Voice of the hounding shadow - Wind through Black-Palm 2

Chapter 5

He found S.M.Ramaswamy’s home right in front of the landmark durga devi temple. Spacious high-ceilinged house. There was a  bamboo bush near the porch. Amber colour bush appeared pleasing. In front of the high door, a black name board displayed S.M.Ramaswamy barring any titles. After a few seconds of hesitation, he proceeded ahead through the gate. He objected himself for not pre-intimating his visit through phone call. There was an old Lord Krishna statue installed over the house. The style of the house made him guess that it would be  at least three decade old bungalow. The porch had dual pillars with artwork embelished beam. Asbestos sheet was covering the front extending from that porch. Eye-catching densed creeper plant was arranged all over those sheets. Two motor cycles were parked. Several footwears found. He removed his footwear and then pressed the calling bell. He could hear the bell sound overlaying the Television sound. 

A lady seemed like an assistant came out and asked “Who is over there?” .  Through the door gap he could see two men working on something. On the left, there was a computer screen. A young man sitting near to that. On the right, an elderly person with complete white hairs, was attentively reading and correcting something. “My name is Arunachalam. Rubber estate union’ state secretary. I came here to meet Sir.”

“Please. Wait” she beckoned towards inside and went in. He stood near threshold.  The elder person had a glance at him and then immersed himself into book. It did not seem like book, looked like he was doing proof reading. The lady came back and said “Sir asked you to come inside. He is in the right side glass room. He got in and It was darker inside.  Color of the hall sofa appeared like the car seat color or rather soil color.  A slender active kid was watching the cartoon in television with fixed eyes. Some strange creature mildly snarled, waging its tail. That kid with his muted hand gesture, rushed him not to hide his view. It appeared that he was used to the frequent visitors as a result fed up with them. He wondered that inside home looked totally different shape and dimension from the first impression he had from outside. Hall was big. On the left, there was a dining table, with few books over there. On the wall, a greenish yellow drawing of lunatic sort of cap man was sticked. Dressing table was placed  in front of that wall. An oval shaped antique table looked bland. There was a bamboo chair and teapoy. Left side there was a open chamber with glass ceiling. It was strewn with plants. The sunrays made the plants glitter like green lights. 

Arunachalam paused for few moments. A girl wore T-shirt and pant guided him “Proceed ahead” to the glass room. She must be his daughter. Her body language emanated confidence and assertiveness with tad of muscularity.  Her nose was the prominent feature of her wide face. There were bookshelves in both the sides of the path lead towards the glass room. Das Capital, Russian publication. Encyclopedias. Over the right side foyer wall, the assorted daily news papers were kept inside a basket. Wavery brown colour screens completely covered the glass room walls. Inside the room, there was a computer table and couple of chairs . Computer was covered with a sheet. In a shorter than usual,  but wide cot bed, there was person reposed. He must be around sixty years old. He cladded with dhoti and vest. He placed his eye-glass in reachable near. He resembled the girl he just saw, notably the matching nose. He invited him with beaming smile “Come, in”.  His face and form looked like North Indians. Because of that, when he uttered Tamil words, it was little surprising. Mustacheless sagacious fair face with seamless tooths exposed smile was filled with cordiality as a result it was endearing  to Arunachalam.  He asked him to take the seat. He sat down hesitantly.  Behind those amiable smile, his face expressions seemed that he was in the middle of intent thinking bout.  His grayish ear-side hair gently fluttered. 

A fervent young  man sitting near, appeared to be just paused his talk. He looked like a person who do not heed to the listeners. Since his flow was stopped, he appeared restless. As if he waited for Arunachalam to sit “ Noone  was there, when I went there. Just three persons. Here in this side he was speaking histrionically over the mic.”  S.M.Ramaswamy did not mind him. But the young man did not seem to be cared that about much.  Apart from his articulation, he was not giving any consideration to anything. 

Ramaswamy  rested comfortably in that wide cot-bed.  Arunachalam was hesitant to open up.

“Do you know him?” asked Ramaswamy.

“I dont think so”

“He is an emerging writer of Tamil. He is kind of star in the recent past” Ramaswamy said with  a slight mocking tone. “ Name, Jeyamohan. He is working in Telephone exchange Dharmapuri. He is the author ‘Rubber’ novel and “Amidst the directions” short story collection. He is in the process of writing a big novel named ‘Vishnupuram’”.

“Oh, you are that author?” said Arunachalam. “Glad to meet you. I read your novel ‘Rubber’. Although I did not manage to access the other works. I remember your photo published in the back cover of ‘Rubber’ novel as a young chap”

“Yes, I was a young chap then” the deriding tone in that retort angered Arunachalam. 

“Did you like the ‘Rubber’ novel?” asked Ramaswmay.

“Nothing to dislike. Yet”  Arunachalam was about to say something.

“Oh, you must have thought Rubber estate union labors struggles were missing in it” asked Jeyamohan.

The tendency of arriving the inferior judgment over the other side of table, that too within few words of exchange, evidently showed that young man’s immaturity. Also it seemed, he estimated himself in the highest  level. Shaking out the annoyance, Arunachalam “ Even if you take the Rubber as an metaphorical image, the novel which is fictionaised over rubber must provide place for the life of the estate labours. Novel is incomplete without workers life”

“Yes, this is an important observation” said Ramaswamy to Jeyamohan.

The apparent perturbance of Jeyamohan showed that he is a person who takes criticism as personal hostility. “So you think  intermittent Zindabad jingoist slogans did not find place in the novel?  Isnt it“ He retorted in a ridiculing tone. 

“What is wrong with that? Rubber estates every nook and corner resonates with the Zindabad. You are the ones, pass through closing your ears.” 

To bring the air of normalcy,  Ramaswamy chimed into that conversation. “Where do you stay?”

“Parvathipuram”

“Are you working?”

“Yes. As a Clerk in the M.E.S State estate”

“How many kids?”

“Only one child, name is Gowri”

“Any reason behind the name Gowri?”

Arunachalam said with a shuddering  embarrassment “ In the memory of Comrade Gowri”.

He responded with a smile. That moment transformed him as the most endearing person he had seen so far. Evidently due to his literature. He thought Marx must also had been a handsome bloke. 

“Are you a member of the party?”

“Yes, I am” said Arunachalam. Realising that Ramaswamy is the one been talking, “I have read some of your stories. I liked the story of Neem tree. But from my reading your recent novel K.K’s memoir is not that appealing.”

“Why so?”

“I cannot explain well”

“Do you think it is opposing Marxism?”

“Certainly that is not the reason.  I am an ardent reader of  Pattavilathu Narayanan’s stories too. This novel’s style is little artificial“

“In the aspect of Story?”

“Not the Story. The characters are appearing cartoonish. I mean they are in immutable state throughout the novel.  These characters are not representing cloudy volatile nature of humans in real sense. The novel’s satiristic, funny parts are like artificially inserted. Like the condensing humour of the superiors when they talks with a juniors. The juniors would be unease at that tone. “

Ramaswamy laughed at that response.

“I dont find my connection to the thoughts evoked by the that novel. Most of the lines were crafty yet it was neither exciting nor elevating to my thoughts.  From my observation, the lines of the novel are just the extension of the personal thoughts. They do not have any philosophy or political ideological base.”

“Why it should not be in that way?”

“Whatever may be the definition, in short, thinking is a continuous process. Proper knowledge of philosophy, politics, religion or science adds the contemperary value to the thoughts. Otherwise, thoughts would be just a collection of the accidentally learned issues. As a result, in the novel, all those parts intended for highlights, turned as mediocre. “

“Examples?” said Ramaswamy with sharp glance.

“‘Present-day revolutionary is leaping ahead the Pass revolutionaries’ is an excerpt from the novel. These types of lines cannot be savoured by the philosophy knowledgeable reader. Such a lines, gets uttered oftentimes in our mundane daily speeches. Philosophical statements are always unique. I am not saying the uniqueness of expression. The innate nature of those thoughts, which  attempt to define the entire course of life in a spurted angle. For example, I am not agreeing the quote of Sarthe ‘Relationships among the humans is not defined by the uniting factors rather the conflicting factors’, yet when you read this line, sudden rush of life defining thoughts would be emerging and aligning in mind some order.”

