Vanakkam
In our kitchen… story
Got 3rd Prize (1 lakh) in Sangam poetry based TAMIL Short Story Competition Organized
by Kumudam magazine & Konrai foundation. This Story based on Sangam poetry
Kuṟuntokai 167. poetry & its meaning given below the story. I'd like to
hear your thought & Comments about the story.
In our kitchen…
Author
& Translator : Tamil Bharathan
English
Editor : Saranya M.A M.Phil
With only a few hours left, he
dialed his mother frantically. Only she who introduced him to the world could
advise him in times of confusion. The phone completed four to five full ring
cycles without any answers.. will give
another try for one last time. If she picks, fine. If not…Nothing like that..
She will definitely pick up. When his mind wanders, the tune ‘Ācaippaṭṭa
ellāttaiyum..’[1]
phone rings.
“I have watched the news just now. The Lockdown will be
implemented tonight. You told me that you would vacate the hostel and come
back? Where are you?”
“Hellooo, Mommm, It’s so crowdy here . No trains. No car
pickups. Bus is the only way to travel. It is better to stay put instead of
venturing into this crazy crowd. But, where will I stay in Chennai? No one will
welcome into their house, totally confused. Give me an idea. ”
The irony is Mother advised to him who is working in
consultancy.
“If you won’t get angry, I'll tell you something.”
“whattt? Go to Valli’s home ah? Don’t speak anymore. Cut
the call!”
The Corona has
changed the normal situation with Overcrowded Koyambedu(CMBT), Cars not
crossing Tambaram, Trains sleeping at the stations. After the announcement of
144 for the upcoming 48 days by the Government, the hostel manager has pinged a
post in whatsapp group. “No cooks available and so are the restaurants”. He is
out of the hostel by the time he has finished reading the message. No autos and
taxis as there is a self curfew too. He who updates online by standing near the
door has the fear that he may infect corona if he will go to Koyambedu(CMBT).
He could have gone to his relative’s place. But neither him
nor his relative would be able to bear each other for 48 days straight. Staying
with friends would have been a better option, but his last bachelor friend was married off last
month. After thinking long and hard, and counting the number of people he has
already known, he has come to the decision of not to be of any disturbance to
anyone else. He is even more irritated when his mother has asked him to go to
Valli’s home.
He groans to himself and begins to walk east at dawn.
Valli's house and his town are not arbitrarily located in the east. He
continues to walk and further kept walking to witness stray dogs, the shining
rolling eyes of the owls, and some chirping birds huddled with in the nest, in-front
of the stars. Nature controls the unstable Earth. In this world, one has to run
and hide to defend oneself. The reality brings sadness about the life.
Totally Unexpected time, place, situation. ‘Uṉakkē uyirāṉēṉ,
ennāḷum eṉainī maṟavātē, nī illāmal etu nim'mati, nītāṉ eṉṟum eṉ canniti; kaṇṇē
kalaimāṉē kaṉṉi mayileṉa...’[2] The
call has ended. That is Valli's call. It is already been two months since he
heard the song. The lines and the impact of the lines has made rekindled his
memories.
‘Uṉakkē uyirāṉēṉ, ennāḷum eṉainī maṟavātē’ (again ringed)
He accepts the call. Speaks nothing.
“I know that you won’t talk to me. Neither do you have to.
I myself wouldn’t have spoken to you either. Mother called me last night. She
told that you cut the call angrily. You would be roaming around in Chennai
during this midnight, send the location, I will come and pick you up.”
She cut the call without expecting answers. Before he has
sent the location, she has reached the ground floor of the apartment to start
her car. It seems to her as if she is looking a weird face in front of the
mirror. She sees him standing outside her apartment. She calls him; He does not
move. Calls back; No use. The lift starts to climb 18th floor as she
has boarded with him.
*
Valli. Talented prosperous woman. Software Engineer in
Computer Sector. Monthly salary is above four lakhs. Her vision is to mount
that even more. No parents or her parents get separated. Valli wants to quote
no parents. She was a hostelite stayed in a hostel from school to college and
was a paying guest after joining the work. The house on the 18th floor was
bought at EMI when the monthly salary exceeded 1 lakh. It is more of a resting
nest than a house. That's what Valli likes. As the saying goes ‘spread your
wings and fly’, she flies her living. She thinks that the emptiness of her life
can only be filled by the success of flying. For Valli, victory is happiness.
Within a quarter of a century, she had identified someone
as her life partner for body and soul. Yes. It was him. He came to Chennai from
a small town. He was educated through his mother’s hard work. He had just
started harvesting some lakhs per month. Same office, indifferent '90s kids
face, no love experience, no flirting to women. She had no one to advise her
that her decision of marrying him was right. She decided & expressed her
love to him.
*
“Stay here”
She has inside the house and brought the bucket and the
foreign disinfectant. She is asked to keep the bag inside the bucket and she
has sprinkled the disinfectant on him. His face is like a plaster which is
folding in a pesticide.
“Sleep right here?”
“Hmm”
He sleeps on the façade. She has a sound sleep in the
second room where the AC is installed.
*
Valli was not like other women. She had a high level of
self-made knowledge and dreams above average. He liked that. After
understanding each other and deciding to get married, he came into the same
house for the first time on a regular Mārkaḻi[3]
night. He was the only addition to the house which was filled with rare fine
art things, Flame lily colored walls, and essentials things.
