ARUNAN
Progressive Writer
Recently I read through a web site sixty short stories of Kalki (Pen name of the prolific author Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, who started magazine ‘Kalki’). History got an exposure by his voluminous historical stories but the society that existed during his lifetime gets better exposure by his short stories. Some of those short stories were longer than the rest. Most of the stories had sudden twists, climax and intense points even after the climax. Intertwined with all these were the social and political life of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. The urban and rural life of those bygone days, the atrocities of rich landlords and feudalists, corruption of higher officials, freedom struggle, the Second World War, the National Army of Netaji, the Tamils trapped in the war-torn Burma, horse races that shattered many lives and many such bludgeonings contemporaneous with life seven decades ago, cropped up from those selected short stories of Kalki.
What surprised me was Kalki’s views on Sanatana that were embedded in his short stories. His criticism of Sanatana does not aim at rejecting it totally but reforming it. In one of those stories – “Dilapidated Bungalow” (Pazhadaintha Bungalow – பாழடைந்த பங்களா) he says — “That bungalow stood in my views as an example for our Hindu society and Sanatana Dharma. It is built upon a strong foundation; quite spacious, antique and elegant. It needs a little bit of new flooring. Cleaning work is to be done. If all these are done, how nice would it appear!” (It can be inferred that he (Kalki) means reformation in Sanatana).
However, Kalki has strongly condemned through his stories, child marriage, cruelty to widows, denial of literacy to women, Devadasi system and protest against love —- all that could be prominently found in Sanatana Codes. Such stories that condemn all the above do not seem to be mere criticism of Sanatana; they are like a giant force dismantling the very foundation of Sanatana.Kalki hailed from a Brahmin family, and yet most of his stories revolve around Brahmin families and Brahmin environment, as if he criticises his own caste.
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Child marriage atrocity
One of the selected stories is “Subadhra’s brother” (Subathirayin Sahodharan – சுபத்திரையின் சகோதரன்). The period of the story is 1924. Vembu Iyer is a pot bellied 45 year old man. He is a butt of ridicule in the locality. They plan to get their 12 year old daughter married off. Her brother, who is a student in Chennai, is shocked by the news. He tells his classmate that he would stop the wedding at any cost and leaves for his native. His father refuses to stall the wedding. Those days, it was customary in brahmin families to get the girls married off before they attained puberty. They firmly believed that failing to do so would make them sinners. Hence, the father decides to get rid of the daughter by making her marry an unwisely chosen old man.
The mother consumes poison to kill herself, after making the son promise that he would stop the marriage at any cost. Following her death, the wedding is put off. The friend of the son agrees to marry the girl. Owing to heavy flood in the town, they are too late in arriving. They reach after the time fixed for the wedding and are shocked to find that the atrocious wedding ritual is over. The brother asks his friend if he had any objection to marrying a widow. When the friend replies that he does not mind, the brother shoots the old bride groom dead, courts arrest and gets imprisoned.
Readers may ask how an educated Brahmin youth would dare to commit a murder just to prevent his sister’s suffering. The writer’s thought is justified because the atrocity of child marriage was so severe those days. When readers think deeply about it, they would certainly accept the way the story ends. In my opinion, Kalki wanted to criticise severely the atrocity of child marriage and the purpose of the story stands served perfectly.
‘Saradha Act’ condemned
According to the Saradha Act of 1930, marriage of girls before the age of 14 was declared illegal, but the Sanatanists protected against this Act, though some did welcome.Kalki discussed this social issue in his short story, “Kamala’s Marriage”(Kamalavin Kalyanam – கமலாவின் கல்யாணம்).
Ganapathi Rama Sastri is a 55 year old man who is about to marry a 12 year old girl. His neighbour Gopalakrishna Iyer rushes with a mob and stops the wedding. It is later found that the girl, Sastri was about to marry was infact his own long lost daughter.Sastri thanks Gopalakrishna Iyer for preventing an unpardonable sin. Through this story Kalki cautions that such shocking twists are also possible if child marriages are not annihilated.
“Reincarnation of Srikanthan” (Srikanthanin Punarjenmam – சிறீகாந்தனின் புனர்ஜென்மம்)This is the title of another short story revolving around the days of 1931. It is about an 18 year old young man named Srikanthan who marries a 12 year old girl. On the nuptial night they enjoy playing cards because they are not aware of marital obligations. Kalki means to say that if innocent children get married they would naturally keep playing like kids.
The young bride suffers from mental disorder and dies. The boy falls in love with a female freedom fighter who gets imprisoned. After getting released she goes in search of him. She comes to know that he is getting married to another 13 year old girl in Pondicherry. Since that city is under French rule, the laws of British India are not applicable there. Hence, the boy was getting married cleverly in Pondicherry. Such fascinating tales of human life cannot be found in long historical novels. We can find them only in literary forms like short stories of Kalki.