Ramaswamy’s eyes dimmed.  Jeyamohan turned baffled, as evidently he got annoyed with that explanation. He exerted himself to wrestle Arunachalam back with the argument “ You did not seem have  read the novel properly. You are reading the novel as if a Philosophy book. There are no rules to deny such a lines place in the novel.”

“It can have its place. May be to give a multiple meaning to a character or demanding  fictional moments can have  such a lines. If a character says “Life is a bunk” , this line does not imply much. But if the same character utters those words minutes before committing the suicide, It would shock us right? Every such good lines are fostered by the fictional moments of that novels. That is the problem”

“Novel is meant to widen the imagination, not for logical debates. “ Jeyamohan expressed annoyance  with those words. 

“His point is valid, Jeyamohan” said Ramaswamy “  This is the nature of disputed connection between Philosophy and Novel. This area of interest is debatable. Such a long time since arrival of this prominent literary type of Novel , I wonder noone asked  question in this angle, Arunachalam ”  

Arunachalam was on cloud nine on hearing Ramaswamy uttering his name. 

“Philosphy demands logical discourse.  Literature demands imagination. A Novel should achieve both. To achieve that, it should attain imaginative narration. K.K.’s Memoir reaches the imaginative possibilities in some parts. But the problem is , as a whole, the novel does not elevate to the imaginative narration. Is this correct?” asked Ramaswamy.

“I cannot tell much since I am not well versed in literature. My forte is philosophy and political idealogy” said Arunachalam.

“There are few problems in that too. Philosophy comprises of metaphors. Literature contains images. The former has definite meaning. But the later just connotes. In that angle, we cannot debate the Novel untill it takes the challenge of philosophical problems.  “

“Beg your pardon”

“Starting from philosophical problems through imagaination we can elevate to a dream. Thats all possible for now” Ramaswamy sighed. “It is occurring to me as I just said”

Arunchalam noted that Jeyamohan attempted to break into the conversation several times. Ramaswamy’s kept him away, because of that he plunged into a magazine near by.  Jeyamohan seemed not liking to hear  the voices other than his.  Arunachalam wondered and annoyed over the exerted indifference, that too from a literary person. 

Ramaswamy nodded his head looking at the window as if he was approving something.  By stroking the grey chest hair in the fingers of one hand, he was drawing something in circle with his other hand  finger over the bed rug. 

“Have you ever been in the party?” asked Arunachalam.

“I was a sympathizer of party. I had connection with leaders.”

“Whey did you break away?”

“Have you come all the way here  to ask this question?” he laughed.

“I just asked”

“I joined the party as protest to my father’s tyranny. After joning I realised that Stalin was a bigger tyrant than my father. Unable to bear the brunt of that fact, I broke away”

“Do you still have sympathy on party?”

“They are the ones lost sympathy over me” 

Jeyamohan laughed louder. Arunachalam despised him even more. 

“Party has been undergoing root level changes. No one is ready to accept the dictatorship. Honestly,  the current challenge is, how to guide the party and the member’s heart towards the path of democracy. Even the worker’s union is not sparred from this  transformation”

“I believe KKM belongs to your union rite?”

“He was our leader, uptill 4 months ago. Not anymore. Stalin is the one and only guide, master, legend for him. Stalinists in the party are one after other attritioning.  

“KKM is not a Stalinst. He is a casuist. He could have been suitable member of erstwhile Nayar Tarawad community unions”

“How do you know KKM?”.

“He was my pale. We used to watch the Thoppil Bhasi “Ningalenne Communistakki” play together. We chummed around the city  in many times.

“Yes, correct. KKM frequently mentioned his deep liking of that play”

“Plays, Cinema, Temple Sermons, Live Songs are tugged at his heartstrings. He would even walk 10 miles by bare  foot to watch a play. I once said to him K.T.Kutti’s plays are much better than the Thoppil Bhasi’s play. He came closer to my ears and and uttered ‘All plays are dearest to me. What is the difference in those? Ramaswamy’. He had a  passionate desire to sing and act in the plays.  But it was looked down by that time communists. There was a notion that these were meant only for the entry level party members. “  Of a sudden Ramaswamy let out a  merry laughter. “One fine day, he asked ‘Hey Ramaswmay, do you find Thikkurichi Sugurmaran is more attractive than me. Ha Ha Ha.” 

“You said just, KKM was that times casuist. What is the difference between this and a Stalinism?”

“The former cases are the ones we come across.  These are formed as an spill over effect feudalist mindset. Veneration of superiors is a main feature of  Feudalism. This is the extension of worshiping the expired ancestors. “

“Or the other way round” Jeyamohan Chimed in. S.M.Ramaswamy did not mind that. 

“Clannism and rituals joining together formed that feudal society’s class hierarchy. It had an innate systemic order. These rituals, etiquettes  were the assigned duties of vassals which controlled them. He cannot break those. But Nazism, Fazism and Stalinsm are all together different system. Without industrial revolution, such a total authoritarian would not been possible. The Kings of feudal age were symbolic gods. Their powers were under the reign of sacred principles formed in the name of god. After all the god is a symbol of values,  it is an amalgamation of collective values of various ages. right?. But in the modern age dictatorship, dictator himself an absolute god. He is the center of society.”

“Is it correct to put Nazism, Fazsism and Stalinism in same bucket?”

“Absoloutely. They differ only in labelling. The main principles and the tactics for practical implementation  in all these isms are the same. These systems treated society and universe as machines. These tyrant’s believed that once they assumed grasp over the mechanism, started whipped round that at their will.   Mustafa Kamal Basha, Mao, Garibaldi all belong to this bucket. Idi Amin, Pol pot are also sons of these dictators. “

Arunachalam found that Ramaswamy’s sincere words as natural manifestation of his internal angst instead of zealousness of the arguers. It silensed the  voice of defying philosopher resided within him. 

“So you are saying, Since we are not capable of changing the course of society, we should not attempt to change it?

“We can never perceive the course of the society with the few facets we manage to get access. Imagine  a huge bundle formed by millions of the delicate threads. Society is such a bundle formed by immeasurable patterns. In our probing, we only grasp a small part which we want to understand. We deduce things, limited by our imagination. Only few from these findings can be transformed as rules. We can see only few pages from a huge book.  If we decided to change the society based on these handful of pages, it would be a collateral damage. This is the destruction occurred in the authoritarian countries.  No country is exception. The head count perished is the only difference between Soviet Russia and Pol pot cambodia. “

“So, now you are saying we cannot change the society,  at all?”

“The element which is already core part of the society, can attempt to change it. In fact every core social elements are attempting to change  incessantly. If one element tries to change, some other element would resist it. Naturally, those two elements compete with each others.  For example, If there is a plan in municipal corporation, to change the road as one-way route,  the street vendors would immediately oppose the plan. The bikers and  car drivers would welcome that plan.  Few of the pedestrians may oppose that plan. At last we arrive at a compromise point. That balancing point belongs to each of the elements. A good society is a system formed by the collection of such innumerous compromised points.”

Arunachalam had a flash of Kadhir’s recollection. 

“But the dictatorship does not work in this way. Since it toiled its way to mount over the society,  It attained the whimsical power to annihilate the society. It charts a plan to how society should course. According to that plan, it attempts to dismantle the society and create it from scratch over gain. But it could do only the former. It is incapable of of creating starting over again. This has been proved over and again in the history of world. If a surgeon , for his capricious wish to replace the parts, if he attempts to cut the organs of the patient body, what would happen?. Society is not a machine, it is a natural life process. The descendants of the revolutionaries has not yet realised that.”

“But Stalin is the one who brought the huge development schemes”.

