I hardly slept that night. Kannan’s anger and his violent outburst kept flashing in front of my eyes. In the morning as I had breakfast, i heard ammamma and mother discussing about Kannan’s behaviour yesterday night.
‘It must be hereditary’ my mom said.
‘His father was like this too. He used to get violent without any reason’ ammamma said.
‘Poor Sarla, she has seen so much. I was wishing atleast Kannan should not get the curse his father was born with’
‘This is destiny. What has to happen will happen. What else can we do except what God makes us do?’ ammamma said.
‘Isn’t there any medicine that can cure him?’ my mother enquired.
‘The mysteries of the mind are more mysterious than the mysteries of life. There might be some medicine, but here in this little village, there is very little hope’ ammamma said.
After the breakfast, I ran off to Kannan’s home, but only a huge lock donned the gates and I came back home dejected of not knowing what to do for the rest of the day. I went to the canal nearby and made a little boat of a palm leaf and followed it until it disappeared under the road. Then i ran down to the railway track and waved at the travellers peeping out of the iron framed windows of the busses and later headed back home where i went to sleep after lunch.
Life was so boring. I tried joining Shaiju and Sita in their games but i hardly enjoyed any bit of it. Their games of house and bus-bus were something i hardly enjoyed. I would then pick up a book and read it till i fell asleep.
A week passed. Things had got really boring. The only nice thing through the day was to go and read stories for Kuttan. Kuttan unlike his huge size would behave like a little child. He would squeal with joy if something funny happened in the story and would sob in sadness when a princess was hurt. He would be angry at the villains and he would jump in joy when the prince would defeat the evil King. He was a child trapped in a disfigured huge body. One day, the story was a bit long and I completely lost the sense of time. It was only when Janaki Amma bought out the divine lamp and started reciting little hymns that i realised it was quite late. So i picked up my books and left.
The sky was cloudy and hid the moon thus casting an uneasy darkness on the way home. The sounds of crickets added to the eeriness. I tugged on to my books and walked slowly. I could hear the siren of the police jeep passing by. The sound of the siren faded out and disappeared into the darkness. I felt a hushed sound of crackling dry leaves behind me. I stopped and turned around. There was only the sound of crickets. I must be imagining things, i thought. As I stepped forward there was the sound again and i turned around. A dark figure pounced at me taking me completely unaware. I screamed out in fear when a rough hand covered my mouth silencing the screams of fear.
‘Shhh... shhhh... Its me, Das’ the sound of Das tried to calm me down as i tried to break free from the clutches of the dark figure that held me so tight. The cloud made its way for the moon and I could see Das’s bearded face clearly in the moonlight.
His face was bruised and his shirt torn. He slowly eased his clutch on me. I calmed down and then looked at him. He was unlike what he was. There were bloodstains on his shirt and his lungi. He sat down resting on to the tree close by. He was sweating profusely. His leg was wounded. Blood oozing out beneath a torn cloth that hid the wound behind it.
Where is Kannan? He asked.
I think he is at Sreekumaran uncle’s place. It is over a week that I have not met him. I replied.
I need some help, Shibu. There was pain in his voice as he held his wounded leg.
Shouldn't you be going to the doctor?
Cannot go to the doctor. Tell me can you help me Shibu? He asked again.
I nodded without knowing how i could help him.
‘Can you get me a knife? A sharp one?’
I nodded. 'And if you can get some food, that would be nice too.' He said. Das was in pain and hungry.
‘But ammamma doesnt allow me outside the house in the night’ I had sneaked outside the house in the night, but then there was Kannan along with me too. I was a bit scared to venture in the night, alone.
‘You dont have to go far’ Das said ‘At 8.30 In the night, there is load shedding and there wont be electricity. I will come near the cattle shed of your house at that time. If you dont see me, just drop it at the entrance of the cattle shed and leave. Don’t wait for me’
That was not very difficult, i thought to myself. ‘OK, I will do that’ I assured him.
‘Thanks Kannaa..’ he said.
‘I am Shaiju I corrected him as I left.
‘Sorry Shaiju...’ he said ‘And dont let anyone know that I met you, OK?’
‘OK’ I replied and headed back to my house. What happened to Das? Why was he wounded? Why the blood? Is he a dangerous man? Did he run away from the police? Should i tell it to ammamma or mother? A million questions popped in my mind as i walked back home. I met ammamma at the gate. She was about to leave home to fetch for me at Kuttan’s house.
‘Why are you late?’ she asked.
‘I was reading a story to Kuttan... Sorry’I replied.
‘Look at you, just get a bath before you have dinner’ she said as she locked the gate.
My mother lit a kerosene lamp and put it in the bathroom. She then filled the bucket with water from the well and threw me a towel as she headed to the kitchen to fry some pappadoms. I looked at the floor of the bathroom that was lit by the kerosene lamp. A little frog sat next to the aluminium bucket. I kneeled down to have a closer look at it. It had a nice Golden head and body with black legs. I slowly put forward my finger to touch it but it jumped. It jumped so high that it crossed over my shoulder to the back and i stumbled into the bucket, draining the water out of it. The water caressed my bruised knee and that is when i realised I had hurt my knee. A stinging pain ripped through my leg and i let out a cry. Mother and ammamma started banging the door. I limped to the door and opened the latch. The frog had hopped away into a dark corner and amma and ammama looked at me with concern.
‘What happened’
‘There was a frog’ I replied
‘So?’
‘It jumped on me’
Ammamma was looking at the wound. ‘How come you bruised your knee so badly in the bathroom?’
‘I dont know...’ I tried to be innocent.
‘Get some dettol’ she said to my mother. She then drew out water from the well again and filled up the bucket for me. Mother then wiped my wound with cotton dipped in dettol.
‘you have a bath and then we will put medicine on this wound. Now dont fall again seeing frogs and cockroaches’ she said as both of them left me alone with the frog hidden in the darkness.
After the bath, i dressed up and went to the kitchen where amma and ammamma where busy stirring the earthern pots full of curry. A knife gleamed in a corner. Seeing me in the kitchen, she pushed me to my uncle, Ravi maman.
‘Just put some ointment on this’ she told Ravi maman. Ravi maman was the youngest brother of my mother. He was studying in a polytecnic around 138 kilometers from home. He used to stay in a hostel. I had also heard that he was very active in student politics. He used to come home and never speak to any of us. I thought he hated children. Ravi maman took an ointment and applied it to the wound, then put up a cotton and tied a cloth around it.
‘Ravi mama...’
‘yes Shaiju?’
‘Why did the police take Das ettan away?’
‘Why do you want to know?’
‘I thought he is a nice man’
‘He is a nice man’
Then why did the police arrest him?
'Probably, the police is not that nice.'
Huh? I did not understand why a police would arrest a nice person. Also, I was wondering how Dasettan got bruised. Did he run away from jail? I wondered.
‘There you are’ he said ‘It should be fine by tomorrow morning’ He said as he got up. We both sat down on the floor waiting for ammamma to serve us food. She took one of the plantain leaves stacked up n the corner and laid it in front of us. She served me rice and fish curry. The fish curry was the one preparation i loved. But strangely, I was immersed in the thought of Dasettan. I hardly realised that i was eating dry rice without mixing it with the curry, when amma snapped at me. ‘What is on with you. Just mix the rice with the curry and eat’ she ordered. I obliged. There was a knock on the door. Ammamma went and opened it and called Ravi maman. He too left the food untouched, and amma followed, along with Shibu and Sita. There was some commotion outside, but i thought this was the best moment to sneak out food and the knife to Dasettan. I hurriedly wrapped up the food that was served to me and picked up the knife in the corner and ran outside the backdoor to the cattle shed. The moonlight lighted up the path and I hurried barefoot. There was no one at the cattleshed. I left the food and the knife outside and hurried back. All of them were still at the main door. I sneaked in slowly to see that there was the same policeman who had caught me and Kannan fight at the canal. I sneaked back, scared of the fact that he had once caught me in a fight. He had not noticed me and I was thankful for that.
‘Please tell me if you get any news of him’ he said. ‘I hope you understand the gravity of the situation.’ I could not understand what he was talking about. He then got up and left and we all headed back to the dining area. Amma was shocked to see my leaf not there. She looked at me with curiosity.
‘I finished eating’ i replied, trying to be as natural as possible, lest my lie be caught.
‘Then where is your leaf?’ she asked. I dumped it out, in the pit behind where you dump it always. Ammamma smiled.
‘Well, he is getting some good manners’ she said as she poured more fish curry in Ravi mamans leaf. My stomach growled with hunger, but i was scared of being caught.
‘Why was the police here?’ I asked amma.
‘Nothing, Das has escaped from prison. They were here to warn us about it.’
A chill passed through my spine. What if they found out that I stole the knofe and food for him. If they found out, will they put me in jail too. My heart was beating faster.
‘What did Dasettan do that the police is after him’ I asked, trying to sound normal, trying to hide the fear that had creeped into my heart.
‘For that you have to understand politics.’ Ravi maman said as he wiped the leaf clean, and got up to wash his hand. He picked up the leaf and headed to throw it in the pit outside.
I went to the doorstep and sat there. I was scared. What if the police found that I was helping Das. The thought kept passing my mind over and over again, and unknowingly tears started to roll down my cheeks. Ravi mamamn came from behind and stepped over the doorstep. He then looked at me. He saw the tears in my eyes. And the light went off.
‘Ah!! Its 8.30’ he said as the lights went off. He then came towards me in the darkness and held me with his arms around my shoulders.
‘Why are you crying?’ he asked me.
‘Will the police arrest me?’ I asked him. I was very scared.
‘And why would they do that?’ he laughed.
‘Because I am his friend?’
‘Dont worry, you are not his political friend, so you will not be arrested’ he said, patting my back. ‘now wipe your tears.’ He said as he wiped my cheeks with his free end of his lungi.
But my thoughts raced as he wiped my tears off. Das would be near the cattle shed for the knife he had asked for. Amma bought two apples for both of us.
‘Can you give me a knife?’ Ravi maman asked as she kept the kerosene lamp next to us.
‘Can’t find it in the dark. Just munch on it’ she said as she went back in. I was scared even more now. I munched into the apple. I was very hungry and my stomach kept growling. A torch flashed from the road. Ravi maman got up and gave me the apple.
‘Its my friend, Venu’ he said as he folded his lungi above his knees. ‘I will be back in a bit’ he said and hurried off.
I pounced at the other apple and went into the bedroom upstairs. I went into the room and opened the window, next to the cot, that opened to the view of the cattle shed. The slight wind bought in the slight rustling of the leaves. I tried to peer through the moonlight searching for Dasettan wondering if he was hiding behind the trees or the bush. I couldn ot see anything clearly. I looked for a long time and without knowing, I had dozed off into the night.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thursday, May 08, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 10
The entire village was in gloom for the rest of the day. The loudspeaker from the temple skipped the daily evening prayer, and the roads wore a deserted look. I walked down the empty road to Kannan’s house. I was angry with him, but I knew he would be heart broken hearing the news of Dasettans arrest. On the way to his home, i met Abdul, Hamsa the fisherman’s son. He was too small to pedal the oversized cycle, but he managed to do it in a very peculiar fashion without sitting on the seat. ‘Kannan is at the panchayat meeting. Everyone is angry. I think tomorrow will be a strike.’ he informed me after knowing where i was headed.
