Varalotti Is Crazy, Ambitious or Both - A Double Curtain Raiser!

Padma and Malya, the characters from Love Cubed,are in conversation.

Padma: Hi Malya, I am very happy with the way Varalotti ended our story. But the final lecture of Ambika Devi.. I am still crying… It was as if she was hitting a nail on my head with her pointed words.

Malya: I too was moved to tears. But we should be grateful that our Shiva had been made so prosperous. More than that Varalotti gave us all a real angel too.. Sanjana…

Padma: I’ve never seen such a sweet girl in my life. Let our story wait. What’s Varalotti up to these days?

Malya: I can’t help saying this, Padma. Varalotti should either be crazy or ambitious or both.

Padma: Or just plain stupid… What makes you say that..

Malya: You know he has already been threatening to start the English translation of the Tamil Classic Ponniyin Selvan. That’s a 2304 page master-piece.

Padma: He has been saying that for long.
Malya: I heard from his wife that he is also planning to start another serial on the side.
Padma: With of course the word Love in the title.

Malya: Yes. He has written a ten part serial in Tamil which has been read and approved by his wife.

Padma: I pity the poor ILites, Malya. They will have to read 10000 words from him every week. Why should he do two things at a time?

Malya: I think he’s afraid of the translation work. He fears that the ILites might not like it. And if it bombs he wants to have a back-up. A Plan B. Overcautious like a typical mofussil accountant.

Padma: But, Malya, I was talking to some of his close friends. There could be another reason too.

Malya: Really?

Padma: He feels that in a way time is running out and he wants to fill up IL with as much of his writings as possible. Even if ILites do not read them now they will read it some time, right?

Malya: Oh! I do feel some heaviness there. But that’s okay. Writers love to play with our emotions.

Padma: Or do just about anything to grab our attention. That’s okay. We know his eccentricities. Do you know the homework he has done for the translation?

Malya: I do. He has read the whole story. He has translated six chapters. And has edited the first two.

Padma: Should he not show the script to somebody who has read the original and seek their views on the quality of translation?

Malya: Till about two weeks ago he was frantically searching for somebody for the job.

His wife has not read the original story. He wanted to give his work only to somebody who has read the original and is crazy about it.

Finally God intervened. While he was in the class on Divya Prabandham he casually told his teacher about what he was going to do.

His teacher is Kalki’s fan and has read the original three times. The teacher insisted that he should see the draft translation before Varalotti publishes it.

The teacher was anxious that the name of the Master Writer, Kalki, should not be spoilt by somebody like Varalotti.

Padma: I understand, Malya. So what happened then?

Malya: Varalotti spent hours polishing the first chapter of the translation. On an auspicious day he gave the print-out to his Guru, with a prayer in his heart and trepidation in his mind.

Padma: Then?

Malya: Two days later in the next class his teacher returned the script to him.

Padma: You have started talking like Varalotti himself. Putting too much of suspense in such mundane things.

Malya: Cool.. Chitthi… The Great Teacher told his student, ’ Its ok.’

Padma: Oh that means the work is not that good.

Malya: No, no, that's the highest compliments paid to his work. Varalotti’s teacher is very cautious with his praise especially when it concerns his student. After all he has a moral responsibility to see that things do not get into Varalotti’s head.

Padma: Varalotti surely needs a teacher like that. So he is going ahead with the translation, right?

Malya: Right. And he plans to start from 27th October. You know Varalotti is pretty vain. He thinks he’s giving a Deepavali gift to his IL friends.

Padma: As presumptuous as he always is. Now how long would that go?

Malya: About three years. Assuming Varalotti posts two chapters a week. And is blessed with good health, both of the mind and the body, all the time.

Padma: Aren’t there any copy-right issues?
Malya: No. Because Kalki’s writings have been nationalized and is now in the public domain.

Varalotti consulted a few experts on this. He has been advised to post two notes at the end of each post.

Padma: Notes? For what?

Malya: The first one to tell that the work is the English Translation of Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan which has been nationalized by the Government of Tamilnadu. And the second to assert his own copyright for the translated work.

Padma: Can you give me the story-line of Ponniyin Selvan? In two lines?

Malya: You want a 2000-page story in two lines, uh? Ok, here you go. It’s a historic novel about the Chozha Dynasty, particularly Raja Raja Chozhan. T

Padma: I remember to have seen a cinemascope movie about the King.
Malya: That was a watered down version of the history. The movie was a flop and was destined to be so.

But the novel is great. Officially it’s a historic novel. But it’s more like a whodunit mystery, a love story happening in different levels, and ultimately a great story with a very happy ending.

Padma: I can’t wait to read it. But what about the other serial?

Malya: It’s a kind of a psychological thriller.
Padma: Like his first serial, The Haunted House?”

Malya: No. This is about a child prodigy, the desires and conflicts in her mind and her problems. And of course about love. Love that is ready to give everything for the beloved. The love of a popular singer, the love of an ordinary car-driver…

Padma: Sounds interesting. Varalotti should not make a mess of it. But tell me is he going to post both the stories on Wednesday itself?

Malya: No. Ponniyin Selvan would come on Wednesday and this story, Varalotti calls it, The Love Song, would come on Thursday or Friday. Varalotti plans to reply to all the fb in the week-end.

Padma: In a way we are trapped. More than us the ILites are. What could be done now?

Malya: Just grin and bear it. When you visit Saint Ambika Devi next seek her blessings on his behalf. And do tell the ILites to wish him, bless him and include him in their prayers.