“That illusion has been shattered. Stalin could not even implement the communism’s primary land reformation scheme. Death of fifteen million farmers and demolition of the agriculture system is the result. One of the world’s largest grain bowl Ukraine despoiled and millions of farmers perished in femine. Ukrain yet to recover from that disaster. “ S.M.Ramaswamy letting out a big sigh reclined back. He began to draw something in air with this index finger, evidently immersed into deep thinking. “At first, Dictators would instigate some plan.  In their version that plan is a simple one. That plan will get opposition from all the unexpected sides. Soon these protesting opponents would be projected as their personal enemies.  These dictators would get infuriated. They would let loose the oppressive regimes on them. They would blast the mountain, fire the forests. At the end they would catch a dead mouse. They will proclaim this as their victory and celebrate it flashily. They write history. Do you know, Mao attempted to turn  the entire metal melting industry as a cottage industry, that too through out the country? There are references about this plan in the recent books. For some natural reason, these big scale melting industries were installed and running in the some specific part of the country. Without trying to analysis the reason, with a single government order he tried to unreservedly change that industry. Each of these were utter insane plans. But how much devastation it had caused to the state? His cultural revolution schemes treated human lives like ant’s lives. All these lives perished for a single human’s  arrogance.  He firmly believed that he could change the fate human lives and the society with the plan emerged from his single mind. He might have had a genius mind. An arrogant genius is the biggest idiot of the world. Only he could commit the unbelievable crimes to fellow humans. It is human nature to try and reason his every action. A genius mind would logically argue and justify all of his crimes. Greater the sins of these geniuses, greater the degree of global bloodshed leads to destruction of the the world. Stalin, Hitler all had genius minds” for few mins S.M.Ramaswmay plunged into deep thinking.  “Do you know, according to bible, Lucifer has a genius mind? He can argue and justify any monumental crimes”

Arunachalam nodded. 

“Jesus was not a genius. He was an idiot. The idiot spilled his tears for other fellow human’s crimes. He cried for his incapability. He was not able to justify anything. His blood boiled and his eyes crimsoned due to that inability. He could not stay stable. He could not bear the touch of anything. He could not withstand over 30 years. His soul salvaged only after he let him self-destroy in the cross. He opened his bare heart without logical reasoning prison to world. World pelted thorns and stones on it, instringed bleeding.  Merciness and love filled jesus blood spilling in the soil  purified the world. Yes, Jesus blood is the purifying solvent for the entire earth’s sins. Please note that, not his words, but his blood. Yes, that is the one. “ Ramaswamy’s face turned crimson and in a few moments it emitted a light. Some indescriptive liveliness emerged in this eyes and countenance. Arunachalam was gazing at that as if possessed. 

Chapter 6

There was a array of rulers whom caused mass destruction before the industrial revolution. Earth was filled with great ocean like blood for power. With the population murdered by Genghis Khan, Caesar, Hannibal, Timur, Napoleon, a new planet of earth can be swarmed. Those dictators were driven by different motive. They did not regarded the opponent as human beings. Every religion has a manifold derogatory hub of words to call the other religious peoples. Kaffir, Pagan, Barbarian, Milachen, Moors, so many such words. Intended real meanings of each of these words carries the hatredness which can delete this world at least twice. Inherant abhorrence of the Kings turned them as mass murderers. But this era’s dictator’s thinking range is not confined to ethnic grouping. They are well versed in history. I dont think Hitler’s would have had a personal hatred over Jews nor Stalin would have had animasity over the cossacks. They were after the power. Power can be achieved only by gathering of single minded feeling. Hatredness is a resolute feeling can be exponentially escalated with less effort. Thats why they planted and nurtured the hatredness. The accumulation of the mass hatredness carried out scientifically. They claimed over the power ladder by feeding that hatredness. Inciting the maniac hatredness through the stage speeches, even the killing method of the innocents snowballed the detestation. What is he difference between Hitler and Timur? Hitler was a comprehensive planner. The design of the stages, the composition of the lighting , the location of the mike, all has been precisely described in his Mein Kampf book. If you think about the place of the microphone in the Fazism, you will be amazed. Over the dining table, Ramaswamy was talking excitingly. It occurred to Arunachalam that, he was a totally different person. A completely involved intellect who was trying to share his point of view of the history. His sprang up eyes emitted enthralling light like sharp needle. “Which past tyrant sucked the last drop of blood from the war prisoners before murdering them? Nader Shah and Timur were fools. They made a tower, chopping the heads of the captured enemies. But Hitler made most of the skins, bones, hairs of the enemy bodies. He invented a slaugher house to minimise the manual effort of the executer. He committed mass murders in factories. For him, war was like a large scale factory. Assigning the tasks to each module, integrating those modules, he connected each of those with a centralized control. Whenever he decided to switch on, the factory would start the war. Every battle was extensively planned and demonstrated in a blue print. For him, everything is machine. Society, Army, Universe and Nature everyting. Stalin founded a collective farming process by assembling the farmers. There was a predefined precise work load and the rules allotted for each one. He changed the nature of farming as industrial activity. He converted farmers as industrial workers. But he failed to convert the soil. Why because, the soil is the base for lives. Every life germinates from the soil. As a result, system of farming collapsed. It is unable to recover from that dust even now. This mechanical mind is the fundamental springboard for the modern totalitarians. This mechanical mind is the consequence of the industrial revolution. A government is like heart of the society. It controls the blood flow to all over the body. No single moment of respite allowed for that. It is the most tendered organ. What would happen suddenly it turns as a machine?” “Some people say, Government is just a balancing point” said Arunachalam.

“Certainly. Whoever said, A Government is a balancing point. So many diverse movements and forces in all directions are active in a society. A Government is a mediator which ensures all these moving forces meets at some right compromising point and works in harmony. Judicial system, Army and the Adminstrative structures all are working for this purpose only.”

“What is the purpose of Armies, then?”

“Cane is an essential tool for a mediator, right?” Ramaswmay smiled in a tender voice. “There is no government without violence. I would say, the government exercises least violence on its people is a good government. Least the real violence the higher the ideological violence, higher the psychological violence. Height of these latter two violences is the character of a good society” said Ramaswamy. “This view looks weird, right?”

“From your words that weirdness wanning.”

Ramaswamy’s wife served dosa on Arunachalam’s plate.  “Why have you not yet started having dosa?” Eyeglassed, short, pleasant lady asked him“.  Embarrassed Arunachalam rushed the eating. 

“Government is also an entity responsible for discipline. It has to suppress few issues and keep it under its control. Arms are essential for this reason”

“What sort of issues must be suppressed?”

“Every government emerged from some fundamental ideologies.  Great governments are functioning in the base of elaborated and resilient ideology. However the broadness of the ideology, it cannot accept few things, those things should be suppressed”

“Examples?”

“Example. Any civilized government will never tolerate its own citizen killing the fellow citizen. There were some ancient governments allowed the killings in the name of sanctioned duels. It is not allowed any more. Government should subdue such a psychic murderers. Although there is no government exists which does not exert violence against its own citizens or some of its states . But the proportion and nature of the violence determines the kind of the governments. Civilized government would try to delay the violence as much as possible. Essential institutations needed for this postponement would be constituted as part of the government. There will be manifold accessible channels opened for proposal, for appealing the opposite side views. Above all, before real violence, government would unleash the ideological violence to maximum extent. Every Indian tribal group has a kind of clan animosity. Some of the tribals were foes for centuries. Among them the killing each others is a sacred ritual. It has a strong root in their religion and culture. This killing is essential and justfiable action from the tribals point of view. But Indian government will not accept that. So what does government do then? It coerces them and it threatens them. It attempts to educate their children to imbibe a modern wisdom. This method is a big cultural violence. If limits crosed, goverment would prison few among them. It can go to the extent of hang few of the unruly tribals. We can take the example of Andaman nicobar island’s indeginous people Onges. Once some of the Onges were hanged for killing, they did not have any idea . This is the problem of the institution called government. It is occurring to me that the greatest governments would show the great degree of violence through the education. These views are just occurring to me when I think about the society. Not driven by Philosohpies. I don’t believe in philosophies.” Arunachalam smiles. Philosophy is a compelling necessity. Rejecting the philosophy is a stand. These free thinking intellectuals are in the need of both. “Ok. Then. What is the reason behind your rejection of Soviet Russia?” asked Arunachalam. In a way, he foresaw what he was about the explain. “Nation’s half of the population was massacred like insects without any trails. If the remaining half was home prisoned means what sort of government it was? Stalin was not running a government, it was a torture camp. All the revolutionaries, intellectuals and humanitarians of our country, were supporting Stalin for the past forty years. If someone opposes that view, they will be erased by unleashing the blasphemy accusations. These intelligentia junta willingly distorted the truths. I agree, these people have not had idea until Khrushchev’s time. But after that each one of them internally perceived the truth and the degree of devastation. I have no doubt on this. Because, I know this is from my personal observation. Even after knowing the facts about massacre, for the political advantage, they clung on, by supporting the tyranny. The current era meeting them face to face, demanding the reason for their past stand. Those people do not have any words to explain instead they could only harp out the list of their down and dusted sacrifices.”

