The Price - Part 8

Vandhanam, Vandhana

Dear Ms.V,

In Tamil the word vandhanam refers to thanks. Vandhana just means thankful.
In all the folk dances in the very first song they would say "vandhanam" to God to the audience and so on.

Like you and Vidya, I am also for a happy ending. But a story like this which predicts avarice, heedlessness has to end in a sad note. We like Shakespeare's Macbeth more because it ends in a tragedy.

And one writer says that plays like Macbeth, are sweet tragedies, in the sense, that even though it is a tragedy our minds are filled with some kind of sweetness.

Thanks for comparing me with Guru Dutt.

Vandhanam, Vandhana
V

 

FBs Not Complete Without Yours!

Dear Kamla,
thanks for your 'straight from the heart' feedback. Words like yours spur us to write more and better.
Yes the story was submerged in pathos right from the beginning. Thats why much against peoples wishes I doled out the story in small doses of less than 1000 words each. (B&B came in 3000-words packets).
I am very happy to see that you are well geared up for controversies too. I am grateful to your words of praise that I add pizzazz to IL. (Of course there are many graceful ILites who think that I am IL's Aasthana pissasu. (you know that word in Tamil?))
And I too cannot imagine my Saturdays anymore without sharing something with ILites.
Thanks, Kamla once again.
L,
sridhar

 

Varloo, I can never thank you enough!

Dear Varloo,

No one is late for anything. This is not a timebound event. Whatever respect and love the first feedback gets, the 1000th feedback, gets the same.

I am relieved to see that Aravindh is back to normal. I have heard many doctors say that in cases like these when the child crosses puberty and is in his 20s, all the sickness withers away and he emerges as a healthy, robust child. May the samething happen to Aravindh.

There is a Dhanvantri Sannidhi in Srirengam. Please pray to him and everything will be all right.

We cannot equate Vidya's relationship with Chandar to one night stands. One night stand is when the woman driven by love or passion outside the marriage seeks gratification from a third person. But in this case Vidya is fiercely faithful to Raghavan and she detests Chandar like hell. Only when she sees that Raghavan might lose his sanity or kill himself, did she take the extreme step. We should not judge an act by its outward manifestation, Varloo. We should go deep into the doers heart to find out the real motive. And if you delve deep into Vidya's heart you will find only love and more love for Raghavan. What she did is an act of supreme sacrifice.

When Veera Pandya Katta Bomman, Shivaji's classical movie, was screened in our town long back, a MGR fan quipped:
"what's this, your hero Shivaji is a coward. Had it been our man, MGR, he would have singlehandedly killed all the Englishmen by his sword and would have got freedom for the country."
Giving a happy ending to price would be vindicating the words of that MGR fan.
Having eaten the food, Raghavan had to pay the bill.
At the end every character deserves our pity if not sympathy and understanding.


What next? Well, I have answered the question a dozen times. Please go to Part 7 and read what I have written there. Or simply read Kamla's response in this thread.

Thanks, for the enthusiastic participation, Varloo.
regards,
sridhar

 

Thanks For Being There Always, Purnima

Hi Purnima,

Sorry for making you heavy. But life's truest lessons are better learnt only when the heart is heavy.
This story started with its end. In fact I visualised the life of a man who is externally rich and internally poor. And if that man makes a public statement what it will be like? I started with that scene, which is the climax of the story. The rest of the story is just a detail to justify that climax.
Thanks for being there, as always.
regards,
Varalotti

 

Bharatiya Nari?

Dear Anjana,
thanks for those kind words which sure will instigate me to write more and better. Vidya did not betray R. Had she gone to Chandar with love or lust, what you said may be true. But when she goes to a person whom she detests all her life, nothing but pure love for R should have motivated her. I made Chandar acknowledge that love.
Bharatiya Nari doing that is not palatable, right? But the original cultural fit of Bharatiya Nari was relevant to the old civilisation where people did not have the ambition to become super stars from their positions as Accounts Clerks.

Thanks for appreciating the end. The end is very fitting simply because I wrote the end first and then wrote the story. At times some ladies will buy the blouse bit first and then scout for the right saree. I did the same thing here.

Thanks for what you had to say about scar. I am happy that it touched your heart.
Thanks, Anjana, the faultless.
regards,
sridhar