Ponna wondered if Nallayyan Uncle was losing his mind. She also wondered if this was the result of Uncle coveting some woman and incurring the anger of her family. Perhaps that was why these men were after him.
‘A man is not born yet who can kill you,’ Seerayi said. ‘You are speaking like a madman.’
Uncle went on, ‘It is my youngest brother and his two sons who are after me. Apparently, they are saying that they don’t even care if one of them has to go to prison, that they will make sure they murder me. I didn’t keep quiet. I filed a complaint with the local authorities. I told them my brother and his sons were keen on killing me and that if anything were to happen to me, they should be put in jail.’
Seerayi asked, ‘Why are they after your wealth now? You are hale and hearty, strong enough to marry two women. What’s their hurry?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, sounding frustrated. ‘Both those boys are after my property. I am sick and tired of this. I feel like selling it all and going away somewhere.’
When they had divided up the inheritance, Nallayyan Uncle had claimed one-third of it. Even back then, his brothers had tried all they could to acquire his share for themselves. At first they had cajoled and wheedled—they had competed with each other in taking care of him, feeding him, pampering him with food and snacks. He had thought he should enjoy all the attention while it lasted. But, of course, this did not last long as their devotion was false and they had eyes only on his share of the inheritance. When they eventually realized that he was not going to relent and offer them his share, they decided to change their tactics. The first brother had a son and two daughters—the son would inherit his father’s full share, and so the only concern was finding suitable husbands for the daughters. But the youngest brother had two sons and two daughters—and thus the two sons would have to divide the wealth among themselves, each getting only half of what their father had inherited. Both these sons conspired with their father, and came to the conclusion that if they also managed to get their uncle’s—that is Nallayyan’s—share they would have enough between the two of them. And since they knew Nallayyan had a weakness for women, a plan was hatched: they sent their own mother to him.
One night, she came to his place bearing rice and chicken kuzhambu, and she also stayed back to serve him. Usually, she would just drop off the food and leave. And when she served him the food, everything from her conversation to her expressions seemed quite explicitly encouraging to him. She looked quite youthful despite being over forty and a mother of four. He had not experienced this kind of intimacy with her before. So, deciding to try his luck, he reached out and touched her. And she seemed to respond favourably. From then on, she came every week, with the full knowledge of her husband, sons and daughters. She would come late at night to his hut. As for Nallayyan, he was glad that he did not have to go looking for a woman; a woman was coming to him now. She grew quite fond of him. What started haltingly, perhaps once a week, soon became more frequent.
Nallayyan said, ‘My brother, he works all day in the fields. At night, he fills his stomach with toddy, and he does not come back home. Just stays in the little hut in the fields. He has married off a daughter. The other girl is very young. The two sons are of marriageable age. And even if my brother did come home at night, he was clearly not of much use. When it rains on parched land, what happens? It sucks in everything, doesn’t it? And that’s what happened with her too. I am very experienced; I have been with many. So it did not take me long to figure out precisely what she craved for. And I must say, she was quite good. She would stand when I asked her to, sit when I told her to; she would even bend over if that’s what I wanted. She did everything I desired. My brother married such a woman, but he could not live happily with her. What kind of a man is he?’
Seerayi, Vallayi and Ponna, all three of them laughed listening to this. Ponna found it difficult to contain her amusement. Seerayi said to Nallayyan, ‘You have no decency, no shame. The things you say!’
‘We should talk about these things, Seerayi,’ he said. ‘A man should ask a woman what she likes. Go see what happens in the prostitutes’ street in Karattur. If they don’t like a man, they hit him with a slipper and send him away.’
He then continued with the story. His brother’s wife had started spending more and more time with him. When her husband or sons came looking for her, she sent them away, saying, ‘Yes, yes, I will come. You go.’ She had turned into a whole new person. She devoted her time cooking for him, working in his fields, chatting and laughing with him. She refused to leave even when he asked her to.
Thinking that she was being intimate with him only for his money, he had said, ‘Should I will my inheritance to you or to your sons? Either way, my wealth goes to them after me.’ And she had replied, ‘It is true that they sent me to you with the intention of taking your share. And I too came to you at first with that idea. But now neither do I want your money, nor do I want to have anything to do with those wretched people. I will just stay here with you. That is all I want. I have not had a man as good as you. I cannot believe they speak so ill of you.’
But her husband, Nallayyan’s brother, could not bear to see how openly his wife was flaunting her intimacy with Nallayyan. Once, he came to take her back. She said, ‘I will come. You go.’ But he was angry. He said, ‘What is so special about him? Does he leak milk? Is that why you are so eager to receive him?’ That provoked her. She said, ‘Yes. Milk flows from his manhood. Unlike yours. You first try getting it up!’ That was when the brother realized just how far this had gone. He pulled her by the hair, dealt her some blows on the back and dragged her home with him.
Even though Nallayyan had been scared after that incident, he had not made a big deal out of the matter, thinking that he could not be blamed for any of it. But then she returned to him that very night. Her younger son followed her and dragged her back home, muttering, ‘She can’t stay away even for a day.’