‘Wow, you mean all shops would be shut tomorrow.. A holiday??’
I could see Abdul was not happy. I was very happy. A holiday would mean everyone together at home, talking, playing and running around our uncles who otherwise would disappear for work every single morning and return late after their party meetings which ran till midnight. It would be like Vishu or Onam, when everybody was around. I was thrilled, but Abdul was not!
‘Yes, you can say that.. Its a holiday! I wonder if we will be able to sell the fish abbu will bring in from the seas today.’ he said as he put his leg through the triangular frame of the oversized cycle and started pedalling it down the sloping road. I looked at him disappearing into the curve thinking of what he had just said.
At the panchayat there was a lot of noise. There were many people gathered together, almost everyone in white shirts and white mundu’s sitting on the platform under the banyan tree. A mike was hoisted on it and grey bhopu speakers tied on bamboo poles everywhere spreading the noise in all directions.
‘Das is not a criminal. He is a martyr’ the man spoke full of fervor and anger. ‘He is not a criminal who has been arrested. He is a revolutionary, who fought for our freedom from the corrupt government who has got arrested. History has it, that revolutionary heroes are arrested and hung, but they are still alive in our hearts, inspiring millions... Das is our hero. And by being arrested, he has become one of those revolutionaries, who sacrificed the confines of his own comfort for the ideals that he believed in and the ideals that he saw our party believe in. Tomorrow, we shall dedicate a day to our new hero, Das. We shall show the government, that the power of the people is something they cannot ignore. Come let us stop everything tomorrow, to show the government, that they cannot silence the voice of the people!!!’ He roared into the mike. There was a thundering applause around, and slogans of SUFI zindabad, that rose as people arose from the ground. Dust billowed as huge ambassador cars drove out carrying the dignitaries out of the panchayat. I caught a glimpse of the man who spoke into the mike as he got into the car. His car had an orange rotating light on top of it and was escorted by gun wielding policemen.
What are you doing here? A voice came from behind. I turned around to see Sreeni ammaman behind.
‘I came here looking for Kannan’ i said.
‘Go back home and stay there’ he said with a firm voice. I turned around and walked down the road again away from the dispersing crowd. Suma was sitting out in the porch, stitching together little white flowers making a garland out of it for the evening pooja in her house.
Her mother came out looking fresh after a bath with a little brass lamp lit beautifully. She kept it in front of the door and started chanting some beautiful chants as she sat down next to Suma, and started tying up her hair.
I sat next to Sarla aunty as she recited the beautiful chants in a lyrical manner, the essence of the agarbatti spreading into the environment, purifying everything the aroma touched. Everything except Kannan’s anger. Kannan walked into his room and banged the door shut. His mother asked me with a shrug about the reason for his anger. I shrugged back indicating ‘i dont know’. I got up to leave. I looked at Suma, who smiled and bid me goodbye. I was at the gate when i heard a loud crash.
Turning back, i saw Sarla aunty getting up and running inside. I too ran inside. Sarla aunty was banging on Kannan’s door, asking him to open up. We could hear loud noises of breaking from inside. I shouted at Kannan, but the noise of the breaking objects drowned my shouts. Meanwhile, Suma had already called the neighbours. Two huge men decided the only way they could get in was by breaking the door. They ran towards the door and banged it. The door cracked. But the noises never ceased. The banged the door once more and it gave way from the frame of the door crashing down on the floor. When i looked inside the room, it was a horrifying scene. Kannan had a cricket bat in his hand and was banging it on every furniture in the room. His screams were unusual. One of the huge men went from behind and picked him up while the other ducked his blow and caught hold of his bat. He was violent, kicking his hand and legs in a vigorous fervor. As he was held from behind, he plunged his teeth into the mans arm and he let go. Kannan struggled free from him and ran towards the door, but his feet tripped on the broken door and he fell, when the other man pinned him down on his face.
Slowly, he calmed down, not being able to move himself under the enoromous weight of the huge neighbor. He tied him down with a thin towel, so that he could do no more damage. By the time he was tied, Kannan was already asleep. I looked around and saw his mother look at him in dread. She had collapsed seeing Kannan so violent. Suma hid herself behind the curtains. Her Ammamma was sobbing, sitting in the corner of the kitchen.
‘It would be better if you could call Sreekumaran. Just in case...’ the neighbor told Sarla aunty. She walked to the telephone that was kept next to the television set and she dialled. I went to have a close look at Kannan. He was deep asleep, and had sweat profusely. His room was in a mess. He had broken down the mirror, the bed. The steel cupboard had a huge dent, and the glass shutters of his shelf was shattered. I wondered what had happened to Kannan. Deep down i felt, the arrest of Das had something to do with all this. I walked down the road to my home, the road illuminated by the full moon that lit up the sky and the road, bathing the scenery in front of me in momotones of bluish grey. The crickets were singing, and an occasional croak of a frog echoed into the emptiness.
‘Wow, you mean all shops would be shut tomorrow.. A holiday??’
I could see Abdul was not happy. I was very happy. A holiday would mean everyone together at home, talking, playing and running around our uncles who otherwise would disappear for work every single morning and return late after their party meetings which ran till midnight. It would be like Vishu or Onam, when everybody was around. I was thrilled, but Abdul was not!
‘Yes, you can say that.. Its a holiday! I wonder if we will be able to sell the fish abbu will bring in from the seas today.’ he said as he put his leg through the triangular frame of the oversized cycle and started pedalling it down the sloping road. I looked at him disappearing into the curve thinking of what he had just said.
At the panchayat there was a lot of noise. There were many people gathered together, almost everyone in white shirts and white mundu’s sitting on the platform under the banyan tree. A mike was hoisted on it and grey bhopu speakers tied on bamboo poles everywhere spreading the noise in all directions.
‘Das is not a criminal. He is a martyr’ the man spoke full of fervor and anger. ‘He is not a criminal who has been arrested. He is a revolutionary, who fought for our freedom from the corrupt government who has got arrested. History has it, that revolutionary heroes are arrested and hung, but they are still alive in our hearts, inspiring millions... Das is our hero. And by being arrested, he has become one of those revolutionaries, who sacrificed the confines of his own comfort for the ideals that he believed in and the ideals that he saw our party believe in. Tomorrow, we shall dedicate a day to our new hero, Das. We shall show the government, that the power of the people is something they cannot ignore. Come let us stop everything tomorrow, to show the government, that they cannot silence the voice of the people!!!’ He roared into the mike. There was a thundering applause around, and slogans of SUFI zindabad, that rose as people arose from the ground. Dust billowed as huge ambassador cars drove out carrying the dignitaries out of the panchayat. I caught a glimpse of the man who spoke into the mike as he got into the car. His car had an orange rotating light on top of it and was escorted by gun wielding policemen.
What are you doing here? A voice came from behind. I turned around to see Sreeni ammaman behind.
‘I came here looking for Kannan’ i said.
‘Go back home and stay there’ he said with a firm voice. I turned around and walked down the road again away from the dispersing crowd. Suma was sitting out in the porch, stitching together little white flowers making a garland out of it for the evening pooja in her house.
Her mother came out looking fresh after a bath with a little brass lamp lit beautifully. She kept it in front of the door and started chanting some beautiful chants as she sat down next to Suma, and started tying up her hair.
I sat next to Sarla aunty as she recited the beautiful chants in a lyrical manner, the essence of the agarbatti spreading into the environment, purifying everything the aroma touched. Everything except Kannan’s anger. Kannan walked into his room and banged the door shut. His mother asked me with a shrug about the reason for his anger. I shrugged back indicating ‘i dont know’. I got up to leave. I looked at Suma, who smiled and bid me goodbye. I was at the gate when i heard a loud crash.
Turning back, i saw Sarla aunty getting up and running inside. I too ran inside. Sarla aunty was banging on Kannan’s door, asking him to open up. We could hear loud noises of breaking from inside. I shouted at Kannan, but the noise of the breaking objects drowned my shouts. Meanwhile, Suma had already called the neighbours. Two huge men decided the only way they could get in was by breaking the door. They ran towards the door and banged it. The door cracked. But the noises never ceased. The banged the door once more and it gave way from the frame of the door crashing down on the floor. When i looked inside the room, it was a horrifying scene. Kannan had a cricket bat in his hand and was banging it on every furniture in the room. His screams were unusual. One of the huge men went from behind and picked him up while the other ducked his blow and caught hold of his bat. He was violent, kicking his hand and legs in a vigorous fervor. As he was held from behind, he plunged his teeth into the mans arm and he let go. Kannan struggled free from him and ran towards the door, but his feet tripped on the broken door and he fell, when the other man pinned him down on his face.
Slowly, he calmed down, not being able to move himself under the enoromous weight of the huge neighbor. He tied him down with a thin towel, so that he could do no more damage. By the time he was tied, Kannan was already asleep. I looked around and saw his mother look at him in dread. She had collapsed seeing Kannan so violent. Suma hid herself behind the curtains. Her Ammamma was sobbing, sitting in the corner of the kitchen.
‘It would be better if you could call Sreekumaran. Just in case...’ the neighbor told Sarla aunty. She walked to the telephone that was kept next to the television set and she dialled. I went to have a close look at Kannan. He was deep asleep, and had sweat profusely. His room was in a mess. He had broken down the mirror, the bed. The steel cupboard had a huge dent, and the glass shutters of his shelf was shattered. I wondered what had happened to Kannan. Deep down i felt, the arrest of Das had something to do with all this. I walked down the road to my home, the road illuminated by the full moon that lit up the sky and the road, bathing the scenery in front of me in momotones of bluish grey. The crickets were singing, and an occasional croak of a frog echoed into the emptiness.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 9
Kannan was in the bath when I reached his home. Suma sat on the verandah with a brush in her hand and small bottles of colors placed all around. I ran into the kitchen and snatched out some little yellow bananas from the kola (banana branch) and sat next to Suma. Her hands were full of paint, so i peeled off its skin and gave it to her and she happily munched it down. Last vacation, I had promised her that I would marry her when we grew up and I would take her to the city, but she doubted if i really meant it. When she told her mother about my promise, she just smiled and said, ‘Wait till you grow up.’ I told my mother about my promise and she said the same thing. So, we knew we were to grow up and marry each other. I had never seen Suma sad or crying. She just smiled and laughed. Every time i pulled her pig tail and ran she would chase me into the fields until we got tired. When I told Kannan about it, he was happy and said he would marry my sister instead. So the equation was all figured out and we live like a happy family.
Kannan called out to me from his room. His room was full of books, the most prominent of them was a book called Karl Marx ideals for children printed in malayalam. The words were as good as latin or spanish to me. ‘It is published by SUFI’ he said, as he slipped on a t-shirt. ‘It has everything that a communist should do as a child.’
‘I thought he killed you’ Kannan looked unapologetic.
‘Who?’
‘Pranthan Kuttan... I thought he bit you and you died’
‘He did not bite me. He is my friend now. I have promised to go in the evening and read stories to him. Why did you think i died’
‘I came home the next morning and ammamma told that you had gone out with your parents. I thought she was trying to cover up your murder.’
