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| Puthumai Pithan |
The only son of Melagaram M. K.
Ramasami Pillai, Mr M.K.R. Kanthasami Pillai, also known as Chellappa, was
standing at the safe corner of a junction where ‘Broad way’ and ‘Esplanade’
met, and was seriously contemplative about something. ‘If I travel by tram,
I need to spend one and a quarter of an ana 1, I will be able
to save a quarter of an ana. In that case, I can have betal leaves and areca
nut at a nearby shop and then reach home. If I succeed in hoodwinking the bus
conductor by not buying ticket till the Central Station, I can buy a ticket for
Triplicane from there. In that case, I can have a half cup of coffee and then
reach home. But no betel leaves…When the conductor himself is inviting me to
cheat him, it will be unethical on my part if I disappoint him by not allowing
him to get cheated. Wont’t it be? If he had given a ticket from the
Central Station as I requested him yesterday, I would have had a coffee. It
would be good idea to have a cup of coffee now. Wouldn’t it be?’
When Mr Pillai, having the aforesaid
birth and address credentials, was immersed in such an ethical inquiry, the God presented himself in front of him.
However, the God didn’t scare Mr
Pillai to make him indecisive with his sudden appearance. He didn’t insist Mr
Pillai to receive the boons from him either, rather he simply enquired him,
“Sir, How can I go to Triplicane?”
“You can go by tram, or bus or you can
walk asking the people for address. You can even find your way to Madurai,
provided you are willing to ask” Mr Kanthasami Pillai told.
“I am not going to Madurai. I am just
going to Triplicane. Which route is the shortest?” God asked him. Both of them
laughed their heart out.
They managed to come out of the
stampeding crowd, came near to a cobbler shop run by an out-caste man.
The heir of Melagaram Ramasami Pillai
was forty five years old. His slender build looked like he had not eaten food
for the last forty five years. A fully grey haired head with some black
strands. Face not shaven for two weeks. Extremely sharp eyes which could pick
up his friends even if they walked long way away. Unbleached shirt, unbleached
Dhoti and unbleached upper cloth.
Mr Kanthasami Pillai looked at the
person keenly who asked him the route. Though he couldn’t assess his age
accurately, he assumed that he must be either sixty years old or could be even
sixty thousand years old! But his body was well-built, shining without any
signs of depravation for food during these many years. His hair was completely
grey without even a strand of black hair, untied, and falling on his neck
majestically like mane of a lion. At the centre of his throat was there a big
black mole. It was darker in colour, radiating all around and becoming softer
at times like a frenzied man calming down. That laughter! Sometimes that
laughter was so scary that it got Mr Kanthasami frightened. Sometimes, it
enticed like smile of a baby.
“I feel thirsty” God told.
“You won’t get water here. We can have
a coffee, if you like. Yonder, there is a coffee shop” Mr Kanthasami Pillai
told.
“You may also join me. Let us see how
it tastes” God told him.
Actually Mr Kanthasami Pillai is a
very broad minded man. He never discriminates people on silly grounds such as
strangers or known ones.
“Alright…let’s go” Kanthasami Pillai
told. ‘If he asks me to settle the bill, what will I do?’ Kanthasami
Pillai became apprehensive about his motive. Yet, Kanthasami Pillai’s
philosophical outlook- ‘if someone is not courageous, he will have miseries
in life’- emboldened him to go. Both of them entered a big hotel. The
God was walking very closely behind Mr Kanthasami Pillai, brushing him.
They sat by a table. Without giving
opportunity to the server to tell the list of items he had mugged up, Mr
Kanthasami shook his head at him, “Two cup of strong coffee…should be hot”
“Don’t forget the Tamil grammar. You
should say ‘two cup of coffees” God told him.
“You are wrong. It should be ‘two cups
of coffee’…” Mr Kanthasami Pillai established his mastery over the Tamil
Grammar.
Feeling defeated, the God looked
upwards and told “This building is tall and sufficiently ventilated with light.
Isn’t it”
“You had thought that a big hotel
would look like a chicken coop. Hadn’t you? Are you thinking that is just like
building a temple? The Health department officials won’t leave you doing that.”
Mr Pillai reinforced his victory over him once again.
Once the word ‘Temple’ fell into his
ears, God started shivering.
“What does that mean?” God asked him. Despite
failure, he didn’t give up. “Explain further what you mean by health?” God
asked him.