She had shouted, ‘Let go of me! I gave birth to you. You think you can talk to me like this? When you thought you could get his share of the property, you were ready to do anything. How come you did not question your father that day when he was ready to send me on this errand? But here you are today! Your uncle has said he will leave this property to you. Isn’t that what you wanted? Now let go of me. I will stay with him and spend the rest of my life here. I will be of no trouble to you. You don’t have to take care of me. When I can’t take care of myself any more, I will hang myself and die!’
It was night-time, and even the other brother’s family could hear all that she had said. They had come by to see what was happening. But by then, the son had forcibly dragged his mother home with him. ‘Let my husband question me!’ she had yelled. ‘I will answer him. Who are you to question me? You are manhandling your own mother? What kind of a man are you?’ Enraged, her son then punched her right on her mouth. She went home with broken teeth and a bloodied mouth.
‘Nothing serious,’ Nallayyan had explained to his other brother, who had come to see what was going on. ‘The husband and wife were arguing. She came here, asking me to intervene. So her son came over to take her back.’ But his other brother did not believe him. He had said, ‘I have been observing what’s been going on. So he thinks he can send his wife to you and get you to give him your property? I cannot stoop so low. But if you give them your money just because she showed you this and that, I will cut your throat and go to jail.’
Alarmed, Nallayyan had said, ‘This is my money. I will give it to whomever I want. Why are you fighting with me about it?’ And his brother threatened, ‘Half of it is mine. Remember that. If you do anything else, I will cut your throat, throw your body in the fields. I will tell everyone I don’t know where you went, what happened to you.’
Listening to all this, Seerayi now asked Nallayyan, ‘What did they do to the woman after they dragged her back home?’
‘Oh, don’t even ask,’ he answered ominously as he rose from the cot.
The wind howled, growing agitated.
TWENTY-THREE
One could not pinpoint what it was about Nallayyan Uncle that his brother’s wife found so irresistible. But she became completely besotted with him. Her husband and sons would hit her brutally and viciously abuse her as well. But she gave as good as she got. Then one morning, the family woke up to find that she was gone. They later heard that she was at Nallayyan’s place, clearing out cow dung in the shed there. They decided to wait till she returned of her own accord. But it didn’t look as though that was going to happen.
Fearful that all of this would get him into trouble, Nallayyan had tried reasoning with her. ‘Look here,’ he said. ‘I understand that you have grown very fond of me. But you are not a woman I have brought from elsewhere. You are my brother’s wife. You have married off one of your daughters, and you have three other children ready to be married. You are a family woman. Do you think it is right for you to leave them all and come and shack up here? Just come once or twice a week. We will spend time together. They may not object to that. But if you want to drop everything there and move here permanently, how will they accept that? Tell me. The people who come seeking marriage alliances with your family, if they find out what is going on here, will they ever approach your family? Only if we keep it all hush-hush can we carry on for a while. Go now.’
But she simply refused to budge. ‘I don’t even care to look at their faces any more,’ she said decisively. ‘Let them deal with things. They are calling me a prostitute now. But who sent me whoring in the first place? They did, didn’t they? If they stand to get some property, they don’t care if the wife becomes a whore. Your brother’s pride is wounded now. He even says, “Tell me how my brother does it. I will do it the same way with you.” Why didn’t that occur to him earlier? I would rather die than go back there. I am even ready to bear a child for you. We can stay here and raise that child.’
Angered by this adamance, Nallayyan slapped her a few times and pushed her out of his house, saying, ‘All of you—your entire family, husband, wife, sons—all of you have decided to torment me. I am not going to keep any woman with me. Now, go, run away! I will call you when I need you. You can come then. Go now!’ But none of this had any effect on her. She just sat on the hard ground outside Nallayyan’s home, staring at him. It made Nallayyan Uncle feel some pity towards her. She had everything—a husband, daughters, a family. Nor did she lack wealth. But there she was, sitting in front of him, like a beggar. He called her back in and gave her some food. ‘If you can be there and also come here from time to time, I can agree to that. Otherwise, I don’t want you. I don’t have any ties here. I will drop everything as it is and go elsewhere.’
She told him she would do as he wished, and then returned home. But that night, when she tried to leave for his place again, the family stopped her and even beat her up. She tried to run away. But they tied her up inside the house. The next morning, she begged and pleaded with her daughter, who was doing all the housework by herself. Overcome with pity, the daughter untied her, saying, ‘Amma, why are you acting like this at your age? It is so shameful. If people in the village find out, we will never be able to hold our heads high ever again.’ For a little while, she stayed there, helping her daughter with the domestic chores. But then she suddenly vanished. When they looked for her, they saw her walking across the adjacent field towards Nallayyan’s house. Realizing that this was never going to end, they dragged her towards a bullock cart and took her to her father’s village in Seeroor.
They decided to let her stay there for a while until things calmed down. She had a big family—father, mother, elder brother, younger brother. They also had a large farm. They took turns keeping watch over her. For three days, she stayed there, mostly sitting as if she was in a daze. But somehow she left on the third night and came to Nallayyan’s house. He could not turn her away since she had come to his door in the dead of the night.
