Indulekha

by O. Chandu Menon

  On the previous evening he had heard Govindan announce openly at the temple, in answer to the Nambudiripad’s question, that Indulekha has accepted the letter which the latter had sent, and he had then made up his mind that, as previously stated by Kunji Kutty Amma the matter was finally settled. Now, when Sheenu Patter proclaimed so positively that the ceremony would take place that very night he felt there was no longer any room for doubt and heaved a deep sigh, "What a crying shame it is!" he said to himself. "To think that all this time I should have given such an abandoned wretch as she is credit for good taste and feeling! Anyone with a grain of sense would find out after five minutes’ conversation what a vulgar coxcomb, what a shameless debauchee, the Nambudiripad is. Is it possible that Indulekha has not found it out? Then if she has, she has deliberately thrown over Madhavan, who is like this god of love himself and is devoted to her, for this miserable fop with a face like a horse, and for what? Just to satisfy her greed for money, nothing else." Communing with himself thus, the Shastri proceeded to breakfast, and then resolving to have a talk with Madhavan’s father, went to Govinda Panikkar’s house, but found on arrival there that the owner had gone on the previous day to the Polpai farm and would not return until the follwing morning. Disappointed in his object, he stretched himself on the terrace of the house and fell asleep.

  The Nambudiripad, as already stated, went to Puvarangu after breakfast, and was accompanied by Cherusheri and Kesavan Nambudiri. As soon as they reached the hall the latter asked him to take a seat there while he went upstairs and informed Indulekha of his arrival. But Kesavan Nambudiri’s courage oozed out of his finger’s ends, and he could not bring himself to enter Indulekha’s room. He went half way upstairs, and then came down; then made another attempt, and with the same result. His wife, looking out from the window of her chamber, saw his antics, and perceiving his distress, went to the foot of the stairs and called to him.

  "What’s the game you are playing at now?" she asked. "Surely, you aren’t afraid of Indulekha? Let me go up to her. I don’t think she’ll object very much to seeing the Nambudiripad in the daytime. I’ll just go and speak to her." Kesavan Nambudiri was immensely relieved when he heard his wife say this, and blessing her fervently, stood at the foot of the stairs. When Lakshmi Kutty Amma entered Indulekha’s room, the latter was standing there in a happy frame of mind, having, just read Madhavan’s letter. As soon as she saw her mother she said, "Well, mother, I suppose you have come to tell me that the Nambudiripad is coming."

  "Yes, my dear," replied Lakshmi Kutty Amma. "You must just grant the coxcomb this favour once more. He came to my room yesterday, and you’ve no idea what a fool he made of himself. Father himself does not think much of him, but we must be civil. We shall get rid of him today or tomorrow. Speak to him politely if he comes, and play the piano a little. Remember he is a Brahmin, and it mustn’t be said that we were rude to him in any way. May he come now?"

  "I have no wish to be rude to him or anyone else in the wide world, mother, but I certainly will resent anyone insulting me. If that Nambudiripad had been civil to me yesterday, I would have been ready to play or sing to him yesterday whenever he wanted it. Don’t think, mother dear, that I am conceited. He tormented me beyond endurance, and I am only human after all and am not made of a material which feels neither love, nor anger, nor any other passion. If the Nambudiripad will behave himself today, then let him come and I will sing and play. But if he dares to come to my room and talk any nonsense about making me his consort, then I’ll make a greater example of him than I did yesterday.’

  "The Nambudiris have naturally a queer disposition," replied her mother, "and they all say this Nambudiripad is a particularly low minded fool, but there is no use in getting angry with a mad man, my dear."

  "But mother, there are very sagacious people among the Nambudiris, just as there are in all castes. Talk to Cherusheri Nambudiri for half an hour, and see if you don’t think then that the Nambudiris are intelligent. But I’m not in the least inclined to provide amusement for a lunatic, and if he gibbers wildly at me, I’m sure I shan’t be able to stand it."

  "Well, well," said Lakshmi Kutty Amma, "may I tell our guest he can come?"

  "It’s a great bore, but I suppose he must come," replied Indulekha. "If he begins talking to me as he did yesterday I shall behave just as I did then."

