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Monsoon murmurs 25 (End)
Nanthagopan, the father of Nandu was known to the villagers as honest, simple and very patient. Nandu's mom is just the opposite. She was always on fire and bad tempered. It is not that she had no love for her family. Instead, she has more than anybody could possibly have, but she bore the entire responsibility of the family which was a bit too much on her shoulders. She got married when she was 16 and bore a child immediately. The first baby was a female. A girl child in a family was a big responsibility. So Nandagopan tried next. It was a female child as well. He tried again and subsequently Athamma had seven children before she was 40 years old. She lost two children in between and one was a male child unfortunately. Smallpox, malaria, TB and other diseases were child killers in those days.
However, Nandagopan was adamant to have a male child. Nandu was born and Athamma attained menopause soon after him. So, he was the last and only male child in the family. There is a proverb in Tamil stating that a person with five female children is fast a popper! Dowry drowned middle class families. Nandagopan's salary was not that high. He constantly worked hard to get some extra perks. Illiteracy was still high, and he was paid a rupee if he filled a form in English for somebody. He burnt midnight oil to meet his needs. Electricity was introduced only then, and the voltage was invariably low. The veranda was not big enough for the crowd. He got his meal at last, and the children were asleep by then. This earning was after his regular work which demanded him to walk miles together on rough roads, mostly on the agricultural fields. His feet were never smooth but looked more like a parched field where he used to walk. With all his earnings he could pay the mortgage and provided the family with a home and conducted the marriage of the second daughter. This marriage was intervened by the anti-corruption bureau as somebody sent a false petition of his earnings! He somehow managed not to be arrested by the police! Because of all these things he was almost broken.
Nandu knew nothing about it and enjoyed marriages conducted in the Chettiar viduthi (marriage hall), but his sister’s marriage was the first one in his family and he had access to all sweets without any fuss. He was allowed to sit in the long old model car that carried the bridegroom in the procession. He was treated by everyone special, being the brother of the bride during the marriage and for some time after the marriage.
While life was going smoothly, ill fate brought a terrible thing. Nandagopan who went to Madurai to visit his daughter got into a diabetic coma. Nobody knows anything about diabetics or coma. He looked normal as if sleeping. He was brought back home. The whole family was crying. Nandu could not comprehend what happened to his otherwise jolly good, lovely father. He was crying as a sympathetic reaction without knowing what to do otherwise. He has never seen a death before. He did not have the knowledge to ask anybody the difference between coma and brain death. For all practical purposes he looked very much like he was in a deep sleep. The family was not rich enough to provide a life support system for his father. He was sent back by the doctors to die on his own. All the children were close to his father, checking his body's warmth, hoping he would open his eyes and say something. The whole night they were crying and Nandagopan never opened his eyes. In the morning, the news spread, and big crowds gathered. Village women started their ‘oppari’ , a traditional death song narrating Nandagopan’s good nature and his sudden passing off. Relatives were in a hurry to dispose of the dead body. Children never liked anybody of those who proclaimed him dead.
It was hard to believe that a death occurred. Athamma was so pious to Lord Meenakshi and believed that no death would come to her house. Her father, Nandu’s grandpa, was still alive, and she never expected that the earning member of the family and indeed the pillar of the family would die. She quarreled with him very often but never wished that he would die. For many, it was a young death. Nandagopan was still in his 50s. Everyone was crying openly about who would support these young children and what would happen to them. Athamma never studied and was not in a position to be employed and support the family. The eldest unmarried sister was in the teacher’s training institute finishing her course and the last two sisters were in the college. Nandu was in his 7th grade schooling. The only employed then was their brother-in-law. But he has a family of three children. A big question stood in front of everyone.
Since they were living close to the temple the priest class was rushing them to finish the rituals as early as possible as it would be a hindrance to God’s procession. Nandu hated everything and everybody. He had this additional worry that he might be head shaved as the only son. The body was taken to the village crematorium and women were not allowed beyond the street. The name of God Govinda was chanted all along till the crematorium. Nandu was asked to give permission to his brother-in-law to conduct the ceremony and so he was not shaved. It was a big relief amidst all the sorrow. After the rituals they took a bath at River Vaigai and came home. The house was never the same for Nandu. Everyone was sad and full of deep sorrow. His relatives living close by prepared the meals for everyone. Nandu could hardly gulp the food as the sorrow was neck high.
Amma hardly moves out of home, but she was asked to visit the pension office personally to collect the pension every month in Madurai. Nandu used to pick her up on the bus. The crematorium which he never liked to see on the way became a place of memorabilia now, suddenly! He fondly looked at it as if his father was still lying over the pyre. Athamma never lived long. She missed her husband so much that she fell ill and died next year. She put the hands of Nandu to one of her smart daughters and said please take care of him as he was young and innocent. Everyone was cursing the old man in the house, and he died one too. The last to die in that house was his uncle.
