Chapter 8
***
The parrot that came out of the cage stood hesitantly
and threw a glance at the court complex standing in the enclosure of iron
grills. Men in khaki and black uniforms were busy chattering and running here
and there. All those men might have appeared as criminals in the innocent heart
of the parrot. Like an indecisive judge who was unable to pass the judgement in
the case sitting in front of thick bundles of case papers, the parrot was
standing in front of the stack of cards, visibly confused about which one it
needed to pick. But, more than the astrologer, the parrot’s indecisiveness was
deeply troubling Kasi Padaiyachi, who was sitting despondently like Dharma, who
had lost his country and cities.
“Selvarani, why this hesitation? My dear baby, pick up
a suitable card fast for the name Kasi to see if the task - that has demanded
his tireless visits, disregarding auspicious times and stars - will be
successful. Will he get what he wants? Will he get the details of it? This
time, the astrologer didn’t stop with his preaching. He took out a crispy paddy
grain from the bowl at the top of the cage, and held it out to the parrot.
In a fraction of a second it picked with its beak, and
the husk fell onto the ground. The parrot intently glanced at Kasi’s cheeks
that looked puffed due to the stuffing of betel leaves and his reddened lips,
and lowered its eyes slowly and settled on the stack of cards. It picked a card
nonchalantly, tossed it in the front, and threw an insolent look at him. Soon
it received another grain of paddy; it picked the second card, pushing aside
the first one, and entered the cage. The astrologer, holding the card in hand,
threw his magical smile at the people walking around and those who were
watching the thoroughfare.
Kasi Padaiyachi’s attention was on the card. Sengalrao,
who was standing at a distance under a neem tree along the compound wall as his
saffron-coloured hair flew untidily, came near to him. The parrot owner applied
a mild pressure along the edges of the thick cover, inserted his finger through the gap thus
visible, and pulled out the paper from inside. Even Rasokkiyam - sitting by the
compound wall watching the visitors in the distance who were entering and
coming out on the calls of Dawali, who was standing in front of the court
entrance for a long time - grew curious and fixed his eyes on the astrologer
visible through the moving legs.
The astrologer unfolded the sheet with a grin. Frayed
in three folds, the lord Ganesh looked pathetic on the card. He placed the
picture on the cover without stiffening it, cleared his throat as he brought
his folded fist in front of his mouth, and resumed his predictions. “You, the
luckiest; You, the most honest; You, the one who wins the fight with any
opponent! However, the task you are keen on won’t be over soon, as the Kethu is
sitting in eighth place. It may appear that it will be over, but it won’t. It
will drag on – He spoke in a sonorous voice like a waterfall that turned the
heads of those who listened to him. His voice reached beyond the court entrance,
and the people standing there turned their heads. Seeing this sudden attention,
he grew uneasy and lowered his voice.
Kasi Padaiyachi was completely broken at the very
utterance of ‘it will drag on’ from the astrologer’s mouth. Every month
he had to leave his herd back home and undertake this tireless visit to the Cuddalore
court. If this case still drags on…He interrupted the astrologer and asked him
blatantly, “So this case will drag on forever and will never be over soon.
Right?”
The astrologer was slightly embarrassed at his
voluntary remark about a court case. If someone sitting in front of the court
complex for his livelihood had the audacity to say that the case would drag on
forever, it would amount to insulting the court, and he might be thrown behind
the bars along with his parrot cage if his words fell into the ears of any
judge who passed by the way. Yet, he could manage his slip of the tongue. He
then lowered his voice to the minimum and spoke as if he had come to a truce.
Holding the picture in his hands, he addressed Kasi and Sengalrao, who were
keenly watching him. “Who’s this? Lord Ganesh. One day the Yemaraj, the god of
death came to take away his life. But, you know, lord Ganesh is a smart guy. He
told the Yemaraj that he had some work that day, so the Yemaraj could come the next
day. He also told the Yemaraj to write down the same on his back. The next day
the Yemaraj came. The lord Ganesh showed him his back. It was written there,
‘Leave today. Come tomorrow’. The Yemaraj comes every day. Reads the same on
Ganesh’s back and returns. The Yemaraj couldn’t take away Ganesh’s life till
the end. This case is also like that. This month…next month…the month after
next…and so on. The picture of the Lord Ganesh symbolically means it.”
“Sengalrao party…Sengalrao party…” A thick call that
had been hardened in the high pitch came through the crowd.
Seeing Kasi getting up in exceptional haste, the
parrot withdrew its body along the wire grill. Sand partcles fell onto the
stack of cards as he got up swiftly. The third call had come before Kasi and
Sengalrao could reach the court entrance, running quickly and sailing through
the crowd. The Dawali threw a frowning stare at them before he allowed them to
go in. It was because they spent their time with the parrot astrologer, as they
thought that the Rasokkiyam party would usually be called upon first. Both were
panting due to running.
A lot of lawyers were sitting in black overcoats,
tight-faced. The judge, who glanced at them folding their hands together and profusely
sweating, looked very young. He bent his head down and read the sheet of paper
before him, “Sengalrao…”
When Sengalrao displayed an excessive obedience with
his hands folded with two steps forward, he looked like Sahadevan, who stoops
to touch the feet of Dharma in the street plays. Next was Kasi. He also
followed the same display of servility. Next to him, the call came,
“Manimaran…”
Kasi arched forward more now and paid regards with
folded hands and said, “He is a student and has gone to the college, sir”
“If someone is absent every time, how can we conduct
the inquiry? If they don’t come next time, I will issue the arrest warrant.”