“O! You ask about health! It means,
keeping the tables cleaned with sanitizers to avoid penalty by the health
officials. It is a subject taught in the school just to make the boys fail in
their examinations. According to it, these flies and mosquitoes are as
dangerous as giants. In addition to it, it will be much more dangerous if they
come inside hotels like these. It has been written that our life won’t be spared
in such cases” Mr Kanthasami Pillai told him. He was surprised at his own
speech, and even suspected whether he was blessed by Goddess Saraswati who had
come to dwell in his tongue.
The God didn’t pay attention to him.
He was looking at a fly which was struggling in the puddle of spilled over
coffee left by someone before they came there. The fly was trying to come out
of near-viscous puddle of left over coffee.
“Here it is.! God shrieked. He
stretched out his finger to help it. It flew away. But his fingers had touched
the left over coffee.
“You have touched the left overs,
haven’t you? Take this water and wash your finger under the table” Pillai told
him.
‘The fly shouldn’t come inside. But
no big fuss about hygiene if one washes his hands under the table’
God mumbled himself.
The server brought two cups of
coffee.
The God drank the coffee. His face
displayed a divine shine of drinking Soma Banam 2.
“It’s all my dalliance with it” God
expressed his happiness.
“It’s not your dalliance sir. It’s the
dalliance of the hotel owner. He has mixed up chicory powder with coffee. Your
dalliance must be with paying the bills” Mr Kanthasami Pillai could somehow put
these words into his ears successfully. A sense of being triumphant that he had
resolved the problem of paying bills tactfully.
“Chicory powder? What does it mean?”
God asked him, rose his head with a doubt.
“Chicory powder will also look like
coffee powder. But it’s not coffee. Just like some people cheating the society
in the name of god” Kanthasami Pillai replied.
Immediately after he heard the word
‘god’, God got startled.
While making the payment for the
bills, God gave the Hotel Owner a new hundred rupees currency note. Mr
Kanthasami Pillai was shocked at seeing it.
“If you need changes for this, you
could have asked me. What is need of three ana bill? Is it to
clean the eyes or the mind?” the hotel owner asked him.
“We just came here to have only coffee
” God told.
“Then, you must be carrying
sufficient changes. Don’t you? The hotel owner asked.
As the crowd waiting there after the
meals was getting bigger, the hotel owner gave them the balance amount without
kicking up a fuss about it. “It’s ninety-nine rupees and thirteen anas-
O! Godman! Please count it before leaving.”
“It will be alright for us anyway once
you settle it down. Won’t it be? I don’t know accountancy” God told him.
The hotel Owner was happy as he could
insert a counterfeit currency note of ten rupees in it while giving him the
changes.
Both of them came out of the hotel.
There was not much crowd at the entrance. They stood there. The God picked up
the fifth currency note from the stack he was holding in his hand, tore it into
pieces, and threw it away.
Mr Kanthasami Pillai suspected whether
the person standing beside him was a mad. Stunned, he stood there with his
mouth wide open.
“It is a counterfeit note. He tried to
cheat me. That is why I cheated him.” God told. The smile on his face was damn
scary.
“You should have given it to me. I
would have dragged that Brahmin fellow by his tuft.” Kanthasami Pillai told
angrily.
“Just like the way you are okay with
chicory powder, I am also okay with it. Take it easy. For him, only ten rupees
was bigger. That is why I allowed him to cheat me” God reasoned.
Kanthasami felt that it was too much
for him and he wanted to leave him who had come on his own and got him a
coffee.
“You want to go to Triplicane. Don’t
you? Come… let’s get into the tram” Kanthasami Pillai told him.
“No…I don’t want to travel in the
tram. My head will spin. We can reach there if we start walking slowly. Can’t
we? Asked God.
“Sir…I have been walking through whole
of the day. I won’t be able to take a step ahead. Can we take rickshaw?
Kanthasami Pillai asked him. ‘I am the one guiding him the route. So he, the
one who could tear off a ten rupees note easily, can bear the cost of rickshaw
too. Can’t he?’ Mr Kanthasami was thinking in this direction.
“O! That man-pulled vehicle! Yes…it is
comfortable one for travel” God was happy.
Both of them boarded rickshaw.
“Sami…wait a second! Let me lit the lamp” the rickshaw puller told them.
It was getting dusk and electric
lights were on.
“Within a very short span of time, we
have become so close to each other. Haven’t we? I don’t know even who you are.
You don’t know who I am. We are destined to meet in this bustle of town’s
market area. Aren’t we?...”
The God smiled at him. His teeth
shined in the dark. He told him, “Let’s not get bothered about who I am. Could
you tell me something about yourself?”
Kanthasami Pillai was always enthusiastic
about introducing himself. That too, when he had someone sitting beside him in
the rickshaw, he wouldn’t miss the chance to introduce himself. Would
he?
