A Preface to Man

by Subhash Chandran

  4. Siam Weed

  Appa, Appan, Achan, etc.: Are common ways of addressing and referring to the father.

  Vada: Popular fried snacks made of ground pulses.

  Poonool: The ‘sacred thread’, a thin consecrated cord of cotton, worn by Brahmins, as a reminder to observe purity of thought and deed, and pay respects to parents and God. During Upanayana or the initiation ritual, the sacred thread is tied diagonally across the chest, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge.

  Poromboke: Unassessed lands, or wasteland which are the property of Government, and reserved for public purposes or common use of the people.

  5. Meanie

  Chetta: A mean, base, scoundrel. Chetta is also an abbreviation for ‘chettakkudil’ or thatched hut, usually belonging to the lower caste and the poor.

  Kamanthan: A desi corruption of Kabhandham, or headless corpse. Kabandhan was the headless demon in the Puranic legends.

  Panickan or Panikkar/Panicker: Usually is a professional astrologer.

  Thrikkakarappan: Clay idols of the deity Thrikkakarappan, shaped like geometric cones, installed in front yards of Hindu houses during Onam festival, often along with flower carpets.

  Pulayi: The feminine form of Pulayan, a lower caste, usually labourers and menial workers.

  Your Nair: Contextually, Nair can also mean a woman’s husband.

  6. Crescent

  Chenda: A cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, made from wood and leather, with a length of two feet and a diameter of one foot.

  Sanchayanam: The ceremony, usually on the third day of cremation, for collecting the bones from the funeral pyre in an earthen port, for eventual submersion in a river or the sea.

  Kochettan: Second eldest brother, or chettan.

  7. The Birth

  Chathayam: Sree Narayana Guru passed away on chathayam day.

  Thulaabharam: An offering given to the deities of temples – usually of fruits, grains, coconuts etc. – equalling the weight of the devotee.

  Vamanan: The fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, depicted as a dwarf.

  Putthaleebai: A corruption of the name of Gandhiji’s mother, Putlibai Gandhi.

  9. Iconoclasm

  Udukku: A membranophone instrument used in folk music and prayers in South India. Its shape is similar to other Indian hourglass drums, with a small snare stretched over one side.

  Poothana: Was a she-demon, sent by her brother Kamsa to breast-feed and kill baby Krishna. She entered his house, Ambadi, in the form of a beautiful woman (Lalitha).

  Lakshaarchana and Udayaasthamana vazhipad: Poojas in a temple when the deity is offered hundred thousand flowers ritual (lakshaarchana pooja), and periodical ritual worship done from dawn to dusk (udayaasthamana pooja).

  10. Treasure Chest

  Ammayi: A suffix added to female names to indicate the relationship as an aunt.

  Edathiamma: A suffix indicating sister in law, especially the maternal status accorded to the wife of an elder brother. From ‘edathi’ (chechi/sister), and amma (mother).

  Pappae: Colloquial usage for brother.

  Kaaleeyamardhanam: A dance commemorating Krishna’s subduing of the arrogance of the feared Kaaleeya serpant, by dancing on his hundred and ten hoods.

  Kunjalam: A decorative hair accessory worn at the end of the braid, especially as part of dance attire.

  Thechi: Jungle Geranium flower

  Devatha (feminine of ‘Deva’/Devan): Female goddess, or demi-godess, or even an exceptionally beautiful or good woman.

  PART THREE

  KAAMA

  1. Sequel

  Jnaanappaana: Considered as the Bhagavad Gita of Malayalee, Jnaanappaana is an intensely devotional poem of the sixteenth century, written by poet Poonthanam Namboothiri as a paean to his favourite deity, Lord Guruvayoorappan.

  Harinaamakeerthanam: The sixteenth century devotional song written entirely in Malayalam by Thunjathu Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam poetry.

  P. Leela: Popular Indian playback singer, recognized for her mellifluous rendition of devotional songs.

  Achaayan: A term used to address elder males belonging to Travancore Christian communities.

