Translation
To have and to hold
SELINE AUGUSTINE
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It is amazing that what Jayakanthan wrote 40 years ago holds good even in the new millennium.
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Till Death Do Us Part and Other Stories, Jayakanthan. translated from Tamil by Andy Sundaresan, Kurinji Publications, El Cerrito, California, U.S., p.194, price not stated.
IT may be safely said that a universally accepted topic of interest, be it in literature or life, is marriage. Andy Sundaresan, who resides in California, has translated into English yet another set of short stories of Jayakanthan, this time on marriage. Five years ago, he had published Trial by Fire. For Till Death Do Us Part and Other Stories, he has chosen six short stories and one novella, all focussing on the man-woman relationship in marriage.
Earlier this week, Jayakanthan received the Jnanpith Award, the second Tamil author to do so. It was given "for his outstanding contribution towards shaping of Indian literature and his deep, sensitive understanding of human nature". Known widely for his Sahitya Academy award-winning novel of 1972, Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal, here the writer is seen throwing light on the complex workings of the human mind when two individuals come together in matrimony.
Perhaps the institution of marriage has been imbued with an overdose of sanctity in the Indian context. Young women by the hundreds have been bogged down by the perception that the single most crucial goal in life is tying the knot. After two young hearts walk hand-in-hand into the sunset, period. Nothing mattered post-wedding. The newly emerging feminine assertiveness has changed the picture to a large extent. Jayakanthan seems to say through these stories that wedded life will be bliss only if there is mutual love and understanding and a deliberate attempt made not to dominate or indulge in emotional aggression.
Mutual trust
The title story or novella, running to 69 pages, is a definite drag, where the suave and false Assistant Editor Anantharaman needs a rude awakening to come to his senses and realise the treasure that wife Kokila is. In "The Scorching truth", the writer categorically states that selfishness has no place in marriage. Mutual trust is the pivot on which the institution rests, he affirms. Truth will hurt and not all are mature enough to take it. Is Jayakanthan suggesting that often marriage works only when the man is several years older and the young woman has skeletons in the cupboard? But in the end, it is the 20-year-Kothai who helps Parameswaran, 40, to come to terms with harsh truths that life has a way of tossing at unsuspecting people.
"Privacy is sacred" explores the sophistication of a modern couple in whose lives much goes under the label " private space". Masks plonk down and a good amount of forgiveness helps tide over potential unpleasant situations. Love covers over all wrongs, as the Good Word would put it. It is moving to find the mother being forced to reveal all about her husband, if only to help her village-bred son Venu. Ramani Ammal tells her son: Love means we do not try to exploit the spouse's private weaknesses, even when they are known to us.
Still relevant
A piteous tale is "Every Hero Deserves a Heroine" where sweet Mathuram, portrayed as the stupid but doting wife, transforms into the woman scorned, and as the poet said, hell hath no fury of such a one. Is the point being hammered home, with subtlety given a wide berth?
The concluding story "Caesar" is delightful, especially in the last few paragraphs where Seetharama Iyer defends his young wife Meenakshi and ticks off the offensive landlord. The very last line of the book reads "Seetharama Iyer is Caesar, whatever one may think of his wife", a pointed reference to the expression, Caesar's wife is above suspicion.
It is amazing that what Jayakanthan wrote 40 years ago holds good even in the new millennium. Therein lie the writer's strength and the relevance in publishing the stories today and in English as the themes cut across time and nations.
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