The Pearl Palanquin (2) “ Palanquin! Is it true? ” Asked his friends in one voice. “ Yes! Most true! God promise! I felt like jumping inside it and go about the streets being carried in it. But oh! There was no bride to sit by me in it ” he said with a wry face. Envious Suri burst out. “ What you say is all gas! There is no palanquin there ”, he said emphatically. He was angry that his friends who do not listen to his stories were now listening to Murali open mouthed. Suri was a bully. Murali was equally stubborn. There was rivalry between them. Murali made it a point that his friends would listen to him and obey him. He would be friends with only those who supported him. Else he created problems and broke up the group. In studies and games Suri was his rival. In the beginning Suri used to stand first in his class. By dint of hard work and sheer will power Murali pushed him to the second place. Suri couldn’t tolerate this usurpation of his position by Murali. “ It is not gas! It is true. Will you bet? ” Murali challenged Suri. “ Yes! I agree. How much? ” Said Suri accepting the challenge. Chandra pushed Suri aside and said, “ we know that brides and bride grooms sit in rickshaws, trucks and cars and go in a procession. Sometimes they walk side by side holding their hands. We have not heard of a palanquin or seen it. Even if we believe that your grandfather has got a palanquin made for you, how does it move? Has it an engine or something to move it? ” Chandra was a supporter of Suri. “ Do they use petrol to move it? ” asked another boy. “ I think people carry it, ” said another. At this all boys began to laugh. “ How shameful it is to be carried by human beings! How absurd! ” Said Suri. The boys began to make fun of Murali. “ What do you know, you fools! I am telling you the truth. It is a pity you can’t understand me ” said Murali with irritation. “ My mother tells me you are full of bombast. You are lying. No one has a palanquin these days ” said Suri boldly encouraged by the support he got from the boys. Murali couldn’t stand this affront. He sprang at Suri, held him by his neck and showered blows on his back and head with all his strength. Suri’s mother came rushing out hearing the shouts of her son. Murali ran into his house. Suri’s mother rushed towards Annapurna who was standing at the doorstep of her house. “ How dare your son beat my boy at my door step? Your son has become a menace in this neighbour hood. People cannot live in peace here. What do we care whether your son rides a palanquin or hang himself? This is not the first time your son attacked my boy. If you don’t control your son I will report to the police if he beats my boy again. If I don’t do so, my name is not Suryakantham. Your boy is trying to play the dada outside his house also. You don’t know me. I am the very incarnation of Bhadrakali if I get angry. Beware! ” So saying she went in shaking with anger. Annapurna got hold of a stick and started searching for her son. Murali who was hiding behind a sofa, ran out, jumped over the compound wall and disappeared. Narayana Rao came home just then. He sensed that something hand gone wrong. “Has there been a strife again?” she asked Annapurna. She was in the habit of temporarily suppressing any news that irritated her husband. She simply said “ Nothing at all. ” “ I saw you running about the house with a stick in your hand. Has Murali misbehaved again? ” Annapurna changed the topic and went in to bring him coffee. As they sat at their night meal Annapurna narrated to her husband what happened in the evening. Murali go terribly angry with his mother. Narayana Rao took it light and said to Murali smiling. “ When you grow up and get many degrees, marry a beautiful girl and go in a procession with your bride in the palanquin your grandfather has kept ready for you and enter this house along with your bride. Will you do so? ” Murali felt relieved that his father was not cross with him. He innocently said with enthusiasm “ all this will happen truly. Will it not father? ” “ If your father decides Murali’s marriage as well as the house-warming ceremony also in that dilapidated house of the village, what are we to do? ” asked Annapurna anxiously. “ I think father is not so sentimental. But if he decides like that we could do nothing about it ” replied Narayana Rao. “ Oh God! How are we to celebrate the house-warming ceremony in that old dilapidated house? ” Annapurna expressed displeasure. Narayana Rao felt amused at his wife imagining as though her son’s marriage was taking place and as though the old man had decided to celebrate the house warming ceremony in the village itself. “ Father! The palanquin! It is so very beautiful. Grandfather