  3. Mixed Breed

  ‘ The name of your Guru’: Narayana Guru, here, is mentioned derogatorily as the Guru of the Thiyyas (lower caste), in a momentary surge of casteist pride on the part of Govindan Master.

  Chattambi Swamikal: A sage and a social reformer of the Kerala Renaissance and a contemporary of Narayanaguru. Though born a Nair, he challenged caste inequalities and Hindu orthodoxies.

  Chettathiamma: Elder sister-in-law

  5. The Old Man

  Anusooya and Priyamvadha: The inseparable and beautiful companions of Shakunthala, the heroine of Kalidas’s renowned classical play, Abhijñanasakuntala.

  Shashtipoorthi: A Hindu ceremony celebrating the sixtieth birthday of a male, whose children offer prayers for the well being of their parents, who in turn renew their marital vows. Usually, it is celebrated only by the rich or families of high social standing.

  6. Oxen

  Miccher: A local corruption of mixture, a fried mix of peanuts, beaten rice, and vermicelli made from powdered Bengal gram.

  Kamadhenu: The divine bovine-goddess described in Hindu Religion as the mother of all cows, Kamadenu is the miraculous ‘cow of plenty’, who showers devotees with whatever they seek.

  Valyettan: Literally ‘big brother’, for eldest brother.

  7. Caterpillar

  Amba, Ambika, Ambalika: The three princesses of Kasi that King Bhishma had carried away from their wedding venue, for his brother, Vichithravirya, the King of Hastinapur – as recounted in the Mahabharatha.

  Unniappams: Fried dumplings made from powdered rice, jaggery, coconut.

  8. Maelstrom

  Hiranyakashipu: An Asura from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism, who was killed by Narasimha avatar of Lord Vishnu, who appeared with a lion’s face.

  9. Harbinger of Death

  Perumthacchan: The ‘master craftsman’ is an honorific title that is used to refer to Perumthacchan, an ancient and legendary carpenter, architect, woodcarver and sculptor from Kerala.

  Pappadam (poppadum): A thin, disc-shaped Indian food typically based on a seasoned dough made from black gram, and crisply fried or roasted, to be served along with rice.

  Ilaneerkuzhambu: A cooling medicine of eye-drops made from tender coconut.

  10. Swayamvaram

  Swayamvaram: The ancient custom of kings that allowed their daughters to choose their life partners, from an array of kings and noble suitors invited for the function.

  PART FOUR

  MOKSHA

  1. Portal

  Lathi: A typical baton, about 5 ft long and made from bamboo, still carried by policemen in India.

  3. Fragmentation

  Mimics Parade: A very popular mimicry show, which was a launchpad for a quite a few talented actors and comedians in Malayalam movies.

  6. Odds

  Yama or Kaalan: The God of Death, who comes when a death is imminent. He rides a water buffalo and wields a loop of rope in his left hand to pull the soul from the corpse.

  8. Creation Song

  Ilatthaalam: Made from bronze, is a musical instrument which resembles a miniature pair of cymbals.

  Maddhalam: A cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in Kerala, made from wood and leather, with a length of two feet and a diameter of one foot.

  10. Zenith

  Nataraja Guru: Son of Dr Palpu, who took reins at Adhvaithaashram, after SreeNaryana Guru’s Samadhi.

  Dr Padmanabhan Palpu: Social reformer and bacteriologist, who founded the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Society (the Propagation of the credo of Sree Narayana, or SNDP) for the socio-economic advancement of the Ezhavas and Thiyyas. Narayana Guru was SNDP’s first President.

  Chempakaraman Pillai (1891–1926): An Indian independence activist, and ally of Netaji Subash Chandra Bo
se, based in Germany and reportedly killed by the Nazis, on Hitler’s instruction, by food poisoning on 26 May 1934.

  Captain Lakshmi: A revolutionary Indian independence activist and officer of the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind government.

  Irayimman Thampi: Renowned Carnatic musician as well as a music composer and vocalist in the court of Swathi Thirunal. His compositions include the well-loved lullaby ‘Omanathinkal Kidavo’.

