Chapter 2 : Amma and Appa

One day, a famed vocalist was rendering his kutcheri in a Sabha. He had a good voice and strove to give his best. The accompanying artistes were also very enthusiastic and made one wonder whether it was a dance in progress ! So beautifully were they all synchronized. When the alapana came in Raag Kambodhi, I forgot myself. I do not know how long I remained in that state, but when I finally recovered, I saw a young child hugging me with his dainty arms. He endeared with an easy familiarity and I couldnt help but catch him in a tight embrace. He was so pleased with this that he kicked his short legs in the air.

“Pokkiri ! How did you come here ?” I asked

“I saw you, and came running immediately” he replied.

The peppermint he was chewing in his mouth appeared like a small mound in his cheek. Then he opened his palm and showing a sweat drenched peppermint offered “Do you want it ? Come on, have it.”

“No my dear. I am satisfied if you tell me another story.”

***

I talked about Appa the other day. You dont know him. He would be very respectful, very helpful and obedient to elders. But he did what he considered right and will not heed anybody else.

Amma had adjusted herself and kept everything ready as per his needs. When he goes for his bathe, water at the right warmth would be kept ready with soap and oil. When he finishes his bath, his bath towel, comb, mirror, baniyan and veshti would be waiting for him in his room. After dressing, when he sits down to eat, Amma will stand with the fan in her hand. She know exactly when Appa would start sweating ! When he starts for office, she would have kept warm water, the tonic he takes, betel leaves, money purse and hand-kerchief all laid out for him to pick up on his way out. She used to ensure there was some loose change in his purse so that he is not inconvenienced for lack of it. The bus conductors were not always polite if you didnt have the correct change for the ticket ! Before he starts, she would go out and make sure the signs are all auspicious. She would know when his soiled clothes require to be given to the laundry and when is it due for return. She also knew exactly when his fountain pen required to be refilled with ink.

When Amma is not home for a day or two, it was a sight to see Appa struggling in all sorts of problems. Shaking his hands and legs, he would create a racket in the house, shouting “I will take sanyaas. There is nobody to look after me !” But is renunciation so easy as that ? One has to wash his own saffron clothes !

Amma would taunt him, “Please take sanyaas right away - I will become your mail follower ! Just let me know what all we need to carry with us. Safety razor, talcum powder, mirror, your favourite flannel waist coat - wont you need it ? Then of course you need to have coffee four times a day, else you would get a headache !” Amma will thus make fun of him. Though Appa used to shout, he would also become docile very swiftly. Amma knew exactly how to maneuver him. Sometimes, if Appa shouts too much, she would serve tiffin silently. Appa will consume the tiffin and become normal.

Sometimes she will concede and say, “Okay, I was busy with something else..” while on other occassions, she will pretend to get angry herself, matching Appa in a shouting contest but finally bring him around. All is well that ends well !

Things became a trifle difficult for Appa after I was born asAmma had to spend more time with me and Appa never liked atending to his own needs, He started losing his temper more often and shouted much more often. I suspect that he became a little jealous of me.

One day, when coffee was delayed, Appa got upset and started complaining that his routine had been spoilt, Immediately Amma said, “The baby overslept.. so your coffee got delayed a little. Is it so big a issue ?”

“Aamaam.. the baby has become a convenient excuse for you to cover up all your lapses.”, Appa would mumble and calm down as he sipped his coffee.

On another evening, when Appa returned from office, Amma was playing with me in the verendah making me laugh at her ittachu. Father quietly stood and watched us play. Later when Amma brought him his coffee, he angrily said “I dont need it. You dont have the understanding to give coffee immediately to a husbandwho comes exhausted from office.”

“Whats this ? You also saw how divinely the baby laughed ! If you look at the child’s face, all your exhaustion will vanish. The Paati from the opposite house had come. She told me, ‘Your child is so beautiful. Dont show him to all and sundry. Beware of the evil eye.’”, so Amma would manage to divertthe subject.