The judge, stern in his words, said angrily, and called again, Sengalrao…”
As the lines of fear ran all over his body, Sengalrao
got onto the witness box. Within a moment he was in the witness box; a
policeman from the Mandarakuppam police station took out a lethal sword from
the yellow bag he was holding and held it out to the official sitting amidst thick
bundles of case papers in front of the judge. The official received it with extreme
reverence as if it were a weapon of the demon and placed it before the judge.
The judge picked it up and ran his eyes over it with an air of indifference, as
though he had seen bigger lethal swords than it for his age. It wasn’t a sword
meant for murdering people. It was just a sword used for wood cutting. A
drawstring of the skirt used for fastening the cloth wrapped around the hilt
for better grip was hanging like a tail.
At the same time Sengalrao was watching the sword in the
judge’s hands, Rasokkiyam, who was waiting along with his younger brother
Kanagaraju at the doorway for his turn, was stroking the scar below his left
shoulder. Though the injury was healed up, there was a mild pricking pain.
…
Once he got off at Mandarakuppam, Sengalrao turned
into his form. He haircombed his hair and was fully exuberant. He started
singing Thirupugazh, ‘Thanthana…thanthanaa…”, If permitted, it seemed that he
would perform a whirling dance and stir up the dust. There were a lot of trucks
and buses transporting the coal from the first coal mine in Neyveli. Even
amidst that buzz, his singing, awkward stumbling in front of others as if he
was going to fight with them, was simply unberable. Kasi was also helpless, as
he couldn’t leave him in that state. Innumerable motorcycles were plying all
around for the generous amount tossed by the Neyveli coal mine. If any one of them
ran over him, Asalambu wouldn’t consider it serious, as she might think that
that joker deserved it. But Thombachi Vellachi back home wouldn’t. She would
yell, “You treat him the meanest since he is my brother. Don’t you? You have
come here with such an urgency to trim the tender hooves as if all the goats
have given birth to kids. Can’t you wait for a while to bring him safely here?”
“O.K. let’s go”. It was just short of dragging,
grasping his hands. Not taking aroundabout route by the road, if they go east
from the N.L.C bus stand and take a turn to the south, they will come across a
road. On the other side of the road was a school. Along the school, there was a
road running south on the eastern side. First comes the Mandarakuppam N.L.C
residential area. Crossing the nearby stream would land you in Veppankurichi.
Unlike the bus stands on the west side, N.LC bus stand
was not very crowded. The veshti on his waist was frequently loosening and
troubled him. Hardly would they have taken a few steps towards the east from
the bus stand, Kasi took off his veshti and wrapped it around his head and then
wrapped his waist with the towel lying on his shoulder. A big-sized towel, it
covered up to his knees. He then took off his shirt, from which the betel-
arecanut pouch was sticking out, slung it on his shoulders, and grasped
Sengalrao’s hands.
Despite being under intoxication, Sengalrao was
consciously holding his dhoti tightly as he walked, blabbering. “You scoundrel,
how dare you drag me to the court?” He pulled his hand off from Kasi’s grasp
with a jerk, covered his untidy hairs flowing in the wind with the towel, made
a turban, and yelled. “I am the bravest of the brave. I will never rest until I
kill you. You are filing the case against me. Aren’t you? I will settle your
case finally. I have slashed your hands. Right? You weak bloke! He has fallen
onto the serrated edges of palm leaves and got slashed on his arms. But he is
saying that I have done it. You both, elder and younger, are coming against me.
Aren’t you? Come…come…you are the lion cubs of Rasavanniyan. Right? If I don’t
chop you both on the butcher block, let me not be born to Kartha Padaiyachi da”
Kasi’s eyes were literally blocked due to hunger. It
was already past three. After coming out of the court complex, Sengalrao had,
in fact, asked him if they could eat the meals. As all his attention was on his
goats, Kasi had told him “ We can eat the meals at home. Now, make it fast”.
But when they got off there, Sengalrao went into the nearby thicket of Karuvai
on the pretext of relieving himself only to come out in a flick of a second licking
a slice of pickle. Once the stuff tipped down ‘inside’ his throat, how could
they return home soon? There would then be street-play-like performances wherever
he stood - swinging his hands, cutting across air and singing songs.
“Come quiet,” Kasi said as he opened his betel leaves
casket and put some of it into his mouth. Hearing this, everything changed in a
second for Sengalrao; he turned to Kasi in a jerk and said, “You have given me
all the tasks, and now you ask me to walk quietly.”
His words pricked Kasi, and he didn’t know how to
respond to this. Giving a stern look, he turned to Sengalrao. His frowning
stare got Sengalrao further irritated. “Why do you stare? Isn’t it you who came
to me suggesting to build a shed and showed me the place where it is to be
built?”
Kasi felt an intense prick inside. His voice had
lowered to a minimum. “Haven’t I told you many times that I never even thought
that this would land us in such a quandary?”
*** Part 8 ended***