“Have you come across a magazine
called “Sidda Vaidya Theebikai?” Kanthasami Pillai asked him.
“No…” God said.
“It means you are still not familiar
with medical science” –Kanthasami Pillai opined.
“I am familiar with it”- God replied.
‘What kind of an embarrassment is
this?’ Kanthasami Pillai thought. “Let’s consider it other way round. I
mean to say, you are familiar with medical sciences but not with Sidda Vaidya
Theebikai. Given that fact, it is sure that your knowledge in medical science
is not yet complete. We have all the seventeen years magazines in bound
volumes. I request you to come to my home at least once to read them. Only
after reading them, you can…..”
‘They are magazines published in
seventeen years. Aren’t they? Seventeen multiplied by twelve…two hundred and
four’- God shuddered at calculation of the very number of magazines. Nevertheless,
he had a streak of hope that it might be a quarterly magazine.
“Theebikai is a monthly magazine.
Annual subscription amount for inland is one rupee. For overseas subscription
it is two and three quarter of a rupee. Life time subscription is twenty five
rupees. If you join as a subscriber, there are many benefits you can enjoy. I
will send the magazines on one year subscription. You can join as Life time
subscriber later” he was trying to add God as subscriber.
‘Apart from dumping seventeen bound
volumes on my head, is he thinking of taking away twenty five rupees from me
even before chasing me away? I will never allow him to cheat me’- God
thought himself, asked him, “whose life time is it?”
“It is only your life time. Neither is
my lifetime not the age of magazine. It is an indestructible phenomenon. Even
after my death, someone will be running the magazine. I have made the
arrangement for that too.” Kanthasami Pillai explained.
That time the rickshaw puller slowed
down the rickshaw, turned back and looked at them.
Mr Kanthasami Pillai became
apprehensive about the co-traveller that he might jump out of rickshaw if it
slowed down.
“Why are you looking behind? Watch out
your way…see…one motor vehicle is coming in the front. Don’t hit it. Go fast”
Kanthasami Pillai reproached the rickshaw puller.
“Sami…are you human beings and some
kinds of spirits? It feels that no one is sitting in the rickshaw as it seems
weightless like air” the rickshaw puller said.
“We will pay you also like air. You
better pull the rickshaw carefully” Kanthasami Pillai chided him.
“I am running a Siddha clinic. The
earnings from the clinic are somewhat sufficient to take care of magazine and
family. I have written about alchemy in this magazine. I have got an old palm
leaf manuscript. It describes many brilliant medical procedures and
treatments.” Kanthasami Pillai again started showing his interest in medicine
enthusiastically.
The God thought that Mr Kanthasami
Pillai wouldn’t shut his mouth anymore. He asked Pillai, “How many persons do
you torment daily in the name of treatment?”
“No such big number to boast about.
See…you must always remember one fact that I am practising medicine just to run
my life. You must be adept enough to ensure that the disease is not fully cured
and at the same time the patient is also not dead. If only you ensure this, you
can run your business with diseases the patients brought in. The treatment,
either to cure diseases fully of finishing off the patients, won’t be in favour
of running a successful business. The disease should get cured gradually and at
the same time no big adverse effects of medicine should be seen on patient’s
health. This is fundamental trick of business. Or else, do you think it has
been possible for me to run the magazine for seventeen years without that
trick? Kanthasami Pillai asked God.
The God just nodded his head, an
affirmation of what Pillai had told him.
“Give me your hands. Let me check your
pulse.” Kanthasami Pillai took God’s right hand into his.
“Are you going to check the pulse in
the running vehicle?” God smiled at him.
“It all depends upon the skills of a
physician.” Kanthasami Pillai replied.
He examined his pulse carefully for
some seconds. “You seem to be highly choleric and habituated of consuming
poison” Kanthasami Pillai asked him respectfully.
“You are smart. I have other problems
too” God smiled.
“I guess we are talking about
unnecessary things. Leave them aside. First tell me, where do you want to go in
Triplicane?” Kanthasami Pillai asked him.
“To house No 7, Office Venkatachala
Muthali lane” God told.
“hhhhaaa…it is my address. Isn’t it?
Whom do you want to meet there?”
“I want to meet Mr Kanthasami Pillai”
“What! It’s me. I am that Kanthasami
Pillai who you look for. Only that God almighty has brought us together. Hasn’t
he? I beg your pardon for being impertinent in asking this. I don’t know about
you. May I know who you are?” Kanthasami Pillai asked him
politely.
“Me? I am the God almighty.” The
God replied calmly, nonchalantly. He was scratching his chin thoughtfully,
looking towards the sky.