  "Never mind, my dear, never mind. It’s settled that he may just step in for a little while, isn’t it ?"

  "Oh yes, I suppose so," sighed Indulekha.

  Lakshmi Kutty Amma laughed and going downstairs, found the simple Kesavan Nambudiri rooted to the spot where she had left him, with his face upraised and his eyes upturned, awaiting her return and looking for all the world like a carved image.

  "Is it all right?" he asked eagerly. "May I tell him to come ?"

  "Oh yes, he may come," answered his wife, "but you must tell him that he mustn’t talk any more silly nonsense to Indulekha as he did yesterday. If he does, it will be yesterday all over again."

  "All right, all right," said Kesavan Nambudiri, "shall I tell him to come now?"

  Lakshmi Kutty Amma replied in the affirmative, but, before proceeding further with the story, we will return to the Nambudiripad, who, after Kesavan Nambudiri’s departure, graciously invited Cherusheri to sit near him and, on Cherusheri availing himself of the permission, entered into conversation.

  On this occasion the Nambudiripad felt no such anxiety as he had experienced the previous day on account of Kesavan Nambudiri’s prolonged absence, but began to meditate steadily on the majesty it was incumbent on him to assume if he revisited Indulekha’s apartment. "When I saw her yesterday," he thought, "she must have thought I was beside myself with love. I must make her think now that it’s quite the other way round, and that I’m not a bit spoony. That’s just about what it is, as she’ll find it out. Why the deuce should I be in love with her? A precious fine thing it would be for such a great man as I am to fall in love with an impudent baggage who has gone in for learning the language of those cow - flesh eaters! I can get any woman for money, and I should like to know how many women I haven’t carried on with and got tired of, and how many more I shan’t go in for! I’d be ashamed of myself if I made a fool of myself by falling in love with this one chit of a girl. We’ll see about it today, and I’ll not budge an inch. I’ll be firm, firm as a rock. Whether I stand, or sit, or talk or hold my tongue, or look at her, or keep my eyes off her, as I like, nothing shall move me. She’ll see I’ll give her a good fright. She may be as proud as she pleases, but I’ll not make myself small before her. We’ll see who gets the best of the day. Ha, ha! there’s little doubt, my fine woman, that you’ll shiver and shake with fright and throw yourself at my feet!" Having thus, in his own mind, quite secured the victory, the Nambudiripad grinned.

  Cherusheri Nambudiri, who had witnessed the innumerable antics of the Nambudiripad, thought of the sorrow by which Indulekha’s heart was oppressed, had mused over the spectacle of so prominent and wealthy a member of his own caste steeped to the lips in vice and folly. Therein, he found no room for ridicule but ample scope for grief and rage combined. "What a terrible state of things!" he ejaculated mentally. "Here is this man, the wealthiest, and most conspicuous of his class, who has managed to outlive his youth without marrying some woman who would make him a worthy wife, and spends his time in debauchery, frittering away his faculties and deadening in the pursuit of vice all power and capacity to enjoy any lawful pleasure on which he might set his heart! What a miserable object he is!"

  It was while Cherusheri was following up this train of gloomy thought that the Nambudiripad had been engaged in practising the high and mighty airs which he intended to assume, and, as soon as he had finished his rehearsal, he thought it advisable, to give Cherusheri an idea of the superiority he meant to maintain.

  "You think I’m awfully crazy on women, don’t you, Cherusheri?" he asked, and the question roused his companion’s wrath, but that man of discreti
on restrained his temper and replied with some dignity:

  "I think it very natural for men to fall in love with women, but I also think that love is sometimes more or less misplaced."

  "What has misplaced or well-placed got to do with falling in love?"

  "A great deal. If a man and woman are attracted to each other and fall in love with each other, then I would say that the love is well placed. But if there is no such mutual attraction, and if only one of the two entertains a passion for the other who cares nothing for him, then I would call that passion misplaced."

  "Then was the passion Ravana felt for Rambha misplaced. "

  "You must ask Rambha also about that. I don’t know if she caught the infection from Ravana and reciprocated his love."

