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Oh My God! Episode 12

Discussion in 'Saturdays with Varalotti' started by varalotti, Jun 12, 2009.

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OH MY GOD!

A Series By Varalotti Rengasamy

Episode 12

Yamini and Arvind were jointly editing Yamini’s next book when the maid came running to them.

The time was around 9 30 in the morning. The girls had gone to school. Ramamurthy had just left for work. Parvathi was downstairs issuing orders to the cook.

The maid had a message for Arvind.

“Somebody has come to see you, Sir. She has been waiting for half an hour. I have made her sit in the drawing room.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Arvind was off in a jiffy. As soon as he was out of earshot the maid told Yamini in a conspirational whisper.

“The visitor is a young girl. Should be in her twenties. She is very beautiful. And the blue color silk saree she is wearing… she looks like a cine actress.”

Yamini was puzzled. An young girl and that too a beautiful thing coming to see Arvind…. Arvind had told her about all his friends and acquaintances. This girl should have called him up ahead and should have fixed this appointment. Why didn’t he tell her about that?

She was not worried exactly. But it could not be denied that she was slightly troubled.

She called the maid again. All her efforts to look casual failed.

“Arvind was telling about his friend’s sister coming for some counselling. Is the girl alone or with somebody?”

“Alone.”

Yamini knew Arvind very well. She could never bring herself to doubt Arvind’s fidelity. But she could not escape a vague feeling of discomfort creeping inside her.

She dismissed the maid and tried to concentrate on the editing work at hand. She failed. Then she took a couple of pages of the printed script and went in search of Arvind.

Those two pages were but some excuse to see that beautiful thing that had come all alone to see her handsome husband.

She found the drawing room empty. Where did they go? She asked the maid.

“Sir has taken her to his office room.”

Yamini could not do anything now. It would be really bad to go and knock the door for a silly doubt in editing especially when Arvind was with his guest. Yamini was in a fix. She returned to her office room defeated and dejected.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Jun 12, 2009 #2

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Part 2

The inter-comm was ringing. She picked up the phone. Arvind.

“Can you please come here for a moment, honey? I want you to meet Miss Reshma.”

How did he know that she wanted to see that girl?

She ran to her bathroom mirror adjusted her hair, applied a light dose of cream on her face and touched her lips with the lipstick before going to meet Arvind and his beautiful guest.

“Yamini, meet Miss Reshma. An aspiring writer. This is my wife Yamini. A very good writer. Has published four books so far.”

Reshma was really gorgeous. She was not as tall as Yamini. But her round face sitting on a slender, feminine frame added to her grace. What made her dashing was her eyes – they were of XXL size and were expressively darting around the room.

“Reshma’s grandfather was my Dad’s boss in the Income Tax Department. That was aeons ago.”

Yamini was still looking at Reshma’s beautiful eyes. Something in those eyes gave a reassuring feeling to Yamini. Something made her quite comfortable with that gorgeous creature.

At least as an atonement for whatever vague feelings she had a few minutes back she decided to go out of the way to help the girl.

“The problem, Yamini, is that Reshma’s script has been rejected by our publisher. And she is here to find whether anything could be done about that.”

Then he turned to Reshma.

“Believe me, Reshma, I can’t tell my publisher to reconsider that rejection. It never works that way. May be you can bring out the first book like that. But your second book will never come.

“You need to work on this script. May be change the style. Or take a different plot. The one defect that I usually find in new writers is that they…”

Yamini did not let him finish.

“Absolutely sorry to interrupt, Arvind. Reshma, mail the first five chapters of your book to me. Give me a week’s time. And then come back to know why your script was rejected.”

“Thanks, Madam.”

“But Yamini, you are already overworked. Will you have time..”

“I will finish the first draft of this novel today and send it out. I may not start anything new for about a week or so. I can spend some time on her script. No problem.”

All the three had orange juice and after another ten minutes of polite conversation Reshma took leave of them.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Part 3

“Arvind, you were there for me to launch me as a writer. You held a dramatic press conference and the next minute the whole world came to know of me.

“Poor girl! We need to do something for her. Who knows may be we just now talked to another Arundathi Roy or Shoba De or Kiran Desai.”

Arvind smiled. After a long time he let out a long sigh and said,

“Getting the first book out is real hell of a job.”

Yamini remembered Arvind’s father selling their ancestral property to pay money to the publisher to publish Arvind’s book.

She was sure that Arvind was going to tell about his experience with his first book.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Part 4

“It was a hot day. My script had already been rejected by fifty publishers. I was with the fifty-first publisher. It was not just plain rejection, Yamini. It was outright humiliation. I was virtually thrown out of the office.”

I did not have the mind to go home. I went to a shopping mall and sat there for the whole day. When I returned home it was around 8 in the night. Dad was restlessly pacing before the gate.