“Oh yes - that the opposite house Paati said and this house Paati listened to it”, Appa would retort pointing to Amma, “Pure humbug !” but then his anger would have vanished.

Before I was born, a punyaaga vachanam was held at the house of a close friend but they did not invite my parents. They gave some lame excuses later but Appa knew the reason - “Its because I dont have any child and he thinks I may cast an evil eye” he told Amma, feeling much hurt.

I had a stroke of fever the day after my birthday. Everyone seemed to know the reason behind it. “So many guests yesterday, so many saw him, hugged him. That is exactly the cause of this.”

“Sshh.. silent.. all of you” Appa said. But he did not get to sleep at all that night. “There is no other reason for his fever.. were all those old ladies right after all ?” he asked Amma. “If you think it, thats what it will be.” she said.

I seem to have lost track of my story - I started telling you something and meandered on to something else. Till my second year, Appa had to forego much of his comforts. I used to cry in the middle of the night. Appa would be furious. I will also sleep through the day time and Amma would keep silencing Appa asking him not to make any noise. “Why dont you go out with your friends ? The child has just gone to sleep after a long while.” she would say.

I used to smile easily when I saw Amma and never when I saw Appa, He will do all kinds of antics, make all kinds of faces trying to get some smile out of me but no success. I would only scream all the louder !

“Oh please ! The child is getting scared,” Amma will say and take me away. One day she lifted me and lovingly said “Kannaa ! You will grow to be much more well-behaved than your father.”

Stung, Appa immediately retorted, “What foolishness are you pouring into our child ! You dont realize what you are saying and anyway, the child also doesnt understand it. You have really become a blabbermouth of late.”

“Why are you getting so worked up over my simple statement ? It doesnt matter whether the child can understand it or not. There is nothing wrong in what I said, is there chinnakili - thangakili - challakili - kunju rajamani” so Amma would go on pampering me leaving Appa to grumble angrily.

Appa was generally not very careful with money. Everyone knew him to be overtly generous - nay, terribly naive who would readily hand over money when even mildly persuaded. Appa would act a philanthropist and suffer for lack of it himself. Seeing this, Amma ensured he had very limited money in his purse. People who borrowed money from him citing very tight situations would conveniently forget about it once they had the money and Appa could not bring up the courage to ask them to return it even when they visited our house. It is easy to give, makes you feel good too to act the Giver ! But how difficult it is to ask for its return ?

One Sadagopachariar over different occasions had managed to borrow four rupees from Appa. Then he borrowed another ruppee making it five, and then brought it to a round ten by borrowing another five, promising of course to return it on the first of the next month. Once Appa resolved never to lend him another anna. But the resolute Sadagopachariar managed to exert so much pressure that he left richer by ten rupees, saying “I will return it in just two days.” Appa gave him a cheque so that Amma doesnt come to know about this. For the next months. Sadagopachariar was not to be seen. After that, if Appa ran into him, he would just laugh and make no mention of the money he owed. Now-a-days, Appa hides himself if he sees Sadagopachariar coming his way so that he can avoid being cursed with a “This useless fellow is asking for his money back !” by the man. Sadagopachariar for his part has no such reservations. He greets Appa with a vigorous “Jai Hind” whenever they meet.

“Please lend me ten rupees, I will return it on the first” another friend asked him once. He didnt mention which first it was. Appa handed over the money to him readily enough but whenever he reminded his friend about the loan, he would receive a flippant reply on the lines of “What man ! You dont have a care in the world. You and your wife, just the two of you. You deposit everything in the bank and I am sure you have a fat bank balance. Compare that with my state. I married seven years ago. Six kids. The salary gets consumed in just three days.”

After I was born though, Appa’s expenses mounted and his friends also began to stop badgering him. Just as Appa was beginning to feel secure, another friend visited him and enquired kindly, “How is the child at home ?”