‘Murder? What makes you think I was murdered’
‘Who wants chakka?’ Sarla aunty entered into the room with a plate full of delicious yellow jackfruit. This intervention marked the end of the entire conspiracy of my murder which had never happened. ‘How is achchan and amma?’ aunty asked with a deep concern.
‘They are still at achchamma’s house. They will come back next week’
Kannan got up and wiped his hands on his shorts. ‘Let’s go and meet Das. He wanted my help.’
I was excited too. I wanted to meet Das and the jackfruit was less sweeter than what i had expected. It was just ten in the morning. The sun was upright. The road buzzed intermittently of a fast vehicle that passed by pulling a draft of air behind it and the roar of the engine would slowly subside into silence. We went to Das’s house but it was locked, so we headed to the little canal to catch some fresh water fish. The water was low, with a steady current. It was safe to get into the canal. The canal was at times very dangerous, specially when it rained heavily. The clear water would turn murky in rage and sweep away weak grass, plants and anything else that came in the way. But in the summer, it was calm. One would never know that the canal had its own rage that was hidden from the eye.
Kannan was the first to get into the canal. I rolled up my pants and carefully stepped in. The little fresh water fish pecked me on my leg that was immersed in the water. We dragged down a palm leaf that lay half submerged in the water, and Kannan, with a neat twist on its edge, pulled it tearing the leaf in a straight line. Then similarly, he cut it on the other side and we had a rectangular leaf in our hands. We made it into a boat and put it in the canal. The leaf boat floated away and we began chasing it. The boat went underneath the road, so we both jumped out and crossed the road. Both of us eagerly waited for the little boat to emerge, but it seemed the boat disappeared under the road. Kannan took of his shirt and hung it over a dry branch. He then took of his trousers and placed it on the dry grass that surfaced the wall of the canal. He then dipped stepped into the deper part of the canal and walked below the road. I did not want to be wet, so i stayed where i was. After a while later, there was no trace of Kannan, and i was now worried. The silence around was only broken by a caw of the crow that flew above the head once in a while and the passing car or a bus, but they were very few. The silence started hurting and I called out for Kannan, but there was no response. I slowly made my way below the bridge. The light glittered on the surface of water on the other side of the bridge, but it was completely dark below it. The reflection of the water on the ceiling and walls were the only source of light that could give a sense of depth and reference to give me an idea of how far i was from the end of the tunnel. As i stepped in, the canal bed got deeper and the water rose till my nose. So I pushed myself and began swimming. I called out to Kannan, but there was no response. I felt beads of sweat on my forehead, not knowing what to do. Where was Kannan? A shiver went through my spine. I dipped inside the water, to see if he was stuck beneath, but Kannan, I knew was a great swimmer. A million thoughts flashed in my mind. What would have happened to him? The canal was the last place he would drown. As I emerged on the other side of the canal, i was now out of ideas of what to do! My heart beat faster and my eyes welled with tears. I gave out another desperate scream. I ran out of the water and on the side of the canal. I had to go and tell Sarla aunty about Kannan. As I got out, I saw Kannan sitting on the curb, munching shamelessly into a mango. I was furious at him. I ran in with all my might and pushed him on to the ground. He let go off his mango and pulled my shirt by its collar and turned around to pin me on the ground. I put my pam against his chin and pushed him away as his fists tried to hit my stomach. ‘Why the hell didn’t you answer when i called you?’ I was furious, my ears feeling red with anger. ‘You werent man enough to get into the water, you idiot’ he said. ‘I got wet because of you’ i tried to punch him on the face, movie style, but he moved his face away and then very smartly moved his elbow pinning down on my neck.
‘I win’ he claimed, when there was a tap on his shoulder, and i, sensing the opportunity pushed him around and pinned him down. ‘I win!’ I proclaimed. Kannan did not reply and his eye was fixated at the person behind him. I turned around and there was a huge man, a police man looking at us. I let go off my grip on Kannan’s collar, and eased up. I was completely wet and there were wet weeds hanging on me. Kannan had worn his trousers but had not worn his shirt. ‘Why are you guys fighting on the road?’ The man asked sternly. ‘He had gone under the bridge.. And he disappeared. I went behind searching for him’i cried foul. ‘You should have looked at his face when he saw me!’ he was giggling. My ears felt warm again and i pounced on him when the man held me back with my arm.
‘What if something happened to you, you idiot’ i shouted. I felt my heart beat faster than ever. I wanted to punch him and smash him. He had scared me to my wits. And I was truly mad at him. I shook myself up and walked away. I could not hear a thing. I felt my cheeks wet in streams and my nose started flowing too. After a few steps, i ran. I ran into my house and into the bedroom and slammed the door hard, buried myself under the pillow and cried. I heard knocks on the door, but I did not open. I just lie there and without my knowledge I went off to sleep.
I woke up hungry. The pillow was a bit damp, which had absorbed my tears. I went down looking for ammamma, but she wasnt there. I went out to the courtyard looking for her, when i saw a crowd that had assembled next to Das’s house. I slowly inched towards it wondering what was happening. There were many people standing on both sides of the road having hushed discussions. On the other end was the police inspector, next to the police jeep. I looked away and searched for ammamma, not knowing what was happening. That is when Das came out of the building. He was handcuffed, and was followed by a few constables. There was another man, who I had never seen before, who was also handcuffed. Both were taken to the jeep. The inspector then got in and drove off. A few constables remained, and they slowly started dispersing the crowd. I caught sight of Namboodiripaad with ammamma, and ran to her.
‘Why did they take away Dasettan?’ I pulled her saree for an answer. She looked away.
‘Ammamma, please tell me, why did they take dasettan?’ i insisted.
‘Did you have your food?’ she asked.
‘No’ i said. ‘ammamma, please...’ i pleaded.
‘You wont understand Shibu. It is politics. He is a political criminal, a naxalite’ she said and then caught my hand and pulled me home.
Kannan called out to me from his room. His room was full of books, the most prominent of them was a book called Karl Marx ideals for children printed in malayalam. The words were as good as latin or spanish to me. ‘It is published by SUFI’ he said, as he slipped on a t-shirt. ‘It has everything that a communist should do as a child.’
‘I thought he killed you’ Kannan looked unapologetic.
‘Who?’
‘Pranthan Kuttan... I thought he bit you and you died’
‘He did not bite me. He is my friend now. I have promised to go in the evening and read stories to him. Why did you think i died’
‘I came home the next morning and ammamma told that you had gone out with your parents. I thought she was trying to cover up your murder.’
‘Murder? What makes you think I was murdered’
‘Who wants chakka?’ Sarla aunty entered into the room with a plate full of delicious yellow jackfruit. This intervention marked the end of the entire conspiracy of my murder which had never happened. ‘How is achchan and amma?’ aunty asked with a deep concern.
‘They are still at achchamma’s house. They will come back next week’
Kannan got up and wiped his hands on his shorts. ‘Let’s go and meet Das. He wanted my help.’
I was excited too. I wanted to meet Das and the jackfruit was less sweeter than what i had expected. It was just ten in the morning. The sun was upright. The road buzzed intermittently of a fast vehicle that passed by pulling a draft of air behind it and the roar of the engine would slowly subside into silence. We went to Das’s house but it was locked, so we headed to the little canal to catch some fresh water fish. The water was low, with a steady current. It was safe to get into the canal. The canal was at times very dangerous, specially when it rained heavily. The clear water would turn murky in rage and sweep away weak grass, plants and anything else that came in the way. But in the summer, it was calm. One would never know that the canal had its own rage that was hidden from the eye.
Kannan was the first to get into the canal. I rolled up my pants and carefully stepped in. The little fresh water fish pecked me on my leg that was immersed in the water. We dragged down a palm leaf that lay half submerged in the water, and Kannan, with a neat twist on its edge, pulled it tearing the leaf in a straight line. Then similarly, he cut it on the other side and we had a rectangular leaf in our hands. We made it into a boat and put it in the canal. The leaf boat floated away and we began chasing it. The boat went underneath the road, so we both jumped out and crossed the road. Both of us eagerly waited for the little boat to emerge, but it seemed the boat disappeared under the road. Kannan took of his shirt and hung it over a dry branch. He then took of his trousers and placed it on the dry grass that surfaced the wall of the canal. He then dipped stepped into the deper part of the canal and walked below the road. I did not want to be wet, so i stayed where i was. After a while later, there was no trace of Kannan, and i was now worried. The silence around was only broken by a caw of the crow that flew above the head once in a while and the passing car or a bus, but they were very few. The silence started hurting and I called out for Kannan, but there was no response. I slowly made my way below the bridge. The light glittered on the surface of water on the other side of the bridge, but it was completely dark below it. The reflection of the water on the ceiling and walls were the only source of light that could give a sense of depth and reference to give me an idea of how far i was from the end of the tunnel. As i stepped in, the canal bed got deeper and the water rose till my nose. So I pushed myself and began swimming. I called out to Kannan, but there was no response. I felt beads of sweat on my forehead, not knowing what to do. Where was Kannan? A shiver went through my spine. I dipped inside the water, to see if he was stuck beneath, but Kannan, I knew was a great swimmer. A million thoughts flashed in my mind. What would have happened to him? The canal was the last place he would drown. As I emerged on the other side of the canal, i was now out of ideas of what to do! My heart beat faster and my eyes welled with tears. I gave out another desperate scream. I ran out of the water and on the side of the canal. I had to go and tell Sarla aunty about Kannan. As I got out, I saw Kannan sitting on the curb, munching shamelessly into a mango. I was furious at him. I ran in with all my might and pushed him on to the ground. He let go off his mango and pulled my shirt by its collar and turned around to pin me on the ground. I put my pam against his chin and pushed him away as his fists tried to hit my stomach. ‘Why the hell didn’t you answer when i called you?’ I was furious, my ears feeling red with anger. ‘You werent man enough to get into the water, you idiot’ he said. ‘I got wet because of you’ i tried to punch him on the face, movie style, but he moved his face away and then very smartly moved his elbow pinning down on my neck.
‘I win’ he claimed, when there was a tap on his shoulder, and i, sensing the opportunity pushed him around and pinned him down. ‘I win!’ I proclaimed. Kannan did not reply and his eye was fixated at the person behind him. I turned around and there was a huge man, a police man looking at us. I let go off my grip on Kannan’s collar, and eased up. I was completely wet and there were wet weeds hanging on me. Kannan had worn his trousers but had not worn his shirt. ‘Why are you guys fighting on the road?’ The man asked sternly. ‘He had gone under the bridge.. And he disappeared. I went behind searching for him’i cried foul. ‘You should have looked at his face when he saw me!’ he was giggling. My ears felt warm again and i pounced on him when the man held me back with my arm.
‘What if something happened to you, you idiot’ i shouted. I felt my heart beat faster than ever. I wanted to punch him and smash him. He had scared me to my wits. And I was truly mad at him. I shook myself up and walked away. I could not hear a thing. I felt my cheeks wet in streams and my nose started flowing too. After a few steps, i ran. I ran into my house and into the bedroom and slammed the door hard, buried myself under the pillow and cried. I heard knocks on the door, but I did not open. I just lie there and without my knowledge I went off to sleep.
