1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

Swansong

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by twinsmom, Aug 22, 2007.

  1. twinsmom

    twinsmom Silver IL'ite

    Messages:
    708
    Likes Received:
    117
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Gender:
    Female
    My imagination ran wild again...and resulted in this story.




    Everyone was astounded… Naturally, this was an unheard of happening in the agraharam( village). The age- old traditions and the unwritten rules demanded that early morning, the lady of the house clean the front of the house, wash it and then adorn the space with kolam- with kolappodi ( white rangoli powder) on normal days and Maakkolam ( batter of ground rice) on special days. It was sheer violation of tradition…almost amounting to sacrilege.

    Nobody knew when the atrocity had been committed. Till the previous day, Bhama used to put elaborate pottu kolams….of intricate mathematical calculations and symmetric patterns… Early morning walkers and even the paalkaaran (milkman) used to linger in front of Rangan’s house as she, looking divine with her wet hair swathed in a bath towel, bangles and anklets jingling, made the pattern for the day. The young woman seemed to be an asset to the village. A Grama Lakshmi!

    In fact, the lazy women of the agraharam had felt slighted by her prowess in the art of Kolam that they now vied with one another, searching for new patterns in Kolam design books…
    But this! This was an anti climax nobody had expected to happen.

    The paalkaaran stood with his can in one hand and a finger on his nose…chuppaamani mama and Varadarajan shook their heads disbelievingly…the Mangayarkulam ( womenfolk) whispered to one another about the scandal…

    They wanted to demand an explanation…But Bhama was nowhere to be seen…and her front door was closed…another unheard of event in a village! People stood staring at the kolam on the threshold of the house… done in white emulsion paint! Permanent…as though Bhama no longer wanted to keep up the tradition…

    What they did not know was that, that kolam was Bhama’s swansong…Forced by her husband Rangan she had once for all rendered the mangalam for her passion for kolams…Reason?
    Rangan had noticed that people were ogling at her back and her calves as she bent and stretched herself while making those designs… 'Even the paalkaaran,' he had thundered to her, 'is leering at you. Let me see what they’ll do now!'
     
  2. Jananikrithsan

    Jananikrithsan Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    2,161
    Likes Received:
    129
    Trophy Points:
    128
    Gender:
    Female
    WOW!!!!!!! Yet again a superb one, twinsmom. Takes you back in time, when the womenfolk were heard only by their husbands, never seen????
    The language for most women was 'mounam'.:clap :clap :clap :cool2:
     
  3. twinsmom

    twinsmom Silver IL'ite

    Messages:
    708
    Likes Received:
    117
    Trophy Points:
    83
    Gender:
    Female
    Janani:-D ,
    Thank you... thank you... I thought I was going a bit too far there... All is fair in fiction...right?
     

Share This Page