THE IDIOT BOX

Those were the days when it was available not in every house but in one in two or three villages. Invariably they would have been the ones who have returned from abroad. We called it ‘cat’s recording’ because we believed a cat had entered the instrument and sang from behind. Those houses would have a huge gathering of men and women, both in the morning and evening. Not only would the people view the programme, but discuss them for an hour or so, before they disburse. Anthony Muthu of Velankanni had one such ‘cat’s record’. I recall the days sitting with my granny at the courtyard to listen to the record. But those days have long passed.

Nowadays T.V. AND Video have completely come to dominate the villages. It was in Mangalapuram that the T.V. had made its first appearance – in Ponnu Kannu Nadar’s house. On the first day, he played it on the courtyard. The entire village turned up at his house. There was must jostling and hoisting and there was not enough space to accommodate this huge mass of people. The bamboo enclosure was also slightly damaged! Ponnu Kannu was seething with anger but could not let it out. Whom would he admonish? These villagers could not mend their ways, he howled. But at heart he thought, “Alas! Where would they go anyway? After a day’s hard work, these tired and worn out people come here for a few moments of rest.” Thinking thus, he would even place the T.V. on the Veranda so that more people could view without disturbing him. It would go on till 9 – 9.30 p.m. However, the whistling kids and the elders who run an expert’s commentary on small things have often irritated him and he could hardly control them.

After a while, a T.V. set was installed at the Panchayat Office. People in rows and columns reserved for them would view it till 10 p.m. at the Office. It had become daily routine there too! Thereafter, a set had come to the Pattikarar’s house. We had three sets at that point of time.

They made fun of the villagers who resembled the figures who appeared in advertisements. “Hey, look Kottapuli is coming! See how Ammukara is dancing! This was the refrain. One could hardly keep onself aloof when these small kids indulge in fun and laughter. There was this advertisement about “Super Papa and Super Son”. The stories they made of people of the village resembling them was very popular indeed!

Even the cowherds started pronouncing the names of Jayasuriya, Debashish Mohanty, Nikhil Chopra, Harvinder Singh, Inzamamum-ul-Haq, Salim Mallik, Walsh and Steve Waugh in absolute perfection. Not only that, they even assembled a team and started playing cricket! This was the kind of impact which the T.V. had on the village.

Nowadahs, from Marriage halls to cremation grounds, people have started playing videos. As a result traditional dance forms such as Oyillatam, Devarattam, Karagam, Horse Dance, Peacock Dance and stage performances like Harichandaran Story, Lav Kusa, Nallathangaal have become a rarity. The discussion everywhere was about video or television.

That day, I too was watching television with others. Muthiah, as was his wont, chided the kids murmuring amongst themselves. They continued to talk stealthily paying no heed to Muthiah.

“Hey, how great it would be if my hero comes now?”

“Your man has now become old. Could he sing like my hero in his own voice? Could he dance, fight, swinging and rolling the cane stick and dive from a moving car?”

“What rubbish? Could your hero pose in style? Is throwing limbs around in the air and making faces called dancing? As my uncle says, could anyone do the double of crying and laughing at the same time like my hero?”

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“Look! He is talking too much! He is abusing our hero!” He complained and gathered the support of a few others. It was Muthiah who intervened to stop the boy from getting lynched by the gang. “Chee, Chee. What kind of drama is being enacted here? It is the way you are being brought up that matters! Don’t ripen at this young age.” He advised.

“All right grandpa, you tell us who is correct.” Someone pleaded.

“What he says is correct. Throwing limbs in the air, like a burning corpse is no dancing at all! Did he not say? A talent of an artist is to be measured by his ability to such things as the double act of crying while laughing and laughing while crying.”

He was proud that he won the argument. I stopped him as the boy was walking with his head high and asked him, “What class are you in?”

“Sixth” he replied.

“Why this longing for films and film stars? Do you study well? Who gets first in your class?”

“It is me, Anna!”

“What is the first lesson in Tamil?”

He brought out from his memory, a three page lesson in no time. I was startled at the power of his memory. Similarly, he recited the song, “What song shall I sing my mother?” with its meaning.

“Whose son are you?”

“I belong to Nemathaanpatti. I stay here at my uncle’s house.”

“Who is your uncle?”

“Sarangapani. I am his elder sister’s son.”

“Oh! That miser Sarangapani?” I went past him.

On the fourth day of Pongal celebrities, there were many contests and he took part in the fancy dress competition. He appeared on stage as a sooth sayer.

“Good Times ahead! Good Times ahead! Om Kali has opened her eyes!

Downfall of those who think evil is imminent!

Those who entertain thoughts of treachery and betrayal will soon be down with dysentery!”

