Respected sir,
I enjoyed each and every word of your one sentence appreciation to Mr Sarma.
Gopalakrishnan
On Sunday, 3 March, 2024 at 05:28:08 pm IST, Narayanaswamy Iyer
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Sri Laxminarayan Sarma
An excellent uproarious rib-ticlking story to crown a happy weekend.
S Narayanaswamy Iyer
On Sun, Mar 3, 2024 at 6:57 PM Laxminarayan Sarma
<[email protected]> wrote:
_The Kollengode Satyagraham
_This is a short story of mine_ __that was published in_ *The Caravan*
_magazine many years ago. It's set_ in our *Malgudi Days - like my village,
Kollengode in Palakkad, Kerala*
Happy Reading THE KOLLENGODE CONGRESS SATYAGRAHA, 1942There were local legends
like Bhasmam Sami known for their wit, wisdom and wonderful sense of drama,
command of the idiom and masters at the turn of phrase.
Story tellers, raconteurs par excellence and analysts of current events, these
men-of-the world provided entertainment, information and education which
today's plethora of television channels will find hard to match.
But there were also quixotic characters tilting at imaginary wind mills,
Tartarin de Tarasconese figures with inflated egos and misplaced self esteem
who could brook no contradiction or dissent from their country cousins, as they
meandered through memory lane with the imaginary stories of their dubious
exploits.
Each pattar agraharam had its own share of such characters. Heroes to some,
funny figures to some, loved by some, reviled by some, made fun of by many,
derided, detested and abused by several.
One such figure lived in an Agraharam adjoining Ayappan Kavu in Kollengode.
Nobody knows his real name. But he was called Vengu. Those close to him called
him Vengumama, those who kept a respectful distance from him addressed him as
Vengu pattar or Vengu Iyer.
The assorted hoi polloi of the local angadi called him Vengusami And he was
plain Vengan to those who were disgusted with his chronic "I"sore and took him
with a pinch of salt.
As a feather to his cap, by virtue of his visits to the local Congress Office
to read the newspapers, the village believed that he was a Congress member and
appended the acronym "CM" --- Congress Member -- to his name. So to several of
his gullible admirers he was Vengu CM
It would be in vain to talk about Don Quixote without including his side kick,
confidante, aide de camp, conscience keeper, court jester, sycophantic
chronicler- poet and whipping boy -- his side kick Sancho Panza.
The temple paricharakan Chuppu's son, Nanachami or Nachami fitted this role
ideally. Like shadow following the sun, Chuppu-aatthu Nachami stuck on to Vengu
CM
This episode is set in the turbulent early forties when violent winds of change
were sweeping away in their wake, the old order, forcing society to yield to
the new. The country was in the throes of the freedom movement. The few copies
of "The Hindu" arriving late in the morning, were in great demand as they
informed the populace in the hamlet, the latest happenings in Mumbai,
Kolkotta, Lahore and London.
The state violence unleashed on satyagrahis in Mumbai in the wake of the Quit
India Resolution created quite a stir in the hamlet as many of its natives
lived there.
Though light years away from the freedom movement ensconced behind Underwood
typewriters in the sanctuary of British mercantile companies, the very presence
of these migrants close to the action, was enough for the villagers to bestow
upon them the halo of being subjects of worry; hence the anxiety.
Vengu CM, who had briefly visited "Bombbaaai" to escort his sister back home
for her confinement, was considered an authority on the city.
The turbulent happenings in the city stirred the imagination of the local folk
and Vengu CM was much in demand. Though his knowledge about Mumbai was confined
to the train ride from VT to Matunga and back and may be a tram ride from
King's Circle to Museum, he took the open mouthed gaping village folk on a
virtual guided tour of the metro, full of colourful embellishments.
But all heroes have to contend with sceptics. Not every one in the hamlet
shared the general opinion of Vengu CM's genius. One of them was the local
timber merchant Hamza Hamzaka for short.
Vengu CM could browbeat and bully most of the village folk with his low brand
sarcasm, or even abusive verbal tongue-lashing. But when it came to Hamzaka,
Vengu CM realized that words were no match for muscles and tried to avoid
crossing the former's path. For that matter the pattars of the hamlet a voided
Hamzaka and his fellow Muslims and there was no love lost between the former
and the latter.
Additionally, the Muslims were perceived as willing participants in the British
"Divide and Rule" policy and who kept away from the Congress' activities in the
village.
There is a saying "Honi ko kaun taal sakta hai?" meaning "who can avoid the
inevitable"!!!
The inevitable happened thus.
Vengu CM was returning from his morning ablutions in the fields and walking
along the narrow bund. As was the custom those days, upper castes had right of
way. Thus a man of a lower caste had to step down into the slush of the field
to make way for the former.