When he saw me he came running to me, hugged me and took me in. He asked whether I had my lunch. Then only I remembered. I had not eaten a morsel of food for the past twelve hours. I could not hold on any longer.

I tried to hide my tears of humiliation but could not. I told my father about what happened with the publisher.

KG went red with anger.

“Arvind, you have a gem with you. And you have a bright career ahead of you. If that idiot refused to publish your book, it’s his problem. Not yours. Come let’s have our dinner.”

I refused. I was not in a mood to eat at all. I went up to my room and fell flat on my bed.

KG soon came to my room with a plate laden with sambar rice and roasted potato. He gently woke me up and started feeding me with a spoon. And while doing so he told me an inspiring story.

“You will be surprised to know that the publishing world had always been slow to recognize good writers. Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, his first book was rejected by as many as 700 publishers.

“Then one publisher promised to read the script over the week-end. On a Friday night he retired to bed with the script in his hand. He thought he would read a few pages so that he would have a nice sleep.

“He sat up in his bed with a shock when he was on the fifth page. He abandoned all ideas of sleeping and read through the whole night. The next morning he called a distraught Richard Bach to tell him that come hell or high water he was going to publish that great work. In those days the book was a publishing sensation.”

“And you know something? JK Rowling’s Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by Macmillan. They lost their life time opportunity of making a few billion dollars.

“Even in those days the conditions were not much different. Who do you think is the greatest of Tamil poets?”

“It’s Kamban in those days and Bharathi in the 20<sup>th</sup> century.”

“Do you know that Kamban had to struggle to get his Ramayana, the greatest of poetry ever written, published? The man who was later celebrated as the Emperor among poets, the Kavi Chakravarthi, had to wait for four years to have his epic properly published. “

Arvind now sat up and opened his mouth. KG fed him a spoonful of rice and a small piece of potato.

KG started telling the story.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Part 5

Kamban was in the court of the Chozha King, Kulothunga Chozhan I. It was only at the instance of the king that he wrote the great epic Ramayana in Tamil in verse form.

At that time Valmiki Ramayan was the only version available. Kamban had studied the original quite well. And what he did was not just translation but as good as a new creation.

Kamban was very particular about upholding the Tamil culture prevalent at that time and he did not mind deviating from the original epic for that.

And there is another major distinction. Valmiki would make you sit open-mouthed in wonder while reading about the valour and the majesty of his characters. But mind you, Kamban would make you cry your heart out even with a small sideline character like Guhan, the hunter king with whom Rama stayed as soon as he was banished to the forest.

The Chozha King was Kamban’s close friend. Kamban could have easily published his epic at his court. But that would not have given any credibility to his writing.

In those days if somebody had to be accepted as a writer either the work has to be accepted by the Madurai Tamil Sangam or by the council of Vaishnavite scholars at Srirengam, which was at that time a distinguished seat of learning.

Kamban made up his mind to publish his work at Srirengam as he had sung an epic about an avatar of Vishnu.

Poor fellow! He naively thought that all he had to do was just hand over his collection of palm leaves to the right person, sit back and watch the fun.

Little did he know that publishing his work would be a more arduous task than even writing it. And history says that it took longer time for the poet to publish his work than to writing it in the first place.

At that time the academic body at Srirengam was headed by Sri Nathamunigal. He was the grandfather of Alavandar, who was Ramanuja’s guru. Kamban knew about the saint.

Kamban thought that the whole enterprise would be successfully completed the moment he delivered his script to Nathamunigal.

Kamban was not a much known poet at that time. And that was in spite of the Royal patronage accorded to him. So he could not meet Nathamunigal.

He had to present his case to two petty officials in charge of publications. They took more than a week’s time to give just a cursory glance to one of the greatest works of Tamil Literature, Kamba Ramayana.

Those petty officials were not blessed with a large enough heart to enjoy that great literary work.

They simply “audited” Kamban’s master piece. Unable to find any fault with the work they, like typical government officials, started insisting on protocol and formalities.

“We cannot consider your work for publication.. unless you produce a letter of commendation from the 3000 priests of Chidambaram. You may go now.”

The greatest poet of his times was dismissed unceremoniously.

Kamban was not worried. After all they required just a letter of commendation. And the 3000 priests of Chidambaram were well-read people. They were sure to appreciate the literary work.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Jun 12, 2009 #6

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Part 6

Kamban started walking towards Chidambaram. It was a week-long journey by walk; today we drive down the same distance in less than three hours.

He visited the Thillai Natarajar temple. He had his script placed at the feet of Govindaraja Perumal who at that time was inside the main temple. He then went in search of the head of the 3000 priests called the Dikshithars. Unlike the other Brahmans these people wore their tufts of hair on their foreheads.

The Head-Priest was receptive to the idea. But there was a major hitch. He told Kamban that the 3000 priests were bound by a very strict code of conduct.