I woke up hungry. The pillow was a bit damp, which had absorbed my tears. I went down looking for ammamma, but she wasnt there. I went out to the courtyard looking for her, when i saw a crowd that had assembled next to Das’s house. I slowly inched towards it wondering what was happening. There were many people standing on both sides of the road having hushed discussions. On the other end was the police inspector, next to the police jeep. I looked away and searched for ammamma, not knowing what was happening. That is when Das came out of the building. He was handcuffed, and was followed by a few constables. There was another man, who I had never seen before, who was also handcuffed. Both were taken to the jeep. The inspector then got in and drove off. A few constables remained, and they slowly started dispersing the crowd. I caught sight of Namboodiripaad with ammamma, and ran to her.
‘Why did they take away Dasettan?’ I pulled her saree for an answer. She looked away.
‘Ammamma, please tell me, why did they take dasettan?’ i insisted.
‘Did you have your food?’ she asked.
‘No’ i said. ‘ammamma, please...’ i pleaded.
‘You wont understand Shibu. It is politics. He is a political criminal, a naxalite’ she said and then caught my hand and pulled me home.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 8
A few days, i stayed at my father’s home, the little house he was born in. He was the ninth of ten children. He had six brothers and three sisters. His eldest brother’s son was as old as my father and his son was of my age, which made me elder to him in relation but younger to him in age. The relations were something I could never cope with. I would fumble when I was supposed to greet somebody, even if he was my chacha, or my tau, or my bua. So I ended up calling them uncle and aunty. It was the easisest way out of the complicated relation naming thing. My father’s family was huge. My grandmother (achchamma) sat me on her lap and took a huge photograph, when my parents had gotten married. The frame was huge and there were many many people in it. I counted eighty three people in the photograph. She pointed her frail weak finger on a small little boy sitting in the corner. ‘You know, he is your cousin, Pappan. He just had a son last week. You are an uncle!’ her frail voice squealed in delight.
‘But I am just eight years old! How can I be an uncle?’
‘Well, seems like you have no choice.’ She kept the photo away and leaned on the wall behind her as she tore a dried weed and placed it in her mouth and began chewing it. ‘In our days, we got married very young. I was married to your father when I was twelve, and he was thirty three. He used to travel most of the time.’
‘That is so sad, you must have been so lonely!’ I said.
‘Not really’ she looked through her cataract eyes onto the manglore tile ceiling. ‘Soon I had many children to take care of. The moment one of them were grown up, the next would be on the way.’ She smiled brushing her wrinkled fingers on my chin.
‘Granny why dont you wear a blouse?’ I asked her innocently.
She laughed, her laughter breaking at her tonsils. She took a brass vessel and spitted in it. ‘Blouse? That is the invention of today. People are shy and are becoming more conservative now-a-days. In our time, we hardly used to match horoscopes during marriages, now look, they will consult the astrologer for everything, even to go to the toilet.’
The fan slowly squeaked to a halt.
‘Aah, the electricity has gone. It will come after three hours.’ Janaki bua came in with a steel vessel.
‘I am going to the fields. Will come back in an hour’
‘Bua, can I come?’
‘You are from Bombay, you wouldn’t like spoiling your slippers and legs in the mud!’ I could say from here tone, she was trying to avoid taking me there.
‘Take this boy’ achchamma relented. ‘He should know what we are in our hearts. In our hearts, we are farmers, who makes mother earth flourish, and every child of our family should be proud of that!’
‘Hmphhh... now a days children dont want to be farmers, they all want to be engineers and doctors. Don’t try to force it into them..’ she replied.
‘I want to be a farmer.’ I got up, my chest full of pride.
‘And where will you sow your seeds in Bombay?’ she asked sarcastically.
‘Well we have a balcony, and we can turn that into a small field!’
‘Yes and Tanuja aunty who lives below us will complain of a leaking ceiling’ my mother added as she entered with a plate of kanji (rice in boiled water) for achchamma.
‘Amma can I go with bua to the fields?’
‘Yes, but be careful’ she said ‘don’t hurt yourself.’
‘You think we can’t take care of children? We are from the village, but we take care of children better than you city women.’
‘I did not mean that.’ I could see pain in amma’s eyes, but she withheld it from being noticed.
‘Now stop it Janaki, and go, your husband must be waiting for you.’ achchamma said as she slurped the rice and water with the spoon.
Bua pulled me. It was evident she was angry with my mother. She dragged me along the muddy path. The little path gave way to large green fields, which had little bund walls collecting the water that came from the canal. The bund walls where pretty narrow, narrow enough for one person to walk on it. I found it difficult to balance myself on it and within a few seconds, i had tripped into the field, my slippers covered in muck. It was difficult for me to walk, and i kept limping, which made bua even more angry. She kept mumbling to herself something which i could barely hear. I removed my slippers and walked barefoot. I realised, it was easier that way. I held the pair of slippers in my hands and ran behind bua.
Shankar chacha was tying the bulls to a coconut tree when we reached there.
‘So the Bombay boy has come to become a farmer’ he said as he took a pile of grass and fed it to the hungry bulls.
‘I want to be a farmer’ I said with pride. ‘That is what we all are, in our hearts’ I repeated what achchamma had said.
‘Looks like somebody was having a long chat with achchamma’ he said as he washed his hands from a bucket of water. Bua had carefully laid a small cloth under the tree and put a plate with rice and some curry on it.
‘Did you have your lunch, son?’ he asked looking at me.
‘He will have it when we get back home’ bua replied before i could.
‘I thought he had come here to be a farmer’ he looked at me teasingly as he mixed the rice with the curry.
‘I want to be a farmer’ I stood there, taking up the challenge that was thrown at me.
‘Just dont give this boy any vague ideas. If he hurts himself, his mother will blame me’ bua was at her sarcastic best.
‘Come on Janaki, he is a boy and if he wants to help, what is wrong in that? This is the age to get hurt, to fall, break a knee...’
‘If you want to do it, you do it. No body should blame me for it.’
‘No one will. Now serve some rice to my new helper. We have a lot of work to do’
Bua was not happy about it, but with a huff, she did serve me. I sat there under the tree and had my lunch. The rock beneath me hurt me, but the air was fresh and the sun rays sneaked through the tall coconut trees and squirells danced on their trunks, as I ate. After a while, we had buttermilk and then, bua left.
‘Why does bua hate me and my mother?’
‘And what makes you think that?’
‘She is always so angry at her and me all the time’ I tried to tell chacha.
‘She doesn’t hate you. She loves you and your mother very much. And you should know that!’
‘No. She hates us. Everytime she is angry and she keeps saying mean things to my mother.’ The anger was slowly building in me as my ears warmed up.
Shankar chacha then hugged me with his strong arms and ruffled my hair. ‘Only people who love you can be angry with you. Anger is another form of love. You will learn that when you grow up. Now take that shovel and come with me.’ he said getting up and walking towards the fields. He then took of his cap made of a palm leaf and put it on my head. ‘Young farmer, watch closely...’ He then took the shovel and pushed it into the wet soil pulling out the muck and pushed it aside making a single row. He then passed the shovel to me, and asked me to repeat it. My ankles were already in muck and as I rose the shovel, I felt something on my calf. I turned to look at it and it was an earthworm! I shrieked horrified at it and dropped the shovel which fell down on my toes putting me off balance as i fell backwards into the muck completely soiling my clothes.
The shovel’s wooden end had hit my thumb and it pained. Shankar chacha pulled me out and asked me to remove my t-shirt. It was completely soiled and I was sure, I would be punished by maa. Shankar chacha pulled out an earthworm and asked me to open my hand. At first, I clasped my hands tightly refusing to hold the earthworm. Then he asked me to close my eyes. I obeyed, and he asked me to stretch my hands. It tickled. I opened my eyes. It was Shankar chacha.
‘See, I am just tickling you. There is no earthworm’ he said.
I again closed my eyes. The tickle was lesser. He asked me to open my eyes. I did, and I saw the Earthworm on my fist reaching out at me, confused.
‘This, Shibu, is our friend. He is every farmer’s friend.’ He said the earthworms helped the soil to be rich and it was God’s way of helping the farmer grow crops to feed himself. ‘I don’t know till when we will last and who will take care of these crops. Nobody is interested in farming anymore. It is not fashionable. Everyone wants to be doctor’s or engineers... or film heroes, but no body wants to step into this soil and work hard to grow food. Because for people, food is something that can be bought in the grocery store.’
‘Why dont you start a grocery store then?’ I asked.
He laughed heartily. ‘Someone has to give them grains to sell! I wish raju and ravi took up farming!’
‘Where are they?’ I asked. It had been two years since I met them.
‘They are in Bangalore, doing an ITI course. They want to go to the Gulf... and make money.’ His voice had a hesitation, and a hint of sadness.
‘That is so nice! Going to another country!’ I couldnot understand why he was sad about it. They could make money and send it to Shankar Chacha and Bua and they dont have to work hard in the fields anymore.
‘Well, I am not going to another country. This is my land and I would like to die working in my fields than anywhere else!’
It was evening and the evening had become pleasant. I was completely sweating and dirty. We both walked to the temple pond nearby. The water was green and I jumped into it and swam around for a long time. Shankar chacha watched me with amazement.
‘You swim pretty well’ he said.
‘I came first last year in the inter-school championship’ I said proudly. ‘My photo had come in the newspaper’ I beamed with pride.
‘Your father must be proud of you’ he said.
‘I don’t know. He just smiles and says - good!’
‘Oh, Ramachandran is like that. He will never show his emotion to anybody. Let me tell you a secret.’
I was now curious to know. ‘He loves you a lot, because when you are not around, he keeps talking about you.’
‘Really!’ I was shocked and happy too. I always thought my father was never happy of what I did. ‘But he never tells me anything.’
‘He will never tell you anything. No father will, atleast not Ram, because he wants you to be the best.’
Later Shankar Chacha and I walked back home. The sun had set and the distant temple speaker had a devotional song playing. When I reached the courtyard of the house, there were people waiting outside.
Janaki bua, came running to Shankar chacha. ‘Where were you? I came to the fields you weren’t there.’
‘What happened?’ Chacha left my hand as he rushed inside.
That night was achchamma’s last night. She had difficulty breathing. She was weak and she had stopped responding to any medicines. Old age had caught up with her. She was 91 that year. She died peacefully curled up in the wooden bed, like a baby. Most of her children were by her side except her fourth son, who was serving the army in Assam. The house was full of people as all the sons and daughters and grandchildren came to bid farewell to achchamma. I looked at my father who stood against a wooden column. I didnot see a tear in his eye, but somehow I felt his pain. His stubble had grown a bit, and he started looking a bit old. I went to him and hugged him at his waist. He sat down on the step by the column, hugged me and cried.
‘But I am just eight years old! How can I be an uncle?’
‘Well, seems like you have no choice.’ She kept the photo away and leaned on the wall behind her as she tore a dried weed and placed it in her mouth and began chewing it. ‘In our days, we got married very young. I was married to your father when I was twelve, and he was thirty three. He used to travel most of the time.’
‘That is so sad, you must have been so lonely!’ I said.
‘Not really’ she looked through her cataract eyes onto the manglore tile ceiling. ‘Soon I had many children to take care of. The moment one of them were grown up, the next would be on the way.’ She smiled brushing her wrinkled fingers on my chin.
‘Granny why dont you wear a blouse?’ I asked her innocently.