As luck would have it, Hamzaka was also walking along the same bund and came
face to face with Venue CM. No adherent of the apres vous custom, Hamzaka
refused to budge. It was a matter of prestige for Vengu CM. Moreover a group of
women from the village was also returning from the river along the same path. .
So Vengu CM had to make a stand. But his wordswere no match for the
Mussalmaan's muscles and soon Vengu CM found himself sprawled in the slush,
cutting a comic figure.
Luckily, his side kick Nachami also arrived on the scene and bundled him out
to the safety of his home. It took quite a while for Vengu CM to rid himself of
the filth on his body and get into a fresh veshti. But meantime word of Vengu
CM's humiliation had spread all over the hamlet like wild fire.
How could he live down the infamy of being at the receiving end of Hamzaka's
"slush bath"?
But geniuses and their sidekicks have innovative minds. "Why not convert this
ungainly embarrassment into an opportunity to gain further popularity" queried
Nachami's devious mind. Very soon they struck upon a plan to convert a debacle
into a victory, as the village would see the next morning.
Nachami worked the whole night writing posters in red ink with the words:
SATYAGRAHA
AGAINST THE BRITISH STOOGE
HAMZAKA
FOR HUMILITING OUR DARLING CONGRESS LEADER
VENGU CM.!
BRITISH CONSPIRACY TO CRUSH FREEDOM MOVEMENT
OUR BELOVED VENGU CM
WILL SIT ON FAST UNTO DEATH UNDER THE ARASA MARAM AT THE AYAPPAN KAVU CORNER
FROM
8 AM TOMORROW
INQUILAB ZINDABAD ! MAHATMA GANDHI KI JAI !
These posters were pasted in every conceivable corner of the village. People
reading them, dropped all the work on hand and rushed to the Ayappan Kavu
Corner.
In their staid, peaceful, uneventful existence of several hundred years, a
satyagraha was akin to an epoch-making event.
By the appointed time, the entire village, it seemed, had gathered at the
designated Corner. The temple priest hurried through the morning temple
rituals and was there. The shop keepers had shut their shops for the day.
School children decided to play hookey to be presen
At last, Kunjunni Nair from valia tharavsdu who was also the head of the local
Congress unit arrived there. The temple kettu mela crew had positioned itself
strategically on the high steps of Mannadiyar's teashop and were playing a
soulful refrain on the nadaswaram .
Suddenly Vengu CM appeared as if from nowhere and jumped on to the platform
around the arasa maram. The crowd broke into long and loud applause, Vengu CM
ki Jai, Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai, Inquilab Zindabad.
It was quite a time before the tumult subsided. Kunjunni Nair in his several
years as local Congress leader had never had such a big crowd.
Clearing his throat and gesturing the crowd to fall silent, he started a long
and flowery address at the end of which he described Vengu CM as a true patriot
and how the hamlet was fortunate in having a brave son like Vengu CM. He went
on to say that Vengu CM would fast unto death and if in the process he made The
Supreme Sacrifice, then he, Kunjunni Nair, would erect a memorial in his honour.
Speech over, Nachami, with huge chembaratti flower garlands in his hands,
obtained through kind courtesy Venkatesa Iyer from the nearby temple ,mounted
the platform and handed them over to Kunjunni Panikkar. The nadaswaram music
reached a crescendo, the crowds shouted themselves hoarse with slogans " Vengu
CM ki Jai" Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai, as Kunjunni Nair garlanded Vengu CM.
Vengu CM was not hungry at the moment. He had fortified himself with over a
dozen idlis at Natesa Iyer's Komala Vilas. He would not be hungry until late
evening.
Little by little the crowds melted away. Only a few of his close aides were
present. After a while they too dozed off.
Passengers in buses halting at Ayappan Kavu Corner stared curiously. The
idlers at Mannadiar's tea shop sat smoking bidis staring at Vengu CM. Nachami
was busy replenishing from time to time the water chembu of his mentor.
Late in the evening, Burma Paattee, the village hag who was thus called
because she was a Rangoon returnee , visited him with a huge tookku paatram,
which she claimed contained Gangajal.
News of Vengu CM's satyagraha soon reached the ears of Rama Bhadran, the
stringer for the Malayalam daily "Matrubhumi" who lived in Kalpathy Gramam
"What a capital story" he exclaimed as he boarded the bus to Kollengode
"Matrubhoomi" paid him @ ONE ANNA FOR EVERY FOUR WORDS. Always hard up for
money, Bhadran believed the event a manna from heaven. He was busy mentally
composing a lengthy report and was calculating the number of rupees he would
earn.
