Skip to main content

"Second Self" is two!

Alter Idem turns two today :)

For no particular reason, I began by sharing a favourite short story.

While thinking of a post to mark the first b'day, I decided to start a tradition - of sharing short stories on Alter Idem's b'days - preferably, stories that have been with me for ages after I have read them.

Here's Annayya's story....set, I think, in the 1950s-60s.

Annayya, a Brahmin from Mysore, goes to the US for higher studies. He settles down well to the American way of life, food habits,..... Often, Annayya's lady-friends ask him questions about Hinduism and to be better equipped, he begins to read books on Hinduism! Soon, he develops a genuine interest and spends a lot of his free time in the library - reading books on Hinduism.

One day, Annayya chances upon a newly published book by an American, on customs and rituals among Hindus. He flips through the pages - references to verses from ancient texts, photographs, detailed descriptions of the various customs and rituals of several castes,....at first glance, this book is easily the best one on Hindu culture that Annayya has come across & he is totally in awe of the white man's methodical approach to the subject.

While turning pages, Annayya chances upon the cremation rituals for men belonging to the Brahmin community, with step by step pictorial details. At college and away from home, he has never witnessed/ participated in the funeral rites of family members. Since he has only heard about the elaborate procedures, Annayya decides to check out the chapter. Reading through the pre-cremation rites, he takes a look at the picture of the actual cremation. Near the funereal pyre is a man with tonsured head who looks a lot like his cousin.

To verify, Annayya turns to the foreword. Here, the author has thanked Mr.Cousin - for allowing to take photographs of the various Brahminical rituals like naming ceremony, thread ceremony,.... during the author's two year stay in Mysore.
Annayya goes through other pictures and recognises family members/ neighbours in most of them. Admiration for Mr.Author soon changes to irritation towards Mr.Cousin - for allowing the intrusion into family functions.

With horror, Annayya also realises that a male member of the family is no more. Who?? Mr.Cousin's tonsured head could only mean one person......

On impulse, Annayya checks the chapter on 'Widowhood'.

Murderous rage towards Mr.Cousin welling up within him, Annayya is left gaping - at the portrait picture of a 'Hindu widow' - clean shaven head half covered by her sari - his mother ......

I had read this poignant story by Mr.A.K.Ramanujan in an anthology of Kannada short stories - a few monsoons ago. I had thought that it was quite an eerie story. Also, people who went abroad those days must have been so disconnected from their family members in India. I guess, many a time, letters - the only means of communication- would get lost :(

Comments

  1. Awesome.
    And, wish your blog Alter Idem all the best. I wish your lovable blog would, as usual, ever continue to provoke and inspire thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Soumya,

    Beautifully written. Congratulations on the two years of your blog! I have greatly enjoyed reading your posts, specially the
    ones discussing nature and the people around where you live.

    Peace!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you, Desi Babu :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations Soumya. Keep on writing. All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Birthday to Alter Idem!(Belated, though:()

    ReplyDelete
  6. Better late, than never, I guess.
    Thanks, Yamini :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seem to have missed reading this post earlier. Thanks for sharing this haunting story!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ash gourd & beliefs

Whenever a farmer comes to my doorstep selling vegetables, I buy them. The other day, one of the regulars dropped in. This time, he had only ash gourds. Since my own ash gourd vine was looking good, I had to tell him that I didn't want any. He then expressed a desire to see the vine - to check out the variety, etc... Soon after seeing it, he told me that the vine would produce only one gourd and that I should be offering it to some temple instead of using it! Well! I hadn't heard this one before! Though nobody knew why, every single person advised me against using the ash gourd if it turned out to be the only yield from that vine. And, 'Give it to some temple' was the final line that everyone added! You know, as far as vegetables and beliefs go, the ash gourd is one that has many attached to it... each one of them, meaningless and without logic. My mother believed that a whole ash gourd should not be cut with a knife by people whose parents were alive. Fortunat

Ganesha's water-pot!

You will not find this place on the tourists' list of places to visit in Chikmaglur. However, you'll find it on my list of favourite places in Chikmaglur. Let me take you there..... A half-an-hour's drive from home will take us to the not-so-sleepy town of Koppa. From here, onto  the road to Kesave village.  About 3-4 kms on this road, to the right - a rusty arch and the mud track beyond welcome us. Blink, and we'll miss the place! We are now on private property. This part of the estate is open to all. Because, it is here that the river Braahmi has her origins. The Braahmi is a small tributary of the river Tunga. Infact, she joins the Tunga within 20 kms. from her place of birth. The presence of an idol of the elephant-headed God lends some piety to the place.    Someone has done a neat job -  making it seem like the water is gushing out of a water-pot. This, and the presence of God Ganesh... the place is locally known as 'KamanDala Ganapati'. Lik

Temple Ponds

Temple ponds, or, 'Pushkarni's are such an integral part of ancient temples. I just can't get over the idea as well as the efforts that must have been made to build them.  Often, these ponds are quite polluted. But for the presence of some stagnant water, some of them look like dump yards :(  So, it was a pleasure to come across this clean one at the Janardhana Swami Temple at Yermalu on the Udupi- M'lore highway. Dakshina Kannada & Udupi districts can be called the temple districts of the world- there are so many temples that one would need a lifetime to cover all of them! So, not surprisingly, this was our first visit to this temple. If the M-S wedding didn't take place here, we would have missed this one. The idol here was installed by Saint Madhavacharya- social reformer & philosopher who lived 700 years ago. This pond has obviously been renovated since, but, surely, the origins date back to the 13th century, or, earlier? You know, according to t