The house Padma nilayam, once his home was now cursed and nobody wanted to live there. They all left the village for Madurai to join his eldest sister’s family. Nandu left that village with all his fond memories buried under the riverbed. The legend says that Siva will convert all the ashes to flowers. Monsoon murmurs are the flowers that Nandu carried all along as a gift of Shiva.
The End
© nanu
However, Nandagopan was adamant to have a male child. Nandu was born and Athamma attained menopause soon after him. So, he was the last and only male child in the family. There is a proverb in Tamil stating that a person with five female children is fast a popper! Dowry drowned middle class families. Nandagopan's salary was not that high. He constantly worked hard to get some extra perks. Illiteracy was still high, and he was paid a rupee if he filled a form in English for somebody. He burnt midnight oil to meet his needs. Electricity was introduced only then, and the voltage was invariably low. The veranda was not big enough for the crowd. He got his meal at last, and the children were asleep by then. This earning was after his regular work which demanded him to walk miles together on rough roads, mostly on the agricultural fields. His feet were never smooth but looked more like a parched field where he used to walk. With all his earnings he could pay the mortgage and provided the family with a home and conducted the marriage of the second daughter. This marriage was intervened by the anti-corruption bureau as somebody sent a false petition of his earnings! He somehow managed not to be arrested by the police! Because of all these things he was almost broken.
Nandu knew nothing about it and enjoyed marriages conducted in the Chettiar viduthi (marriage hall), but his sister’s marriage was the first one in his family and he had access to all sweets without any fuss. He was allowed to sit in the long old model car that carried the bridegroom in the procession. He was treated by everyone special, being the brother of the bride during the marriage and for some time after the marriage.
While life was going smoothly, ill fate brought a terrible thing. Nandagopan who went to Madurai to visit his daughter got into a diabetic coma. Nobody knows anything about diabetics or coma. He looked normal as if sleeping. He was brought back home. The whole family was crying. Nandu could not comprehend what happened to his otherwise jolly good, lovely father. He was crying as a sympathetic reaction without knowing what to do otherwise. He has never seen a death before. He did not have the knowledge to ask anybody the difference between coma and brain death. For all practical purposes he looked very much like he was in a deep sleep. The family was not rich enough to provide a life support system for his father. He was sent back by the doctors to die on his own. All the children were close to his father, checking his body's warmth, hoping he would open his eyes and say something. The whole night they were crying and Nandagopan never opened his eyes. In the morning, the news spread, and big crowds gathered. Village women started their ‘oppari’ , a traditional death song narrating Nandagopan’s good nature and his sudden passing off. Relatives were in a hurry to dispose of the dead body. Children never liked anybody of those who proclaimed him dead.
It was hard to believe that a death occurred. Athamma was so pious to Lord Meenakshi and believed that no death would come to her house. Her father, Nandu’s grandpa, was still alive, and she never expected that the earning member of the family and indeed the pillar of the family would die. She quarreled with him very often but never wished that he would die. For many, it was a young death. Nandagopan was still in his 50s. Everyone was crying openly about who would support these young children and what would happen to them. Athamma never studied and was not in a position to be employed and support the family. The eldest unmarried sister was in the teacher’s training institute finishing her course and the last two sisters were in the college. Nandu was in his 7th grade schooling. The only employed then was their brother-in-law. But he has a family of three children. A big question stood in front of everyone.
Since they were living close to the temple the priest class was rushing them to finish the rituals as early as possible as it would be a hindrance to God’s procession. Nandu hated everything and everybody. He had this additional worry that he might be head shaved as the only son. The body was taken to the village crematorium and women were not allowed beyond the street. The name of God Govinda was chanted all along till the crematorium. Nandu was asked to give permission to his brother-in-law to conduct the ceremony and so he was not shaved. It was a big relief amidst all the sorrow. After the rituals they took a bath at River Vaigai and came home. The house was never the same for Nandu. Everyone was sad and full of deep sorrow. His relatives living close by prepared the meals for everyone. Nandu could hardly gulp the food as the sorrow was neck high.
Amma hardly moves out of home, but she was asked to visit the pension office personally to collect the pension every month in Madurai. Nandu used to pick her up on the bus. The crematorium which he never liked to see on the way became a place of memorabilia now, suddenly! He fondly looked at it as if his father was still lying over the pyre. Athamma never lived long. She missed her husband so much that she fell ill and died next year. She put the hands of Nandu to one of her smart daughters and said please take care of him as he was young and innocent. Everyone was cursing the old man in the house, and he died one too. The last to die in that house was his uncle.
The house Padma nilayam, once his home was now cursed and nobody wanted to live there. They all left the village for Madurai to join his eldest sister’s family. Nandu left that village with all his fond memories buried under the riverbed. The legend says that Siva will convert all the ashes to flowers. Monsoon murmurs are the flowers that Nandu carried all along as a gift of Shiva.
The End
© nanu