“Currently, Stalinism has no place in the party. Democracy-minded new generation started raising their voice in the party. Party is undergoing the complete change from the root level. Leaders who do not believe in the democracy were shown doors irrespective of their statuses and sacrifices” Arunachalam wondered the cruel satisfaction in the words he just said. “Ok, has the party officially rejected Stalin?” “There are few practical incumbrances yet to be cleared” “What incumbrances? Party would be cornered to ask forgiveness. They would need to repeal the fallacious claims of the past and reject those leader’s stand as bogus. As a consequence, public would lose faith in the party, right? Let the party officially state the change in its principle. Till then, it wont be a party for public, it would be an internal issue of the party or rather wheeler dealings of the politicians. “ S.M.Ramaswamy uttered those words emotionally. His tone was intensified. “Can you imagine the great deal of members casted aspersion and booted out from the party, because they accused Stalin? How many true sacrifices buried into ground? How many great geniuses were shamed and perished? Do you think these pages from the history would be forgotten? Yesterday, you were trying to bury crimes committed by Stalin, quietly. Now in the same pit, you all are trying to bury the same Stalin, silently. The firm believe of the party that every pages of historical blunder can be buried, is only remains unchanged over the time. There is no change at all. The party never believed in justice and truth. Bare your heart and tell me, in case there is something truth, but it is opposite to the stand of the party, do you think the party would accept it? Would it miss a chance of intellectually deny and hide the problem? This is the main difference between Gandhi and your party. Idiot Gandhi would have bared his heart and steadfastly march in the path of truth. He would not have stepped back, even after knowing about glaring wreck. But truth never wrecked anyone. Lie never let live anyone. Lie, however the greatest intellectuals, however the tall their humanity, if it is uttered by them knowingly, it will neither make them social contributors nor constructors . Indian communist party leaders are the living examples. “ Ramaswmay got up and went to wash basin for washing hands. “Let me ask something. How you are discarding the Stalinst now? Using the very same tactics, used against the Stalin accusers in the past rite? Can you deny this? Until party uses the slandering as the main weapon, I don't care the stand of the party. At the moment, my sysmphathies are with the Stalinists getting evicted. They are the victims now” All of them went back to the glass room. Arunchalam felt tensed. There was a stressful few minutes passed. To break the ice, He started again “ I read your speech about M.N.Roy in Dinamani daily. How you got interest towards Roy? “Govindan sort of influenced me to get interested towards him. I dont fully respect anyone who worships modern science. Be it Marx or M.N.Roy.” “Do you know Neelakanda pillai? If yes, is it a long enough association?” “I know him. But not that close. Sometimes Govindan would ask about him. Do you know him?” “No. I came across a person, a former union member who was associated with him. I could hardly gather any information about this person. So, I thought of asking what about of him with Neelakanda pillai. Thats why I asked.” “Who is that?” “Name, Veerabadra pillai” “Author of ‘When palmtree sings..’ ?” “Yes. He is the one. Do you know him?” “Incidentally, he presented me the first copy of that story collection.” “really?” “Yes” “He was expelled from the party? wasnt he? May be in 1953. I came to know about Stalinism around those incidents” “What incidents?” “Do you know the reason for his expulsion?” “I dont know. May be for this anti-party actions.” “Is that from your party records?” Arunachalam hesitated and said “No information found about him in any records” “What do you mean?” “There was no such person. There is no trace of him. KKM himself said, there was no one with that name” “K.R.S wrote the forewords for that book, rite?” “KKM said, It was the conspiracy of the capitalist regime” “Oho” said Ramaswamy. He was not amazed as if the heard the expected answer. “I came across that book, accidentally. I was shocked as I could neither find the root nor got any trace” “Suseendram is the native of Veerabadra pillai. He married to a underprivileged worker woman from the Marthandam. It was a sensational news then. But they had a turbulent relation. He was the most important intelligentia for KKM. He was sought after in his circle for English reading habit. KKM treated him with respect, envy and disdain in equal share.”

As Ramaswmay slipped into recollection of memories for a while, his face appearance changed.  “Once Balasubramaiam came here to attend a meeting. The entire party people gathered there. When we came to know that KKM was staying in a room at Vadiveeswaram, myself and my friend Nambi went to see him. On those time, KKM was like a movie star tantamount Prem Nazeer, Sathyan. The room he stayed in Vadiveeswaram was a beedi company’s room. It had three windows and a small space near threshold. The entrances were blocked by the overwhelming women. All of them were over the moon. A kind of furore. Elbowing through that crowd, we managed to peek through. KKM was speaking followed by a loud laughter. There was only one chair in that room, on which he was sitting. He was articulately speaking with animating hands.  Some incident about a life threat from some owner. There was a lanky, wheat complexed, bald foreheaded, eye-glassed man standing near to KKM, he was Veerabadra pillai. We were not aware about who it was. When he came out, Nambi noticed the book in his hand. A new English book. We followed him and introduced ourselves to him. At first, he was glad to know that Nambi’s native was near Boothapandi. His distant sister was married to someone from that area. We three together went to Bothi’s club restaurant.  The coffee of that hotel was very famous in that time. Veerabadrai pillai was a coffee addict. With laid back voice, attention neglecting expression,  we found him totally opposite to KKM.  KKM was known for high faulting self bragging talk and intermittently belittling the others. He was unlike him.  Yet he had a sense of humour. His concealed jests were sharp.”

“Were you aware that he was writer then?”

“He did not start writing then. But he was a prolific reader. On that day, the book he held was the ‘Resurrection’ by Tolstoy. I came to know about Tolstoy on that day only. Although I started reading his books five years later. After that day, we must have had met seven or eight times. We spent long hours talking solely literature. He talked a lot about Thakazhi and Basheer. I still remember, the day he mentioned Mulk Raj Anand in the S.L.B.School ground in this talk. When our discussion bumped into Thoppil Basi’s stage plays during, he rejected those as naive attempts. Nambi and Myself were on cloud nine on hearing that. We never thought a communist would have such a critical opinion. Then, he mentioned about Ibsen. He was dreaming on becoming a great play writer. He was passionate about the greek plays. He had a plan to write a play in Tamil inspired by those. He explained about Tolstoys ‘Power of Darkness’ . Initially, he was little uncomfortable about talking about his readings. Communists were not respecting the literature reading people on those time. Alas, on what day they had respect on readers? I think, he was kind of craving to share as he could not find fellow mates to talk literature. Most writers talk just to recollect what they read. Yes, he would go on talk literature when he takes a leap himself. “ “How was the relationship between him and KKM”

