May 16, 2012
While heading to Kollam this morning to attend a wedding, noticed the huge blue banners on either side of the entrance to poet Kumaran Asan memorial at Thonnackal announcing "Asante Samboorna Krithikal Soujanyam" (Complete Works of Asan Free). An offer too good to miss. Made a mental note to make a stop on the way back.
Extravagant wedding at Kollam. Obviously two very poor families are involved! Just in case I haven't mentioned it before, the Malayalam calendar called "Kolla varsham" (the Kollam calendar) and the Malayalam word for year i.e Kollam, both are named after the place Kollam, more precisely the port of Kollam (which the foreigners called Quilon).
825 AD when the Malayalam calendar officially begins commemorates the year the port of Kollam became the most prominent port in Kerala beating Vizhinjam, Kodungalloor etc. It is a different matter that Kozhikode and Kochi ports soon became larger than Kollam thanks to the Muslim Arab traders. But the name of the calendar stuck.
Before leaving Kollam visited a VLCC center that promises to take care of "slimming, skin and hair needs" and a branch of the Corporation Bank. The interiors couldn't be more different. The slick, aromatic VLCC interior is meant to invigorate your senses, open those pores to make on lively and open those purses to make the owners rich. Corporation bank where deposits are made and loans are taken is dingy and dark. Young men and women in jet black nylon loose fitting livery busy themselves briskly in the corridors and desks at VLCC. Mature men and women with a curious mix of dissatisfaction and suspicion populate the bank.
Back at Thonnackal, I rush in to claim my free copy of Asan's complete works. I quickly check with the sleeping security guard that copies are still left. A young lady sitting behind a joint display surface of three desks and in front of three big shelves is clearly amused by my hurry.
"Baakiyundo?" (Are there any left?) I enquire.She gets up and lifts one of the three boxes still on the shelf. It must have a cubic feet in volume and from the strain on her face at least 5 kilograms.
"Rs. 1600" she says matter-of-factedly
"Free alle?" (Not free?) I am shocked
"Freeyo?" she is genuinely surprised
"Soujanyam ennu banner kandu" I blame the banner.
"Athey randayirathi nannooru roopa aayirunnu, ippo soujanya vila aayirathi arunooru mathram!" (Yes, it costs Rs. 2400. Now available at a discounted price of Rs. 1600)
Ah! a clever use of the word "Soujanyam" which could also mean discount. A word play befitting the poet himself.
"Free aanenennu vicharichano oodi vannathu?" (Did you come running thinking it was free?) she teases.
I browse the books on the table to save face. She insists that I take a look at the complete works. Four great tomes inside the box. I am happy picking up more manageable books from the table. Buy four including Kumaran Asan's translation of Edwin Arnold's 'The Light of Asia'
This was my first visit to the Asan memorial. It is a beautiful green campus with a classy traditional building. The well manicured lawns have two massive concrete statues. One of them is a naked lady in what looks like a post-orgasmic delectable stupor. "She looks disappointed!" Saiju suggests.I debate. We have neither the time nor the inclination to cross the lawn for a closer inspection. I mention the link between "sledge hammer effect", sperm motility and bipedalism, courtesy Dr. Leonard Shlain (Sex, Time and Power) and point to her raised knees. The discussion goes into the not-manicured wilderness that surrounds anthropology and behavioral psychology.
We drive by the acres and acres of land that has been acquired for the upcoming "Technocity". A frugal board announces the TCS ownership of some of it. Hundreds of coconut trees stand awaiting the day of slaughter. A coconut falls with the same ease with which a software career disappears.
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