‘What could I do?’ Nallayyan said despondently. ‘I took her in and gave her some food. She ate as if she had not eaten in days. At her parents’ place, they would surely have given her food. She might have refused. I don’t know what happened. I must admit, I did feel some happiness when I realized that someone could go so crazy about me. But what was I going to do with her? I wondered if I could go away somewhere else with her and try to make a life together. But it is hard enough for me to fend for myself. How could I take responsibility for another person? I look for a woman when I need some warmth. When I am done, I send the woman away. That is how it works for me. And since she came to me that night, I took her in and slept with her. But as soon as it dawned the next day, I took her and left her at her place. Then I took off on my own—a trip far out of town. My idea was not to return for six months. But I am not able to work like I used to. I am not feeling too well these days. So I returned just after a month. Upon my return, the farmhand said, “That woman comes once a day and asks when you are expected back.” I tried my best to hide and stay away from her. But it is just a single field, and there’s not much scope to hide. And so she came back.’
Once again, her husband and sons dragged her to her parents’ village. Her natal family told everyone in the village that she had lost her mind. They had a few coconut trees in their field. They tied her to one of those trees. Not some flimsy tether. They did it the way it was done in olden days—making sure she could not move much. They also chained both her legs together and attached a large iron ball to the chain. It was very heavy. She would have to carry the iron weight in her hand simply to be able to walk a few steps. They fed her right there like they would feed a dog. Soon, she had blisters on her feet, which were wet with traces of sepsis. It was then that they took pity on her and untied her. After a couple of days, when her wounds had healed a little, she ran away again. People started saying that Nallayyan had resorted to some black magic by which he held control over her. Eventually, they found her again and took her to the foothills of Sellimalai, to Veppoor, to perform magic spells to counter Nallayyan’s. But there was absolutely no change in her.
That was when they resorted to threatening Nallayyan. ‘Whatever black magic you have used on her, you better make sure you end it now! Otherwise, we will kill you.’
‘I have done nothing of that sort,’ Nallayyan had tried to explain. ‘Why would I? I have any number of women at my beck and call. Why should I covet your wife?’
But they refused to believe it. Now, Nallayyan ate what the farmhand cooked, then went away to wander elsewhere and returned quietly at night without anyone noticing. There was something menacing in the way his brother’s sons looked at him. He was afraid that they would indeed kill him. They might smash his head with a rock while he slept. Once, when he was within earshot, one of his nephews had apparently said to the other, ‘Get me that sickle, will you?’
After listening to this story, Seerayi said, ‘I cannot understand how a woman could be like this. Everyone in the village says she has gone mad. I had gone there the other day to inform people about the meeting. I saw her then. She sat with her back against the wall and kept glaring at me like a woman possessed. Even I thought she had gone mad. And after listening to you, I too have my suspicions about you. Tell me, did you mix anything in the food you gave her? How else could she end up this way?’
‘Why would I do anything like that, sister-in-law?’ countered Nallayyan. ‘I have seen quite a bit of life in all these years, but I have never met a woman like her. She has clearly gone over the edge. They will either kill her—or me. If they kill her, they will lose her and also not get the property they covet. If they kill me, this issue will come to an end and they will also have my share of the property. That must be their calculation. I don’t know what to do. I am so worried.’
Seerayi scared him further, saying, ‘Somehow, you have managed to wreck a family that was doing well. Who knows how many homes you have wrecked? All those bad deeds are hounding you now. They won’t leave you in peace, yo
u wait and see.’
He said, ‘Please place your hand on your chest and speak truthfully. What did I do wrong here? He sent his wife to me, trying to take away my share of family wealth. You don’t seem to find fault with him for that. You are blaming me alone. Sadly, this is how the world works . . . I will sell my property and go elsewhere and live off that money. Or else, I will lease the land and earn some money in the bargain. Later, the property can go to whoever can pay back that money and reclaim it. Either way, I cannot stay in this village any longer. I need to go away. Let me see. There is a lawyer in Karattur. I am thinking of consulting him. I need to find out if the temple will feed me if I gift my land to the temple. Apparently, the white men are thinking of going away, giving us our lands back. They are saying that the laws will change after that. Let us wait and see. There has to be a solution to this.’
‘Why suffer like this? If you had got married like everyone else, would you have come to this situation, running and hiding from everyone?’ Seerayi sighed.
‘Had Kali been here, he would have protected me,’ said Nallayyan. ‘But he is no more. I will seek refuge here if things become dangerous for me. Please don’t forbid me from coming here. If you do, you might have to chop down a branch of the portia tree for me, just like you had to do for Kali.’ And he laughed out loud.
‘Earlier, you criticized Kali for his decision,’ said Vallayi, coming out of her silence. ‘And now you are saying you will do what he did!’
‘Why would I kill myself, akka? If they come to kill me, I will make sure I kill at least one of them before I die. I am always carrying a dagger right here on my waist. I am not easily frightened. Why should I take my own life? I have some ideas. I need to see which one of them will work. I am not a stupid person who cannot think of a way out of a difficulty. I didn’t mean it when I said I’d die like Kali.’ Like that, he kept on talking.
A Lonely Harvest Page 14