“Oh he is fine” replied Appa

“My wife Kamalam had gone to your house yesterday to meet your wife. She was gushing about the baby. ‘Oh ! he is so sweet. He takes after his father ! He plays so beautifully and I did not want to come away at all’ she told me”

“Oh ho ! Very nice” was all Appa commented

“You are a very lucky man ! Wont your son be as intelligent as you ?I have often remarked to my wife that you both are made for each other, and I had to end up with a dead wood like her ! Oh, I almost forgot the matter for which I came to meet you. My father in law has finally agreed to return my old dues of Rs 400 by this month end. I am going to personally go and collect it.”

“Thats good news indeed”

“Yes. Once I get the money, the first thing I will do is to return your dues of Rs 27. I have kept you waiting for too long. How patient you have been with me !”

“Please do as you please !”

“Hey - I still have to inform you the purpose of this talk. I need thirteen rupees urgently. I have no money for the ration. As soon as I get my money, I will definitely return the forty rupees. My father-in-law’s money will come..”

Appa quickly handed him the money before he could proceed any further. If the money is going to go anyway, why also endure the pain of all this ring-a-role talk ?

When he returned home, he received a royal scold from Amma. “Cant you keep some money in your hand without letting it slip through ? Is there any person as foolish as you ? Do you think you will ever get back any of the money from him ? You may as well have thrown the money into the well.”

Appa could not say anything other than, “Whatever.. I have given it to him. He mentioned so many good things about our child and I just melted”

Amma let the matter drop there and extending me to him said, “See how he leaps at you ! Give him a nice kiss !”

Ada ! I keep on talking ! There - Appa has returned from office. He is calling Amma. Can you hear it ?

***

The vidwan’s voice rose clearly. The kutcheri was drawing to a close and he was rendering “raajeeva nayana daayakaa” as mangalam. I looked around. The youngster was nowhere to be seen. He must have silently slid out suddenly.

Chapter 1 - I am born

A certain uneasiness has crept into my mind over the past few days and has been disturbing me. One evening, it ventured again into my mind - I tried to identify it, but couldnt. I tried to grasp it, chasing it to the best of my abilities, but no - it managed to elude me comfortably. It ran around my heart and eluded my clutches. If I thought it had left me at last, it used to beckon me from some corner and cry gleefully, “I am here - catch me if you can !”

I was finally tired of it. As I reclined in my chair, exhausted, I felt it slowly move around me. I well knew that if I tried to catch it, it would run away again. So I sat there quietly, pretending not to notice it, not to see it. I closed my eyes. Then, I felt a movement close to me which caused me to open my eyes. A tiny little figure was climbing on to my chair - it was a boy, just about five years or so ! He managed to climb on to my chair, then stepping on his tiny arms he jumped to the table and sat in front of me.

“Aele” I exclaimed, chiding him affectionately, “What mischief is this ? What will happen if you fall down !”

“Nothing will happen, because I will not fall down !” replied the child

“Why have you come, kaNNu ?”

“I came to tell you a story, just like the other day. Would you like to listen to it ?”, asked the child

“Of course ! Do tell me raja payale”, I said.

He then started his story, and as his narration proceeded, I felt much lighter in my heart.

**

I know what all happened in my house before I was born, because my mother repeated it to me lakhs and crores of times ! Amma used to consider her marriage a surprise. She never bothered with the prospective matches her father used to bring. Hundreds of horoscopes would he bring hoping for a match. Finally, after all the matching, he short-listed three and asked my mother to select one. She flushed with shyness and ran away. Chinnamma (Amma’s mother) said, “You have no sensibilities How will she be able to say anything if you ask her like that ? It would be more proper if you call the boy here so that she can also see him.”

When my father came, he was obviously quite stiff. He did not even eat the snacks offered to him satisfactorily. He left soon saying that he would consult his mother and inform them.

That day, Amma went around the Thulasi maadam praying, “Thaaye ! Para devathe ! Please finalize my marriage with him only.” This was a secret she buried within herself then. Much later in their married life, when father once accused her saying, “You dont have any affection for me ! You have regard for your side of the family only”, she was highly piqued and told him about this.

