Indulekha

by O. Chandu Menon

  INDULEKHA

  INDULEKHA

  A Novel from Malabar

  O. CHANDU MENON

  Book Point, Ummer Mansion ,M.M. Ali Road ,Calicut-673002

  E-mail : tar_juma@yahoo.co.in

  Governing body

  M.T. Vasudevan Nair

  N. Gopalakrishnan

  M.M. Basheer

  P.M. Narayanan

  P.M. Sreedharan (Managing Partner)

  INDULEKHA

  (Novel)

  Written by

  O. Chandu Menon

  Translated by

  N. Gopalakrishnan

  First Published in Malayalam in 1890

  Published in English by Tarjuma, Kozhikode in 2007

  Copy right © Reserved

  Cover Design by Chans

  Type setting and lay out by M. Manoharan, Apple Talk, Kozhikode

  Printed in India by Printers Port,Kozhikode

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

  stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted,

  in any form, or by any means, electronic,

  mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without

  the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Us $ 9.99

  PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

  Malayalam, perhaps the only language with a palindro-mic appellation, is a comparatively young language. However during the last century its literature made rapid strides and earned it a place among the most developed languages of India. Many of the notable works of modern Malayalam have been translated into various Indian languages. Nevertheless the fact remains that they have found access to only a limited readership.

  Tarjuma is an organization that we have started with the purpose of publishing English translations of some of the selected works in Malayalam so that they may reach a wider readership than what is open to them at present.

  We made O. Chandu Menon’s Indulekha our first choice for publication because it is the first novel in Malayalam. While it is true that prior to the publication of Indulekha a few books that had some of the characteristices of novels had been published, it is almost universally recognized that Chandu Menon’s remains the earliest work that truly conforms to the accepted norms of the modern novel.

  The novel presents a vivid picture of the social milieu of Kerala in the nineteenth century. It follows a well knit story line. At the same time the author studiously pursues his objective of stressing the need for the modernization of society by the inculcation of the English language and modern science. In this sense too it is a pioneering work.

  The period of transition from the twentieth century to the twenty first is curiously similar to the times when Chandu Menon wrote lndulekha. The recent decades have witnessed the growth of information technology and the rapid integration of western knowledge with our day to day life. Hence the threshold on which we now find ourselves is similar to the one at which Madhavan and lndulekha, the principal characters of the novel stood when the novel was written nearly a century ago. The translation by Dumergue, Chandu Menon’s senior colleague in the civil service in elegant English is eminently readable.

  We hope that readers will welcome our publication of this transalation that has already won wide acclaim.

  TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

  If it is true that no book should be written without justification, then it is certainly true that no book was ever written with greater justification than the Malayalam novel ‘Indulekha’. Valuable as the literature of the Dravidian languages may be considered for the purposes of archaeology or philology, nevertheless all who have studied it with any other object in view must remember the sense of weariness and disappointment with which they rose from the task.

  The popular literature, with all its unnatural and supernatural paraphernalia, belongs to an age when the human mind was still in a go-cart, its language is as obsolete as the language of Piers the Plowman, and as it is without exception founded on the venerable Sanskrit, there is a total absence of originality. But Mr. Chandu Menon has quit the well-worn track, paved with plagiarism; modern Malabar is depicted in his pages and the language of Indulekha is the living Malayalam of the present day. It is no part of my province or intention to discuss the merits of the work itself, but I may perhaps be permitted to observe that if this descent into a valley of bones which are very dry, is followed by their revival the author deserves well of all who, from birth, inclination or necessity are interested in a regeneration of oriental literature.

  So far as Europeans are concerned, the value of a book like ‘Indulekha’ can hardly be overestimated. Few amongst us have opportunities of learning the coloquial and idiomatic language of the country, which, so far as I am competent to express an opinion, is far more important for the ends of administration than all the monuments of archaic ingenuity which we read and mark and leave undigested under the present "Rules for the encouragement of the study of Oriental Languages." In this respect, therefore, a novel supplies a distinct want, and I would respectfully commend this point to the consideration of the powers who regulate such matters.

  Of all the recognized Vernaculars in South India, Malayalam, being confined to one district in the Madras Presidency, and the Native States of Cochin and Travancore, is least known to the world in general, and the influence of the new departure made by Mr. Chandu Menon would, therefore, in itself be limited to a narrow sphere. Hence, apart from the interest with which ‘lndulekha’ inspired me, and the linguistic profit I derived from its perusal, I thought it desirable, with Mr. Chandu Menon’s permission, to assist him in his declared object by translating the work into the ‘lingua franca’ of the East. At the end of the volume will be found a few notes in which I have endeavoured to explain certain passages relating to the social and family system’ peculiar to Malabar.