“An extremely complicated one. Both were depended on each others. But both of them had polar tastes, life style and characters. He was the one, taught everything to KKM. KKM was the one, forked out for his daily expenditure. Both of them, had mutual fear. Veerabadra Pillai’s worrisome was that KKM would dump him once he squeezes him out till the dry. KKM feared that he would topple him and capture his post at some time. Both of them would express their respective despising as the deriding comments over each others. KKM had a habit of mocking him in public. He was not good in know-hows. If someone orders him to buy the tooth power, he would return back with the talcum power. KKM kept on ridiculing him on these worldly matters. As a response, Veerapadra pillai would cross all the bounds to deride KKM’s traits and capabilities, especially in front the young chap groups like us. A woman character, I think named as Mala who appears in the Thoppil Basi’s play. He would mimic KKM’s dramatic ecstasy feeling on seeing her. I am not sure, whether Veerabadra Pillai had a complete faith in communism and revolutions. He had a respect towards Marx and Engles. He venerated Tolsoy more than them. Starting from R. Palme Dutt, Mulk Raj Anand , he was interested. Once he started reading Tolstoy, he was completely seized by him and ignored other writers. Once he said, like Tolstoy’s, writings should be read across the planet. He wrote few stories, published in Mangalodayam and Jayakeralam Malayalam magazines” “Why did he chose to write in Malayalam?” “During that time, Malayalam was the de facto language. In Fact Veerabadra Pillai could read only in Malayalam “ “Oh I see” “Communists party peoples had a tendency to make fun of Veerabadra Pillai. He was well aware of that. One day, when I was in Marthandam, I met him in front of the Mary church, at Fletcher hospital entrance. He asked me to come along with him. He brought me to the printing press, where the book cover was getting ready. Two hundred copies. He fetched the first copy and presented me by signing ‘To S.M.R, the promising writer of future ’. ‘ Once the book is released, wait for the uproar.’ said he merrily. I asked ‘why?’. “Look who wrote the forewords’ . I was stunned. “Did you like those stories?” “A lot. I never read such a poetic prose from the progressive writers camp. Nambi was kept on bugging me to translate that into Tamil” “Did the book meet success?” “To some extent. There were some good reviews. Parodying the Nadar community’s colloqual accent was one of the critical feedback. I must say, in general it was appealed to many readers. Everyone came to know about him. All the trouble started, aftermath. Dont you know the proceeded events?” “No. No one told me.” “When K.R.S visited here once, he asked Veerapadra Pillai to meet him. Party had some plans to attract the educated youths. For that, he proposed a plan to write few books. There was an imminent plan for four books. Tilted as ‘Marx Engles Life history’, ‘ History of world communism’, ‘Introduction to Communist Philosophy’, ‘History of Russian communist party’. K.R.S felt that Veerapadra pillai was best suited to write the ‘History of Russian Communist party’ book.” “ Did he accept that?” “Need you ask. He was in the seventh heaven. He was highly charged as he was about the start the most important goal of his life. He forgot his plays and short stories work. He plunged into this book work with full zealous. During those times, there was no much good libraries available. It was a daunting task to get access the original texts. Most of the communists books were banned. One day, of a sudden, I happened to met him in the Tiruvanandapuram Chaalai bazar. He was delighted to see me, as he found some one to open up all the restrained thought avenues. He was over the moon. I was spellbound to hear him talk. Within just eight months, he finished learning the Russian scripts. He ordered the original Russian texts and started reading those fluently. Half of his book work was completed by then. He said, that was the first and foremost original book in the Indian language about Bolshevik revolution. He frequently said that it was going to be classic. He even lost interest in coffee. After that day, I did not meet him for a long time” “Was that book published?” “No, it was not. I heard that he was expelled from the party. I got that information from an elderly communist. He was a tailor. A straight and narrow person. He was not liking KKM. He had a respect towards Veerabadra pillai. I was surprised when he shared this news. Veerabadra Pillai divulged the party secrets. He spied for the police. He appropriated the party money and caught red handed. But that sort of news on him kept on coming. When I came to know that he attempted to publish the book with the appropriated money, it occurred to me as true. After two years, the actual news were revealed. One of the comrade whisperingly leaked the inner secret to me.” “I heard that the reason was something about Stalin” “No. Not Stalin. Bukharin. You must have heard about Nikolai Bukharin” “No” said Arunachalam. “Really. Have you not heard this name mentioned in any of the party member talk?” “No” said Arunachalam. He felt embarrassed. “In recent past, there are series of books getting published on him. You can read any of these books. People say Arthur Koestler’s Darkness At Noon novel is about Bukharin. In 1950s, that novel was talk of the literary circle. Yes, that was the book, gave me the clear true picture about Stalin” He continued.

“Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was his full name. He was ranked third among the primary leaders of October revolutions. Lenin was in the first rank, after him it was Trotsky. Bukharin was a renowned reader and thinker. A Philopshy teacher and an economist. He was valued as the ideologist next to Lenin in the line. He had a power clash with Trosky. As a result, he assisted Stalin to attain power. Aftermath, when he found the despotism of Stalin, he opposed him strongly. Specifically, he was not able to tolerate, Stalin’s genocide policy on small farmers community Kulaks. Stalin imprisoned him accusing sabotage changes and casted out labeling him as anti-revolutionary. He was the prime accused in the infamous Moscow trails of 1938. He admitted his crimes, because of his young wife Anna Mikhailovna Larina.  She was a twenty years old lady then. Bukharin was 40 plus. Because, KGB’s  threatened to kill her,  he admitted all the imposed crimes. Eventually he was executed, after sentensed to death penalty. Instead of releasing Anna as promised to Bukharin, she was sent to Siberia. She toiled and moiled in the forced labour, torture camps of siberia for fifty long years. Before his death, Bukharin wrote a confession letter and asked his wife to memorise it. He beseeched her with promise to reveal that letter in the future, when she gets opportunity in front of the next generation.  That lady, kept on repeating those words in her mind continuously for the fifty years without missing a day, like a prayer. When Gorbachev came to power, in 1988 Bukharin case was trailed once again in the Russian Supreme court. Tearful Anna, stepping on to the witness stand, read the Bukharin’s confession words. Bukharin pleaded innocent through Anna’s voice, as  she asserted his faith on the future generation.  Not only Russians heart, that case moved the whole world’s heart. After 50 years of his execution, Bukharin was declared innocent by the Court order.”

Arunachalam felt as if some other body wrigging inside his frame.

“No one knew about Bukharin in 1950s and 60s. His name was erased from the history. On that time, Veerabadra Pillai received a letter. It comprised the details about the Bukharin’s trai and about his wife forefully sent to Siberian torture chambers and she was alive.” 

“How did he receive such a letter?”

“Not sure. Veerabadra Pillai was in contact with the Russian People relation ministry. They used to sent lots of letters in weekly basis. Some how this letter was sneaked into that bundle. I could had been a work of someone from the higher political bureau. He had no idea about status and nature of Veerabadra Pillai. It was sent to him on some blind whistleblower’s believe. Considering the ubiquitous eyes of that government’s machinery, it was like a suicide, like knocking one’s head on to the tightly secured iron door.” “What did Veerabadra Pillai do?”

“He had a literary person’s mind. Without the need for the concrete evidence, his mind confirmed its truthfulness. He corroborated the veracity, by gathering whatever wee little facts available in the western media. Based on the acquired information, he wrote a chapter in his new book. Party came to know about this” “I can imagine, the party’s feet to the fire.” Jeyamohan Laughed. “Party could find no way to calm him down. The comrades later spoke with me, were also wondered, why on earth, Veerabadra Pillai was heading towards south for a worthless matter. At first, Party argued that there was no one called Bukharin. It was a fabrication of the western media. After that, they said Bukharin was not an important member. He was an ordinary Red Army soldier. Party showed lots of evidence to back up that claim. So many different party members, continuously coerced Veerabadra Pillai to come out of that illusion. Initially they sincerely advised, then insisted and then coerced. They even strongly warned him on the repercussions. Finally, they gone down to the level of imploring him. He was such a handful . In fact, Veera badra pillai not able to accept any arguments. Every evening, vouching on the words of some elderly comrade, he would declare to bid riddance to all it . But on the next morning he would turn upside down. Someone said once he started, hit the bottle everday, he would swear the Bukharin lungs out. He said that Bukharin a demon, destroying his life. “ “Oh, Did he turn drunkard that incident?” “I reckon he was consuming alcohol privately. After such doomed situation, most of the men seek the abode in the wine shops right?” “What next?” “Next. Party expelled him. Followed by a smothering smear campaign. He could not withstand it. As he could not make ends meet, his relationship with his wife worsened. All of his friends left him. Somehow, he managed to establish an association with Neelakanda pillai. In a spur of the enthusiasm, he was charged again. He was claiming to launch Radical humanist party. Some days rolled ahead” “How did he get influenced by Roy?” “Phew. No influence. Just that, he heard Roy was opposing Stalin. He got hold of a reason to oppose the communists. Initially he was collecting the funds for truly launching the party. Soon, it turned as purely for liquor spendings. Alcohol addiction began to abuse his body. People said, in his final days, he turned as vagabond. But I never saw him begging with my eyes. Those are the days, I began to lose faith in the party. I was not in a mindset to hear any news about party.” “Who rendered him aid, at that stage?” “Who else? Our own workers. Only figuratively, they don't dare to cross the rules of the party. In real senese, their heart will not be restrained by the party rules. With the communist rod, you can never gauge the hearts of the worker class. One day, a worker named Shanmuga Pillai or something, a hulky person with a huge mustache and a pony tuft. Very innocent. He used to right hand of KKM, like a bouncer, in his early days. I heard, later turning as a cook he managed turn richer ” “Ayyappan Pillai?”