He Talked, She talked, They talked. They talked until
sky-clouds migrated.
She asked “could I order something to eat?”
“No need. Shall we drink a coffee? No need to order, I will
make it.” On saying this, He entered into kitchen.
It was amazing and also shocking. There was no utensils in
such a large kitchen; No goods. There was RO Water for drinking & a Fridge
to extend the life of perishable fruits.
“Hey! What is this, there is nothing in your kitchen? ”
“Not to have a kitchen is my dream. Do you know how much
time each house spends on cooking and food? For the past several generations,
women are meant for cooking. For Husband, then to his family and then to
children. Kitchen is the only room meant for women until she dies. Well, Even
if the society grows with women who has umpteen amount of knowledge, there is
no change. Why? Even today, the proper women magazines are tend to give only
the footnotes of recipes. In the social trauma, it is destined that women are
meant for cooking only. Want to change it!”
“Hey! You have lunch at the office, what will you do for
the breakfast and dinner?”
“Juice for the morning and I order for dinner. I will have
fruits instead of the snacks…”
“Oops! Is it the
same for me when I come home tomorrow? ”
“No compulsion! But, it would be nice if you follow too. I
don’t want the men to do cooking. Think about how you can use that time
productively to cook a meal for ten minutes. A thousand families spend an hour
to make one meal. If the same food is prepared in bulk, there will be one
thousand hours saved for one thousand families. ”
*
They crossed the continent for
their honeymoon the day after the wedding. A month passed, life became normal.
He was bound by her speech as it was a new beginning. They ordered food. Within
a few months, the ‘Māppiḷḷai campā’[4] rice
sack which was harvested & sent by his mother had reached the 18th floor.
She said, ‘Don’t cook this! Don't waste it, just send it back'. He did not want
to return his mother's diligence - the rice of his land. She did not like to
have something unused at home. The paradox began; developed; ended. It led to
divorce. Heart broke before they divorced. Before he received the legal notice,
he left her apartment and he went back to the old PG hostel.
*
“Hey! Wake up. How long will you sleep?”
“What?” Both his eyebrows looked up to sky.
“Don’t you feel hungry? See what the time now
is.”
She has brought him bread and jam.
The Shining Sun. He can see nothing other than trees and buildings from the
balcony. No Buses, so no way to travel. He does not want to stay in the home
where he does not have a right to. He has washed his face and decided to go to
hometown anyway.
“Had your food?” this is what she
has expected from him. After the implementation of work from home due to corona,
this is the situation. She has changed. Her home is the only place for her to
do everything. Punishment too. No cooks available due to the Curfew. The
frequent spreading of the virus has made us not to buy food from the outside.
Looking after how lean and pale she has become,
“You?” He has uttered a word like a
flower bloomed once in a blue moon.
She has started crying like the
dark clouds which was growing the crops. He is reluctant even to touch her. Wait.
He has gone into the kitchen to fetch water. Shocking and surprising. Some new
utensils are there with a disrupted Induction stove. There are some small
grains and nuts for cooking. The fridge is filled with vegetables. There is a
rice sack in the corner. He has given her water without expressing anything.
“I'm leaving,” he said.
“Could you please cook for me?” she
said.
He has cried, hugged, cooked, ate
and also made her to eat. She too. He who wanted to leave immediately has been
there for 48 days. Mom has taught ‘Pāṭṭi samaiyal’[5] through
whatsapp call. Food is base; it is not necessary to spending many hours in the
kitchen. The rice sack is over. After 48 days the curfew is relaxed. Valli is
satisfied, looking good and gained weight. The two now becomes three. Who knows
maybe even four! Happiness is for the mother; even she one who is going to be a
mother.
They have torn the legal notice.
The frustrated kitchen-cooking which was the reason to the separation,
multiplied the love and intimacy. This
reality is optimistic.
The Day’s headline of the newspaper
leads:
Corona infection is completely
eradicated from the country; Social distancing is no longer necessary.
Dot
.
Kurunthokai 167
Author : Koodalūr Kilār,
Note : Mullai Thinai – What the foster mother said to the
heroine’s mother (The foster mother who visited the couple in their marital
house, said this to the heroine’s mother on her return)
English
Translation : Mrs : Vaidegi
Poetry :
Wearing a garment that was not
washed after she mashed mature
curds and wiped on it with her
delicate fingers that resemble glory
lily petals, she cooked.
Smoke from her cooking spread
around and touched her kohl-lined
eyes that are like blue waterlilies.
She made sweet tamarind curry that
he enjoyed and ate.
Her face revealed her happiness in
a delicate manner, the young woman
with a bright forehead.
Source: https://sangamtranslationsbyvaidehi.com/ettuthokai-kurunthokai-1-200/
[1] Mother Praising Song in Tamil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmTY39EY0Uc
[2] One of the Best Lovable lyric Song in Tamil Cinema industry (also last song of Kannadasan) https://youtu.be/fNRV_gVI1B4?t=181
[3] Mārkaḻi –
Tamil month, (This month Winter season in Tamil Nadu)
[4] Māppiḷḷai campā – One of the Traditional Rice in Tamil Nadu. It is too good for Health & gives more stamina. for more details read https://www.standardcoldpressedoil.com/hub/mapillai-samba-rice/
[5]
Patti samaiyal – Traditional food from previous Ancestor
அருமை பாரதன்
பதிலளிநீக்கு