  With regard to the translation itself, no one can be more painfully aware than I am myself of its many shortcomings, and I would beg those who honour me by reading it to remember, in criticising the book itself, that the original must have suffered from the faults of the translation. In accepting, however, my due share of responsibility, I must express regret that, owing to a mistake by which an imperfectly corrected proof was used as the ‘final revise,’ there have occurred, in the first half of the work, errors and misprints which would have disappeared on actual revision.

  PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

  I began to read English novels extensively after I left Calicut in the end of 1886, and I then devoted all the leisure which my official duties left me, to novel reading. Thereupon I found that my circle of intimates with whom I had been accustomed to pass the time in social conversation and amusement considered itself somewhat neglected, and I accordingly endeavoured to find means by which I could conciliate its members without in any degree foregoing my novels. With this object in view, I attempted at first to convey to them in Malayalam the gist of the story contained in some of the novels I had read, but my hearers did not seem particularly interested in the versions which I gave them of two or three of these books. At last it happened that one of these individuals was greatly taken with Lord Beaconsfield’s "Henrietta Temple," and the taste then acquired for listening to novels translated orally, gradually developed into a passion. The importunity of this personage in the matter was so great that I had seldom time to read a book on my own account. Occasionally, even when I was alone and studying a treatise on law, my friend (mistaking it for a novel) would come and tease me saying, "There again, you are reading a novel to yourself. I must have it translated orally". Thus in one way and another, it appeared to me that by trying not to give umbrage to my associates, I had succeeded in giving considerable inconvenience at any rate to myself.

  Finally, I
was urged to produce a written translation of the novel by Beaconsfield which I have mentioned, and I consented. But when I had made some little progress in the work, I, thought the matter over, and decided that a translation thus made would be absolutely without value. I find no great difficulty in communicating to my friends who are ignorant of English, a fairly accurate idea of an English novel by means of an oral rendering, but I think it is wholly impossible to transmit a correct impression of the story through a written translation. The reason of this is that, when the translation is written, a mere string of words is presented to the mind, and this alone is insufficient for the purpose. In translating orally, the true force of English expressions is, at times, maintained, but the narrative, as a whole, can be rendered intelligible only by elucidating, with the help of much commentary, the details appropriate to each incident as it is related, by supplementing the pronunciation of words and by gesture and expression. If a professedly literal translation were interpolated with such details, explanation and commentary, then there is no doubt that the work, as a translation, would be completely ruined. Moreover, another obstacle is that any attempt to reproduce literally in a written’ translation into Malayalam, the love passages with which English novels abound must necessarily be far from happy. Taking, therefore, all these circumstances into consideration, I determined to write a Malayalam novel more or less after the English fashion and gave my persecutor a promise to this effect. The compact was entered into in January last, but on one pretext and another I delayed its fulfillment until June. Then I was no longer able to withstand the pressure brought to bear on me but, commencing to write this volume on the l7th June, finished it on the 17th’ August, and thus it is that this book came into existence.

  I do not know how my countrymen will be disposed to regard a work of this description. Those who do not understand English have had no opportunity of reading stories cast in this mould; and I doubt if they will relish their first experience of this kind of literature.

  While I was engaged in writing this book, some of my friends, who are not conversant with English, questioned me concerning the subject I had chosen. I gave them a brief outline thereof, and perceived that they did not approve of the new departure I had made. Indeed I know that one individual exclaimed, "What is the use of taking all this trouble? If things have never taken place, what is the use of writing a story about them?" In answer to this, I could offer only one explanation, that most of the books, which the world has seen are story books, and that, while some of these books contain stories which, being styled histories, must be believed, the notion that the events chronicled in the rest ever actually happened, must be rejected altogether or accepted with considerable reserve. Generally speaking, however, the truth seems to be that popular appreciation of a story depends on the skill displayed in its treatment, and is irrespective of the question whether the subject is one of fact or of fiction. Were it otherwise, there would be no reason why the vast majority of books should be so exclusively composed of romance. Men of intelligence, in reading books of this type, do not stop to inquire critically whether the tale is true or imaginary, but the qualities which they demand to rivet their attention are ingenious semblance of reality and elegance in the elaboration of the narration.

  When a person of cultivated taste and judgment reads a clever and effectively written novel, he may feel positive from beginning to end that none of the incidents described therein ever actually occurred, but it is nevertheless certain that he experiences the same sensations that he would experience if he were satisfied that the various situations had been borrowed directly from real life. Many a grave and reverend man of learning, as he passes from one stage to another in a work of fiction, admires the dexterity of the author in the construction of the plot, notwithstanding his convictions that the whole of what he reads is merely the creation of an inventive mind, and many a man of calm and temperate feelings is melted to tears or moved to laughter, as pathetic or humourous scenes are presented to his imagination. These things are of every day occurrence among persons of ordinary education and understanding, and it appears to me that works of fiction are most instrumental not only in amusing but also in instructing mankind in general. Hence I consider it a mistake to say that a story which is not wholly and strictly made up of facts serves no good purpose, and I think that the points which should receive particular care, are style and beauty of composition.