covered it up fully with a cloth to protect it from dust. By the way, is it really a pearl palanquin? ” “ That is how it is called though it is not made of pearls. Listen to me attentively ” said his father. “ I’ll tell you something about the palanquin. ” Anuradha and Murali were rapt attention as he spoke. “ There is history behind the palanquin. My father got it made for his youngest brother, that is your grandfather, with great zeal. There was never such a beautiful palanquin anywhere in the district. No doubt your grandfather dreamed of sitting in that palanquin along with his bride at the time of his marriage. But he lost the chance by his foolishness. In the pride of his youth he delayed his marriage. So he could not ride in it. I too was not fortunate to sit in it along with my bride for some unforeseen reason. No one knows better the value of the palanquin than your grandfather. ” He ended his narration with a sigh. “ What will they understand about these matters? ” whispered Annapurna to her husband. “ Yes, you are right. I don’t know why I talked about it ” agreed Narayana Rao. “ Why did you not use it in your marriage procession? ” insisted Murali. To avoid answering Murali, Narayana Rao got up to wash his hands. Murali followed his father. “ Father! There is a woman called Yashodamma in the village. How is she related to us? ” Narayana Rao and Annapurna felt awkward on hearing Murali’s question. They did not expect that Murali would talk of her. As his father finished washing his hands and made to go into his room Murali said, “Father! You did not answer my question”. “ Ask your mother ” he said and went in. Annapurna thought that Muralis’ father had the habit of thrusting inconvenient questions on her. “ Mother! You tell me. Who is Yashodamma? ” “ I don’t know. You better ask your father ” she said with a frown and went into the kitchen. “ This is fine! In the village grandpa told me to ask Yashodamma. She wanted me to ask grandpa himself. Here father wants me to ask mother and mother says I should ask father. What is all this? They are not giving me an answer, ” said Murali to Anu with a quizzical look. “ Brother! You better ask Yashodamma again when you go to the village ” suggested Anu wiping her mouth with the end of the skirt. She continued “ Brother! Won’t you take me along with you when you go to the village again? ” “ Yes! Certainly! You know Yashodamma….” “ I do not know her! ” “ Yes! Yes! You do not know her. But I know her. She is a very good woman. She sings well. She treated me very affectionately. She wanted me to go to the village during every holiday. She wanted me to take you also there. You do not know how tastefully she prepares coffee! If you obey me always, I’ll take you there. ” He peeped into the kitchen and said “ Mother! What are you doing there? You haven’t told me how Yashodamma is related to us. ” “ Don’t you have anything else to ask? You are wasting your time. Go and read your books, ” said his mother from inside in an angry tone. Brother and sister went into their room and opened their books. Anu started reading aloud. Murali wanted her to read silently. “ I can’t read silently. If I read silently I don’t understand what I read ” said Anu. “ If that is so, shut your mouth and sleep off ” said Murali sternly. Anu closed her books and slept off. Murali began to read with concentration. Narayana Rao returned from the club and peeped into their room. He felt happy that his son was studious. He saw Anu sleeping soundly. ‘ She is a girl. Let her sleep. It does not matter ’ he thought as he walked into his room. 5 Three years passed by. Murali had taken the 10th class Public Examination. “ I shall go to grandfather ” Murali began to pester. “ I shall also accompany you ” joined Anuradha. “ The children are growing. I told you many times that it is not good to send our children there. You sent Murali there many times without heeding me. This time they are not going ” said Annapurna with a definiteness in her voice. “ Look, Anu is already packing her clothes. Tell her to stop it ” she said to her husband. Naraya Rao was in a fix. He knew it was difficult to convince his son. “ Murali! What’s so special about that village? Anyway your uncle invited you to visit his place. Go to Vishakhapatnam this summer, ” persuaded Narayana Rao. Murali agreed to go to Vishakhapatnam. “ I shall never go to Vishakhapatnam ” cried Anuradha and threw out all the clothes she had put in her bag. She ran in and covered herself with the blanket on her cot. Annapurna started attending to her work without cajoling Anu. The indifference of her mother towards her angered Anu. ‘ If I had been a boy I would have gone to grandpa’s village