Appa yearned very much for my arrival as was Amma. She used to playfully ask him, “When the child is born, would he be like you or me ?” and before he could respond, she would reply herself “It will be beautiful if it is like me !”

Immediately, Appa would say, “If he becomes like me, he will be very smart, intelligent.”

Amma would mock him saying, “Ade appa ! Your intelligence ! Do you know how many shirts and pants you have ?” to which Appa would retort, “You only know enough to admire your own beauty. Go and have a closer look in the mirror !” But the fact was that Appa was truly smitten by her and himself admired her beauty. Would he otherwise spent so many hours just gazing at her face like that ?

Though both Appa and Amma were desirous of having a child, they were too shy to talk about it to others. They were eagerly looking to the family elders to talk about it. More than anybody, Appa’s grandmother gave voice to her anxiety. She was keen that a child should be born to my father soon so that she could pamper the child for at least an year before death should come to her.

After Amma and Appa were married, grandmother used to spend a lot of time braiding Amma’s hair in different styles and beautifying her in different fashions. She desired very much that I should be born early. She used to visit various astrologers. Come rain or shine, nothing deterred her in this quest. Poor old lady ! “The dasa has to change.. Sun has to come to Budh’s house.. Since Guru is in the fifth house, the child will excel the father” they would tell her. “It will be nice if it is a boy” the Alampet astrologer said.

“He has asked us to perform Nāga Prathista in the next dasa..” she used to prattle every day after listening to the different astrologers.

Appa would feign complete disinterest in her talk, though his ears would be wide open to her words and he absorbed whatever she said. Many elders recommended a pilgrimage to Jambukeswaram or Sethu. I was born during that time.

Before I was born, Appa and Amma had engaged in many entertaining quarrels over whether I would be a boy or a girl. After a dream, mother believed it would be a girl. Her mother had apparently appeared in the dream and had handed over a girl child to her, advising her to keep it safe. Appa was hoping I would be a boy, but then he could not get such enlightening dreams !

Anyway, I was born. Father’s grandmother was all smiles and couldnt close her mouth. Poor lady ! She had so much love. She was ever ready to stretch her legs out and laying me down, bathe me after applying oil and powder. She used me feed me with castor oil when I cried in protest.

There was a lot of bally-ho over my naming. Amma wanted to name me after her father but was hesitant to openly mention it. Appa was not too bothered about my name - he was just satisfied that his dream of a boy has been fulfilled. “Are you sure it was your mother who came in your dream ? Did you see clearly if it was a girl or a boy ?” he would taunt her, smugly. His heart was not in work. He would return home early from work and just keep gazing at the pale face of my mother and me sleeping most of the time by her side.

Oh yes - I was talking about my name. Appa’s mother and granny unanimously said, “Keep the family deity’s name !” Seeing Appa’s hesitation, she said firmly “We will name him Subramanyam and call him Mani”

Appa betook Amma’s opinion on this. “Let it be as your Mother and grandmother wish”

Appa, thinking that she was feeling hurt, tried to placate her by saying, “Dont be silly. How can we all call him if we name him after your father ? Your Chinnamma, brothers and sisters will not use it. So lets do as Mother says. We will name him Subramanyam.”

Amma smiled at this and said, “Very smart ! You talk so smartly. But you seem to have forgotten my father’s name. Dont you really remember ?” she asked. Appa recalled his father-in-law’s name only then !

That evening when Amma’s father visited, Appa received him saying “We have named the child after you !” Among the Gods who grant wishes, isnt the father-in-law a real one after all ?

As per the wishes of Amma and granny, my name was finalized. But then who uses that name ? Appa calls me “Pokkiri kunju” or “Raja payale”. Amma uses a rather long one- “chinna kili - thanga kili - kunju kannaa - mani - my dear Rajamani” ! In Amma’s home, I am “Raji’s son” and in Appa’s, “Ambi’s son”. Let it be any name. They all poured their affection on me.

My birthday came. Father’s friends swamped us with their gifts. A dozen soft balls, thirty gowns, twelve silver items and two dozen rubber dolls. Those who gift seem to think of gifting similar items. Would it happen this way otherwise ?

