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Literary Review
Translation
Caught in the cusp of change
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
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Fifty years after its publication, the Malayalam classic Naalukettu still resounds with poignancy.
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Naalukettu: The House around the Courtyard, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, translated by Gita Krishnankutty, OUP, Rs. 395.
Naalukettu, literally, the house of the traditional joint family of the Nairs in Kerala, is a signpost in the history of the Malayalam novel. The book heralded the arrival of a multifaceted writer half a century ago. The novel is the first of the chronicles of MT’s Koodallur, a treasure trove for him. It has had 23 reprints and was translated into 14 languages and had a record sale of a half a million copies and still features in the best-seller lists.
Naalukettu was significant in that it fascinatingly portrayed the degeneration of the matrilineal system of joint families (tharawad), where large numbers of relatives lived together. The decline and collapse of the system resulted in nuclear families and consequential social, traditional and economic changes. But apart from the historical angle, Naalukettu has a lasting literary value, as one of the best in Malayalam fiction.
MT’s writings are characterised by a well-structured story and narration through a lyrical and characteristic idiom, with its own nuances, much of which is difficult to translate. Naalukettu (the four gabled house) is not very different. It is the story of Appunni, a young boy who wants to settle scores with his father’s murderer Seydalikkutty. Appunni’s mother Parukkutty had run away from the mighty tharawad to live with her lover Kondunni Nair, a pagida (a sort of dice) player; Seydalikkutty and Kondunni run a business selling tapioca, but after a dinner at Seydalikkutty’s house, Kondunni Nair collapses, obviously poisoned by the partner. Appunni is a child and his hapless mother has to work as a domestic help to bring him up and educate him as she has been ostracised by the family. Curious about the naalukettu, Appunni goes there for a serpent worship ritual, but is mercilessly driven away by the grand uncle, the karanavar and head of the joint family.
Appunni is taken to school by his late father’s friend, Sankaran Nair, on his mother’s request; but the village gossip makes him resentful of his mother and he runs away from her. Seydalikkutty counsels him of his rights in the tharawad and he puts on a brave front and goes there and with the support of an uncle, lives in a dark room under the staircase there. Appunni’s life there is one of poverty, discrimination and isolation. It is also one of tender love, sentiments and dreams.
Turnaround
Legal wrangles follow resulting in the partition of the family property. Appunni is unconcerned. Even without his knowledge his mother sends his fee for his public examination. Seydalikkutty invites Appunni to Wayanad and gets him a clerk’s job in a tea estate. For five years he works there and then returns to the tharawad, which has by then crumbled following the partition. He purchases the central portion of the naalukettu from the karanavar, whose cruelties he had suffered. Appunni brings his mother back to the naalukettu. He also has pledges support to Seydalikkutty, whom he once wanted to kill. As Appunni grows up and gets a mature perspective, everything changes. From a bitter boy, Appunni transforms to a mature and understanding adult.
Though the translation is not totally satisfactory, it has captured the spirit of the original poignancy and the language. After 50 years, the novel still retains the Midas touch of the masterly writer.
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