without telling any one here and would have met Yashoda whom I have not seen so far ’ she thought. She did not eat her meal that night. Even then Annapurna did not caress her. Anu felt very bad. Next day she quietly ate her meal with her father. Yashoda and Dasaratharamaiah waited for the arrival of Murali in the village. Hours and days rolled by. There was no letter about Murali’s going there. Everyday Yashoda waited for the postman only to be told that she had no letters. But she would tell the postman that she was not waiting for any letters and she was standing there just to kill time. The postman knew her mind. “ Is that so? I thought you were waiting for the letter from your grandson! ” He would further add to her discomfiture. “ How is it your Murali hasn’t come here for the holidays? ” “ Yes, Yes, he is due here. But I don’t know why he hasn’t arrived ” she would say. Next day she stayed in the house at the time of the postman’s arrival. Making sure he had gone far enough she came out and eagerly searched for the letter the postman might have thrown in the verandah. There was no letter. Fifteen days passed by and on the sixteenth day there was a letter from Narayana Rao. But it was written in English. “ The letter has been received, ” she shouted and Dasaratharamaiah almost pounced upon her and snatched it from her hand. “ Is Murali coming here? ” she asked eagerly. “ He is not coming. He has gone to Vishakhapatnam ” replied Dasaratharamaiah disinterestedly, threw the letter on the floor and sat down on the cot. “ Is this the way to inform us after so many days that he has gone to Vishakhapatnam? A worthy son! But Murali gave word that he would be here. Perhaps he will drop in here on his way home from Vizag ” said Yashoda. “…………” “ Why don’t you say something? I told you many times that I go crazy if you keep silent. “ Yashoda! People like us should not develop strong affection towards our near relations. ” Yashoda shot up. “ That is why you sit before the palanquin everyday and dream about the future of your grandson. You do not know how much you are exherting yourself taking care of it, how much money enmity it has generated in others against you! How much money has been lost because of it! Don’t you remember what havoc the Munsif created because you refused the palanquin for his daughter’s marriage? For no reason he got your cattle bound up in the cattle yard. You almost lost your leg in your scuffle with the rowdies sent by him who tried to lift your paddy bags. As a result you were bed ridden for months. Your body is here. Your mind is there. Now tell me, who developed passionate affection for your grandchildren? ” “……………” “ You have no wife. You have no children’ accused your son. Yet you gave him education and made him a lawyer. I can’t forget how much you strove to make him a lawyer. What did he do for all the affection you showered in him? He quietly married a girl who was rejected by the boy who failed to get the promised dowry. Your son told you about his marriage six months later. You fretted and fumed in the beginning and quickly cooled down. You saw to it that he settled down in Krishnapatnam with his wife. Then they had children. You didn’t leave it at that. You developed great love for your grandchildren. Today you await eagerly the arrival of your grandson. Yet you tell me what I should do. ” “ Don’t you know that the interest attracts more than the original sum? ” replied Dasaratharamaiah looking at the sky. Yashoda kept silent at his answer. “ Yashoda! I shouldn’t have made Narayana a lawyer. His earnings as a lawyer are just sufficient to run his household. Had I known more about the problems a lawyer faces, I wouldn’t have sent him to study law. ” “ Then what? Perhaps after his B.A. you’d have made him a clerk. ” “ No. No. M.A. Then I.A.S. I would have made him a District Collector. ” “ Good! What ambition! You wanted to be known as the father of a District Collector! Nothing is lost even now. Make your grandson a Collector. You can go about twirling your mustache as the grandfather of a Collector. ” “ Yes! That is what I will do. Wait and see! ” “ He hasn’t yet passed tenth class. You are already dreaming of your grandson as a Collector! ” Said Yashoda smiling. “ Do you know how quickly time passes? I feel we were acquainted a few days ago. But thirty-five years have gone by. You are stepping into your fifties. I have gone bald and my mustache has gone Grey, ” laughed Dasaratharamaiah. “ That’s fine! I hear I hear you say for the first time that you have grown old. Okay! Okay! Coming back to an immediate problem. We may have to buy another buffalow. ” “ Yes… Yes… Let’s think of it later. ” “ Please sleep off. I have work to attend to ” said Yashoda and went in. As she walked in she thought that Murali could stay with them for atleast two days on his way back from Vishakhapatnam. For all her assumed anger, Yashoda doted on Murali. She treated him as her grandson. The brief war of words was usual between Yashoda and Dasaratharamaiah. That was how they expressed their deep love to each other and their love to each other and their love to the grandchildren. 