  One day while I was correcting the proofs of this book another friend also asked me what the subject was. The only answer I gave him was that if the book was ever published, I would send him a copy and he could then see for himself. The reply he made was as follows: "It is a good thing if the book which you are preparing treats of that branch of English learning which is called Science, but Malabar has no need of any book dealing with any other subjects," and these words astonished me not a little.

  Others again asked me, while I was employed on this novel, how I expected to make it a success if I described only the ordinary affairs of the modern life without introducing any element of the supernatural. My answer was this: Before the European style of oil-painting began to be known and appreciated in this country, we had, painted in defiance of all possible existence-pictures of Vishnu as half man and half lion, pictures of the deity of the chase, pictures of bruteheaded monsters, pictures of the god Krishna, with his legs twisted and twined into postures in which no biped could stand and blowing a cowherd’s horn, pictures of Ananthan wearing a thousand cobra-hoods, pictures of gigantic demons, and all these executed with a touch and colouring so coarse as to banish all idea of chiaroscuro, perspective and proportion. Such productions used to be highly thought of, and those who produced them used to be highly remunerated, but now they are looked upon by many with aversion. A taste has set in for pictures, whether in oil or water colours, in which shall be delineated men, beasts, and things according to their true appearance, and the closer that a picture is to nature the greater is the honour paid to the artist. Just in the same way, if stories composed of incidents true to natural life, and attractively and gracefully written, are once introduced, then by degrees the old order of books, filled with the impossible and the supernatural, will change, yielding place to the new.

  I cannot, however, claim for this book of mine any such artistic merit as I have indicated, and I shall be much distressed if my readers think from what I have said that I have put forward such a claim. All that I mean is that if competent persons would take the subject up and produce artistic novels, the public would find pleasure in reading them.

  The language I have used in this book is the language I would ordinarily speak at home. Although I have some knowledge of Sanskrit, I have as a rule employed Sanskrit words only in the manner and to the extent in which they are employed colloquially by us Malayalis. For instance, the Sanskrit word for ‘etymology’ or ‘critical knowledge’ is ‘Vyulpaththi,’ in the proper Sanskrit pronunciation, but in common use it became "Vilpaththi," and I have adhered to the popular form. Many similar examples will be found, but in the case of certain words and compounds which have been absorbed into Malayalam, neither is the original pronunciation nor is the original meaning preserved, and I therefore warn my readers before hand that I have employed such phrases only in the usual acceptation. I may also here remark that I have used the active and passive voice and transitive and intransitive verbs in the mode in which they are used in ordinary conversation, and I have made no attempt to abandon, in favour of a style modelled on pure Sanskrit prose, the diction of Malayalis conversing in Malayalam. Of my English readers I would beg the favour of their perusing a letter which I have addressed to Mr. W. Dumergue, C. S., and have had printed as an accompaniment to this volume, before they read the book itself. In that letter, I have met, so far as I was able to anticipate them, some of the objections, which will be raised to certain innovations in this narrative.

  In the printing of this book, Mr. Kochchu Kunjen, the Superintendent of the Spectator Press, has aff
orded me great assistance, and I have much pleasure in acknowledging the intelligence and promptitude with which he brought to my notice from time to time, as the pages passed through the press, errors which had crept in owing to the haste in which my task was accomplished.

  O. CHANDU MENON

  Parapanangadi,

  9th December 1889.

  To

  W. DUMERGUE, Esq., M. C. S.,

  &c., &c., &c.,

  Hosur.

  Sir,

  I respectfully beg to submit herewith a copy of my Malayalam novel for your kind acceptance and perusal.

  The reasons that induced me to write a novel in Malayalam are fully set forth in the Preface.

  Briefly stated, they are as follows:

  First, my wife’s oft-expressed desire to read in her own language a novel written after the English fashion, and secondly, a desire on my own part to try whether I should be able to create a taste amongst my Malayalee readers, not conversant with English, for that class of literature represented in the English language by novels, of which at present they (accustomed as they are to read and admire works of fiction in Malayalam abounding in events and incidents foreign to nature and often absurd and impossible) have no idea, and to see whether they could appreciate a story that contains only such facts and incidents as may happen in their own households under a given state of circumstances-to illustrate to my Malayalee brethren the position, power and influence that our Nair women, who are noted for their natural intelligence and beauty, would attain in society, if they are given a good English education; and finally-to contribute my mite towards the improvement of Malayalam literature which I regret to observe is fast dying out by disuse as well as by abuse.

  The book is written generally in the style of Malayalam which I speak at home with such Sanskrit words as I might use in conversation with an educated Malayalee.