Kanthasami Pillai was shocked. ‘What
kind of madness is this? This guy must be funny!’
“I just wanted to pay a visit to the
earth. So you will be my protégé for next few days.”
Kanthasami Pillai got confused, spluttered.
“You can stay at my home as many days as you like. I don’t have any objections
to it. But please don’t tell everyone that you are the God almighty. While I
have no problem even if the society thinks that you are mad, I am worried that
my wife shouldn’t think like that” Kanthasami Pillai entreated him.
“Stop the rickshaw near that lamp
post” kanthasami Pillai told the rickshaw puller.
The Rickshaw stopped. Both of them got
down.
The God took out a shiny one rupee
note, gave it to the rickshaw puller.
“May God bless you sameee” the
rickshaw puller showered his heartful blessings.
‘Wasn’t it funny that someone is
blessing the God himself?’
“Look at this bloke! Are you worthy
enough to bless an elderly man? Leave from here” Kanthasami Pillai chided him.
“O! What a word of blessing! I have
never been blessed with such words, so soothing to my ears and heart. Let him
do that” God told.
“If you give him two and half anas less,
then you will find out how truly he would bless you ” Kanthasami Pillai told.
“Master! I am a man of principles. I
can never be commanded with unethical practices. Sami…I would be sitting at
that place over there. If you come by that way, you must bless me” he lifted
the rickshaw’s front leg.
“I know…I know…you are a very loyal servant
to big principles. Aren’t you? I know ….You, bugger, are a principled man in
drinking only toddy" Kanthasami Pilai mocked at his loyalty to principles.
“If only you pull this rickshaw under
this scorching sun all through the day, you will understand my condition. What
is the use of finding fault with you? The God doesn’t have eyes. He has created
this society in which you are chiding me and I am accepting it without
complaints.” He left them, pulling his rickshaw.
The God laughed at aloud, laughed his
heart out. His heart was filled in with happiness and calmness.
“This is what the life on earth is all
about” Kanthasami Pillai told him.
“Is that all the life on earth?” God
asked him.
Both of them walked towards the house.
The God stopped when he came near to
the lamp post.
Kanthasami Pillai was also waiting for
him.
“O! My dear devotee!” God called him.
No elder man was standing there. There
appeared God in his full attire, dressed up in tiger hide, matted hair falling
like mane on his neck, a deer standing near him, an axe in his hands, and a
crescent upon his coiffure.
His eyes displayed a frenzy of
happiness. A smile on his lips.
“O! My dear devotee!” God called him
again.
Kanthasami Pillai became alert. He
understood that there was something seriously funny thing awaiting.
“Hello Mr God! Your theatrical
performance of throwing a boon at me will never work with me now. You will
leave me at once after giving a boon. Another God would come in. He would be
asking me for my head. I am not an idiot to get my head chopped off after
getting a boon from you. You know that I don’t have any objections either to
your visit to the earth or staying at my home as my guest. But if you want to
be friendly with me, you must behave like a human being, like me. You must obey
the rules of human society. Now, without neglecting what I have just told you,
you may come home”.
The God followed him silently. He felt
what Kanthasami had argued was, indeed, correct. ‘If I try to find out
anyone who actually prospered on this earth after getting boons, I would be
left with none’, God felt.
Kanthasami Pillai stood at the
entrance for a while, asked him, “How should I address you? Can I call you by
Parama Sivam or Ammaiyappa Pillai?” he asked.
“You can call me Parama Sivam. Old
Parama Sivam…”
“As I like to treat you as my father,
I would like to address you with that relation. You must accept it.” Kanthasami
Pillai requested.
“Don’t address me as father. You can
consider calling me as elder brother of your father so that we can avoid disputes
on my property” God smiled at him. He decided to adjust with the rules of the
earth and determined to be more careful.
“How much property do you own?”
Kanthasami Pillai asked him.
“I own this entire universe” God
replied.
“Don’t be afraid. I am not that
greedy” Kanthasami Pillai told, stepping inside the house.
2
The tin lamp in the front hall made
that place look like a sanctum sanctorum of a temple. Beyond that, a dark and
lengthy dining hall. Nothing was visible after that. A child, might be four
years old, was playing there. A charm that makes one’s heart filled with
pleasure. An ever-twinkling happiness in the eyes! With a curly rat- tail like
plait, braided in front and back of head, separating the hair with a lining
across head according to the old custom, the child was playing around. The
banana fibre thread holding the frontal tuft kept falling down, and thus
troubling child’s eyes whenever it bent down. It was holding a char coal piece
and a tile piece. A snug lower skirt, torn, hanging up to knees from the waist.
