LANGUAGE

Vora sat like a man possessed. All around him are question marks. He felt like being inside an illusory ring full of question marks. His legs were dropped inside the pond. He was sitting on the riverside steps and saw the images of clouds moving, birds flying after taking a dip and felt the little thuds of fish lings, which seemed to whisper something to him. Perhaps, he would have enjoyed the moment on another occasion. But now?

“Vora”

Mother’s voice..... full of pathos....He recollects the moment again and again.

For the past couple of days he has been doing the same. His body shudders at the thought of it, specially the voice of the mother.

“Vora”

His nephews scream at him. Calls of happiness. How sad it is to repress the thought of yelling at those children playing hide and seek.

Tears start rolling down and swell up. The pond converts itself into the sea and waves upon waves drag him inside. He struggled to gulp water.

The Church bell rings at a distance. We come from so far to take a “darshan” at you! How you made me desolate! Eyes darkened, Vora felt giddy because of hunger. All around there was darkness. Through the darkness, he saw mother, elder brother, sister in-law, their children and then “Sushmita”, the playful girl, who was going to be ‘his’ and ‘his’ only. He stood amidst all of them. Cough catches up from yesterday’s weeping.

Two days have passed and the unthinkable had happened. He walked as the legs desired and kept walking. Men and women were returning after the day’s labour with their food boxes and betel leaf bags hanging from their hands. He lagged behind them as he could not keep pace with them. The day was slowly descending. a su

What would he say if someone were to ask him where he was going? Brooding Vora moved on. The women passing by him looked up at his face. They case surprising look at the person with a dishevelled hair and drained eyes.

A couple of mischievous girls threw questions at him and went away giggling.

Vora stopped as though he had suddenly acquired consciousness. He came across a river and stood there blanking. The girls who went past him made a bundle of their sarees and cloth-bags and went into the river in a half-naked pose. He waited for them to go a distance and dropped his legs into the river. The water was swirling at a good speed. Shivers ran through his spine. What is he going to do after crossing the river? Where is he going to go after leaving “Velaankanni”, the abode of the goddess, Mother Mary near the town Nagapattinam. He seemed completely at a loss for ideas and walked aimlessly.

The river water had just been opened to the villages and the fields were filled with water. To him it appeared the village had been inundated with floods. There were still patches of cracked, unused land. On the other side, there were lands with dense woods.

Agriculture in “Thumbur” had become a feature of contrast like this over a period of time. When water overflows the river, banks are raised and diversions created. There is no trace of unity amongst the farmers. They loiter around during summer and become a little committed only during the sowing season. At a distance and in the middle of a dry paddy field, he saw a group of four or five men sitting around a dimly lit lamp. He was disturbed at the sight of these men, but walked calmly realising that there were men and women both in front and behind him.

Whoever passes through “Thumbur” cannot escape easily the eyes of the village headman, Andiappan.

Just as Vora claimed the road, Andiappan’s eyes fell on him. With a stick in his hand and the stench of liquor from his mouth, he asked Vora, “Are you new to the village?” croaking his throat. Not able to understand, Vora walked straight and Andiappan came across and asked him again, “Who have you come to meet here?”

Pointing his hands towards Velankanni, Vora let out a few words in Hindi.

“Right. How is that you are here at this hour after visiting Velankanni? Intervened Andiappan. Vora blanked at Andi and Andi became suspicious.

“Hi. We know you dogs! It happens every time during the Kanni festival. You come here scouring this place. Saying thus, Andiappan delivered a slap on Vora. Vora was benumbed. There was giddiness mixed with hunger. His sight dimmed and he felt like crying. Still he recovered and tried to answer Andiappan, but could not do so.