She laughed, her laughter breaking at her tonsils. She took a brass vessel and spitted in it. ‘Blouse? That is the invention of today. People are shy and are becoming more conservative now-a-days. In our time, we hardly used to match horoscopes during marriages, now look, they will consult the astrologer for everything, even to go to the toilet.’
The fan slowly squeaked to a halt.
‘Aah, the electricity has gone. It will come after three hours.’ Janaki bua came in with a steel vessel.
‘I am going to the fields. Will come back in an hour’
‘Bua, can I come?’
‘You are from Bombay, you wouldn’t like spoiling your slippers and legs in the mud!’ I could say from here tone, she was trying to avoid taking me there.
‘Take this boy’ achchamma relented. ‘He should know what we are in our hearts. In our hearts, we are farmers, who makes mother earth flourish, and every child of our family should be proud of that!’
‘Hmphhh... now a days children dont want to be farmers, they all want to be engineers and doctors. Don’t try to force it into them..’ she replied.
‘I want to be a farmer.’ I got up, my chest full of pride.
‘And where will you sow your seeds in Bombay?’ she asked sarcastically.
‘Well we have a balcony, and we can turn that into a small field!’
‘Yes and Tanuja aunty who lives below us will complain of a leaking ceiling’ my mother added as she entered with a plate of kanji (rice in boiled water) for achchamma.
‘Amma can I go with bua to the fields?’
‘Yes, but be careful’ she said ‘don’t hurt yourself.’
‘You think we can’t take care of children? We are from the village, but we take care of children better than you city women.’
‘I did not mean that.’ I could see pain in amma’s eyes, but she withheld it from being noticed.
‘Now stop it Janaki, and go, your husband must be waiting for you.’ achchamma said as she slurped the rice and water with the spoon.
Bua pulled me. It was evident she was angry with my mother. She dragged me along the muddy path. The little path gave way to large green fields, which had little bund walls collecting the water that came from the canal. The bund walls where pretty narrow, narrow enough for one person to walk on it. I found it difficult to balance myself on it and within a few seconds, i had tripped into the field, my slippers covered in muck. It was difficult for me to walk, and i kept limping, which made bua even more angry. She kept mumbling to herself something which i could barely hear. I removed my slippers and walked barefoot. I realised, it was easier that way. I held the pair of slippers in my hands and ran behind bua.
Shankar chacha was tying the bulls to a coconut tree when we reached there.
‘So the Bombay boy has come to become a farmer’ he said as he took a pile of grass and fed it to the hungry bulls.
‘I want to be a farmer’ I said with pride. ‘That is what we all are, in our hearts’ I repeated what achchamma had said.
‘Looks like somebody was having a long chat with achchamma’ he said as he washed his hands from a bucket of water. Bua had carefully laid a small cloth under the tree and put a plate with rice and some curry on it.
‘Did you have your lunch, son?’ he asked looking at me.
‘He will have it when we get back home’ bua replied before i could.
‘I thought he had come here to be a farmer’ he looked at me teasingly as he mixed the rice with the curry.
‘I want to be a farmer’ I stood there, taking up the challenge that was thrown at me.
‘Just dont give this boy any vague ideas. If he hurts himself, his mother will blame me’ bua was at her sarcastic best.
‘Come on Janaki, he is a boy and if he wants to help, what is wrong in that? This is the age to get hurt, to fall, break a knee...’
‘If you want to do it, you do it. No body should blame me for it.’
‘No one will. Now serve some rice to my new helper. We have a lot of work to do’
Bua was not happy about it, but with a huff, she did serve me. I sat there under the tree and had my lunch. The rock beneath me hurt me, but the air was fresh and the sun rays sneaked through the tall coconut trees and squirells danced on their trunks, as I ate. After a while, we had buttermilk and then, bua left.
‘Why does bua hate me and my mother?’
‘And what makes you think that?’
‘She is always so angry at her and me all the time’ I tried to tell chacha.
‘She doesn’t hate you. She loves you and your mother very much. And you should know that!’
‘No. She hates us. Everytime she is angry and she keeps saying mean things to my mother.’ The anger was slowly building in me as my ears warmed up.
Shankar chacha then hugged me with his strong arms and ruffled my hair. ‘Only people who love you can be angry with you. Anger is another form of love. You will learn that when you grow up. Now take that shovel and come with me.’ he said getting up and walking towards the fields. He then took of his cap made of a palm leaf and put it on my head. ‘Young farmer, watch closely...’ He then took the shovel and pushed it into the wet soil pulling out the muck and pushed it aside making a single row. He then passed the shovel to me, and asked me to repeat it. My ankles were already in muck and as I rose the shovel, I felt something on my calf. I turned to look at it and it was an earthworm! I shrieked horrified at it and dropped the shovel which fell down on my toes putting me off balance as i fell backwards into the muck completely soiling my clothes.
The shovel’s wooden end had hit my thumb and it pained. Shankar chacha pulled me out and asked me to remove my t-shirt. It was completely soiled and I was sure, I would be punished by maa. Shankar chacha pulled out an earthworm and asked me to open my hand. At first, I clasped my hands tightly refusing to hold the earthworm. Then he asked me to close my eyes. I obeyed, and he asked me to stretch my hands. It tickled. I opened my eyes. It was Shankar chacha.
‘See, I am just tickling you. There is no earthworm’ he said.
I again closed my eyes. The tickle was lesser. He asked me to open my eyes. I did, and I saw the Earthworm on my fist reaching out at me, confused.
‘This, Shibu, is our friend. He is every farmer’s friend.’ He said the earthworms helped the soil to be rich and it was God’s way of helping the farmer grow crops to feed himself. ‘I don’t know till when we will last and who will take care of these crops. Nobody is interested in farming anymore. It is not fashionable. Everyone wants to be doctor’s or engineers... or film heroes, but no body wants to step into this soil and work hard to grow food. Because for people, food is something that can be bought in the grocery store.’
‘Why dont you start a grocery store then?’ I asked.
He laughed heartily. ‘Someone has to give them grains to sell! I wish raju and ravi took up farming!’
‘Where are they?’ I asked. It had been two years since I met them.
‘They are in Bangalore, doing an ITI course. They want to go to the Gulf... and make money.’ His voice had a hesitation, and a hint of sadness.
‘That is so nice! Going to another country!’ I couldnot understand why he was sad about it. They could make money and send it to Shankar Chacha and Bua and they dont have to work hard in the fields anymore.
‘Well, I am not going to another country. This is my land and I would like to die working in my fields than anywhere else!’
It was evening and the evening had become pleasant. I was completely sweating and dirty. We both walked to the temple pond nearby. The water was green and I jumped into it and swam around for a long time. Shankar chacha watched me with amazement.
‘You swim pretty well’ he said.
‘I came first last year in the inter-school championship’ I said proudly. ‘My photo had come in the newspaper’ I beamed with pride.
‘Your father must be proud of you’ he said.
‘I don’t know. He just smiles and says - good!’
‘Oh, Ramachandran is like that. He will never show his emotion to anybody. Let me tell you a secret.’
I was now curious to know. ‘He loves you a lot, because when you are not around, he keeps talking about you.’
‘Really!’ I was shocked and happy too. I always thought my father was never happy of what I did. ‘But he never tells me anything.’
‘He will never tell you anything. No father will, atleast not Ram, because he wants you to be the best.’
Later Shankar Chacha and I walked back home. The sun had set and the distant temple speaker had a devotional song playing. When I reached the courtyard of the house, there were people waiting outside.
Janaki bua, came running to Shankar chacha. ‘Where were you? I came to the fields you weren’t there.’
‘What happened?’ Chacha left my hand as he rushed inside.
That night was achchamma’s last night. She had difficulty breathing. She was weak and she had stopped responding to any medicines. Old age had caught up with her. She was 91 that year. She died peacefully curled up in the wooden bed, like a baby. Most of her children were by her side except her fourth son, who was serving the army in Assam. The house was full of people as all the sons and daughters and grandchildren came to bid farewell to achchamma. I looked at my father who stood against a wooden column. I didnot see a tear in his eye, but somehow I felt his pain. His stubble had grown a bit, and he started looking a bit old. I went to him and hugged him at his waist. He sat down on the step by the column, hugged me and cried.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 7
The clock was ticking away fast unlike the other days. I had locked myself in the room for a long while, pretending to be asleep. I prayed that my parents would come back early and I could plead them to persuade ammamma not to take me to Pranthan Kuttan. I could fake a stomach ache, or even a headache and bury myself under pillows and pretend as if I was in deep sleep. I started fearing the knock on the door and the anticipation of the knock on the door scared me even further.
As the lights outside the window dimmed, my heartbeats got louder. So loud, I did not even hear the thump on the door.
‘Open the door, Shaiju’ I heard my mother’s voice. Ecstatic, I opened the door and hugged her. ‘I don’t want to meet Pranthan Kuttan. Please ma, I don’t want to go, tell ammamma please’ I pleaded clinching on to her saree.
She stooped down and hugged me. She then pulled me away and wiped my tears from my wet cheeks. ‘He is not mad, Shaiju.’ She combed my hair as she spoke. ‘Ammamma loves you. Do you think she will put you in danger?’ I shook my head to say no. She then pulled me along to the courtyard where my ammamma was waiting. Reluctantly , I held ammamma’s hand and started walking along her side.
The day was getting dark and the voice of the temple speakers blared devotional songs. We walked through the dry leaves and then turned towards the now familiar spooky house of Pranthan Kuttan. The pipal tree at the corner of the land now had three diyas lit underneath it. An old lady with a stoop was sweeping the courtyard. On seeing my grandmother, she searched in anticipation of an unexpected visitor.
‘Janaki, your eyesight is getting weak’ ammamma shouted out to the old lady.
‘Aha, It is you, Parvathy. Did you loose your way to this house? You are coming after such a long time!’ she said as she walked forward. I could see, she was walking with a limp. I hid behind ammamma searching for Pranthan kuttan in the shadows of the house. ‘And who is this hiding behind you?’
‘Thats Shaiju, Padmas eldest son!’ she said as she pushed me ahead. ‘I wanted him to meet Kuttan.’
‘He looks so much like his mother, the same eyes’ she said as she caressed my face with her rough hands. I tried to express a smile, but was not very successful in the effort as my fear was far greater than the expression of acknowledgement.
‘I am glad you came to meet Kuttan’ she said as she led us to the verandah. Both of you sit here, I will get him. ‘Paru, what will you have, tea or coffee?’ she asked.
‘Nothing, we just had tea before we left home’.
Janaki Amma then disappeared into the darkness of the house. I could the tiny sound of the clang of metal in the darkness. This was followed by grunts, and i held my ammamma’s arm tightly. I felt my ammamma’s hand caressing my hands trying to pacify me. The clang of metal got louder and slowly from the shadows emerged an oddly huge figure. The old lady, Janaki, escorted him to an arm chair, that lay in the corner of the verandah. I wondered how i missed it when i was there in the afternoon. He sat silently. I couldn’t see him clearly in the darkness, and i tried to hide as much as possible behind ammamma’s shadow.
‘It’s very dark in here, let me get the lamp’ she said as she disappeared into the shadows again.
‘Kutta, do you remember me’ ammamma spoke.
‘Whe.. were... ooo fa so..’ a scruffy sound came from the chair. The words were broken coming in pieces from his throat.