The child was trying to draw some lines on the floor. As the banana fibre
thread fell on eyes frequently, it sat straight, pulled it with both the hands
forcefully but in vain, painful. When it was under dilemma whether to cry out or
try one more attempt, its father entered the house.
“Father! The child ran to Kathasami
Pillai, hugged his legs. It looked up Kanthasami Pilai and asked, “What have
you brought for me?”
“Don’t you know I have brought myself
for you?” Kanthasami Pilai told him.
“Nothing new in it. I know you are
bringing yourself here every day. At least you could have brought some roasted
grams. Don’t you?”
“No…No…roasted gram is not good for
your health. Here you see! I have brought a grandfather for you.” Kanthasami
Pillai coaxed.
“Is it your child?" God asked. He
couldn’t take out his eyes from the child.
Kanthasami Pillai stood fixed,
hesitated.
“Your hesitation is
understandable! You know I am totally a vegetarian 3.
I love only rice cooked in earthen pot. I don’t even take milk or curd”. God
smiled at Kanthasami Pillai.
“It’s a long awaited and yet much
delayed arrival in my family like tendrils of curry leaves” Kanthasami Pilai
told him.
“Please be here. There is no supply of
water in the tap now. Let me bring some water in the pot.” Kanthasami Pillai
disappeared in the darkness inside.
The God sat on the floor, spreading
his towel.
His heart was full of vivaciousness
and a boundless peace of mind.
“Hey! Tendrils of Curry Leaves! Come
here!” God stretched out his hands to the child.
The child sat on his lap in one jump.
“My name is not curry leaves tendrils.
My name is Valli. My father calls me often ‘Karuppi’. Am I looking that
dark complexioned? The child asked him.
She didn’t expect reply from him. She
saw the black mole in his throat.
‘What is that grandpa? Looking like a
darker naval fruit. I feel like biting it.” She got up, winking at her eyes,
pressed her flower soft lips on his neck. He got goose bumps as her tender
teeth pressed on his neck. Even the body of God felt excited.
“It’s tickling.” God twisted his body,
giggled.
“Grandpa, have you got your throat
burnt and got a hole there? See…I also got one like that” she showed the black,
hardened blister at the tip of her finger.
“Yes dear child. It is only naval
fruit. Long ago, as some people gave me with love, I put them in my mouth.
Since some of them demanded their share, they strangled my throat. So, it had
got struck half way through in the throat itself. Leave it aside. Don’t you
have friends here to play? God asked her.
“I have vattu 4 and
a piece of char coal. Come…play with me? Don’t you?” she called Him. .
The child and the God started
playing Vattu.
Folding one knee, limping, God jumped
over the line.
‘Grandpa! You have lost the game” the
child clapped its hands, laughed.
“Why” God asked.
She told that he stepped on the
line and that was why he had lost.
“You should have told me about the
rules in advance.” God told her.
“It is your fault that you came to
play without knowing the game. Isn’t it your fault?” The child questioned him
with her elbow folded.
That time, Mr Kanthasami Pillai and
Mrs Pillai appeared from the darkness with water pots on their waists.
“He is our Kailashwara Periyappa.
Our girl from Karisankulam has been given in marriage to his cousin brother’s
son. Don’t you know that? Kanthasami Pillai explained.
“But I heard that he had become a
wandering mendicant. Is he that uncle? Welcome mama! My humble
greeting! She put down the pot and prostrated in front of him. Her traditional
hanging-ear stud touched her cheeks while
prostrating.
“Let you be bestowed with all
prosperities of life” God blessed her.
Gandhimathi madam (Yes…it is the name
of Mr Kanthasami’s wife) felt a sense of fulfilment in her heart which she had
never experienced in her life. Her mind was at peace. Her eyes were filled with
tears of joy.
“The rice bag is still lying at the
entrance” God reminded her.
“It is really unbearable to see this
man forgetting everything around him. Just a while ago, I asked him whether he
had bought rice. He said he hadn’t. He is giving medicine to the whole town.
But I am yet to find out medicine for his forgetfulness. Only the God who
created us should look into this matter.”Gandhimathi
complained.
“Yes…he is looking into it anyway.
Isn’t he? ” God told in a rustic tone.
“He must mock at his forgetfulness.
Only after that, some good sense will prevail upon this man.” She told.
God smiled.
God and Mr Kanthasami Pillai went to
the entrance.
“I told you earlier. You should not
involve in such tomfoolery.” Kanthasami Pillai murmured in his ears.
“It won’t be repeated” God assured
him.