Widow remarriage issues
Owing to child marriages there was also rise in the number of child – widows those days. Kalki says indirectly, how divorces were opposed in Hindu marriages. A widower was allowed multiple remarriages but a widow could not remarry. This cruelty was imposed by Sanatana. Kalki’s shorty story “Kedhari’s Mother”(Kethariyin Thaayar – கேதாரியின் தாயார்) revolves around this particular problem.
Bhagirathi’s husband abandons her and goes away abroad with his paramour. She educates and brings up her son Kedhari enduring sufferings. He marries a 13 year old girl and goes to London for higher studies. Bhagirathi’s husband dies. She gets tonsured and isolated as per brahmin customs.Kedhari comes back to India. He is shocked by the appearance of his mother. When she is humiliated by the neighbours, it hurts him. He takes ill and dies. Now, his young wife gets tonsured and quarantined. The story ends but readers are frozen by the message. What does Kalki mean to say? Inspite of being a brahmin writer, he raises voice to annihilate Orthodoxy and Conservatism. That is the central idea of this story. We have to infer that which is implied; but not told explicitly. His inaudible voice is indeed a protest against ‘Sanatana’. Even a stone-hearted reader would sob silently after reading this particular story.
Denial of women-literacy
The short story “A letter and drops of tear” (Kadithamum Kanneerum – கடிதமும் கண்ணீரும்) by Kalki revolves around this atrocity in society that existed in the yesteryears. Education was denied to girls. The heroine gets married when she is just 6 and becomes a widow when she is 9. When she is 16, a young man falls in love with her and thrusts a love letter in her hands. He goes away expecting her consent to marry him, but she cries profusely – not out of fear of remarriage but just because she is unable to read and understand even one word in that letter. Those were such days. Women were confined to darkness of ignorance as illiterate elements.Kalki condemns the cruelty of ‘Sanatana’. There were changes gradually in society. Orthodoxy and Conservatism got eradicated to a great extent. The Hindu religion exists today devoid of some of the Sanatana atrocities.
The heroine in this story later gets herself educated and rises as the head of an educational institution. Those days even brahmin girls were denied education. By a ritual called ‘Upanayanam’ (The Third Eye), only boys started learning. Early marriages of girls were the expiry dates of their dreams. In the holy fire lit during the rituals, a woman’s education too got burnt along with other things poured by the prohits.
The evil Devadasi System
Three short stories – “Thiruvazhundur Sivakozhundhu”, (“Sivakozhundhu, hailing from Thiruvazhundur”), “Nadagakkari” (Stage Actress’) and ‘Veenai Bhavani’ (‘Bhavani – the Veena Player’) – revolve around the central idea of Devadasi System.
The Devadasi System was an unbearable humiliation for womenfolk. The Sanatanists glorified it as a sacred system. Kalki protested against it through these three short stories, similar in theme.
In the first story cited above, Sivakozhundhu decides to prevent his sister’s daughter Vanaja from getting dedicated to a temple as Devadasi (a servant and slave of God). In the second story, Maragada Mani, a poor woman becomes a sex worker for survival and begets a child who is branded illegitimate. The cheat abandons her later. She suffers with the stigma in society. Such women were treated as garbage those days.Kalki highlights the agony of such women and their struggle for existence. In the third story a rich landlordGopalasamy, who is married and has children, has an extra marital relationship with a woman named Bhavani, a skilled Veena player. One day they get a false news that Gopalasamy was killed in a train accident but he is alive. He decides to secretly find out how Bhavani lives after his separation. He spies on her and finds her neatly dressed and involved in Veena recitals in public. He frets and fumes cursing her as an unfaithful woman. Bhavani is actually frustrated. She commits suicide leaving a half of her wealth in charity for a temple and the other half for Gopalasamy’s children.Kalki means to say that there were virtuous women even among sex workers. During the period of Kalki, writers helped social reformers through their literary works. Reformers were able to identify burning problems in society. The writers then had such a noble purpose and objective. Another eminent writer, the late Kothamangalam Subbu was greatly influenced by such literary works of his predecessors. His ‘Thillana Mohanambal’– a story which was later filmed – was about a dancer, mistaken for a whore and exploited by rich men.
Today when we talk about the unacceptable codes of Sanatana, the Sangh Parivar coteries pounce on us. They argue that Sanatana and the Hindu religion are the same. Writers like Kalki wrote against child marriage, widows’ agony, Devadasi system etc., which were all advocated by the Sanatanists. Was Kalki an opponent of Hindu religion? He was not! Most of the evils promoted and encouraged by Sanatana have vanished with the passage of time, but Hindu religion has not perished. It does exist. This proves that Sanatana and Hindu Religion are not the same. They are like two different poles, indeed.
Even today our society faces caste related atrocities, including untouchability. Slavery of women is still found in several places. Many other social evils persist. Protests against all these are unstoppable. Such protests would also have contributions of writers like Kalki, who oppose Orthodoxy and Conservatism. The Sangh Parivar coterie must read the stories of Kalki if they have any doubt about it – but do they have reading habit?
Courtesy : Vannakathir (Sunday Supplement of Theekathir)
Translated by: M.R.Manohar