6 Time flew fast. Murali and Anuradha were now in college. There was no increase in Narayana Rao’s earningss but his household expenditure shot up. There was a set back in Dasaratharamaiah’s health. Narayana Rao invited his father to stay with him and offered good medical care. Dasaratharamaiah did not accede to his son’s request. Twenty-year-old Murali looked handsome and smart. He was no longer the mischievous boy. There was dignity in his behaviour. Anuradha grew tall and beautiful. She no longer picked up quarrels with her brother. Her respect for him grew. Dasaratharamaiah visited his grandchildren once a week without fail. But it was now more than a month since he visited them. Murali told his father that he would go to the village and get his grandfather. Yashoda felt very happy on Murali’s arrival. Murali observed some concern and worry in her expression. She looked as though she had grown old. Her hair had grown grey. Murali missed the ever-present smile on her lips. Murali got the bullock cart ready to take his grandfather to the bus station. Yashoda followed the cart for some distance. “ Yashoda! You have followed the cart for a long distance. Go home. I shall be backing soon “ said Dasaratharamaiah laughing faintly. Yashoda stopped and the cart kept moving. Murali looked back at Yashoda. There were tears in her eyes. It pained him to see her in tears. “ Why don’t you also come to town? ” asked Murali. “ Not now, ” she said. “ You always say so. But when will you come at all? ” “ I shall come at the time of your marriage, ” she said smiling. “ Okay. I shall get along. I’ll write to you after reaching town. ” Yashoda quickly turned back and walked away suppressing her agony. Murali wanted to go and console her but as the cart moved away he walked towards the cart. * The doctor was called in. He examined Dasaratharamaiah and prescribed medicines. Annapurna took great care of her father-in-law. Every day Murali and Anuradha sat by their grandfather the moment they returned from college. Anu kept chatting and Dasaratharamaiah would laugh heartily at her jokes. On such occasions Murali would think of Yashoda. She would be sitting alone in the house. He knew that to Yashoda his grandfather was everything. He would remember how on his first visit to the village he demanded her to tell him who she was and how she was related to him. At her silence he had asked her “ don’t you know who you are? ” she had replied “ I do not know who I am, Murali! What all I know is that I am Yashoda. You should not call me Yashoda. Call me Yashodamma. ” From then on Murali started calling her Yashodamma. Whenever he called her ‘ Yashodamma ’ she would say with a smile “ Yes! What do you want my little Krishna? ” Murali liked the way she smiled. In the evening Narayana Rao brought oranges and asked his wife to give the juice to his father. “ How is it you brought only four oranges? ” Asked his wife. Dasaratharamaiah heard their conversation. ‘ If this fellow earns like a daily wage earner, how can he educate his children? How can he perform his daughter’s marriage? These days’ dowry amounts are skyrocketing. I don’t think he has ready cash of a thousand rupees with him. Anuradha, no doubt, is very good looking. But where is the prince who gives importance to looks and good nature these days? ’ Thought Dasaratharamaiah. As Annapurna brought orange juice Narayana Rao also came there with the coffee cup in his hand. “ Father! Rajeswari sister wrote that they were leaving Raipur and were coming away. They want to buy a house here and settle down as brother-in-law has retired from service. I wrote back asking them to come to me direct. ” “ Is that so? ” Dasaratharamaiah expressed happiness. “ They lived in the north for a long time. If they settle here I shall have a nice time. ” He continued after a pause. “ I thing Rajeswari has a son who is our Murali’s age. He is doing mechanical engineering if I am not mistaken. He is a handsome fellow. Sunanda is the elder daughter. By the by, Anuradha has come of age. You should think of celebrating her marriage. ” Narayana Rao did not reply. “ I’ve been telling him for a long time. But he hasn’t been heeding my words ” cut in Annapurna.
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