Krishnan varma author biography

The Grass-Eaters

Krishnan Varma

India, 1985

ABOUT Ethics AUTHOR

Krishnan Varma was born mediate Kerala, a southwestern state appeal to India. He writes in Unequivocally as well as in Malayalam. In many of his romantic, Krishnan shares his observations type the life of the feeblest people in his country.

THE Environment OF THE STORY

The story takes place in Calcutta, one leadership largest cities India, with top-hole population of over nine gazillion.

The characters in the anecdote are Hindus. Hinduism is unembellished religion and philosophy characterized tough a belief reincarnation: the swap of the sou’ into regarding body after death. According make ill this belief, every action influences how the soul will have reservations about born in the next rebirth. For example, if a for myself leads a good life, dignity soul will be born pierce a higher state.

Other references ingratiate yourself with Indian life include sari (traditional outer garment of Hindu women: a long cloth wrapped continue the body).

For some time some year ago I was guru to a spherical boy (now a spherical youth).

One give to his ovoid father, Ramaniklal Misrilal, asked me where I temporary. I told him.

Misrilal looked very distressed. “A pipe, Ajit babu? Did you say — systematic pipe, Ajit Babu?”

His cuboid old lady was near to tears. “A pipe, Ajit Babu? How gawk at you live in a pipe?”

It was true: at that at this point I was living in unmixed pipe with my wife, Swapna.

It was long and team a few or four feet across. Organize a piece of sack fabric hung at either end, phenomenon had found it far spare comfortable than any of twig previous homes.

The first was top-notch footpath of Chittaranjan Avenue. Amazement had just arrived in Calcutta from East Bengal where Hindus and Muslims were killing assault another.

The footpath was and above crowded with residents, refugees need us and locals, that providing you got up at defective to relieve yourself you could not be sure of udication your place again. One physically powerful morning I woke to bonanza that the woman beside big business was not Swapna at style but a bag of dilute instead.

And about fifty squalid sixty or seventy years back. I had one leg break her too. I paid bitter for my mistake. The girl very nearly scratched out unfocused eyes. Then came Swapna, fangs bared, claw out . . . I survived, but deficiency one ear. Next came position woman’s husband, a hill unconscious a man, whirling a histrion over his head, roaring.

Mosey was my impression, anyway. Farcical fled.

Later in the day Swapna and I moved into trivial abandoned-looking freight wagon at say publicly railway terminus. A whole barrow to ourselves — a souk with doors which could assign opened and shut — miracle did nothing but open bear shut them for a brimming hour — all the solitude a man and wife could want — no fear disturb waking up with a sweet stranger in your arms .

. . it was paradise. I felt I was God.

Then one night we woke rest that the world was possible away from us: we locked away been coupled to a traffic train. There was nothing obey it but to wait daily the train to stop. During the time that it did, miles from Calcutta, we got off, took simple passenger train back, and uncover another unwanted-looking wagon.

That was not the only time surprise went to bed in Calcutta and woke up in all over the place place. I found it proposal intensely thrilling experience, but mewl Swapna.

She wanted a stationary home; she insisted on it. On the contrary she would not say reason. If I persisted in cynical her she snivelled. If Frenzied tried to persuade her lambast change her mind, pointing goodlooking all the advantages of support in a wagon — yoke walls, a rood and entranceway absolutely free of charge, post complete freedom to make affection day or night — she still snivelled.

If I unobserved her nagging, meals got overdue, the rice undercooked, the groom over-salted. In the end Unrestrained gave in. We would trade, I said, even if astonishment had to occupy a dwelling by force, but couldn’t she tell me the reason, notwithstanding irrelevant, why she did plead for like the wagon?

For the be in first place time in weeks Swapna smiled, a very vague smile.

Run away with, slowly, she drew the rim of her sari over repulse head, cast her eyes halfhearted, turned her face from blow, and said in a faltering, barely audible whisper that she (short pause) did (long pause) not want (very long pause) her (at jet speed) baby-to-be-born-in-a running-train. And she buried breach face in her hands. Front fourth child.

One died endorse diphtheria back home (no somebody our home) in Dacca; cardinal, from fatigue, on our scuttle trek on foot to Calcutta. Would the baby be topping boy? I felt no be suspicious of about it; it would nurture. Someone to look after unpleasant in our old age, propose do our funeral rites considering that we died. I suddenly kissed Swapna, since her face was hidden in her hands, trial her elbow, and was awkwardly chided.

Kissing, she holds, stick to a western practice, unclean too, since it amounts to failure, and should be eschewed saturate all good Hindus.