“Only you and I can play with these balls” said Appa

“So what ? Let your son have some laughs at our expense.” she replied.

My parents were proud of Appa’s boss attending the function and presenting a hile silver cloth dress and used to repeatedly talk of it. Whether the boss remembered it or not, this was one of the happiest memories of my parents’ married life.

Five years later, he took me one day to his office. It was a holiday and there was a celebration of some sort in the office. I am not usually taken to the office because my father was apprehensive that someone may make some kind of improper comment, while mother also opined that it was not proper to take me to work places. So this was the only occasion when Appa took me to his office. Everyone there hugged me. I saw Appa’s boss for the first time there. Appa was rather afraid of him. But he was so friendly and affectionate. Rubbing me on the back, he asked my father “Is he your son ?” What elaborate antics Appa peformed just to answer “Yes !”. He twisted his buttons, rubbed his watch, scratched his head and struggled to find the right word. But I remained confident. Without ceasing to rub my back, the Boss said “He appears to be a very intelligent lad. You do not bring him here at all. We last saw him on his birthday.. a full five years ago !”

On returning home, Appa related all his Boss’ statements to Amma who hung on every word he uttered and happily probed him for more details and asked him to repeat it again and again. Appa was only too happy to oblige ! He usually used to retort with a “I just told you everything. How many times should I repeat ?” when she asked him to repeat. But now, he was repeating his story with relish..

**

“You naughty feller” I said and tried to catch him. But then before I realized what had happened, he had slipped out. I realized I was all alone in the room..

Preface

Rajiyin piLLai has been one of my long-time favourites of Devan. It has a haunting simplicity and an enduring emotional appeal. And moreover, in its first form as a serialized story in Ananda Vikatan, it had some of the best black and white sketches by artist “Raju”. I used to spend more time with the sketches than the novel itself.

Raji’s son is an every-home, everyday child with a keen sense of observation, humour and humaneness. This book is more a novellette than a novel and is a colection of sketches from everyday life of a middle-class Madras family of the 1950s. Devan manages to capture the essence of the period in a very subtle but convincing way. He does not delve into too many details - the period is apparent more in the dialogues and the relationships between the protagonists. Devan also appears to have been influenced by Wodehousian fashion of writing and in other collection of short stories has followed literally the style of the Mulliner short stories, though innovating brilliantly in capturing an Indian flavour in the stories.

Rajiyin piLLai acquires even more poignancy when you consider the fact that Devan never had a child and yearned for one so much ! This reflects in most of his stories but particularly stirringly in this book.

This is Devan at his emotional best.

An introduction

Hello friends,

I hail from a typical South Indian, Tamil family who have delved deep into Tamil literature and forever keep talking about differemt books. However , my father having worked in a bank was transferred all over the country and I have spent most of my life in the north of India with the result that I dont know to read Tamil well. Definitely not well enough to enjoy a novel.

But I love books and read a lot of English literature and was thirsting to read Tamil novels as well, esp those by Kalki and Devan. It was hence a very me when Karthik Narayanan did a yeoman service to all of us by translating Kalki's "Ponniyin Selvan". I enjoyed the story very much. It was rivetting stuff ! I hungered for more but then translations have been few and far between. My father recently managed to get a translation of Devan's "Justice Jagannathan" which again I ejoyed immensely. I then started badgering my father to translate some of his favourites for us - those who want to read the Tamil stories but sadly dont know the language. He obliged. And he has just completed translating one of his favorite books, Devan's "Rajiyin pillai". He hand wrote the translation and I have finished reading through it twice. I can honestly say it was a wonderful read. I want to share this with the rest of the world.

So I am typing his translation chapter by chapter and shall post chapters here as and when I complete them. I welcome all your comments and any suggetions. I would like to eventually send it to Devan Estates and see if it can be published.

All credits for the book to Devan and for the translation to my father, K. Sekar. Of course, all typo errors are due to yours truly,