Kanthasami Pillai tried lifting it
with all his might. The bag didn’t even move an inch.
“What a powerful young man are you?”
God mocked at him, sneered, lifted the bag and carried it on his waist.
“O! God! You are standing idle when
this elderly man is lifting it. Aren’t you? Go…can’t you support him on the
other side” Gandhimathi blurted.
“You don’t have to worry about it.
Just tell me where I should keep it?” God asked him.
“Let it be here in this hall itself.
You just keep it there itself.” Gandhimathi intervened.
When the God and Mr Kanthasami came to
veranda, it was 11’O clock in the night.
“What is bothering you now?” God
asked.
“Nothing. I just want to sleep.”
Kanthasami Pillai told, yawning.
“Grandpa, I will also sleep beside
you.” The child came running to him.
“Tell your mother to bring a pillow
and a mat” Kanthasami Pillai told her.
“Are you asking me also to sleep?” God
questioned.
“If you are with the human beings, you
must behave like them. Mustn’t you? If you don’t like to sleep, just keep lying
down on bed. Moving around during night will create problems” Kanthasami Pillai
warned God.
3
Mr kanthasami Pillai was writing
commentaries, sitting in the office of ‘Sidhdhaantha Theebikai’ magazine,
situated in Pavalakara Street. Interpretation of Bogar’s medical treatise was
being published periodically in the magazine of Mr Pillai.
He wrote, ‘Listen to me. Let me
explain. Take a well- grown sugar cane, mix it up with emerald powder, (Known
as Karuda Pachai also) blistering plant, Indian mistletoe thorns, and
thorn-apple in hot water …”. He looked at the street, saw the post man
leaving him without looking into his office, and got convinced that he wouldn’t
be able to despatch the magazine. He folded all the papers as a roll, kept them
in a corner and stretched his body lazily, cracked his
knuckles.
A rickshaw stopped at the entrance of
his house. God and the child got down from the rickshaw. Valli was wearing a
silk lower garment; handful of toffies.
“I and grandpa visited ‘dead colleges’
and ‘live-colleges’, the child jumped enthusiastically.
“For what the heck, they have
constructed a building only to fill in the skeletons and skins everywhere. It
seems to me that they intended to mock at me.” God told in a harsh tone.
“Do you think someone could do it with
that much wisdom? It might just have been their sheer petty enthusiasm to
showcase the splendor of God’s creations. Leave that aside. Give me twenty-five
rupees. I will include you as a life time subscriber. Somehow the magazine has
to be dispatched.” He stretched out his hands to him.
“Through this, who do you want to
cheat? For whose well-being are you doing this all? God smiled at him.
“Neither do I want to beg charity nor
borrow money from anyone. That is why I want to keep this transaction a pretty
business-like affair. You have just talked about ethics. Haven’t you? Whatever
sold on this earth, be it from ghee to gingelly oil, every item sold here is
adulterated. Don’t you know that?” Mr Kanthasami tried to justify his stand.
God delved into deep thought.
“Let’s leave that topic aside. There
is a herb called Karudapachai mentioned in Bogar’s medical
treatise. Is there any herb by that name? Or is it called Karudapichu?
“ Kanthasami Pillai asked.
“See Mr Kanthasami! I am only
responsible for the creation of life on the earth. I can’t be held responsible
for naming them. It is not justifiable. Is it? I don’t know what the heck that
name is all about. I created you. But it was your father who named you as
Kanthasami. Will you hold me responsible for that too?” God got Kanthasami’s
mouth shut.
“I think both of you are not in good
mood as you have just arrived in after roaming under the scorching sun. But,
don’t think that you have won me with your authoritative words in this verbal
duel. My only concern is that twenty five rupees will go waste if you curse me
in haste” Kanthasmai Pillai told him.
The child opened the packet, ate sweets
from it. She called the God out, “Grandpa, don’t talk to my father. He doesn’t
know anything. Taste this piece. It is very sweet.”
God picked up a small piece of laddu from
her, told, “Baby! The crumps are mine. The whole of it is yours. Is that
right?”
The child was pondering for a while,
holding one laddu in its hands.
“Grandpa, I can’t eat it fully,
thrusting it fully into my mouth. But you say, the crumps are yours. It means,
I won’t get anything. Will I? “the child asked him innocently.
God laughed his heart out. “No…it’s
all yours.” He told her.
“Is all mine? For me?” the child asked
him.
“Yes…it’s all yours” God replied.
“But if I eat all, I won’t feel
hungry, and if I don’t eat meals, my mother will beat me up. My father will
give me some laxative electuary.” The child was worried.
“Don’t worry. Your hunger won’t get
affected. ” God told.