Now Vora started to think of the ways of escaping. Wriggling the clutches of Andi, he started to run. Andi also came roaring behind him crying, “thief, thief”. Caught by the cruel hand of destiny and seemingly beaten, it was fortunate to be alive. Throughout the night, he laid down not knowing where he was. As the day dawned, he saw himself lying on a Cot woven of jute fibre in front of a courtyard. His body felt bludgeoned. Why does it happen again and again to me? Vora wondered. The wound is not allowed to heal, he thought.

When he looked for time, his wrist-watch was missing. He looked around. There was a young man standing at a distance smiling at him. Vora stared at the sky above. Somehow, he managed to escape because of the sympathetic heart of Santhanam; otherwise, the crowd would have lynched him.

Santhanam called him by the sign of his hand. Going beside the stream, they finished their morning duties. Santhanam gave him a pice of neem stick to brush his teeth. While washing his face, Vora noticed blood in his lips. When he gargled, blood came jetting out with water.

Santhanam took him to the house of “Vaianna”. Vaianna had been a soldier in the army of Subhash. He knew to two or three languages. Santhanam requested Vaianna to find out more about the stranger.

Santhanam could not understand a word of what they were talking. He could notice the stranger struggling to talk, sighing and weeping in between. Vaianna talked sympathetically and Santhanam could already notice a sign of support in Vaianna’s eyes for the stranger. A small crowd started to assemble in front of the house when Vaianna came out.

“Where is the brave soul who had beaten a dead snake? Vaianna asked teasingly. There was silence in the crowd. “Who is that man? Why do you remain silent?” he repeated.

“Since Andiappan yelled ‘thief, thief’ we caught hold of this man and beat him” someone reasoned.

“How does it feel if a person like you with a beard, oil-less hair and a suspicious look gets beaten?” Vaianna taunted. The youngsters in the crowd let out a peal of laughter.

“A great saviour of this village! A person becomes a thief if he thinks so!” Vaianna again taunted Andi.

“This person belongs to Madhya Pradesh and he has come to visit Velankanni with his family. You all would have noticed piece of news in the paper four days back. A bus and lorry dashing head on in which his mother, brother and sister in-law and nephews and the girl this man was to marry were all crushed to death. Not able bear the shock of the accident, this man had lost his consciousness and wandered around and finally reached this place. You have all manhandled a man who has not eaten for four days!” Vaianna gave a sigh of suppressed anger.

Someone brought the Friday’s Dinamani in which the news of the accident was given prominence with a photograph. Seeing this, Vora started to cry again. To console him became a huge task for those who have gathered around.

”Sir, I was under the influence of liquor. I am responsible for the incident” Andiappan talked with remorse. None have seen Andiappan talk in this fashion before. All of them felt disturbed.

Vaianna’s wife brought Coffee in a tumbler. Ask him if he wants Coffee? She queried.

“He had eaten in Santhanam’s house” replied Vaianna.

Suddenly Mariappan came running and said, “The watch was perched on the hibiscus tree. Ask him if it is his watch”. Vora silently acknowledged. Vaianna broke the silence which befell the crowd by saying, “We must find a way to collect money to send this man home”. Suddenly, Munian suggested, “Why don’t we pawn his watch and get the money for him!”. Vaianna threw a furious look at Munian.

“Hai! We belong to a place where our ancestors have built resting places for even total strangers to come and stay! This is the land which gave life to whosoever came to its lap. This is not the land which pawns the belongings of others. “ Vaianna gave a mouthful to Munian and others like him in the crowd.

Handing over 50 rupees, Vaianna said, “Look Santhanam, this is my contribution. You contribute whatever you like.” Soon they collected 400 rupees.

“Santhanam, you go and board this person in the bus. All blessings will be bestowed upon you!” ordered Vaianna.

The bus was about to start from Nagapattinam. He embraced Santhanam and tears started rolling. Santhanam too was at a loss for words.

Vora sat besides the window. A friendly cool breeze wafted through the window. The bus started to move. He waved his hands. Now, both Vora and Santhanam clearly understood each other’s language. What else it could be, other than the language of love!