Skip to main content

Conversations with God

Inside a church in Kottayam


The novel which I’m reading currently is the English translation of the Malayalam Valli by Sheela Tomy. It received rave reviews in standard publications and that is the reason why I decided to read it. Having read about a hundred pages, I must say that it’s a charming work. It’s musical. It’s a symphony. But I’ll write a proper review after I read the whole of it. Right now, I wish to speak about the conversations that a character named Varky has with his God, Jesus, whom he calls Karthav (Malayalam for Lord). Varky is a drunkard. When he is drunk, he becomes more chatty with his Karthav. In one of his final chats with Karthav, before the deluge carries him away, Varky says, “Look at Him just sitting there! After turning water into wine to vex people for evermore! It was your Divine Majesty, wasn’t it, that made our Kalyani here (the woman who supplies him with locally brewed liquor) spicy and poor Magdalena Mariam pretty? And then you go around keeping tabs. Yes, Varky will own up, I have been falling down drunk a couple of times. Maybe more…Don’t be pissed off with poor Varky. My sin, my sin, my most grievous sin…”

I have found myself talking to Jesus in similar ways quite often. I am not a believer in the usual sense of the word. But Jesus remains as a very friendly and spiritual energy somewhere deep down in my consciousness. I indulge in quite many conversations with him – sometimes friendly and sometimes not so friendly. They are the only prayers I ever utter. No religious person may accept my chats with Jesus as prayers. For me they are prayers just because they soothe my soul like nothing else can.

If I were born in a Hindu family, it would have been Krishna instead of Jesus that got all my spiritual attention. I like Krishna’s romantic side, you see. But if it were Islam, I wonder who would have listened to my chats. Allah wouldn’t be quite chuffed with sentences like ‘Don’t be pissed off…’ I have no problem at all, however, with anyone praying to any god. My problem is when people get pissed off with other people’s gods and prayers and rituals.  

Comments

  1. MURTHYJanuary 17, 2023 at 10:39 PM

    Almost some ten years back, I was there at Kottayam on an invitation of an NGO. That picture made me recall it, If possible I will read the English version. Review is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 18, 2023 at 4:21 AM

      A proper review will come soon. They call it an eco novel. The forest is the protagonist, apparently. But I'm yet to get to that.

      Delete
  2. Yamini MacLeanJanuary 17, 2023 at 10:46 PM

    Hari OM
    Quite so - "god" is, after all, a personal concept, our inner sounding board - and hidden counsellor. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 18, 2023 at 4:22 AM

      If only the fanatics and right wingers realized that!

      Delete
  3. Chandra SundeepJanuary 18, 2023 at 10:35 AM

    Haha! A profound thought in your usual witty style. Enjoyed reading it.

    Valli is on my TBR too. Waiting for your review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. marietta pereiraJanuary 18, 2023 at 6:22 PM

    The last line is so true. Each to his own ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. RehanaJanuary 29, 2023 at 9:13 PM

    I am so glad you started this book. Would love to know your thoughts once you complete it. Also I am so upset how misrepresented Islam is... trust me, Allah is way cooler than a lot of muslims out there.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJanuary 30, 2023 at 4:08 AM

      I've already completed the novel and here's my review.
      https://matheikal.blogspot.com/2023/01/valli-review.html?m=1

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...
12 comments
Read more

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...
7 comments
Read more

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...
6 comments
Read more

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...
8 comments
Read more