“Let the sweets be given by a noble
soul like you, but please remember it has been purchased from a hotel”
Kanthasami Pillai warned.
“Don’t worry. I am here with you
anyway” God assured him.
“When did I say that you aren’t with
me here?” Kathasami Pillai told him.
Kanthasami Pillai remained silent for
seconds and asked” how much is the balance amount of hundred rupees after
today’s expenses?”
“Including the twenty five I gave you,
I have fifty rupees as balance amount in my hand.” God smiled.
“Then why are you still gloomy?”
“That’s what still I am not able to
figure it out”
“You can consider practicing medicine
like me”
“I don’t want to compete with you”
“You don’t have to think like that.
Actually you are not competing with me. Rather you are competing with the
stupidity of this world. If you are not comfortable with it, you may consider
preaching Siddanda discourses. Don’t you”
“You are not giving me suggestions for
my livelihood? Are you? Will I be able to earn money out of that?” God smiled
at him.
“Then what else have you planned?”
“You know I can dance well. What is
your opinion about it? If needed, I will call upon my wife, Devi”
Kanthasami Pillai remained silent for
some time again. “I don’t share your opinion in this anyway.” He told.
“How can I have my livelihood, then?
Don’t you know that the entire universe runs on my dance?
“Okay…Do as you wish” Kanthasami
Pillai told him.
Kanthasami Pillai laughed for a while.
“Okay. Let’s go” he took out his dhoti hanging on a nail, wore it.
“What about the child?” God
asked.
“She is sleeping. Isn’t she? Let her
sleep till we come back.” Replied Pillai.
Past fifteen minutes, three persons
entered the bungalow of Divan Bhagadur Brahadeeswara Sasthiri. One was
Kanthasami Pillai, other two were the God and his wife, Devi.
“I have been giving him gold
ash 5. I hope he would listen to my words” Kanthasami
Pillai told him, climbing the stairs of veranda. Other two were following him.
Devi had a small bundle in her hand.
“Inform the master that I have come to
meet him” Kathasami Pillai told the servant in a commanding tone.
“O! Pillai! Welcome…please come in.
The gold ash was over yesterday. As you have not come to my
home, I was worried a bit.” A man known as Divan Bhagadur with a feeble frame,
in dhoti, wearing a spectacle with gold frame, joyfully talking, came running
towards him. He greeted everyone with his folded hands and sat on his easy
chair.
“Please have a seat…Please…” Divan
Bahgadur told them.
Kanthasami Pillai examined his pulses,
told him, “Now you are alright. I will send the Gold Ash in the evening. I just
came here to introduce these people to you. These two are versatile dancers,
having ocean of knowledge in dance. We will be highly obliged if you make an
arrangement for their dance programme at your Nrithiya Kalmandala.”
On hearing this, Divan Bhagadur was
downbeat at once as his enthusiasm seemed to have been disappeared like a
tortoise pulling its head and legs into its shell. He became very withdrawn and
broody, nodding his head thoughtfully scratching his chin with his forefinger
and thumb.
“His name is Koothanaar. This woman’s
name is Parvathi. They are married couple” Kanthasami Pillai elucidated their
relationship to him.
“I haven’t heard about you earlier.
Have you ever performed anywhere before this?” he asked Koothanaar, looking at
Devi.
Without giving opportunity to God to
speak, Devi told him, “There is no place left where we haven’t danced”
“I haven’t seen any, though. It’s
alright. Let it be. This lady is very dark in complexion. Such women may not be
preferred on the dais. You know?” the ‘complexion-concerned’ Divan Bhagadur
told her.
“Are you searching for a bride or
organizing a dance programme? Devi asked him.
“I beseech you not to be angry. Let me
put the matter in perspective. It is true that the relation between art and
dark complexion is not even worth of quarter of an ana. I have
been the president of the Kala Manadala for thirty years. I can
say that it is the eyes of those spectators that are dark.”
“Hell with your Kala Manadala
and your nonsense!” Devi rose up.
“You can’t afford to be angry in this
manner” both Divan Bhagadur and Kanthasami Pillai tried to assuage her, rose up
from the chair.
“They dance with a new form. You
couldn’t have seen such a dance anywhere in this area. Even the philosophy of
dance is incomplete without their dance. You may consider watching their dance
at least once.” Kanthasami Pillai recommended.
“Okay…nothing will be lost in watching
it. Will it be?” Divan Bhagadur sat on his easy chair, closed his eyes and told
them, “Please carry on”
Devi looked around the hall to find
out a suitable, spacious place for their dance.