“Yes. Thats the bloke’s name. I met him once.  He asked money to admit Veerabadra Pillai in hospital. I told him, wasnt he the enemy of the party, why was he helping?. “Listen to me Iyer. If Stalin killed another human,  indeed, that is a crime. No human can kill the fellow human. On God’s name, it is an unaccepted sin. Party may not accept this at present.  Veerabadra pillai is a pandit, a wise man. Thats why, he is doing what his his mind says.   On the other hand, I am a simpleton, who do not have knowledge or wisdom. I follow the words of my soul . “ said He. I was awestruck to hear that. Party cannot depose Ayyappan pillai for his stand. If it decides, it may need to dismiss many like him. 

“Did Veerabadra pillai really die in streets like abondoned?” asked Arunachalam.

“Did any one from Municipality honored his corpse draping communist red flag?”  

Arunachalam despised him to core. 

“I was shell shocked to learn about Veerbadra Pillai’s end days. Not anymore. “ said S.M.Ramaswamy. 

“Logically speaking, all his exertions can be termed as total insanity. Like a self-murder. Psychologists may label that that as obsession. Some doctors may say that as mania. There is a chance, that he might have had some nervous disorders. The reason for this actions cannot be defined clearly. His unyieldingness was multifaceted. We need to open our subconscious mind to understand him. The deep we travel into our mind, the deep we can understand him. If you ask me, this fervor is the fountainhead of the entire human civilization. A man sacrificing himself for another man. He is losing a lot for the unborn future generation. For an indefinable virtue, he is surrendering his soul completely. This feeling is the recurring central theme of all  greatest literatures. How well this sublime feeling is translated with same intensity and grounded, is the success of those literatures. We the humans, tied with each other in this earth,  with the various strings such as time, place, necessity, blood realtions and many  more. The zenith of all these bindings is ‘Justice’. No one can clearly define this term justice. This virtual string amasses all the human beings into single bundle. The other strings were defined by the nature. This is the only one string created by the human. In the absent of this string, only the principles of nature will rule us all. Without this, humans are not a cultured animals. This justice is the culture. The megalomanic, narcissist , brutal,  ethnic bigotry natures of the human have been relentlessly waging war against this justice for the thousands of the year. Justice is still defiant.  It wont lose it ground. This is the primary lesson , i learnt in my 70 years of life” Ramaswamy’s face turning crimson, glittered. Upon realizing his excitement, he let out a smile as if he got embarrassed for losing grip on himself. He turned to Jeyamohan “ Why dont you write a novel with this theme? You can write that as a continuation of Rubber novel” asked.

“Why cant you write by  yourself?”

“I dont think, I can let myself to live in another creative world. I reckon, only one novel, that to an auto-biographical fiction, is the one remaining for me to write.”

“I have an unbounded faith on the medium of stories. This real world is mediocre, idiotic and reckless.  I am striving to change the world we live, to infinite versions,  through my stories. I can create the world of my desire in my stories ,right? “ said Jeyamohan. 

“Then, you should write”

“Sure, why not?” he smiled.

“What do you think about this?” 

“Regarding?” asked Arunachalam.

“Regarding Veera badra Pillai?”

“His intensity staggers me. “ said Arunachalam. 

“I heard, Many communists said that he was possessed by some evil spirit, on those days. Him speaking  with his own shadow and his frequent cringe away from his own shadow were the evidence according to them. “

Arunachalam once again felt that another squirming  body attempting to cut through from inside him.

“You can visit Neelakanda pillai’ home and examine the files available.  You may find the evidence you are seeking. Surely, something like letters wrote by Veerabadra pillai, you may manage to access. Neelakanda Pillai usually wont purge such a letters. But my question is , what would you do with that?”

“I dont know.”

“In our conversation, you did not speak much”

“I am not clear about many things. Mainly, I cannot accept your idea to put Stalinism in the same bucket of Fazism and Nazism. Stalin may have committed some mistakes. But in your version, it seems, all he did was only crimes. Party may did some blunders. But in my point view, Party is not full of anti social thugs and weaklings“

“ I did not say that about the people”

“I believe that Party has the potential and inner strength to amend for its mistakes”

“Are you going to prove that with Veerabadra Pillai?”

“No. This is just a personal interest. The question, how was he able to deeply attach with a human lived in a far away country?  Fascinates me. Also I fear, may be, I am also in the process of establishing the same attachment towards him. Thats all”

“Do you know whereabouts of KKM?” asked Ramaswamy in a casual tone. 

Arunachalam felt a jolt and said “ I am not sure”.

“I was expecting you to talk about his deposal from the party. “ Ramaswamy smiled. He realised how well he scanned his mind. He was furiated. 

“Let me take a leave. I troubled you a lot”

“No problem. Because of your visit, I was able to recollect so many past moments”:

Ramaswamy went along with Arunachalam till the entrance to send him off. Jeyamohan just beckoned his head before they part away and he began to rummage some book nearby. 

The moped refused to start. When he kicked forcefully gathering himself, he lost all his energy.  Slowly there was a perceival spark. 

Chapter 7

“Shall I tune to ‘Pongum Poompunal’ channel?” asked Nagammai. “What is that?” “Ceylon radio channel” “Yes , Please” She began to tune the radio button, hopping over various tumultuous noise emitting channels. In that dim light background, her face appeared like a painting drawn with transient red line. “Every dreamy life is dissipating clouds, with no exception” Tamil song relayed in Radio. She placed the radio box, closer to her ear in the pillow. “How cute and compact this box, I could feel this song echoing inside my ears” said She. “Hmm” Arunachalam said. “When I was young, in my neighborhood, there was a lone Soda Vendor owned the Radio box in the whole street. We the group of kids would go to their porch to hear the songs. I was crazy about “Jasmine is my raja’s enchanting golden flower” song. There was no day passed without hearing that song. After that ” “Hmm” Nagammai stopped her talk and asked “Do you feel sleepy?” “Yes” “Please sleep” “What would be KKM doing now? His valve radio found a place amidst the clutter of discarded items in the store room. KKM did not take any other belongings other than his clothes. Where did he go? What he must be thinking in his sleepless nights? Would he still be thinking the estate worker union, which was the paramount in his life?. Perhaps, he must have found a different radio device for his quest in the empty dark space. Our radio waves may meet again at some point in the abysmal universal space. If we meet, we will be speechless, there will be only silence. If he happens to meet KKM, he may be filled with tears. KKM’s heart may melt, upon his sight. Once, he met with a cycle accident. His knee bone got dislocated and got admitted in the hospital. His eyes turned bloodshot red as he was in unbearable agony. He was at breaking point of pain and tried to control the painful moaning with lots of effort. KKM came to the hospital to see him. The moment KKM saw his plight, he was not able to restraint himself as he turned tearful eyes. His touch was in his memory of a long time. ” His discharged thoughts spawned in the dark abyss. He tried to grasp whether he was in repentance or self-pity mode. His heart sagged spirit in despondency. He was not able to perceive the root cause of that. He was not able to sleep without these pounding waves of thoughts. What sort of viciousness is this? Of a sudden, he had a outrageous detestation towards KKM. Then over Nagammai. What sort of time to hear the romantic song “In the fish flag hoisted chariot, Kamadeva is on a journey”. Again his thoughts shifted back towards KKM and old memories. KKM must be conversing with Stalin at this moment. Stalin had a daughter. In his dream, he can prattle with her. He was arguing with Ramaswamy by justifying Stalin’s actions. Can he argue with himself and justfiy Stalin? Not at all. But one thing is sure. He would have also committed all the actions of Stalin, if he had a chance. Whatever he did to KKM can be labeled nothing other than Stalinism. No, this is altogether different. This is just a political game. No. His heart knows it. Both are same. Power hankering fights. The hounding courses for power are always same. “Did you not yet get into sleep?” asked Nagammai. “No” “What are you thinking?” “Nothing” “I have been noticing you for a some days. You have been over stressing for the worthless matter over and over again. This is bad for your health. What happened to you?” “Nothing dear.” She came closer to him and embraced him “ I am fearful” said She. “What fear?” “Not sure” “Go to sleep” he caressed her back. Power is bewitching. With the unreposing challenges from unimaginable directions, it turns life as ever stimulating wonder play. It gives enormous confident and wholeness to the life. Feel of guilty and frequent breaking points are byproducts of this game. What about the sacrificers? What does they get in return?. “Listen Nagammai. Would you ever die for the things which matters most to you?” “What sort of question is this? That too in a mid-night” “Just answer me” “For the sake of my husband and my daughter, I will sacrifice my life with smile” “For others?” “Why should I die for someone else?” “According to you some actions are valid and paramount. Some people forbid you to do that. If you still do, they will go to the extend of killing you. Would you still do that?” “Outside world is cruel. Why should I care?” “Ok. Leave that aside. You are walking alone. There is a scumbag attempting to kill child by beating. He also has a dagger. If you try to stop him, he will kill you too” “Wretched scum. Oh Lord, perish him in cholera. Would a man ever do that?” “In case this scenario is real, what would you do?” “Wouldn't I pounce on that low life and bite his throat and suck his blood till he dies.? Vermin . “ She vigorously said those words in a mystic tone. Upon hearing her exotic voice, Arunachalam had a goosebump. He felt stirring in each organ of his body. After few moments, he managed to get a grip on himself. “Why Nagammai? After all that is someone else’s child ? Why would you do that?” “What sort of absurd question is this? How can I close my eyes ? Would God leave me in impunity for that sin?” “He may very well kill you. Your own child will become motherless” “God will protect my children. What sort of spooky talk is this? I am feeling the chill in my spine” “No Nagam. You may not know. There is a country called Germany. A Raja named Hitler was ruling there” “Neighour Mani’s dog is called Hilter” “He was a ruthless king. He massacred millions of people whom he disliked. He peeled their skin and made a footwear from that. “ “Stop right there. I cannot hear another word” “The people over there did not stand against him” “What the hell happened to the mothers of that county? What stopped them to slit that monter’s neck in his sleep? Country of bastards.” “Yes indeed. That was a country of bastards. Motherless kingdom” “Whoever it may be they must have reared by drinking the breast milk right? They are bounded by the motherly duty to stop them, right” “When you keep on fanning the animosity, there is no stop. It will lead you to annihilation of the childrens and as well as excerpts. That infernal path will lead a human to great degree of cruelty” “This is not the time to think all these things. I beseech you to get some sleep” “Nagam” called Arunachalam. “What?” “Hug me please” “Why, my sweet Raja” “I am unable to sleep at all, Nagam. Every avenue to the path of sound sleep is blocked by insuppressible thoughts. I cannot control or stop these thoughts. “ She embraced him. “Come closer. Close your eyes, dear. Take some deep breaths. Think solely about our child” Arunachalam stretching his hands out, touched the sole of Gowri. Her silver anklets rumbled. Of a sudden, there was a tormenting feeling emerged from his abdomen. He had a spasm in his body. “I am terrified Nagam. I always hounded by this fear emerging from my abdomen. Unfounded fear” “Why do you fear? I am hear for your comfort. I will pray God for you. “ He buried himself in the center of her bosom. “Do not leave me Nagam. Hold me tightly forever” he mumbled. “Sleep my dear cute pudding. ” said She. The sneaking darkness enshrouded him silently. He could feel the thousands of eyes lurking. He closed his ears. He heard the mellowing heart beating of hers.

