The Invincible Moonsheen
Part – 5
(Telugu Original “Venutiragani Vennela” by Dr K.Geeta)
English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar
(The previous story briefed)
Sameera comes to meet her mother’s friend Udayini in America, who runs a women’s aid organization “Sahaya”. Sameera, who is four months pregnant, tells Udayini that she wants to get a divorce and the circumstances are conducive to it. Udayini tells the story of “Tannayi” and asks Sameera to think over it. After seeing Tanmayi, who is studying intermediate, Shekhar likes her and writes a letter…Naturally emotional, Tanmayi gets interested in Shekhar. Both of them get to know each other. Marriage proposals start from both sides.
***
Tanmayi realized that they were seemingly in a heated discussion. She felt scared.
“Father is asking you whether you would like to marry Shekhar or not,” said Jyoti.
Tanmayi felt a great relief.
Looking into her father’s face, she said to him, “Your will is my will, daddy” she refrained from her happiness bubbling inside.
“That boy is not qualified enough for jobs. Businesses have profits and losses. Seriously, I don’t like you giving away to such business people.”Jyoti said curtly.
Tanmayi could not understand why her mother was reluctant with Shekhar. She’s always like this, suspects something, she thought in her mind.
But she stared at her mother quietly.
“Daddy talked about the rest of the things, they are trying to put him in a job, after everything is properly done, we just call them customarily for Pellichupulu,” Jyoti added.
While things were going on, Tanmayi entered the second year of her degree.
Talks about her marriage at home now escalate frequently these days.
“My mother believes that any kind of date fixing for marriage never resulted in favor. However, for the sake of formalities, we soon come to you for a formal fix. so that you people may not fall back on someone else for matches” said Shekhar.
There is no one to stop Shekhar from coming here. Tanmayi was very happy to see her mother when she talked with him in a very normal way as if she had nothing against him.
Tanmayi was earlier afraid that this problem may persist and cannot be solved so easily, For heaven’s sake somehow it’s cleared.
That day Bhanumurthy said to Sekhar, “Look here, Babu! We think it would be a good thing if the Pellichupulu and engagement traditionally took place…Your visits to our house may attract the neighborhood’s attention…He was going to say something, but Shekhar stopped him in the middle and said, “That’s right, Mamaiah! You might know that I am trying for a job. As soon as I get successful in this pursuit, I will go with it. Until then I don’t come here, as you wished,” with a bit of discomfort in his face he told it.
Jyoti intervened and said, Tanmayi will finish her degree next year, and we think of her marriage in the same year. We wish you success in all your efforts by the time.”
Sekhar rose taking leave and said, “Attamma I just go once to Tanmayi ” and he got into her room.
Tanmayi who was listening to all this ran to the backyard and turned her back to him watching those creepers and flower plants.
It’s greatly tormenting her heart and she hardly refrained from it. It is a very difficult test to face and to stay away from Sekhar, but inevitable. She thought to herself, why do these human beings suffer from the separation of souls, not found anywhere else in the creation? Is it not possible for a human being to lead a simple life, like a flowering plant spreading happiness to all? The evening homeward birds reached the backyard tree, happily greeting and chatting in their nests. When will we get married and have a life of our own?
When she heard the call “Tanmayi!” from behind, her eyes filled with tears, she called him, “Shakku!” so lovingly and suddenly collapsed, as if she had no energy to stand, on the basement plate of the well.
Shekhar stood in front of her and said, “I will come again, don’t worry, As I am feeling lonesome at home, I came here, but your people seem…Leave it! My time is bad.”
Jyoti was watching them from the opposite kitchen, pretending as if she didn’t notice their existence.
Tanmayi spoke out something Shekhar could only hear and finally said, “Shakku! Be sure to write letters,”
Not caring much for her words, he said, “What is wrong in coming here to your people? If I go to Vizag tomorrow I don’t know when I can come back.” Then again he added,
“It’s okay! What did you say? – write letters! Why don’t you ask your father to arrange a phone connection at home? He sarcastically added, What do your people do with lots of money?
Tanmayi lost her words suddenly, Can he ever understand the twirling pain in my heart? She doesn’t like to answer him.
