focusing towards a job-oriented education system which will be productive for the country. Surath gives this message very tactically by criticising the course of obtaining an arts degree through the three characters in the novel.
In the story, one of the girls’ dream is to become a reality star. Using this context, Surath very boldly opens up the dark side of reality shows to the reader. Although talent is a must to become a star, he reveals that there are many more processes behind the scenes on the way to the crown. He uses this novel to open the eyes of the authorities by exposing the reality of reality shows.
In addition to the story, the author explicitly discusses the common human nature of men and women. Love, friendship, romance, sex, sexual abuse and many more complicated themes are discussed smoothly through the incidents narrated in the novel.
Surath gives the most important message to the readers in the latter part of the novel. Through the tragic end of a character he exposes the signs and symptoms of smiling depression.
The main character of the novel, Manasi, reflects on her friend’s behaviour and her previous attempts of self-harm, the diagnosis of depression and her ignorance on taking medicines. Manasi herself regrets that she could not identify the deep sorrows of her best friend, as all her sorrows were hidden behind the mask of a smiling face.
Depression is one of the major killers in this fast-moving world with busy lifestyles, chasing dreams and greed. Society should be aware of the tragedy that can be brought about by untreated depression. Surath brilliantly describes this through Dil’s character. In addition to this, he gives some excellent examples from history of celebrities who suffered from depression and died by suicide. Surath reminds the reader of the lives of Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Marilyn Monroe, and Kurt Cobain and gives a strong message to society on the importance of identifying and treating depression early.
In the first page of the book, Surath quotes Tom Kane: “A word can change a mind, a sentence can change a life and a book can change the world” (ek wachanayakin manasakuth, wakyakin jeewithayakuth, pothakin lokayath wenas kala hakiya). Further he includes: “This book is not written with the intention of proving this quote. However, you may assess whether it is true or not.”
If the reader reads this novel and contemplates on it, they would be able to see many hidden aspects of society as well as the nature of the human mind. Hence, this novel definitely can change the reader’s perspective of the world.
See + is a highly recommended read for youth as well as for parents of young children. This will definitely help them to get an idea about the lifestyle of today’s youth and bridge the generational gap.