Chapter 8

Arunachalam reached the office late in his chugging moped which was not in sound condition. He usually comes to office around 7 am. According to the unwritten agreement between him and the office, he can only work weekly thrice that too just 7 hours a day. There was a temporary worker assigned to do his work. Yet, it has been many days, since he came to office. He entered in, with that guilty trip ridden. Unfinished work was piled up. He started to work like a maniac. Remaining workers started arriving 10 am onwards. Around 11 am his manager called him.

His elderly manager usually talk with him with reverence. “Vanakkam. Arunachalam. How is your health? Narayanan called me and told about your health state.” “I feel better” Narayanan’s off the limit concern caused irritation. Somehow Narayanan filling the gap caused by his inattentiveness. “I called you to discuss an important issue” said the Manager. “Please proceed” “There was an order from higher authorities, to buy the mix chemical directly from outside, here afterwards. Due to mixing issues in the Nitric acid which is getting macerated oftentimes. Rubber is wasted. No, No. I am not blaming the workers for this. It is not feasible to attain the right concentration when we mix it in small scale. Factory mixings standard is always better. Rubber does not form spotlessly, if the concentration of Nitric acid is not in the accurate level. You know well, we have the return back polity agreement for the delivery of low quality rubbers. Higher Authorities asking me why so much wastage? Added to that, there is a complaint about appropriation of Acids. No. I am not complaining the workers. It is a general feedback. So many such. “ “What happened, now?” “They decided to transfer the acid preparation for contract work” “So what?” “Please listen me with patience. In this situation, we no longer can afford to keep these temporary workers. There is a plan to transfer them to the different estate. We will ensure that they continue their job. Along with all the benefits of the rubber estate department ” “Problem solved. Right” “Mr.Narayanan is not agreeing this proposal” “On what basis?” “In this view, the workers are kind of settled in this department. They cannot be transferred abruptly. They can be transferred only on the month of May during the school summer holidays. Since we already decided to shut down the chemical mixing department all together, what is the purpose of keeping these workers? How can I keep them without assigning work for the next six months?” Aruanchalam felt a shock upon hearing that. Such a situation is unprecedented to his knowledge. Yet, without disclosing his perturbation “ What does Narayanan say?” “He is demanding to employ them as Attenders, Water boys, Cleaners. Already we are overloaded count of current workers. After closing the general purchasing department, there were two workers already in bench. How can I afford to keep these eight of the rubber mixing employees idle? Please provide me a solution” “Let me talk with Narayanan. Arrangement of the transportation conveyance allowance for shifting to the different estate, should be sufficient “ “We are planning for the deputation for first six months. Which includes the allowances. After that, they will be made permanent. We already have discussed this solution. But they are not agreeing to this. I understand the workers would not be in state to understand these situations. Union must talk to them to agree these terms. My hands are tied, as I need to follow the higher authorities order to letter. As you know, ours is a private owned estate” Mind was waffling around this topic till the noon. Everything was appearing pristine clear to him. Narayanan is drawing the much bigger worker savior image than his. That too in the very same estate where Arunachalam is working. He felt the rush of bitterness. When he realized that he had played the same game earlier, he found the root for the bitterness. In Afternoon, he received a parcel through post, from S.M.Ramaswamy. It had a letter attached. “Dear Arunachalam, I met Neelakanda pillai’s son day before yesterday. You may aware that, he has only one son. His son is a chief execute officer in a chennai based private company. He was about to shift to chennai along with Neelakanda pillai’s possessions. He also has a plan to sell this house. Fortunately, he knows the value of the Letters, Diaries of Neelakanda pillai, although he does not fully respect his father. After obtaining his permission, we brought those bundles along with us. With the help of my friend M.S, it was arranged. We found seventeen of Veerabadra pillai’s letters to Neela kanda pillai. I feel the significance of these letters. Yet, I was not able to find much information about Veerabadrai pillai in the Neela kanda pillai’s diary, other than few short scribblings. He was not much close to Veerabadra pillai, it seems. To my surprise, there were few handwritten manuscripts of Veerabadra pillai. I am not sure, why he sent these drafts to Neelakanda pillai. It is not the secret, that Neela kanda pillai do not have high opinion about literature. These manuscripts comprised of four plays, four short stories, two translated short sotires and few pages from an autobiographical notes. I have attached the xerox copies of those. The original is with his son. I believe, this will be helpful to your research progress” Arunachalam thumbed through the xerox copies. Veerapadira pillai’s hand writing was in shambles. It was a disarrayed tarry handwriting. There were so many bolded sentences, striking throughs, arrows redirected sub texts. He was not in the mood to read those. He put those letters in a file. As soon as he closed that file, it began to bother him. He was not able to focus on work. He put lots of effort to reign himself. In the evening, when he managed to complete all the tasks in satisfied manner, he strained his neck which started aching. Telephone rang, when he was about the leave. Yes. It was Narayanan. The aversion caused by the Narayanan’s voice churned bitterness inside him. “Camrade, We have a special execute committee meeting scheduled at Kalial Rubber estate 5 PM” “Special meeting? For what?” “Regarding the over-time issue. It would be good, if you could attend” Good, if he attends. Thats all. Those words wounded him as if he stepped on to broken glass. “Yes. I am coming” When he reached Kalial, it became pitch dark. His mind was in total consternation. The meeting was scheduled in a old building. It appeared to be a recently mopped godown. The rubber power’s strench filled his nose. Narayanan entered the meeting after few minutess of start along with his entourage. One of them was Raveendran. Two others were district level members of the party. Arunachalam threw his glance to scan Raveendran. His mannerism had a complete make over. He held a book in his hand. Arunachalam zoomed his view to read the title. “Marxism and the Eastern societies”. Narayanan approaching Arunachalam, greeted him obediently. Raveendran stood very close to Narayanan. “ This is Camrade, Ravi. He was the main stalwart who cleared the many clutters in the conference. You must remember him.” “Yes. Indeed. Preparation of the charts was his idea, right?” asked Arunachalam. “How are you doing, Camrade?