‘I was busy kutta... I have so much to do in the fields’ ammamma replied.
‘Na.. com.. to.. mee... me..’ His sound had sadness in it along with the scruffiness.
‘I am sorry Kutta, but I do have got somebody to be your friend’
‘wi you rea da git..ta to - de?’
‘No, not the Gita, but Shaiju has got some new stories to read out to you’
‘Ooo- shai - ju?’
My ammamma pulled me to her front. ‘Won’t you read him the stories you have bought Shaiju?’ I shook my head. ‘Shaiju, he is your friend, why dont you first shake hands with him?’ I shook my head violently. My ammamma pushed me forward with all the force. That is when the old lady entered with the lamp and pranthan kuttan’s face was lit up with the soft glow of the kerosene lamp.
His head was huge with a huge lump on his left. His lips awkwardly twisted upwards with a cleft in between. He wore nothing but a white lungi and his long torso was bent with his bones sticking through his skin. He was dripping saliva as he looked at me as his lips widened. I was terrified.
‘Aaa u al - righ’ he looked at me, as his saliva dripped on to his lungi. The old lady wiped his mouth with a cloth, and then sat next to him.
‘What?’ I couldn’t understand what he said.
‘Kuttan is asking if you are alright?’ the old lady deciphered it for me.
‘Yes, I am. Thanks’ I replied.
‘Oooo fel fra winn... in noo...’ he said
‘Kuttan says you fell from the window in the noon.’ the lady repeated. I felt ashamed, I did not know why, but i did feel ashamed. I looked down to my toes in shame.
‘wi.. you.. Ree me...stthho... ree’
‘Will you read me a story, he says’ the old lady spoke.
‘Sure,’ i said as I opened my tinkle comics ’which one do you want to listen to, Suppandi or Kalia, the crow.’
‘Son you will have to read a bit slow, alright?’ she said as she got upto leave. I shook my head and opened the book to read it. I did not know when the fear disappeared. I read out the stories slowly. In between I saw his mouth dripping. I looked around looking for the old lady and ammamma but they had gone inside and I could hear them talking. Kuttan tried to wipe off his face, but was struggling. I took up the cloth and wiped it for him. He smiled. I wouldn’t know why, but that smile changed the equation between me and Kuttan. He laughed at the stupidity of Suppandi. His laughter, a broken one, occasionally spitting as he laughed. Seeing him laugh, I laughed and soon I could understand his broken language. After an hour, we left from Kuttan’s house. I jumped as I walked.
‘Ammamma, why is Kuttan called pranthan kuttan? He is not mad, is he?’ I asked her.
‘No, no. He is not mad at all. He is just a little different from all of us’ she said.
‘Why is that ammamma’
‘I dont know son. God sometimes plays funny games with all of us.’
‘Why is he tied with a chain, ammamma?’
‘Some years ago, he ran away from his house into the street. Somebody made fun of him and he bit that man, and the people of the village started beating him. That is why Namboodiripaad decided to tie him up so that he wouldnot trouble anybody.’
‘But it is wrong, isn’t it ammamma?’
‘It is, but then Namboodiripaad has many problems to take care off and the safety of Kuttan is the last thing he wants to risk.’
‘He can’t even wipe his own face. Why is that ammamma?’
‘Because he is a special child. His arm is weak and he has no control over his hands, that is why?’
‘Ammamma, can I read him The Kaziranga Trail, tomorrow. Is it OK, if I go and meet him in the evenings?’
‘Oh sure dear. You can. He will like it if you read out to him’ she said as we entered the gate of our house. We could see the tungsten wire of the bulb glowing dimly in the low voltage. Kittu and Sita were reciting their poems from two to ten in unison making it sound like a sacred chant. I ran upt my mother tugging on to her saree.
‘Ma, I am hungry.’
As the lights outside the window dimmed, my heartbeats got louder. So loud, I did not even hear the thump on the door.
‘Open the door, Shaiju’ I heard my mother’s voice. Ecstatic, I opened the door and hugged her. ‘I don’t want to meet Pranthan Kuttan. Please ma, I don’t want to go, tell ammamma please’ I pleaded clinching on to her saree.
She stooped down and hugged me. She then pulled me away and wiped my tears from my wet cheeks. ‘He is not mad, Shaiju.’ She combed my hair as she spoke. ‘Ammamma loves you. Do you think she will put you in danger?’ I shook my head to say no. She then pulled me along to the courtyard where my ammamma was waiting. Reluctantly , I held ammamma’s hand and started walking along her side.
The day was getting dark and the voice of the temple speakers blared devotional songs. We walked through the dry leaves and then turned towards the now familiar spooky house of Pranthan Kuttan. The pipal tree at the corner of the land now had three diyas lit underneath it. An old lady with a stoop was sweeping the courtyard. On seeing my grandmother, she searched in anticipation of an unexpected visitor.
‘Janaki, your eyesight is getting weak’ ammamma shouted out to the old lady.
‘Aha, It is you, Parvathy. Did you loose your way to this house? You are coming after such a long time!’ she said as she walked forward. I could see, she was walking with a limp. I hid behind ammamma searching for Pranthan kuttan in the shadows of the house. ‘And who is this hiding behind you?’
‘Thats Shaiju, Padmas eldest son!’ she said as she pushed me ahead. ‘I wanted him to meet Kuttan.’
‘He looks so much like his mother, the same eyes’ she said as she caressed my face with her rough hands. I tried to express a smile, but was not very successful in the effort as my fear was far greater than the expression of acknowledgement.
‘I am glad you came to meet Kuttan’ she said as she led us to the verandah. Both of you sit here, I will get him. ‘Paru, what will you have, tea or coffee?’ she asked.
‘Nothing, we just had tea before we left home’.
Janaki Amma then disappeared into the darkness of the house. I could the tiny sound of the clang of metal in the darkness. This was followed by grunts, and i held my ammamma’s arm tightly. I felt my ammamma’s hand caressing my hands trying to pacify me. The clang of metal got louder and slowly from the shadows emerged an oddly huge figure. The old lady, Janaki, escorted him to an arm chair, that lay in the corner of the verandah. I wondered how i missed it when i was there in the afternoon. He sat silently. I couldn’t see him clearly in the darkness, and i tried to hide as much as possible behind ammamma’s shadow.
‘It’s very dark in here, let me get the lamp’ she said as she disappeared into the shadows again.
‘Kutta, do you remember me’ ammamma spoke.
‘Whe.. were... ooo fa so..’ a scruffy sound came from the chair. The words were broken coming in pieces from his throat.
‘I was busy kutta... I have so much to do in the fields’ ammamma replied.
‘Na.. com.. to.. mee... me..’ His sound had sadness in it along with the scruffiness.
‘I am sorry Kutta, but I do have got somebody to be your friend’
‘wi you rea da git..ta to - de?’
‘No, not the Gita, but Shaiju has got some new stories to read out to you’
‘Ooo- shai - ju?’
My ammamma pulled me to her front. ‘Won’t you read him the stories you have bought Shaiju?’ I shook my head. ‘Shaiju, he is your friend, why dont you first shake hands with him?’ I shook my head violently. My ammamma pushed me forward with all the force. That is when the old lady entered with the lamp and pranthan kuttan’s face was lit up with the soft glow of the kerosene lamp.
His head was huge with a huge lump on his left. His lips awkwardly twisted upwards with a cleft in between. He wore nothing but a white lungi and his long torso was bent with his bones sticking through his skin. He was dripping saliva as he looked at me as his lips widened. I was terrified.
‘Aaa u al - righ’ he looked at me, as his saliva dripped on to his lungi. The old lady wiped his mouth with a cloth, and then sat next to him.
‘What?’ I couldn’t understand what he said.
‘Kuttan is asking if you are alright?’ the old lady deciphered it for me.
‘Yes, I am. Thanks’ I replied.
‘Oooo fel fra winn... in noo...’ he said
‘Kuttan says you fell from the window in the noon.’ the lady repeated. I felt ashamed, I did not know why, but i did feel ashamed. I looked down to my toes in shame.
‘wi.. you.. Ree me...stthho... ree’
‘Will you read me a story, he says’ the old lady spoke.
‘Sure,’ i said as I opened my tinkle comics ’which one do you want to listen to, Suppandi or Kalia, the crow.’
‘Son you will have to read a bit slow, alright?’ she said as she got upto leave. I shook my head and opened the book to read it. I did not know when the fear disappeared. I read out the stories slowly. In between I saw his mouth dripping. I looked around looking for the old lady and ammamma but they had gone inside and I could hear them talking. Kuttan tried to wipe off his face, but was struggling. I took up the cloth and wiped it for him. He smiled. I wouldn’t know why, but that smile changed the equation between me and Kuttan. He laughed at the stupidity of Suppandi. His laughter, a broken one, occasionally spitting as he laughed. Seeing him laugh, I laughed and soon I could understand his broken language. After an hour, we left from Kuttan’s house. I jumped as I walked.
‘Ammamma, why is Kuttan called pranthan kuttan? He is not mad, is he?’ I asked her.
‘No, no. He is not mad at all. He is just a little different from all of us’ she said.
‘Why is that ammamma’
‘I dont know son. God sometimes plays funny games with all of us.’
‘Why is he tied with a chain, ammamma?’
‘Some years ago, he ran away from his house into the street. Somebody made fun of him and he bit that man, and the people of the village started beating him. That is why Namboodiripaad decided to tie him up so that he wouldnot trouble anybody.’
‘But it is wrong, isn’t it ammamma?’
‘It is, but then Namboodiripaad has many problems to take care off and the safety of Kuttan is the last thing he wants to risk.’
‘He can’t even wipe his own face. Why is that ammamma?’
‘Because he is a special child. His arm is weak and he has no control over his hands, that is why?’
‘Ammamma, can I read him The Kaziranga Trail, tomorrow. Is it OK, if I go and meet him in the evenings?’
‘Oh sure dear. You can. He will like it if you read out to him’ she said as we entered the gate of our house. We could see the tungsten wire of the bulb glowing dimly in the low voltage. Kittu and Sita were reciting their poems from two to ten in unison making it sound like a sacred chant. I ran upt my mother tugging on to her saree.
‘Ma, I am hungry.’
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 6
The path to the temple was a spooky one. The major path of the temple was covered with dry leaves while a clear ground was visible in a serpentine curve which indicated a trickle devotees who would visit it. The fear of snakes under the leaves were the reason we were told to walk on the clear path. The summer heat made the snakes come out of their holes and seek the shadows under the trees and the dry leaves around. A house in ruins donned the other side of the path. A huge house without a boundary wall. The leaves had fallen all around the courtyard. An old banyan tree stood in abundance of aerial roots reaching out to the ground at the far corner of the land with little stone statues of Gods and Godesses smeared with red on their forehead. The house had a strange effect on me. I drifted my path as I stared blankly at the tree. The wind moved the leaves on the ground in a pattern that had no structure. I stepped into the courtyard of the house not realizing that I was left behind all alone.