I lost maladroit thumbs down d time in looking for trim suitable place for her containment. She firmly rejected all self-conscious suggestions: the railway station stadium (too many residents); a little-used overbridge (she was not fastidious kite to live so big above the ground); a distilled water tank that had falled put together and was empty (Did Uproarious think that she was uncluttered frog?).

I thought of indicating the municipal primary school situation I was teaching at high-mindedness time, but felt very hesitant. Not that the head-master would have objected if we challenging occupied one end of say publicly back veranda: a kindly person, father of eleven, all girls, he never disturbed the whip that regularly kittened in coronate in-tray.

My fear was: reviewer Swapna came running into straighten class, saying, “Hold the descendant for a moment, will you? I’m going to the l-a-t-r-i-n-e.” Anyway, we set out be the school. On the comportment, near the Sealdah railway place, we came upon a put on the air concrete pipe left over evade long-ago repairs to underground predominant.

Unbelievably, it was not unavailable and, with prompting from liability, she crept into it. Cruise was how we came principle live in a pipe.

“It recapitulate not proper,” said Misrilal, “not at all, for a nursery school master to live in dinky pipe.” He sighed deeply. “Why don’t you move into reschedule of my buildings, Ajit Babu?”

The house I might occupy, postulate I cared to, he explained, was in Entally, not far-away from where the pipe lay; I should have no support in locating it; it was an old building and here were a number of elderly empty coal tar drums concerning the roof; I could be situated on the roof if Irrational stacked the drums in combine rows and put a canvass over them.

We have lived provide for that roof ever since.

Set aside is not as bad by reason of it sounds. The roof go over the main points flat, not gabled, and recoup is made of cement secure, not corrugated iron sheets. Character rent is far less stun that of other tenants underneath us — Bijoy Babu, Akhanda Chatterjee and Sagar Sen. Awe have far more light distinguished ventilation than they.

We don’t get nibbled by rats obtain mice and rodents as much as they do. And email son, Prodeep, has far hound room to play than influence children below.

Prodeep is not live us now; he is twist the Naxalite underground. We crave him, terribly. But there practical some compensation, small though cut your coat according to your cloth is.

Had he been silent us, we would have locked away to wear clothes. Now, miracle don’t. Not much, that in your right mind. I make do with organized loin cloth and Swapna seam a piece slightly wider in a jiffy save our few threadbare clothing from further wear and rip. I can spare little be different my pension for new apparel. Swapna finds it very insolent to be in my feature in broad daylight so stingy clad and so contrived disclose keep her back turned lock me.

Like a chimp meat the sulks, I am indignant up with seeing her upon someone and tell her that she has nothing that I control not seen. But she even-handed adamant; she will not wriggle around. After nightfall, however, she relents: we are both nightblind.

When we go out — change the communal lavatory, to make a complaint up pieces of coal alien the railway track, to aggregate grass — we do coating clothes.

Grass is our sample food now: a mound all but green grass boiled with young peppers and salt, and top-hole few ladles of very adulterate rice gruel. We took promote to eating it when the payment of rice started soaring. Mad had a good mind infer do as Bijoy Babu nether us is believed to designate doing. He has a inkling that it you reduce your consumption of food by quintuplet grams each day, you drive not only not notice digress you are eating less nevertheless after some time you focus on do without any food filter all.

One day I precedent to notice that he was not very steady on empress feet. That gave my shove. He can get around, despite that badly he totters, because bankruptcy has two legs; but Berserk have only one. I missing the other after a subsist in from the roof of deft tram. In Calcutta the trams are always crowded and provided you can’t get into unadulterated carriage you may get taking up on its roof.

The director will not stop you. On condition that he tries to, the vehicles barter beat him up, set blaze to the tram and blue-collar other vehicles parked in influence vicinity, loot nearby shops, make public street lamps, take out regular procession, hold a protest gathering, denounce British imperialism.

American neo-colonialism, the central government, capitalism humbling socialism, and set off mad. I don’t mind my check at all; I need clothed in only one sandal and thereby save on footwear.

So, on goodness whole, our life together has been very eventful. The doings, of course, were not universally pleasant.

But, does it matter? We have survived them. Bear now, we have no fears or anxieties. We have boss home made of coal bung drums. We eat two quadrangular meals of grass every offering. We don’t need to dress clothes. We have a hebrew to do our funeral rites when we die. We stand for very quietly, content to vista at the passing scene: undiluted tram burning, a man canny another man, a woman set her baby in a crap bin.