  Sopaana Sangeetham: A form of singing, primarily based on Jayadeva’s Geethagovindam, rendered by the side of the steps (sopaanam) leading to the sanctum sanctorum of a temple.

  Idakka: An hourglass-shaped, handy percussion instrument, similar to the pan-Indian damaru. While the damaru is played by rattling knotted cords against the resonators, the idakka is played with a drumstick.

  P.S.

  Insights Interviews & More ...

  All the Short Stories That I Wrote Were

  Preparations to Arrive at This Novel

  An Interview with Subhash Chandran (the Author)

  Fathima E.V.

  All the Short Stories That I Wrote Were Preparations to Arrive at This Novel

  Fathima E.V.

  You have often said that everything that you wrote before A Preface to Man was a powerful commentary on the making of A Preface? Do tell us about your transition from a short story writer to a novelist.

  It can safely be said that A Preface to Man is a novel that looks at the contemporary world, simultaneously, from both philosophical and experiential perspectives. Through the tale of the fictitious village of Thachankkara on the bank of Periyar river, I have tried to depict the story of Indian life of the past hundred years, tracing it through its emotional history. In fact, the synopsis of the novel was published sixteen years ago in the weekly Mathrubhumi as a short story titled Novelsangraham. The thirty-first chapter of this novel was also published eleven years ago as a short story. The long and short of it is that it was a long meditation. During this period, the form of the novel itself was overhauled many times. The first version had 72 chapters. From the beginning, I had imagined the novel to be divided into four parts corresponding to the fourfold division of the Purushartha in Indian philosophy: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Eventually, I was able to condense the history of hundred years and its hundred plus characters into 42 chapters. From this perspective, all the short stories that I wrote were preparations to arrive at this novel. The moments that I desired an Indian novel should encompass are what I tried to recount in my short stories. I had always hoped that this novel would be included in the history of great novels created by Indians. I have been writing stories from the age of seventeen. Now I am forty-three years old. Within this span, I have published five short story collections, besides three collections of memoirs. However, it was only after the publication of my novel that I realized how dear the reader holds a writer, how cherished a writer is. Only a novel has the ability to present life in its complex totality. Perhaps that is the reason why readers often feel characters resemble them. I was shocked out of my wits when I received two pairs of gold earrings once, with a note saying ‘To be worn by Jithendran’s daughters’. That golden prize that some unknown reader sent was a recognition for the sum total of my life.

  ‘We have art in order not to die of the truth’, said Nietzsche. Is writing not an escape from death, to exist beyond death, to not forget? What are your hopes for Man?

  I do not believe that human life is something that is destined to just flare up, only to be snuffed out. The magnificent brilliance of creativity is never a decorative lamp in human existence. It is the essential sunlight required by our souls. There is no need to fear that it will ever be extinguished. Creative artists will remain beyond hundred or thousand years, till human race itself continues to exist. They will succeed in creating works in different fields, illumining the eras to come. Maybe on a purely individual level, man may end up losing this optimism. The protagonist of this novel, Jithendran, is one such soul, a creative soul who has lost his optimism. Life is not a story that will conclude, underlined solely by either cheer or gloom, as we all think. It is a continuity. Every word that I write is never mine alone. The life that I live is not unique. Even if I were to die, the emotions and thoughts that I harbour in secrecy will blossom and come to fruition in the earth through many others. This continuity of creative light can be seen in the fiery hope that suffuses Ann Marie, in whom the entirety of Jithen’s words remained stored, even after Jithen’s death.

  In a novel marked by diligent descriptions, did you, at any point in your writing, have to undertake any particular research?