Yet, She managed to raise her voice and said, “You need a phone because you are in the town. Here in the village, What do we use it for? She said it indifferently.
He muttered, “The real need is in villages. If there is any urgency, still using telegrams, letters…!”
“But your mother’s authority leads everything at home. When she feels a need in it, the connection comes then.” Beating his forehead, this is what the kharma you people deserve, ” Don’t you know what our phone number is? you can call me from the STD booth at least, if there is anything you need to say, tell my mother if I am unavailable, my mother is not as rigorous as your mother.”
Tanmayi doesn’t like that conversation between them. He surged in frustration.
She couldn’t bear his scornful remarks toward her parents. Doesn’t he know it? or knowingly doing it? Why is he doing it while I love him?
“There is no meaning in your words or your thoughts,” She said.
“Okay then! I get back only after getting a job” He rushed out hastily.
Tanmayi was about to break into tears, yet she restrained herself. If this chat leaks out to anyone things will go awry.
She ran upstairs. Shekhar was at the corner of the street.
She burst into tears. As she couldn’t cope with herself, she slumped near the jasmine creeper.
She began to think for a long while about how to evade such pungent conversations in the future.
She thinks of sharing it with Vanaja, but she was sent away to help her sick Peddamma by her parents.
She doesn’t know when she will come. The letter she posted came back after a week as it might be posted to the wrong address.
Her heart wailed silently, half for Vanaja and half for Shekhar. The anguish in her grew day by day, she felt lonesome and miserable. She picked up a book on English literature randomly, turned the paper, and began to translate a poem into Telugu.
The poem “I find no peace” by Thomas Wyatt is altogether contemplative of her state of mind.
She began to read it aloud.
“నా యుద్ధం ముగిసింది
అయినప్పటికీ నాకు శాంతి లేదు
నేను భయపడతాను ఆశ పడతాను
నేను నిలువెల్లా దహించుకుపోతాను
మంచులా గడ్డకట్టుకుపోతాను
నేను గాలివాటున అల్లలాడగలను
కానీ కాళ్ళూనుకొని ఎగరలేను
నాకు శాంతి లేదు
When she finalized it, she felt relieved.
There onwards her studies became her best companions and dearest friends.
She passionately read English literature for hours together and started translating intoTelugu.
In addition, She made it a hobby to read Telugu literature as well.
Tanmayi soon stepped into the Third year Degree course.
***
She hadn’t received any reply from Sekhar, She thought that he would have been annoyed at her. So she went to the booth and made a call to his house.
Devi, Shekhar’s mother, attended the call pleasantly and asked her,
“How do you do Tanmayi?”
After a formal talk, Devi said, “Shekhar asked whether you had called me! Is there anything else you would like to convey to him?”
“Attayya ! nothing in particular! just tell him to write a letter” she blushed.
“Tanmayi! you have good news! Shekhar joined a job yesterday” Devi
happily said.
Tanmayi felt delighted and said, “Thank you Attamma!” and put down the phone.
She was floating in the air and hurried back home. She wound her hands around her granny happily.
She spent the whole day in great pleasure.
The next day Bhanumurthy said to Jyoti, “We now get ready for marriage preparations to Tanmayi before completing her degree. I learned that the boy joined a job somewhere in a Shipping company where his younger brother works.”
Jyoti said, “Sure! Moreover, my mother’s health is also not well. She desperately wants her granddaughter married at once.
All those barriers cleared Tanmayi once Shekhar won their faith.
Shekhar came first after he joined the job.
Tanmayi asked him at least four times the same question, “How is the sea in Vizag?”
Shekhar, remembering it, said to her,” Haven’t you been more interested in me anymore rather than the Vizag Sea?”
Tanmayi was taken aback and said, “It’s Okay! say something about your job!”
“What is there to say? I help my owner in collecting money for him, a mere clerical job! a strange thing is, money comes plenty by evening, but stays nothing in our hands at the end of the day.”
Tanmayi said hesitantly, “But your father said…You’re working in some…Shipping company…something like that…”
“Of course it’s… Our owner had fishing boats. He hired a few of them. I deal with them. My brother works for their boats looking for labor for their boats and markets the commodities. Tell anyone that I’m working in a Shipping company, so that it sounds honorable to all,” Shekhar said.