The house was in shambles. The wood under the tiles had wilted and seemed as if it would give away anytime. I doubted if anybody stayed in that house. There was a strong stench that polluted the air. All the windows were closed. A richly carved door with a brass lion handle was hidden under a layer of dust and eaten by termites. I prodded on the verandah. The walls had lost its color many years ago, it seemed. There were broken battens holding hanging electric wires as it hung out to a bulb under a wooden beam. As I slowly inched ahead, I noticed the window had a slight opening. The window was heavily framed with a wooden ornate grill. I inched myself close to the window and searched the openings if it could reveal the interior of the house. As I searched the window, I realized hot air being puffed on my shoulders. For a moment I froze, not knowing what to do. If I had to run, I would have to turn to the entrance of the verandah. There was a small opening right across, a few steps away, but it seemed too small for me to escape. The hot air started slowly to have a growl... and I shot to the little opening ahead. My judgement turned out to be right that the opening was small for me to escape. But I managed to scrape past it bruising my hand and my legs as I tumbled onto the courtyard below. The momentary shock had made my ear warm and I scampered through the dirty ground and ran. I ran into the belly of Namboodiripaad. Regaining my composure I ran out. I could not hear anything else except my own breath. As I ran back, I could see Kannan walking back. Seeing me, he was ecstatic. I ran towards him and then caught his hand and continued down to the temple. I guess he was confused and yelling, but i could hardly hear anything except my breath and the beats of my heart that were pounding inside me. We ran to the temple pond and sat there catching my breath.
As I calmed, things came back to normal. My ears cooled down, and my heartbeats sank into silence. I turned to look at Kannan who was staring at me.
‘Where did you disappear’ Kannan asked me completely furious ‘I was scared.’
‘I dont know how I went into that spooky house on the path’ i said, trying to justify myself. ‘I dont know how i reached there, it was like, i was pulled in there, and then as I entered the house i could feel someone breathing heavily over my shoulders and I ran and jumped out of a small window’
That is when i felt the pain on my elbow and knees. I looked at my elbows and it was scratched with a wooden splinter piercing my skin. I pulled it out and the sting emanated great pain. I stepped down to clean the wound with the water in the pond. As the water caressed my wounds a burning sensation passed through the body and I cried with my eyes shut, cringing in pain.
‘Did you see him?’
‘Who?’
‘Pranthan kuttan?’
‘Who is that?’
‘It is Namboodiripad’s youngest son. He is mad. He bites everyone he sees.’ He didn’t bite me, i thought to myself, and I was glad i was not bitten. I shook my head. ‘No, he didn’t. But i felt his breath over my shoulder.. ’
‘.. I know you felt his breath. I wish you had seen him. No one has seen him. He is tied to a long chain so that he doesn’t get out of the house.’
‘Tied??’ I don’t know if i felt bewildered or sorry for him.
‘Namboodiripaad doesn’t like anybody to go to his house. Pranthan Kuttan has bit so many people... and he is so strong it is difficult to pull him apart from his victim. The last time some one had gone was when Hamsa had gone to give back Namboodiripaads umbrella which he had forgotten in his shop and Pranthan kuttan bit his ear’
‘Bit his ear’ i was now scared.
‘Yes, the left ear of Hamsa you see is fake!’ Kuttan said pinching his left ear. Hamsa was the only grocery shop in the village and he had inherited from his father who had inherited it from his father.
‘No one goes into that house. You know there were ten deaths in that house, and all of them were not in the right way’
‘What do you mean?’ the pain had gone away, or probably i was used to the pain or probably I had gone numb of what I had just heard. Probably, it might also have been the fact of being scared to death of witnessing a madman at such a close distance.
‘Well, Namboodiripaad had ten children. Seven boys and three girls. Four of them were born dead. Later one girl fell into the well, one son had gone to the main road and was run over by a truck, one of the girl had hung herself from the ceiling, and one of them got swept away when he had gone swimming near Madakkeri Dam. One boy ran away when he was eight years old after he witnessed his sister hanging from the ceiling.’
He continued. ‘Nobody goes to that house. It is more haunted than the temple. Do you still want to see the ghost?’
I was not sure anymore. We decided to go back home. Our stomach was grumbling and as I got up, I realised I had excruciating pain on my left knee. With Kannan as a support we limped back home. We went past Namboodiripaads house, and it looke spookier than before. We hurried past the house and our fears were then lesser.
Namboodiri was in the verandah of our house when we entered the gates. He was with ammamma and in deep discussion with her but her attention diverted to us the moment we entered the gates. There was silence as i limped to the verandah. Ammamma looked at me and held my hand. She then twisted it to have a look at my elbow, which was bruised and had turned dark brown. Namboodiripaad left saying nothing, and ammamma took me to the bathroom and started applying dettol on it. She was silent all the while. I tried to break the silence. Out in the courtyard Kannan was playing with the custom made bat hitting a ball onto the blank wall.
‘Ammamma, why is pranthan kuttan tied with a chain?’
‘Were you scared?’ she asked as she took a cotton swab and wipped it on the wound. The pain intensified, and i cried out in pain.
‘I was’ I replied. ‘I thought it was the ghost in the temple.’
‘And I thought you wanted to meet the ghost in the temple?’
I was shocked. How did she know?
‘How did you know?’ I asked surprised.
‘Well, I am your grand mother, I know’ she replied with a sparkle in her eye. ‘And his name is Kuttan not Pranthan Kuttan. Pranthan means mad, and he is not.’
‘But Kannan said...’
‘In the evening we shall go and meet him. I want you to carry your Tinkle comics’ she said.
‘No, I won’t’ I was reluctant. I did not want to be bit by a mad man! And to give him my favorite comic books. I wouldn’t do that either. She applied Soframycin on the wound.
‘Keep it open, it will heal faster’ she said ‘and we will be meeting Kuttan today.’
‘No, ammamma. I wont. I dont want to be bitten by a madman.’ I went out and hugged her trying to persuade her to change her mind.
‘Son, I will be there with you. I wont let you be bitten by anybody.’ She persisted. ‘You will be fine, I promise you.’
When I told about my conversation with ammamma, Kannan fled. He remembered, he had something to be done at home and will see me the next day, if i was alive, he said.
The house was in shambles. The wood under the tiles had wilted and seemed as if it would give away anytime. I doubted if anybody stayed in that house. There was a strong stench that polluted the air. All the windows were closed. A richly carved door with a brass lion handle was hidden under a layer of dust and eaten by termites. I prodded on the verandah. The walls had lost its color many years ago, it seemed. There were broken battens holding hanging electric wires as it hung out to a bulb under a wooden beam. As I slowly inched ahead, I noticed the window had a slight opening. The window was heavily framed with a wooden ornate grill. I inched myself close to the window and searched the openings if it could reveal the interior of the house. As I searched the window, I realized hot air being puffed on my shoulders. For a moment I froze, not knowing what to do. If I had to run, I would have to turn to the entrance of the verandah. There was a small opening right across, a few steps away, but it seemed too small for me to escape. The hot air started slowly to have a growl... and I shot to the little opening ahead. My judgement turned out to be right that the opening was small for me to escape. But I managed to scrape past it bruising my hand and my legs as I tumbled onto the courtyard below. The momentary shock had made my ear warm and I scampered through the dirty ground and ran. I ran into the belly of Namboodiripaad. Regaining my composure I ran out. I could not hear anything else except my own breath. As I ran back, I could see Kannan walking back. Seeing me, he was ecstatic. I ran towards him and then caught his hand and continued down to the temple. I guess he was confused and yelling, but i could hardly hear anything except my breath and the beats of my heart that were pounding inside me. We ran to the temple pond and sat there catching my breath.
As I calmed, things came back to normal. My ears cooled down, and my heartbeats sank into silence. I turned to look at Kannan who was staring at me.
‘Where did you disappear’ Kannan asked me completely furious ‘I was scared.’
‘I dont know how I went into that spooky house on the path’ i said, trying to justify myself. ‘I dont know how i reached there, it was like, i was pulled in there, and then as I entered the house i could feel someone breathing heavily over my shoulders and I ran and jumped out of a small window’
That is when i felt the pain on my elbow and knees. I looked at my elbows and it was scratched with a wooden splinter piercing my skin. I pulled it out and the sting emanated great pain. I stepped down to clean the wound with the water in the pond. As the water caressed my wounds a burning sensation passed through the body and I cried with my eyes shut, cringing in pain.
‘Did you see him?’
‘Who?’
‘Pranthan kuttan?’
‘Who is that?’
‘It is Namboodiripad’s youngest son. He is mad. He bites everyone he sees.’ He didn’t bite me, i thought to myself, and I was glad i was not bitten. I shook my head. ‘No, he didn’t. But i felt his breath over my shoulder.. ’
‘.. I know you felt his breath. I wish you had seen him. No one has seen him. He is tied to a long chain so that he doesn’t get out of the house.’
‘Tied??’ I don’t know if i felt bewildered or sorry for him.
‘Namboodiripaad doesn’t like anybody to go to his house. Pranthan Kuttan has bit so many people... and he is so strong it is difficult to pull him apart from his victim. The last time some one had gone was when Hamsa had gone to give back Namboodiripaads umbrella which he had forgotten in his shop and Pranthan kuttan bit his ear’
‘Bit his ear’ i was now scared.
‘Yes, the left ear of Hamsa you see is fake!’ Kuttan said pinching his left ear. Hamsa was the only grocery shop in the village and he had inherited from his father who had inherited it from his father.
‘No one goes into that house. You know there were ten deaths in that house, and all of them were not in the right way’
‘What do you mean?’ the pain had gone away, or probably i was used to the pain or probably I had gone numb of what I had just heard. Probably, it might also have been the fact of being scared to death of witnessing a madman at such a close distance.
‘Well, Namboodiripaad had ten children. Seven boys and three girls. Four of them were born dead. Later one girl fell into the well, one son had gone to the main road and was run over by a truck, one of the girl had hung herself from the ceiling, and one of them got swept away when he had gone swimming near Madakkeri Dam. One boy ran away when he was eight years old after he witnessed his sister hanging from the ceiling.’
He continued. ‘Nobody goes to that house. It is more haunted than the temple. Do you still want to see the ghost?’
I was not sure anymore. We decided to go back home. Our stomach was grumbling and as I got up, I realised I had excruciating pain on my left knee. With Kannan as a support we limped back home. We went past Namboodiripaads house, and it looke spookier than before. We hurried past the house and our fears were then lesser.
Namboodiri was in the verandah of our house when we entered the gates. He was with ammamma and in deep discussion with her but her attention diverted to us the moment we entered the gates. There was silence as i limped to the verandah. Ammamma looked at me and held my hand. She then twisted it to have a look at my elbow, which was bruised and had turned dark brown. Namboodiripaad left saying nothing, and ammamma took me to the bathroom and started applying dettol on it. She was silent all the while. I tried to break the silence. Out in the courtyard Kannan was playing with the custom made bat hitting a ball onto the blank wall.
‘Ammamma, why is pranthan kuttan tied with a chain?’
‘Were you scared?’ she asked as she took a cotton swab and wipped it on the wound. The pain intensified, and i cried out in pain.
‘I was’ I replied. ‘I thought it was the ghost in the temple.’
‘And I thought you wanted to meet the ghost in the temple?’
I was shocked. How did she know?
‘How did you know?’ I asked surprised.
‘Well, I am your grand mother, I know’ she replied with a sparkle in her eye. ‘And his name is Kuttan not Pranthan Kuttan. Pranthan means mad, and he is not.’
‘But Kannan said...’
