Amminikutty: novel by D.J(Deepa jayaraj)

 The second imprint of this novel first published by D.J. Publications during 2013 has been released during July 2014.

The novel has been translated by Mrs. Sriletha Pillai, an electrical engineer from College of Engineering Thiruvananathapuram, Kerala, for whom world of letters is a passion next to Engineering

Forward

Blessed are those, who are born as women. Is there any woman who would agree to this statement? No chance, because a woman doesn’t realise herself. She doesn’t try to perceive the spiritual power lying dormant within herself. Instead, she misconstrues materialism to be the real ways of life and hence spends her time fully immersed in materialistic pleasures, turning over and over, only the outer covers of the book called life. What she has to face and put up with, is a series of catastrophes. The heroine of this novel, Amminikkutty, was from a more or less good background, was kind hearted with pleasing manners and appearance. But it was the lack of one thing, God’s favour and protection, which destroyed her life. Or was God purifying her by bestowing upon her, a life of continued misery to compensate the tribulations of her previous births? The readers can find solace only if they tune to such a line of thinking.

The story of Amminikkutty is the balance sheet of innumerable insults and unbelievable miseries which the women suffer in this society. The real face of a bigwig of society, who put on the outer mask of civility, is exposed in this novel. The sister in law who doesn’t like to sacrifice her free, easy going ways of life at her mother’s house even after getting married, together with her flirting husband make the heroine’s life miserable still.

But still, she doesn’t give in. She spends her life without troubling anybody, by ruminating in the sweet memories of the happy but short lived days of her past and dreaming of rejoining with her love.

The novelist, who was able to witness a life from near, narrates the story in an innate simple way, without putting in decorative tassels and fringes. But why? 

Simply to see that at least little pathos are still remnant in human hearts from where kindness and tenderness are fast disappearing,

Simply to ensure and caution ourselves that we are not given to the bad, cruel ways like the personages of this story.

Simply to shed a drop of tear to perform oblation of the manes to the numerous women who still bear the burden of miserable lives and

 Simply to pray for them.

Let Miss.Deepa  be able to contribute further stories of this genre, which will expose the true lives of women of our society behind their false masks.  

 With lots of love,

Dr. Lekshmi Kumari,

Vivekananda Kendra

Kodungallur, Kerala, India

Kodungallur

19.05.13

Translator’s note

When Author (D.J) approached me for getting the translation done, I was expecting a contemporary novel matching with the life and style of new generation. But I was quite surprised to find that the starting point of the story dates to pre independence era, 1940’s to be precise. Of course it ends up in the current era itself.

When the author mentioned that the story is based on a real life incident, I was all the more astonished. How can a human being endure such agonising hardships and that too all throughout her life? Mathematically, the life of the heroine can be equated to ‘hardships personified’. It was a few broadminded people, and not her close kins, who arranged her stay at a geriatric home thereby helping her to lead a peaceful life at least during the last years of her life.

As my temperament goes, I’m all for the women who boldly face adverse situations and succeed in their lives. But this novel, being based on a real life incident, happened to be an eye opener to me. There were lots and lots of women who could not raise even their little fingers against the atrocities done against them. It was a highly male dominated male chauvinistic society which decided what women should, do and not do. They used to bully the women and overpower them by their physical superiority. Also, only the silent sufferers of the women community, and not the revolting type, who were admired and termed as ‘pious and good women’ during those times. Again it was a society set norm which even the women folk followed blindly! The narrations about the heroine Amminikkutty being physically and mentally tortured by her aged husband was real heart-rending. I do bow before her will power which did not succumb to escapist attitude like committing suicide.

Let me quote a line from the book-“Luck had been eluding her all throughout her life.” Yes, true, a very pious man had wedded her, but it lasted only five days. At her aged second husband’s household, the son born to his first wife bolted out of the blue once and I hoped he would be her saviour. No, nothing happened; he also could not help her. But why?  A big question, to which none can ever furnish a convincing proper answer. So, we the common people have no choice other than blaming the sins done or rather which we happened to do, in our previous births! Yes, when logic fails, on what else should we bank upon, other than our ’destiny’?

 The story is all the more relevant now, since abandoning aged parents ruthlessly has become the rule of the day now. Even Kerala, the most literate state of India is not an exception to this crude brutal act. The gen-next may have their own justification for their acts, but throwing the parents away at the mercy of others can never be forgiven. Government controlled, neat, professionally managed geriatric homes can serve as a home away from home for the respected senior citizens, I feel. They will be safer and happier there among friends of the same age group than left alone or at the mercy of unreliable home maids/ nurses at lonely households.   

Sriletha Pillai,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Nl7WuOoPY