“I forgot why I came here, indeed I am going to bring up fixing our marriage with our parents. Our father said that your parents are informed of their arrival soon by talking about certain routines.
Suddenly Tanmayi felt sickened, thinking about her parents.
She was brought up all these years by her Dad, Mom, and Granny and leaves everyone now, going with a newcomer. She shared her pain with Shekhar.
“Well! You people, including yourself, have chewed my brain all these days linking marriage with a job. Now, when it comes to an end, don’t pitch it to another tune! Shekhar said it impatiently.
Tanmayi felt agony in her heart.
***
The next day Tanmayi ran to Vanaja’s house happily, knowing her arrival. She decided to scold her for her longtime disappearance all these months.
Vanaja suddenly said,” Shall I say something curious? In the next Vaishakha masam, I would have my marriage! She happily declared blushing.
Tanmayi, holding her hands and waving them to and fro happily, asked,” You wicked! This is what you are doing at Peddamma’s house all these days!”
“It happened all of sudden. One of our relatives who came to see my Peddamma saw me and fixed a match for me with her lad, and everything followed briskly, and finally Muhurtham! ” Vanaja in a fit of excitement narrated it in a single breath.
“I choked to convey this news to you! By the way, Why don’t you write a letter to me all these days?” She pretended to be irritated.
“Have you? The letter I wrote you had thrown out back!” She retorted.
“I am badly busy there! No single moment is in spare, Oh! by all means, I came back to my parents,” She heaved a sigh of relief.
” Hope my degree is finished before your marriage so that I can be freer in spirit!” Tanmayi said.
” Hope so to you too! Vanaja added, kidding,” And the girl’s studies go up to the attic!”
Tanmayi firmly maintained, “No way like that! Studies first to all other things.
***
In the next week, The elders arrived for marriage talks, and Shekhar’s father Balaji didn’t come.
In every marital-related talk, he stayed away. He said Tanmayi too.
Tanmayi said to Sekhar, “You have no sisters, yet your mother demands Aada Bidda dowry. Why?”
” Hello! Look here! We are brothers even to our Pinni’s daughters. You are a single daughter to your parents. What they do with all these properties, our people are cheerful in such formalities. Don’t meddle into such things.” Shekhar said it very typically with a smile.
Tanmayi doesn’t like such bargaining dowry and complementaries.
She felt sensitive in such matters, particularly giving pain to her parents.
She intended to ask but could not ask Shekhar, ” You said you love me, then why this dowry and formalities?”
When they dispersed, Jyoti commented, ” These people have exceptional longings ” sighing disappointedly.
” These things happen, few are inevitable, better than preceding matches, at least they are not asking for entire property on single daughter pursuit!” Bhanumurthy said.
Narasamma’s happiness has no bounds! She said to Tanmayi lovingly, ” If everything goes well and you get married this year, I owe Suryanarayana Swamy sweet boorelu.”
It’s learned that Shekhar’s father wasn’t satisfied with those first-round pursuits, so they asked our parents to come there for second-round bargaining.
Tanmay’s head reeled.
On that evening, after coming from there, Jyoti in a tone of frustration evoked,” That mother talked so rigorously with us! She obliged everything that day, suddenly she twisted her tongue before her man as if we were condensing their demand. Let the useless alliance go away, we get another one for our daughter.”
Tanmayi could understand from these occurrences that the terms were bad, she felt disappointed at this development of things.
She hurried there and declared aloud, “I don’t want to marry”
Jyoti, looking sharply at her, retorted,” Why do you get angry if I am talking about those people?”
Tanmayi was about to break into tears, she said to herself, This is what my mother understands about me! Am I thinking of those people?
Bhanumurthy heaved a sigh and said, “Stop these things, we have given a word there already! We should not take back as they did.
Though their cravings are unreasonable, we told them that we just offer as much as we can. If they will, they communicate to us”
He turned to Tanmayi and said, ” Better, don’t engage any letters to that boy”
*****
(Continued next month)
A post graduate in English literature and language and in Economics. A few of my translations were published. I translated the poems of Dr. Andesri , Denchanala, Ayila Saida Chary and Urmila from Telugu to English. I write articles and reviews to magazines and news papers. To the field of poetry I am rather a new face.