‘In the evening we shall go and meet him. I want you to carry your Tinkle comics’ she said.
‘No, I won’t’ I was reluctant. I did not want to be bit by a mad man! And to give him my favorite comic books. I wouldn’t do that either. She applied Soframycin on the wound.
‘Keep it open, it will heal faster’ she said ‘and we will be meeting Kuttan today.’
‘No, ammamma. I wont. I dont want to be bitten by a madman.’ I went out and hugged her trying to persuade her to change her mind.
‘Son, I will be there with you. I wont let you be bitten by anybody.’ She persisted. ‘You will be fine, I promise you.’
When I told about my conversation with ammamma, Kannan fled. He remembered, he had something to be done at home and will see me the next day, if i was alive, he said.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Summer of '82 - Chapter 5
A few days passed. The wound on my forehead had healed, but the mark of the stitches remained. The doctor told me it would take sometime for the mark to fade away into the skin. Kannan and I raced through the fields south of the house to the narrow gauge railway line that passed through the village. The railway line looked like coming from eternity and going towards eternity. In the hot summer sun, we would walk on the steel rail with arms outstretched trying to balance ourselves without stepping on the gravel below.
‘So, when do we see the ghost?’ I reminded Kannan as I took one step further.
‘I thought you had forgotten’ Kannan replied.
‘Come on Kanna, dont you want to see a ghost. It would be so much fun. We can try to scare him instead!’ I was ecstatic.
‘I told Das, about you wanting to see the ghost’ Kannan replied.
‘And what did he say?’ I was curious.
‘He says there is no ghost. Namboodiripaad wants to make money through the pooja he will conduct’ Kannan replied.
‘You mean there are no ghosts’ I was disappointed.
‘Not according to Das’ he said as he jumped down on the gravel. He kept his ear on the rail. He motioned me to do the same. We could hear the beats of the train at a distance. On the horizon, we could see a speck, which grew bigger and bigger. The engine blew its whistle and we scampered to the side and hid behind a shrub as a train chugged past us. There was a constant fear in both of us of being spotted by some of our relatives who knew us. The rail line was beyond limits for us and being noticed by someone who knew my ammamma was the biggest threat we had.
The train was quite slow. Kannan said that the bridge a kilometer to the west was built recently, so the train would slow down when it came into our village. The train had people of all different kinds looking outside iron framed windows. There were old people and young men and women with children. Women in burkha’s, looked outside the train hiding themselves from the beauty of the landscapes. As the train slowed down, a man emerged on the door of one of the compartments. He had a sack on his foot. He then looked at the landscape, then took out a red kerchief and waved violently. He then pushed the sack out of the train, as the train continued its journey into eternity.
Once the train had passed into a distance, Kannan and I looked at each other and then rushed out from our hiding. We ran to the place where the sack had landed. The sack was a bit wet, with markings of two circles and a cross overlapping it. We were panting, searching for our breath, when the sound of a jeep was heard at a distance.
The jeep screeched to a halt where the road ended, ten feet away from the rail line. Three men got off it and started walking in our direction. Kannan pulled me across to the other side and we hid behind a short retaining wall that mentioned we were 1082 kilometers away from Bombay. With the sun shining directly at us, we could hardly figure out who they were from that distance. One of them took off a knife from his lungi and cut open the sack. He then motioned the other two people to haul it. The sack looked heavy and it leaked a powder on its way. When the three men were gone beyond the limitations of our vision, we ran across the line hurling stones at the jeep that had left its mark on the muddy road.
The rest of the morning went in figuring out the content of the sack. The Famous Five books were fresh in my memory and I would have loved it if we could unearth some kind of criminal mystery and be famous for our quick wit and smartness. Who was the guy who pushed the sack out of the train? How did the three guys know that this man had pushed the sack from the train?
‘THE RED KERCHIEF!’ I shouted in excitement. ‘He had waved the red kerchief before he pushed the sack out of the train’ I jumped at my discovery. But that was the only clue we had. Probably this happened every day. If it did, we would be on our way to get the National award for bravery from the President, for unearthing a smuggling racket!
Our shadows had shortened and the stomachs growling, when we decided to get back home. The path back home was lined with Dandelions and ‘Touch me not’s’ which we kept brushing as we walked, closing its leaves to our amusement. The touch-me-not’s gave us a great sense of power, to control the fate of a plant merely by our touch. Back home, Shaiju, Sita, Suma and Kittu were sitting in the verandah tearing the newspaper into small bits.
‘What are you guys upto?’ I asked Shaiju.
‘Watch this’ he replied. He took the entire little bits of paper and went to the road. The road was empty, and Shaiju sprinked the little tits-bits of paper around. He then came back with a wide smile on his face.
Kannan and I looked at him with bewilderment over the compound wall. ‘What?’ we asked in unison. ‘Wait till the next bus passes by’ he said, the smile still plastered on his face.
We heard a truck at a distance. All the other kids waited with bated breath. As the truck passed by, Shaiju’s eyes lit up and the kids ran after the truck. The little bits of paper on the road, was sucked up in the air like magic and followed the truck to a small distance, after which the tiny pieces of paper looked like snow flakes showering from the heavens as everyone danced on the road enjoying the surreal feeling.
‘Kids, get off the road’ the voice of Das was heard. Shaiju looked at Das ‘Did you see that, Dasetta*? Wasnt it beautiful?’ Das smiled. ‘Yes it was, now you kids get off the road. It is a not a nice place for you kids to play’
The kids very obediently stepped aside the road and walked home. I looked at Das and waved out to him. Das approvingly smiled back. I was very happy to see Dasettan smiling at me. There was something about him that made me seek his attention. Kannan tugged my t-shirt and then pointed me to a jeep that was parked a few meters away from Das’s house near the bridge over the canal.
‘Look at that’ he said.
‘It is a jeep! So?’ I replied.
‘It is that same jeep, we saw at the railway line!’ he was sure about it. ‘No it is not’ There were so many jeeps in the village that looked the same!
‘KLX 483, that was the number of the jeep’ he said. I looked closely. ‘There is only one guy in this jeep, in that jeep there were three!’
That was when two men emerged from the canal. Both of them got into the jeep and sped away. As they passed Das’s house, one of them put out their hand and waved out to Das. Das waved back and then disappeared into his room.
(*etta - big brother)
‘So, when do we see the ghost?’ I reminded Kannan as I took one step further.
‘I thought you had forgotten’ Kannan replied.
‘Come on Kanna, dont you want to see a ghost. It would be so much fun. We can try to scare him instead!’ I was ecstatic.
‘I told Das, about you wanting to see the ghost’ Kannan replied.
‘And what did he say?’ I was curious.
‘He says there is no ghost. Namboodiripaad wants to make money through the pooja he will conduct’ Kannan replied.
‘You mean there are no ghosts’ I was disappointed.
‘Not according to Das’ he said as he jumped down on the gravel. He kept his ear on the rail. He motioned me to do the same. We could hear the beats of the train at a distance. On the horizon, we could see a speck, which grew bigger and bigger. The engine blew its whistle and we scampered to the side and hid behind a shrub as a train chugged past us. There was a constant fear in both of us of being spotted by some of our relatives who knew us. The rail line was beyond limits for us and being noticed by someone who knew my ammamma was the biggest threat we had.
The train was quite slow. Kannan said that the bridge a kilometer to the west was built recently, so the train would slow down when it came into our village. The train had people of all different kinds looking outside iron framed windows. There were old people and young men and women with children. Women in burkha’s, looked outside the train hiding themselves from the beauty of the landscapes. As the train slowed down, a man emerged on the door of one of the compartments. He had a sack on his foot. He then looked at the landscape, then took out a red kerchief and waved violently. He then pushed the sack out of the train, as the train continued its journey into eternity.
Once the train had passed into a distance, Kannan and I looked at each other and then rushed out from our hiding. We ran to the place where the sack had landed. The sack was a bit wet, with markings of two circles and a cross overlapping it. We were panting, searching for our breath, when the sound of a jeep was heard at a distance.
The jeep screeched to a halt where the road ended, ten feet away from the rail line. Three men got off it and started walking in our direction. Kannan pulled me across to the other side and we hid behind a short retaining wall that mentioned we were 1082 kilometers away from Bombay. With the sun shining directly at us, we could hardly figure out who they were from that distance. One of them took off a knife from his lungi and cut open the sack. He then motioned the other two people to haul it. The sack looked heavy and it leaked a powder on its way. When the three men were gone beyond the limitations of our vision, we ran across the line hurling stones at the jeep that had left its mark on the muddy road.
The rest of the morning went in figuring out the content of the sack. The Famous Five books were fresh in my memory and I would have loved it if we could unearth some kind of criminal mystery and be famous for our quick wit and smartness. Who was the guy who pushed the sack out of the train? How did the three guys know that this man had pushed the sack from the train?
‘THE RED KERCHIEF!’ I shouted in excitement. ‘He had waved the red kerchief before he pushed the sack out of the train’ I jumped at my discovery. But that was the only clue we had. Probably this happened every day. If it did, we would be on our way to get the National award for bravery from the President, for unearthing a smuggling racket!
Our shadows had shortened and the stomachs growling, when we decided to get back home. The path back home was lined with Dandelions and ‘Touch me not’s’ which we kept brushing as we walked, closing its leaves to our amusement. The touch-me-not’s gave us a great sense of power, to control the fate of a plant merely by our touch. Back home, Shaiju, Sita, Suma and Kittu were sitting in the verandah tearing the newspaper into small bits.
‘What are you guys upto?’ I asked Shaiju.
‘Watch this’ he replied. He took the entire little bits of paper and went to the road. The road was empty, and Shaiju sprinked the little tits-bits of paper around. He then came back with a wide smile on his face.
Kannan and I looked at him with bewilderment over the compound wall. ‘What?’ we asked in unison. ‘Wait till the next bus passes by’ he said, the smile still plastered on his face.
We heard a truck at a distance. All the other kids waited with bated breath. As the truck passed by, Shaiju’s eyes lit up and the kids ran after the truck. The little bits of paper on the road, was sucked up in the air like magic and followed the truck to a small distance, after which the tiny pieces of paper looked like snow flakes showering from the heavens as everyone danced on the road enjoying the surreal feeling.
‘Kids, get off the road’ the voice of Das was heard. Shaiju looked at Das ‘Did you see that, Dasetta*? Wasnt it beautiful?’ Das smiled. ‘Yes it was, now you kids get off the road. It is a not a nice place for you kids to play’
The kids very obediently stepped aside the road and walked home. I looked at Das and waved out to him. Das approvingly smiled back. I was very happy to see Dasettan smiling at me. There was something about him that made me seek his attention. Kannan tugged my t-shirt and then pointed me to a jeep that was parked a few meters away from Das’s house near the bridge over the canal.
‘Look at that’ he said.
‘It is a jeep! So?’ I replied.
‘It is that same jeep, we saw at the railway line!’ he was sure about it. ‘No it is not’ There were so many jeeps in the village that looked the same!
‘KLX 483, that was the number of the jeep’ he said. I looked closely. ‘There is only one guy in this jeep, in that jeep there were three!’
That was when two men emerged from the canal. Both of them got into the jeep and sped away. As they passed Das’s house, one of them put out their hand and waved out to Das. Das waved back and then disappeared into his room.
(*etta - big brother)
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