Ravi with excessive polite gesture“ I am fine, Camrade” said. The surrounded union members were conversing among them gayly. After the meeting started and wind up of the formal events, the issue was raised. In the Kailial’s government rubber estate there is a plan to reap the rubber in the newly expanded seventy eight acres. There is a request from Administrators, to assign this job to the existing workers. “

Arunachalam began his speech in a poised tone “Dear Comrades! This is a watershed moment. We must analyze and affirm our stand. So far, we have been sitting on fences in taking the imperative decision due to practical difficulies. It has grown leaps and bounds and blocking our course like a big wall. We need to take an important decision. Whether to accept the overtime proposal or not? Before going in to that topic, we need to clarify certain basic points. What is the expenditure Administrations expected to bear for appointing the new workers? If we take approximately one and half person per acre then it will be like total 132 new workers are additionally needed. If we calculate their salary, it would come around 2 lakhs and 50 thousand. If we decide to do the same job over time, then the expenditures will be shooted to 5 lakhs and 77 thousand. Almost monthly 2 lakhs loss for the Admins. What is the reason behind Admin’s decision to push the overtime although there is a loss? You all know Admin’s run for miles reponse, for our demand to meager hike in the salary. The crux of the issue is as the machines are pouring in, industrialization going to be the inevitable phenomenon in the next decade. Every appointed worker will become a redundant resource in future. In fact, many among us would be very well turn as redundant resources. This is the plan of the owners. They expect the slow and definite debase of the union’s co-operative power. As you know, ours is the country where millions of unemployed men veerinng around aimlessly. We should not fall into the trap of the owners. For the short term monetary gain, we should not connive to the worker’s unity sabotaging dastardly conspiracy. Let them appoint new workers. We will fight against industrialization along with the new workers. We are not the wage rise demanding simpleton workers. We are the proletariats. We are the makers of the new world. We are the one going to rule the world in future. The goal of union is not wage rising demands, but to achieve the long term glorious dream of proletrates revolutions to topple the bourgeois. Comrades, we are the spearheading fighters of the freedom and equality of entire humanity. Every toiling worker, every proletrates are our companion and fellow fighter. Our bloodmates. We should not allow our fingers, poke our eyes. We are not the flock of crows dancing for bread and circuses of owners. We are the masters of this world. We must never forget that. This is the lesson we learnt from our legendary leaders. They bestowed us this slogan. Come hell or high water, Inquilab zindabad. We have nothing to lose but our chains. We have a world to win. Workers of the world, unite!" The chorus slogans was not in intended vigor in response. There was a few moments of silence. Prabhakaran stood up and asked “So, what is the decision?” “We don't want over-time. We demand the appointment of new workers. This is our decision” “If Admin decided to go with the contract workers?” “Do you think, would we allow contract workers to take a step in our estate?. It is not possible. New workers should be enrolled accordance with existing procedures” “Do you know, there is no estate without the over-time benefit?” asked the Aruputhagunamani. “What we are going to get anyway a temporary minimal work right?. But our demand is the original load of work for new members. Permanent work. This is the government estate. We must start our campaign from here and make it as grand success” called Arunachalam. “You may say anything. Would a worker accept that? Every other estate offers the over-time benefits. Over here only the revolutionary slogans alone. Would the worker standing last in the row ever agree to your invitation to drop the over-time?” asked Prabhakaran. “We are planning to pass this resolution in all other estates, in near future” “Enough is enough. We will heed you only when you get it done in the other estates and come here as last. Workers are not a shitbox to sow your revolutionary weeds.” “Watch your words, Comrade” “You better watch your mouth. What sort of union ordering us to lose the over-time benefits? That too for such a frigging reason, worker’s count is dwindling. Ah gotcha! You guys are worried about plummeting of your share in the membership fee. You jerks fret over deserting palanquin lifters. Does any one know , it has been six years since the salary commission formed with no effect. At the same time, the coconut estate has received arbitration awards as many as three times. No weakling here is dared to demand that. Out of blue, you all spring up to spoil the over-time with your butter hands” Arunchalam exhausted all his energy. He never faced such a right in the face brutal verbal attack in his history of union activities. “Manuvel, Stop right there” said Narayanan. “Do not think of hold me back. Who are these guys to say nah to O.T?” “Beg you to get a grip. Camrade” said a party member. “No more talk in this matter. Better discuss plausible things” “Manuvel, request you to sit down” cried Ravendran. “As you have clearly expressed your stand” Manuvel sat down, evidently cussing. Narayanan “ Comrades. We must talk in responsible manner. In this meeting, there was an idea put forth. You have the right to disagree that. But do not go overboard with unnecessary words” “He is asking us to lose the O.T . How dare he say that? Is he roaming around underpaid?” “What he just explained was the National level stand of our party” “Ask him to take that lecture in school. Cotton mill workers are earning six thousand per month. Their bonus is crossing thirty thousand per year. Let him first ask them to unhand it first” “Why so much furor over this . If union asks us to drop the O.T, we will drop the union” “Comrades, Calm down one and all” begged branch Secretery Thangaraj. “That was the announcement of union’s stand. In principle level, we agree with that. In practical sense, we must consider few points in our discussion. Ours is the lowest bonus paid estate, in the entire district. Other estate workers are having the chances of earning extra via unlawful activities connivingly encouraged . I am not going into the details. All these issues are already seething in the minds of our workers for a while. In this circumstance, upcoming over-time is seen as a biggest fortune moment for our estate. Every Kumar, Kandhan and Kannan and his family carrying the piece of paper started calculating the budget already. Some of them bought loans in advance. In this scenario, if we urge them to reject O.T, only the unions which support O.T will survive. So, Practically the O.T rejection talk is far-fetched. Worker understand and knows well about his priorities. He is the unassailable force of history. Whatever may be the legendary status of a leader, if he tries to teach the workers without practical sense, they will be forced to learn the lessions. I am sure, our Camrade Arunachalam, well aware of that” Arunachalam felt a prickly feeling in his spine as if someone injecting with needle. “So, We can start discussing on how we are planning to distribute O.T jobs. On seniority basis or by any other way? How to calculate the leave plans? Let us shift our focus on these points” “I cannot agree your points, Comrade” said Narayananan. “From my personal view, I agree with Comrade, Aruna’s stand. Because that is the principle stand of our party” “Can I share my two cents in this conversation?” asked Raveendran. “The stand of Comrade Aruna, is 100% true. But only if we view that in principle angle. Unfortunately, in this current scenario, it is implausible practically. Owners are conspiring to buy the unity of workers. Even if he pays the price of the entire world as a tantamount, he cannot buy us. We are agreeing the O.T just as a temporary solution. In the state level meeting, our principle stand is against O.T. We can pass this resolution in this estate conference and send it to the party and state level politburos. Let the party in state level discuss and come up with firm decision. After that, our workers will relinquish the O.T and join the fight against capitalist regime in the battlefield. In the meantime, we will start our campaign on repercussions of O.T to the workers group. We must assess and address both merits and demerits of O.T and teach him. Unilateral acceptance from the workers faction as whole, will put a full stop this topic. For that every week let us organise the explanation meetings. We can distribute the pamphlets and stick the posters in every street. O.T should be rejected. That is our plea. That stand will be taken by workers only after it becomes a movement in the national level. For now, Let us register our opposition and accept the O.T temporarily. This is my stand”. There was a thunderous response with clapping. Narayanan “Comrade, Aruna, Do you have any opposing points in this regard” Arunachalam just nodded as ‘No’. It occurred to him that Raveendran’s style of expression and mannerism was totally mirror image of him. From this moment onwards, Narayanan does not need Arunachalam. He need not fear either until Raveendran gets a stalwart apostle. Arunachalam smiled.