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| Bobs |
Zachariah is one of my favourite writers in Malayalam.
The latest issue of Mathrubhumi (Malayalam weekly) carries one of his
short stories titled Karunan Cat. Since I have three cats of my own and
two of my neighbour’s that seem determined to eat only with my ones, any writing
about cats draws my immediate attention. When Zachariah writes, the attention
becomes ever more engrossing.
The story is set in Delhi of 1977.
Karunan, the cat-protagonist, is living in an upper middle class household in
Defence Colony. His great ancestor was a Persian cat that was gifted by the
last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to one of his beautiful concubines.
After Shah was exiled, the concubine slept with many British VIPs and the
Persian cat had many local mates. In spite of the miscegenation of his
ancestors, Karunan had all the charms of the Persian ancestor and hence was
loved by the upper-class Delhiites who fed him the purest cow milk.
But
Ramakrishnan and Nalini are going to divorce and hence their pet Karunan is
faced with a dilemma. So he walks out of home and is eventually adopted by a
rich American woman who takes him to her country. Karunan is happy to go with
her because her fairness makes him think of her as a super-Brahmin. The lady
loved Karunan with all her heart. So she bequeathed all her property to him
before her death. Thus Karunan became the richest Indian cat in America.
Karunan lived in luxury until his natural end, the fate which none of us can
avoid even if we are the richest or the most powerful. The lady’s relatives
constructed the most beautiful mausoleum in Texas for Karunan. Watching the
news about Karunan’s mausoleum, Nalini in Delhi is excited. She thinks that her
ex-husband, Ramakrishnan, had sold the cat for a huge sum of money to the
American woman. Like Karunan’s ancestors, Nalini too had many lovers. The last
one was a godman. The godman could not endure Nalini’s love for long. He dies
leaving the ashram’s hundreds of acres to Nalini who converts it into a
luxurious resort which employs all the devotees happily. Ramakrishnan is
writing his autobiography. Delhi is now a different place from 1977. Indira
Gandhi and her emergency are all forgotten. A new history is being written.
Like Karunan Cat, many heroes are being made.
My synopsis
doesn’t do justice to Zachariah’s story, I know. But I loved the story for
reasons that I cannot comprehend. Maybe, Karunan reminds me of my Bobs. Bobs is
my beloved tomcat. These days he has a rival, who comes from somewhere, whom I have named Modiji because of
his eloquent aggression. Modiji comes stealthily and attacks Bobs ferociously. His
attacks are like the regular price hikes and tax hikes and other agonies that
our country bestows on us unfailingly. What can Bobs give, however? He runs
screaming for his life and I rush to defend him from Modiji.
I want Bobs
to be able to write a success story. Why should history belong to aggressors
only?
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteThe rise of the undercats, then??? I'll support! YAM xx
Thank you 😊
Delete"Eloquent aggression" finally I've found words to describe our modiji's subtle belligerence
ReplyDeleteGreat people generate words!
DeleteCats are intriguing
ReplyDeleteIndeed. They can be symbolic too.
DeleteThis is such a captivating post that I actually googled to see if Karunan exists.😅
ReplyDeleteHa ha... That's charming.
DeleteI personally feel you should be a little more cautious with your writings given the atmosphere I read your posts almost regularly but refrain from commenting because of certain particular reasons. But today I couldn't stop myself.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the concern, dear friend.
Delete