Since I've got my blood sugar level quite high with Sharatchandra chatterjee's love stories I really want to take a break from them. I have 2 more of his novels, but saving them for later.
I've been holding on to the pdfs of 3 old Malayalam books since last month. In fact I had pestered my cousin for days till he finally sent these to me. All 3 are collection of essays by A.C Govindan , a judiciary officer from Malabar province. The books are Sambadsamridthy(1931),Sahithyavallary(1938) and Mukhaparichayam(1959).
Malayalam seems to be a whole different language back then and since my Malayalam is almost as bad as my English I struggle with big words. Some of these articles are extremely witty where as most others are inspiring messages to the youth. These books along with few others by the same author were once taught in the schools of Malabar and Kochi.
I find this one essay particularly entertaining. The author who is an officer in the judiciary, a graduate, a close friend of the legendary 'Sahodaran Ayyappan' gets almost fooled by a fake astrologer during a train journey.
"Now I understand that Ayyappan has been putting all sorts of nonsense in my head. I have even been told to destroy my horoscope! My horoscope which is the key to an affluent future! Good that my wife guarded it with her life. I should go home and thank her." He writes about the few hours when he almost became a believer of fortune stones.
I have never met him, he passed away 14 years before I was even born, but in someway I have missed him all my life. He is my grandfather.
Pushpavilasam, his house in Calicut city once hosted many an inspiring discussion on social reformation, agnosticism and literature. All notable personalities of Malabar's literary circle were his friends and visited him regularly at his house. My mother does not usually talk about it, but I try my best to grill her on the details of these famous visitors. One information which I have grilled out of her has thrilled me a great deal. The time V.M Nair and Balamani amma visited with their 2 daughters, Sulochana and Kamala. My mother must have been merely a child but she remembers that Kamala had very beautiful long hair. Kamala of course was none other than the famous Madhavikutty or Kamala Surayya, whom I absolutely worship.
I grew up in Pushavilasam in the 80's, a time when glory had faded in to a forgotten dream. My poor aunt, my valiamma struggled to manage the house with very less income. Her husband, my valiachan was a civil lawyer who took up cases for charities. His office was always buzzing with clients and the type writer tipped ceaselessly, but all that did not fetch them any money. Since my valiachan was a man on his own mission nobody dared to argue with him. Since my valiamma was a typical northern Keralite woman , she always spoke softly in front of her husband. And since this post is not about either of them I am reining in the flow of words.
It was fun to grow up there with my grandfather's books, looking at his portrait in the veranda imagining how things would be if he were still there. My mother seldom talks about her father. I assume that losing him at 16 would have made her insecure and that could be the reason why her job always gave her a great deal of satisfaction and sense of security.(Why oh why didn't I figure that out when I was young; understanding her could have totally eased my troubled teens.)
I am intrigued by this particular essay in one of his books. It's titled 'ulkrishtadarshangal' and he talks about the importance of having a goal in life. Somehow that makes me think about my present state and the question that is always there on the background . ' What am I doing with my life ?????' Ambition had always been a hot topic in my household as I was totally devoid of it. My lack of focus and sense of direction had worried my parents a lot. I always argued that ambitious people miss the most beautiful things in life. I was born a dreamer and technical education did not actually change me much. I really would have liked to talk to my grandfather if he were here about the things that puzzle me day and night.
May be the goal he is talking about does not have to be materialistic. It could be something spiritual too.
I recently read an article a cousin wrote about our grandfather. She has done such a fantastic job with it that if I attempt to list out his accomplishments it would only be a repetition. I just want to imagine the day he sat down and wrote some of these essays in the 30's, a good 10, 15 years before my mother was even born. He would have sat there on an easy chair on the veranda and wrote with a fountain pen on the neat stack of white paper on a writing board. May be it was a still night and he was disturbed occasionally by one of the toddlers and his beautiful wife would have tried her best to pacify them. May be a cricket chirped ceaselessly and he paused for a minute and listened to it. May be it suddenly started raining and he put away his writing board and stood there near the parapet and watched the rain.
Isn't it amazing that his thoughts found their way to me, his grand daughter halfway across the globe almost a century after they were originated.
Technology really is a blessing even for dreamers!
Technology really is a blessing even for dreamers!