“We can use the centre of the hall”
God suggested.
All of them accepted this proposition,
went inside and fastened the latch.
Within seconds, a majestic beat of
music rose up inside the hall.
‘Wasn’t he Rudra of burial ground?
He was Rudra of burial ground’
The doors opened.
The God was standing like a statue
with his eyes closed, dressed up in Tiger hide, a Trident in hands, a snake
encircling his neck, River Ganga flowing from his head, and his wavy matted
hair slithering down the shoulders.
Again resonation of music. While
taking a swift move while dancing, the trident in his hands shone as if a
lightening was thrown after being detangled. With a frenzy in his eyes and a
smile on his lips, God lifted his legs.
Kanthasami Pillai got stunned at
seeing his dance. He sprang to his feet, thought that the God had violated his
promise given to him.
“Hei…Mr Koothanaar! Could you stop
your dance for some time?”
“It is just an ordinary street
performance. Look at this man! Dressed up like a Bornio Island cannibal…” Divan
Bhagadur shouted at him, visibly irritated.
God stood still with his leg lifted
up, leaned against his Trident, and kept watching them.
“Hei…Do you know what art is? It is
alright you are over enthusiastic in putting on a costume with Tiger hide. But
for snake, you have brought a real snake. Haven’t you? You should just wear a
jewellery looking like a snake around your neck. For Tiger costume, wrapping a
silk clothe around you will suffice. The first and foremost thing in an art is
beauty. Don’t you know that? Even if the Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi
themselves come down and dance like this, it won’t be as per the laws of dance
treatises. Nothing has been mentioned like this. First, God’s sake, take off
that snake from your neck, put them in a basket, and remove your stupid
costume. Young children are play around in this place. Be careful.” Divan
Bhagadur warned them.
He didn’t spare Mr Kanthasami Pillai
as well. “Mr Kanthasami Pillai, just because you are giving me medicine, you
can’t oblige me to watch this performance and expect me to arrange dance
programmes. I won’t be able to show off my face to any one after that, if it
happens. Will I be?”
Fifteen minutes later, two persons
were sitting in the office of Sidda Vaidya Theebikai magazine.
Devi was not there. The child was sleeping on the mat. Both of them remained
silent.
“It seems that even our known
profession is of no use in this world.” God told him in despair.
“You don’t like what I had told you;
this world doesn’t like what you like. You can experiment running a school to
teach Devaram 6.
“No…thchch…” God didn’t accept his
idea, curled his tongue in denial.
“In a very short time, you started
disliking this earth. Didn’t you?”
“Seeing you is almost akin to seeing
the whole world.” God replied.
“But seeing you is almost…….”
Kanthasami Pillai didn’t compete the sentence, laughed instead.
“We can give you people boon at a
distance. But it is impossible to live with you” God told him.
“Your entire pedigree is capable of
doing only that” Kanthasami Pillai said.
To reply to his remarks, no one was
present there.
The Life time subscription amount,
twenty five rupees was lying on the table as currency notes.
Kanthasami Pillai wrote in his
accounts book “Kailasapuram Old Parama Sivan Pillai, twenty five rupees on
account of life time subscription.”
“Appa! Has Grandpa gone to his
native place?” the child asked him as she woke up.
*** End ***
Note:
1. Unit of a rupee. Not used
these days.
2. Soma Banam-a drink mentioned
in old texts causing inebriation.
3. It should be read with the
reference from Periya Puranam written by Chekkizhar. The text is about the
tales of devotees of Lord Shiva and how they prove their devotion despite
facing life threatening odds in their life. In one such tale, Siruththondar, a
devotee of Lord Shiva, is asked by another old devotee who visited his house,
to cook a child’s meat to be served to him. As Siruthondar couldn’t refuse his
request due to his devotion to God, he kills his son, Seeralan and serves that
meat to the Old Man. The Old Man is none but Lord Shiva himself. Finally, once
the test of his devotion is made known to the world, Lord Shiva brings back his
son alive. In this context, God’s words, “I am a vegetarian” should be
read.
4. Broken piece of a tile
5. Thanga Baspam in Tamil. This
is made of fine gold ash as a traditional medicine.
6. Devaram-The Devaram volumes contain the works of the
three most prominent Saiva Tamil poets of the 7th and 8th centuries: Sambandar, Appar, and Sundarar. It is hymns sung by the devotees of Lord Shiva
including the above three poets.
Translated from Tamil by Saravanan. K
Source: “Collection of Short Stories
by Puthumai Pithan” (புதுமைப் பித்தன் சிறுகதைத் தொகுப்பு) compiled
by Veda Sahaya Kumar.