News of the reporter's arrival spread through the village. Very soon, a huge
crowd gathered at the venue to witness their beloved Vengu CM giving his first
press interviews. The stayagrahi put on display all his eloquence. He described
his trip to Mumbai, his assessment of the freedom movement there, the glory of
the city, the elegance of its cars and trams. Bhadran took down copious notes,
his mind making plans on how to spend this windfall.He thought of the sari he
could buy for his wife, the attractive silver snuff box he saw at Nedungadi
Jewellers in Palakkad, that Oxford Dictionary for his son…..
Dusk descended fast on the hamlet. Somebody had fetched a petromax from
Ravunni's cycle shop. And under its glare sat Vengu CM and his crony Nachami,
indulging in small talk. Very soon, it was morning. The milkman, the early
morning commuters to Palakkad, kids on their way to school, and shopkeepers
spent some time with Vengu CM.
.But the initial excitement was gone. The villagers took the satyagraha in
their stride, as one of those things. Vengu CM and his side kick, Nachami shorn
of their earlier heroic glory, sat desolately. The sun like the villagers went
about its daily routine of rising, peaking, declining and finally setting.
Burma paattee arrived daily with her tookku patramn of "ganga jal" from which
Vengu CM imbibed hungrily.
Bhadran had wired his lengthy report to The Mathrubhoomi editorial desk. Vengu
CM and Nachami were eagerly looking forward to the news appearing in the paper.
At last, The Mathrubhoomi obliged with a three liner on the ninth page of its
weekend edition. This brought some cheer to the duo.
But there was no response from Hamzakaka or the administration. Even the local
police constable, Rarichan Nair did not bother even to look in their direction.
"Enough is enough" thought Nachami. "but how do I end this satyagraha? O I am
also getting bored.," grumbled Vengu CM who realized the wind had gone out of
his sail. But then what are side kicks for if they can't find a way out of a
dilemma?
The satyagraha was a week old. It was the day of the weekly shandy(shandai).
Farmers from as far away as Pollachi carrying fresh vegetables, tradesmen
carrying metal buckets, combs, kallchatties, brooms and baskets, kuruvttis and
morams from Palakkad, tamarind from Kollengode, lumps of jaggery from Menonpara
had gathered in anticipation of a busy day and handsome earnings. Vengu CM now
sat alone. Where was his side kick Nachami?
The market started bustling with activity. The traders were noisily promoting
their wares, heated haggling broke out between buyers and sellers, the temple
bull was having a field day helping itself, unhindered, to the choicest of
vegetables from the stalls, when all of a sudden a commotion broke out.
Nachami, waving a white sheet of paper in his hand, tore his way through the
milling crowd shouting "CM Vengu ki Jai, Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai, Inquilab
Zindabad".
All eyes turned in his direction as if on cue. In a few quick bounds he was on
he platform beside Vengu CM shouting out "Hear ! Hear! My country men!"
Waving out the sheet of paper, he shouted, "This is a telegram from the
British Collector". The assembled crowd started applauding. "The Collector has
apologized to our beloved leader Vengu CM. He has promised action against
Hamzakaka. Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai! Vengu CM ki Jai!!! Bharat Mata ki Jai!!"
The applause reached a deafening crescendo. Very soon, the commotion brought
the Congress leader Kunjunni Menon to the scene. His eagle eyes quickly took
in the scene and not one to be deprived of an opportunity to be in the
limelight, he was quickly at Vengu CM and Nachami's side.
He made an impromptu speech saying the cowardly British government, afraid of
the Party he led had capitulated. "Very soon", he thundered , "We will have
Hamzaka in the Palakkad jail for assaulting a true patriot, a true son of
Bahrata Mata, our very own Vengu CM"
"I will now plead with Vengu CM to break this fast by imbibing of the contents
of the tooku patram that Danger Paattee has been so kindly sending daily."
Raising the pot, he offered to Vengu CM who had by bow stood up, none the worse
for a week long saga of starvation.
He accepted the pot.
But they say "there is many a slip between the cup and the lip" As if to prove
this saying right, as Vengu CM was about to raise it to his lips, a crow
sitting on the arasa maram launched into a diving attack on the tookupaatram.
Taken unawares, Vengu CM let go of the tookkupatram. The metal vessel came
crashing down in front of the crowd with a loud clang and spilled its contents.
"Paruppu kanji" screamed" the multitude !!!
The villagers of the had seen the last of their favourite son Vengu CM and his
side kick Nachami. Or had they?
Brief Epilogue: It was reported that the duo had left for the greener pastures
of Bombay. They soon became committee members of some Sabha or Samajam and
excelled in organizing sadhyas.
While the former continued in Mumbai, the latter, I am told made his way to the
US and is engaged in fiery correspondence with dissenters back home in India.
As to Vengu CM, people say he was seen in Kollengode last month!!!
And as to the telegram from the British Collector, the local Post Master
Subramani Iyer, kept quiet about it! But wags say, it was generated in the
l,ocal post office itself. But we will ignore them.
-
___
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