A significant act like giving a letter of commendation for a book should be done unanimously. The 3000 priests should congregate at a place, put questions to Kamban, ask him to read parts of the work and then only could give the letter sought for.

Kamban eagerly accepted the terms not knowing that the very first step would be a major road block.

The Head Priest posted a notice about the proposed meeting to examine the work of Kamban. The meeting was to be on the next Full Moon day at a large open place near the temple.

Kamban was present at the venue at least an hour before the appointed time. The Dikshitars were slow in coming. Before the meeting started a roll call was taken. Only 2400 priests were present.

The meeting had to be abandoned for want of quorum. The Head Priest told the congregation that they would meet again on the next Full Moon day.

Again the attendance fell short of the required quorum of 3000 members by a little more than 500 members. The meeting was cancelled and re-scheduled for the next Full Moon day. But once again the attendance was short.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Part 7

It was only then Kamban understood the practical problem of assembling all the 3000 people at the same place. He went and met each of the 3000 people. But then somebody had to go to a nearby village. Somebody was sick. And somebody had to go out on temple work.

Kamban was a very patient man. He waited for four years in Chidambaram for the meeting to happen. And it did not happen at all.

When the meeting got cancelled for the fiftieth time Kamban was frustrated. He ran to Govindaraja Perumal with folded hands and tearful eyes.

“Oh My Lord, it was you who inspired me to write. If you still think that my poetry is lousy, please tell me so. I will burn the script in your presence. But please save me from this uncertainty and nagging doubt. It’s killing me, My Lord. Please do something about it.”

Kamban fainted in the Lord’s sannidhi. A priest took pity on him, revived him and walked him up to his quarters.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Jun 12, 2009 #8

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Part 8

“The time for Kamba Ramayanam has come Devi. I will have to do something about it. I can’t make the great poet wait any longer.”

The Sleeping Lord, Govindaraja Perumal was talking to his consort Mahalakshmi.

“But My Lord, there are a billion petitions waiting for your attention. And you are prioritizing a poet in the southernmost corner of <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1lace>!”

“Devi, those billion petitions are all based on selfish interests. This poet is doing our work. He has created an epic in our honour and should we not do something for him?”

Mahalakshmi accepted the Lord’s logic.

The Lord could have thundered as a disembodied voice telling the 3000 priests, “Unless all of you assemble at one place I will kill you all.” They would have definitely obeyed.

But our Lord is not a despot who orders around. Nor is he uncreative. And the Being of Love now wanted to showcase Kamban.

Even Kamban with all his wonderful imagination could not have guessed how the Lord was going to do the impossible – assemble all the 3000 priests in one place.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Jun 12, 2009 #9

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Part 9

When Kamban woke up the next day he felt very refreshed. His intuition told him in Font size 15 bold caps that today was the day. He carefully packed the entire manuscript and went in search of the Head Priest.

Even from a distance he could find out something was wrong. Seriously wrong. For he could hear wailing sounds coming from the house.

There was a huge crowd outside. Kamban acted as if he were possessed. He ploughed through the crowd to find out the reason.

The only son of the Head Priest had died. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake early in the morning when he had been to the pond for his morning ablutions. The lifeless form of the handsome 12 year old boy was placed in the middle. Every one was crying. The mother of the boy was quite hysteric.

Somebody standing beside Kamban was taking a count of the priests present. 2403.. 2404… … 2695…2701… 2988… 2997.. 2998… 2999… 3000.

“All the 3000 have come. We can start the ceremony now.” He announced.

Whenever there was a death in the family of one of the priests all the other priests should assemble there without fail.

Otherwise they would be thrown away from the community. The Code of Conduct was very strict on that issue and that explained why all the 3000 people were there at short notice.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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Jun 12, 2009 #10

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Part 10

Kamban’s heart bled for the bereaved parents. But right now he had a mission to accomplish.

The soft-natured poet steeled his heart and went to the Head Priest.

“I am sorry, Sir, but right now all the 3000 Priests are present. This man did the counting. Can I read my work for you now?”

But for the Head Priest Kamban would have been beaten up by a bunch of unruly priests. ‘How dare you talk about some damn literary work when our Chief’s only son is dead?’

The Head Priest told Kamban in a heavy voice.

“It’s true that all the 3000 of us are here. But is this the right time to hear some poetry when our only son is dead? Are you so heartless?”

Kamban placed his hand affectionately on the father of the dead boy.

“We’ll have a deal. I will read a few verses from my Ramayana. I am sure that by the power of my Lord your son will be restored to life.

“Delay the funeral arrangements for an hour. If your son wakes up, you should hear the whole work and give a letter of commendation to me. If not, you can continue with the funeral. I won’t trouble you again.”

The Head Priest saw his sobbing wife. An hour’s delay was not going to matter much. There was a small chance of this poet’s words becoming true. He consulted the other people. They all agreed.

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

varalotti, Jun 12, 2009

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