Meanwhile, the head of the household is furious that the trial was extending indefinitely all because Unni Maya refused to break her stubborn silence. The jury was having a gala time feasting, singing, the coffers were getting emptied- The head of the house goes to see Unni Maya in the barn and orders her to blurt out the name of the culprit- he even stoops to physical abuse, but the maid servant manages to stop him-
We also see that the senior wives are more predisposed to kindness and pity for Unni Maya, and the eccentric wife even arranges to send food and water to Mohini under cover.
The jury suspects Kunjunni to be the culprit and taunt him, but he remains undaunted. Kunjunni however, guesses that Madhavan was the person responsible and questions the latter. Madhavan is enraged and throws back the accusation at Kunjunni . Unable to tolerate the jury enjoying themselves behind the farce of conducting “Smaartha Vichaarana” , Kunjunni orders the trial to be brought to an end-
Kunjunni also tries speaking to her brother, but he too disowns her…
By now, Unni Maya has also come to a decision- she emerges from behind the door- she refuses to be addressed through a middle person, and demands the jury to shoot their queries! Upon being questioned about the identity of her paramour- she says that there were too many to be named , and they were welcome to make their judgement. The jury has no option but to declare the case closed, and Unni Maya is excommunicated- she is driven from the house in ignominy, and yet Unni Maya remained serene and dry eyed. The elders are unable to meet her accusatory and denigrating gaze- which turns to gentle graitude and shared suffering as she sees the younger Senior wife shed tears for her. Again Mohin's acting with only her eyes is exemplary! The maid servants and the eccentric wife shed copious tears…
Upon emerging from the back door of the “Illom”- into the outside world, she is accosted by a horde of leering men from the lower castes who make lewd comments and ask her to go with one of them…Unni Maya is slightly flustered, but a maid servant comes to her rescue, drives away the men, and requests Unni Maya to come to her humble dwelling.
Kunjunnij arranges for Unni Maya’s accommodation, gets a her a job and Mohini starts life anew with dignity…
Madhavan’s conscience gives him no peace and finally he confesses his guilt to his mother and sister and they ask him to bring Unni Maya home as wife. Madhavan, accompanied by his sister hastens to meet Unni Maya. Kunjunni is delighted that Madhavan had finally become man enough to own up and accept Unni Maya. Manoj informs Unni Maya…She comes to the door- she declares “ My child has no father, tomorrow if he were to ask who his father was- I would take the names of Arjuna, Nala or Bheema”- and she goes back to resume her job and life..
Madhavan looks on shamefacedly…
Postscript:
I was very enthusiastic about recounting this story , and sharing it with you all, but now that I have finished with it I am dissatisfied with the way it has evolved- the magic that I perceived is sadly missing- and when I talked to my cousin yesterday, I realized that I had missed out on some significant details- sharp dialogues- the signature of M.T, but when I tried to insert them in between my narration, somehow it lost its impact- and so I let them be…I regret that I was unable to bring out the brilliance, the poetry of the celluloid creation that was… not that I imagined I would be able to do justice to M.T’s creation , yet…
My only prayer is that neither M.T nor Hariharan ever lay their gaze upon this audacity of mine…
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10 comments:
Hey Ardra i just came ambling by and I was just blown away. Beautiful blogs. (Did u link them to DSS anytime?)
Keep on writing, Ardra!!
Ardra, On the contrary, I think you`ve done a fantastic job, in retelling the whole story.. I could almost see the entire movie again in my mind.. Thank YOu.. :)
A factual error - Kuriyedattu Tatri was not neglected by her husband.
She had a troubled childhood. She was subjected to sexual molestation by none other than her father and her brother. By the time she was married of she had
only anger towards the elite society.
Kuriyedattu Tatri was deported by Raja of Cochin. She was put in a third class carriage of Madras Express. She got down in one of the stations in today's TamilNadu. A gentleman who was a Christian took care of her and married her. They had a daughter and had a gentle life thereafter.
Her daughter in turn married and had a daughter too. This granddaughter of
legendary Tatri is yesteryear actress
Sheela.
Thank you Nik, for pointing out the factual errors.
I donot know NIK will see this comment.
Nik your comments on Tatri is entirely wrong and history and logic do not support what you mentioned.
Please understand history is not idle talk and imaginative writings by novelists hungry for publicity and royalty money.
I request you not to go by stories told by grandmothers and cheap -below average novels written by malayali novelists while commenting on thathri.
There is enough evidence to prove that Thathri was not sexually exploited by any male members of her on family but was a victimized by orthodox namoboothries in alliance with the Raja of Cochin – a pre planned action against another group of namboothiries.
Please donot be a voice of those unholy alliance
:) Good blog
Years later I did see your comment Vinod.
My Grandmother has not told me any such stories. I don't think this is one such "bedtime" stories grandmas share with little ones. All parts of what I wrote were already known to many (See eg., Mathrubhumi weekly in Aug/Sept 2004).
My mother had known this independently from her father, my grandpa. In fact in her childhood there used to be a regular almsseeker at her home in Valluvanad who was one of the ostracized Nair/Nampudiri in Thathri Smartha vicharam.
By the way, from your comments it is more than evident that you are very eager to justify another group of Nampudiries. Your "theory" that all this was a conspiracy stand discredited at the outset, because Thathri herself announced the names of her paramours and brought the wrath of king on them. And each one was identified with several personal identification marks she closely knew !!
May be you are hurt with the reference to the incest (rape, in this case) engaged in by Nampudiris. Unfortunately, by now it is known that such closed community systems, not just Nampudiris but including them, bred such maniacal behavior among its members. There are some novels on Nampudiri families itself which describe such incidents, I am sure you can find it among other communities too.
Issue here is not "unholy alliance" but "inhuman social systems".
By the end of midieval times in Indian history it was apparent that caste based community systems were only making beasts out of its members. As human history progresses such cobwebs of feudal remnants get cleaned up. If you are any serious learner of history this is what you would pick up fom this chapter - and not some X vs Y conspiracy theory.
Ardra, I stumbled upon your blog when i was searching for some meaningful review of the movie Theerthadanam.
I read your review; I love that movie. Then, i read your rendering of Parinayam.
I loved it.
Why have you not blogged for the last two years? By the way, we both started blogging in 2005. Right no, I am reading all myour posts right from 2005.
I loved reading these five posts and couldn't stop until I reached this one. Loved the story and am glad that such movies are made, although the injustice of what was done and what they got away with is horrifying. Imagine doddering old men get married to many women and young widows couldn't even have one relationship (let alone marry again). No doubt we live in better times now.
Hi NIK,
I dont know you read this. this comment is two years after your last comment.
I am very interested in Thathri's
Smarthavicharam and collecting details about it. I went to her birth place at Arangottukara and planed to visit chemmanthitta(where she was married to) after some days.
The names of the sixty six persons told by thatri and written by smarthan are kept in ernakulam archives department which include the name of her father and brother. Can you please clarify how did you know about her madras trip because the reports says that she was held near chalakkudy river with tight security. after that what happend to her was all rumors. Some says that she was married to a clerk and settled in palakkad. and some others say she married a railway employee who was an anglo indian and selltled in coimbatore. but no solid proof.If you see this comment please post how did you know about her madras journey.
Thanks in advance.
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