  "Oh, but he got her."

  "Very possibly he did."

  "Well, then, how did he manage it?"

  "I do not say that misplaced passion never succeeds in its object, but a happy union is possible only if the woman, too, is in love?"

  "Not at all, not at all.. "

  "Don’t you think so?"

  "Well, I don’t think I understand a bit what you are talking about, Cherusheri. You said just now that misguided love can’t succeed."

  "I said nothing of the kind. Do you suppose that thieves and robbers never succeed in their plans for acquiring property? Just in the same way, a man or woman, either of whom feels no affection for the other, may be acquired, but when the love is all one-sided, the acquisition, made though it is with difficulty, is blighted and barren."

  "What do you mean by blighted and barren?"

  "I mean worthless, base. A man or woman, content with such an acquisition is no better than a mere animal."

  "But how was it then that Ravana fell in love with Sita? It is said in the Ramayanam that Sita didn’t care a bit for him?"

  "Exactly so Ravana longed to win Sita, and when he saw that she cared nothing for him, he tried above all things to inspire her with love, but in vain. Then, although this made him her enemy, and an active one too, still he never wished to force himself on her before she loved him. Full of faults as Ravana was, it does not appear to me, from what the Ramayanam tells us, that he was ever in the least wanting in delicacy of feeling as far as his relations with Sita went."

  "Then if you see a woman and fall in love with her, you can do all that Ravana did, can’t you?"

  "Certainly, if you can make up your mind to suffer all that Ravana suffered, and if you possess his fortitude."

  "I quite agree with you; but supposing you see a woman and fall madly in love with her and she doesn’t care a rap about you, then what are you to do to get rid of your love for her?"

  " ‘Love,’ ‘love’! I cannot quite make out what you mean by the word. Assuming that it means desire, then if a man perceives that a woman does not care for him, he is bound to summon up his courage, subdue the passion he feels for her, and abandon his desire of obtaining her."

  "Why leave off wanting her? He should try and see if he can’t get her."

  "The trial he should make is not whether he can get her, but whether she will love him. Then if she will not, all he can do is to leave her."

  "But supposing he can get her even if she doesn’t love him."

  "Then if he does, I have already intimated that he is a beast. "

  "I think you are talking mere, nonsense, Cherusheri. If a man can get the woman he wants, why should he trouble his head whether she loves him or not?"

  "Let me make my meaning clear. If the union with the woman is to be perfect, the man must win her love so that she may share his happiness. His enjoyment is real only if he imparts happiness to her and is conscious that she takes pleasure in him. Just in the same way, the woman’s measure of happiness can be filled only if the man is enamoured of her and delights in her. If the union is to be one of mutual and perfect enjoyment, there must be mutual love, and if, when this is wanting, a man still desires the union, then he is nothing but a beast. If he succeeds in his object, the display of feeling on either side is simply a mockery."

  "Good gracious!" exclaimed the Nambudiripad. "That’s uncommonly hard. If this is the only thing to do, then It’s pretty clear that no man may make himself happy with as many women as he likes."

  "Quite so," replied Cherusheri. "In a word, the rule should be one man for one wife and one wife for one man. That is the natural law of creation."

  "But how many wives did Shri Krishnan have?"

  "I really can’t say."

  "He had sixteen thousand and eight! Do you think Cherusheri, that he had no fine feelings ?"

  "If it were true that he had sixteen thousand and eight wives, and if he were a man, I would say that he was utterly devoid of fine feeling and was a fool into the bargain. But the very same books which tell us that he had this enormous establishment, also show us that he was not human. Don’t you remember the stories in the ancient writings how he lifted up Mount Govardhana and held it aloft like an umbrella for seven days, protecting the cows and cowherds, and how, with a single glance of his eye, he restored to life many who had died from drinking poison, and how he did many other things which no mortal can do? I doubt if the rules and observances of ordinary creatures such as I was referring to just now would apply to a being who had power to do all this."