  Didn’t I say that I was trying to write the emotional history of a century? Along with that, a meditation on creativity also happened to become an integral part of it. I studiously edited and pared down many things that had already been written down, reworking obsessively on the draft for greater accuracy. Though I had grown up on the shores of Aluva river and had seen dead bodies floating in the river, I had never seen how a body lost in the water was revived by divers. For a long while, I had struggled to lend authenticity to the details in the scene in the novel when the corpse of Naraappilla, who is a main character, had to be pulled up from the depths of the temple pond in which he had drowned. While the scene that I had struggled to realize through ten years of creative effort continued to nag me, in an astonishing coincidence, I happened to come across an actual case of death by drowning. After years, I was standing near the riverbank with my friends. When we realized that one of the young men who was bathing in the river ghat had drowned, we jumped into the river. Though we searched for a long time, we failed to find him. Finally, an expert diver from the village of Uliyanur on the opposite bank, retrieved the body from the depth, with great effort. Thus, I chanced to witness a scene in which a corpse was retrieved, and in the final edit rewrote the scene. The details for the episode where Devassy dived to haul up Naraappilla’s corpse were chanced upon at the last moment.

  A Preface is a novel about the cultural evolution of Kerala, as much as it is about Jithendran, a Malayali. Given that the construction of the plot itself is, in its many turns, fashioned around varied responses to the philosophical and political ideas of Kerala Renaissance, to what extent does it explore the changes entailed, which subject male authority to critical interrogation? How does the ideational history of the narrative examine the male centric authority inherent in Malayali public discourse?

  On many counts, Kerala is at the forefront among Indian states. A state where education and literacy tops, where the proportion of women dominate the man-woman ratio. The place where Vasco-da Gama’s ship landed, in his search for a sea route to India. The birthplace of Sree Narayana Guru, esteemed even by Mahatma Gandhi. The state of forty-four rivers, bordered by the beautiful Western Ghats on one side and the long ocean stretch on the other, and the birthplace of the globally respected art forms like Kathakali. The state that proudly says that the last Cheraman Perumal, a Hindu, went to Mecca and became a Muslim. The land in which the world’s first elected communist government came to power through people’s choice. We are, at present, living in a period when all these proud achievements have taken a beating. Unfurling their hoods, religion and caste have started meddling in public life. We seem to be closing our eyes against the radiance gifted by the Renaissance era. Woman has morphed into a mere sex apparatus. One of the chapters in the novel examines the transformation of the umbilicus—from a mark on the body that is constant reminder of your rupture from the Mother—that has now become symbolic of an enticement to sex. One needs to only look at how copiously Indian cinema uses the belly button, solely as an erogenous image for sexual titillation. There is a chapter titled ‘Darkness’ in this novel. It introduces the young men of our times who, under the cover of darkness, eavesdrop on the moans of a woman on her deathbed, laid low by age and sickness. Mistaking the grunts of old age to be the lusty moans of a beautif
ul woman in coitus, they masturbate in the darkness. The infamous Hooch tragedy of Vaippin occurred in our state, during the birthday celebrations of the great man who taught us that alcohol is poison! Thus, this novel reveals such areas of darkness that Jithendran passes through in his adolescence and youth.

  Given the large canvas, complex time scheme and bewildering crowd of character, how do you explain the novel briefly? How much of a critical engagement does the novel have with the contemporary age, and how far does it reflect the exigencies of the times?

  It can perhaps be said that the novel is an elaboration on the profound sentence that appears at the beginning and in the middle of the novel: ‘Man is the only creature that perishes before attaining full growth’. However, it is not just that alone. The book is also a reminder of the greatness that the same creature is also capable of! Our contemporary age is becoming increasingly unacquainted with the word ‘greatness’. The lack of greatness has even been exalted into a theory. World over, evil seems to be winning in projecting virtue as a weakness or failure. Wounded by the scenario, my heart had wailed, manifesting as this novel.

  How do you chart your movement from short stories to full fledged fiction? Are their aesthetics different?

  By instinct, stories are closer to poems. They are the word pictures of man’s emotional moments. If short story is a photograph, the novel is a videograph. Both have their own aesthetics. If short story writers are God’s stenographers, novelists are surely his chosen holy brides. In this sense, novelists are more blessed in being able to touch God at least once in a while. This novel gives its readers the choice to read each of the four parts of the novel as separate, independent narratives. Each chapter has that kind of completeness. Yet, this novel is an illusory book that reveals itself for a moment in one of the early morning dreams of Ann Marie, a character in the novel.