There was huge ovation. He won the first prize.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Mani Bharathi, Anna”

Afterwards, we started meeting quite frequently. I wondered at the kind of questions he posed related to the lessons.

He donned the role of Subramanya Bharathi and practised the monologue with me. I was there in the audience when he appeared in the School function.

“When will the thirst for freedom get quenched?

When will the slave’s servitude perish?”

He recited these lengthy verses with great felicity and with emotion. His Bharati-like posture with an upright head got imprinted in my mind. Thereafter, I started visualising him in the image of Bharathi, even when I saw him on other settings. In fact, I was thrilled to imagine him as Subramanya Bharathi!

Most of the time I noticed him loitering around the village. Some said he was not being looked after well by his guardian. It wasn’t a nice house to stay. That miser would not take part in events of the village, neither good nor bad. As the Manager of the temple, he would arrange to distribute the sacred food (Prasadam) to a handful of people and take the rest home to save on cooking for two times a day! It was for this kind of behaviour that he earned the name, miser Sarangapani! One can keep talking about his mean mindedness endlessly. He was the most miserly amongst the misers!

People used to joke by recounting how he oscillated his face to prevent damage to the hand=held fan and that the only thing he spent liberally was the excreta when he visited the toilet three times a day!

His wife Santhmani spent his life with the buffalos and in the process acquired some of the qualities of the animal. She would work laboriously but did not have cordial relations with her neighbors. Even the relations who visit their house have never been looked after well. Despite all these, both of them had a deceptively sweet tongue to mollify others. Truly, they were made for each other!

Since he did not have a son, he adopted his sister’s. But seldom did he care for him. For name’s sake, he did feed him without care or commitment. Even feeding the boy was a herculean task for him and he went around boasting about it in high terms. Sarangapani did never buy a note book for the boy. On his own, Mani Bharathi collected film notices and cut them to the size of a note book. I knew this because he brought them to me for stitching.

After a while, we became really close. He grasped all I taught him very quickly. I felt very happy to teach such a bright mind!

Sarangapani and his family led their lives together for the sake of reputation, nothing else. Leave aside rearing up Mani Bharathi, even his own daughter got separated for her husband because of Sarangapani. He had money in plenty, but pretended to be poor. It was no consideration for him that his daughter had come home separated from her husband but Sarangapani desired that his son-in-law should perish.

Sarangapani was an expert in denigrating others. He never had a good opinion of others. In social events, he would to his heart’s content, but still would find fault with one aspect or the other of the quality of food served. While eating at gatherings, nobody could sit beside him for he would splurge and spray from his mouth. For the sake of money, he would do anything!

I felt Mani Bharathi was not being brought up in a conducive environment. He would have a bright future, if brought up in a better environment. One day I saw him studying under the street light shooing away the night flies and asked him why he wasn’t doing it inside his house.

“Chah!” he said it dejectedly.

“There is commotion all the time. Both of them behave like a snake and a mongoose. At the end of their duel, Mama would receive blows from Aunty and would bark like a dog.”

We all knew that Sarangapani often was at the receiving end of his wife’s fury. Once Babu, a sixth standard student had beaten Sarangapani’s bull and Sarangapani, noticing the boy hitting his animal, raised his hand at Babu. The child it seems had said, “Stop talking loud and don’t threaten to beat me! If I were to complain to your wife, you would get a similar treatment!” This alleged repartee did the rounds in the fields of the village for some time.

That day Kamalakannan was getting married. There was a video show of three full-length films the preceding night. Mani Bharathi had seen all the three films. Sarangapani had left for his work in the ration shop early in the morning. Mani had eaten nothing overnight and went to school. He could not take his lunch at School well and felt sleepy throughout the day. As he watched the television at the house of Ponnu Kannu Nadar’s, he feel asleep at the road side.

Sarangapani was returning home late at night after cornering rice and sugar and mounting bags containing of these on a bullock cart. It was a no moon day and completely dark.

The cart was trundling its way swinging left and right. It was being driven by Kuppusami. Sangapani was on high after consuming toddy. He rebuked Kuppusami and asked him to drive faster. Kuppusami prodded the animal and the cart ran fast.

As it reached Ponnu Kannu Nadar’s house, Kuppusami felt as though the wheel had climbed up a mound of earth and come down. He heard a rattling sound too.

“Whatever it is, don’t worry. Go ahead like a regal king.” As Sarangapani finished saying this, Kuppusami’s heart beat faster.

“Let me see what it is.”

Kuppusami tried to kneel down. Sarangapani interrupted him with vehemence and ordered, “Go ahead Kuppa! We can find out in the morning. It must have been a big rock like stone.”

Unable to control his anxiety, Kuppusami did manage to light a match and went near the object.

“Oh! Mani Bharathi!”