  "If a man takes a fancy to a woman, the woman can’t help taking a fancy to him," said the Nambudiripad. "I have had plenty of experience in the matter, and have always found women get frantic with love for me. You know this well enough, Cherusheri, but you talk now as if I were a stranger to you. All the women I come across fall in love with me, don’t they?" Cherusheri could not help laughing when he heard this, and his anger gave place to the unmixed contempt with which he habitually regarded the Nambudiripad.

  Not conscious of this the Nambudiripad continued, "Well, Cherusheri, can’t you give me an answer? Do you mean to say the women don’t all dote on me?"

  "It is not for me to think of your case," said Cherusheri. "I was referring to the affairs of ordinary mortals."

  At this juncture, Kesavan Nambudiri came running in, saying, "Come, let’s go upstairs now."

  To his amazement, the Nambudiripad replied, "What do you mean? Wait a while and let me choose my own time, will you?" Acquiescing meekly, he wondered what this meant, and had hardly time to reflect that the Nambudiripad was a crazy coxcomb, when the latter suddenly said, "Well, I think I will go now. You needn’t come, Karuthedam. I’ll go alone. You stay here, and go to sleep, Cherusheri." Then assuming his most grandiose mien, marched off to Indulekha’s room, muffled in his shawl.

  As on the preceding day, Indulekha, with the air of a prisoner at the bar, stood leaning on a chair when the Nambudiripad crossed the threshold. As soon as he saw her, his usual imbecility triumphed, and his pomposity and fortitude melted away. "So help me Heaven!" he thought. "I can’t live without you, lovely creature! What a face! What a complexion! What hair! What eyes! Great Siva! Narayana! I’m all in a tremble. I can’t play the great man any more. I can’t be firm any more! What became of god Indra’s pride, I should like to know, when he saw the Maharshi’s wife? Or Ravana’s when he saw Rambha?"

  However, notwithstanding this ecstasy at the sight of Indulekha, he sat still in his chair for two or three minutes and then collecting his forces, said:

  "Have you ever read the proverb, Indulekha, that a bold blade cares no more for a young woman than a wisp of straw?"

  Indulekha could not help laughing as she replied, "Well if I had not read it, I heard it now at any rate. What an excellent proverb."

  The change in her manner and the fascination of her rippling laughter overcame the Nambudiripad completely, and he lost even the remnants of the dignity he had mustered with such infinite pains.

  Oblivious of the counsel he had taken with Govindan and of his resolutions, he allowed his heart once more to fix itself on Indulekha, while he said, "Go on, do go on laughing. Do they teach you laughing in English ! It’s a b
eautiful way of laughing. Do go on laughing."

  Indulekha did go on laughing till the tears rolled down her face, and then retreated into her room to bathe her face.

  "Hallo," exclaimed the Nambudiripad. "Are you going away? What trick are you up to now? It seems I shan’t have much more chance of talking to you than I had yesterday. What on earth do you mean, then, by telling me to come here?"

  "I’m coming," said Indulekha, emerging from her room after she had dried her eyes.

  " How old are you, Indulekha ?"asked the Nambudiripad.

  "Eighteen."

  "What age would you take me for?"

  "I am not good at guessing ages by sight, so I can’t say."

  "But just make a guess; about what age would you take me for?"

  "If I do, it won’t be right.

  "Never mind, just try."

  "Well, if you won’t be offended, I should say you are about fifty."

  "O come, you can’t mean that. Why, that would make me past the prime of life, Good gracious! What nonsense! Fifty indeed! Can’t you know who is in the prime of life when you see people?"

  "I told you already that I cannot guess ages."

  "Well now, don’t you know when you see a man in the prime of life? Do you mean to say you are eighteen and can’t tell?"

  "No, I cannot. I don’t even understand what you mean by the prime of life."

  "It’s all through learning English that you don’t understand anything of this kind, lndulekha, there’s no doubt about it."

  "Very probably it is."

  "I haven’t married in my own caste."

  "Really. That is fortunate."

  "My younger brothers have married to keep the family alive, but I pass my time in the best of enjoyment. If a Nambudiri marries in his own caste, there’s an end of his happiness. I haven’t yet even permanently settled down with anyone. Why don’t you say something, Indulekha?"

  "How could I possibly interrupt you when you were telling me so much about yourself."