My Grandma and Palmyrah!

My maternal Grandma, Magadalena Mary, was my best friend from my childhood who taught me the philosophy of life.  She was a mother of 11 children and grandmother of 48, but I am certain that I was the most favorite among them all.  I was not regular to school till Standard IV (middle school), but learnt a lot from her.

There were various kinds of trees & flowers in her home.  The most fascinating favorite, for me, was the palm tree in the backyard.  There was a well without walls, but full with water anytime of the year.  She'll make me to sit under this palm tree while washing the vessels.  This was the time that I had the opportunity to listen to some most interesting stories.  While listening to her stories, I'll enjoy watching birds like palm swift building their nest.  Most of the time, ripened ice apple ('Kadukaai', கடுக்காய் in Tamil) falls from the tree.  I would run to pick it and eat, but my Grandma would never allow me to eat them.  The reason she would tell me, "Ice apple is good for health, but not Kadukaai (ripened Ice apple).  It will cause stomach ache."  Her explanation would not suffice the adamantly screaming child that wants to eat them.  Grandma immediately would ask my uncle to bring ice apples from her palmyrah tree farm.  Imagine a 3-year-old kid eats 10 to 15 ice apples a day!  But that was what I was having for my breakfast, no wonder.  And there brings grandma, my coffee, made of palm jaggery.  Oh! how I love it!  The very taste still waters my mouth.  When its eleven in the morning, I'll get hot 'padhaneer kanji' (பதநீர் கஞ்சி) made out of the natural drink neera from palmyrah and rice.  In the evening, I get palm 'kilangu' பனங்கிழங்கு and palm fruit.  Needless to say, I grew up as a healthy girl getting all the nutrition / vitamin from all edibles from the palm.  The palm fruit, especially, is very delicious.  It subsides the excess heat generated in the body.

Panai Jaggery is being prepared from Palm Juice

Every year, my grandma used to plant new palm saplings.  I remember, once, I asked her this question, "Why are you doing it as a custom?"

Her answer was, "Don't you like the palm fruit?  ice apple? palm candy?"

"I love them grandma!"  I answered.

She then asked me "Don't you like the pond of our village?"

"Sure!" I said, "Its full with beautiful lotus.  The ever-living waters where you taught me swimming."

Now she said, "To save the traditional tree which is bound to our culture and heritage, my dear, we need to plant more."  She went on to say in her own style, "Planting palm tree preserves mother earth, nature, the water bodies like our village pond.  Do you know, my child, this tree is the best friend of mankind?  Let me tell you... each and every part of this tree is used in one way or other."

Yes, what my grandma said was absolutely correct.  Even now, as I re-live that evergreen talk, I remember, I was fanning the breeze with palm leaf!

Not long after that conversation, it was time for my grandma to say goodbye to this world.  After her, I was brought up in town and never wanted to visit the village again.

Several years later, I had to visit the same village for some cause.  Wait...! Did I say 'same village'?  No, it wasn't the same.  While my heart pounded to see that pond, that palm tree, and the beauty of the place, I never thought that I would see what I saw.  To make the long tragedy short, most of the palm trees in that village were cut, for money, by the farmers themselves who planted it.  They've gone to look for alternative trade.  I couldn't locate the pond.  People showed me a thorn bush and said that's where the pond used to be.  I had to return absolutely disheartened.  Since then, my mind was contemplating over this loss and I ended up making a decision.

Not long after..., I started learning the uses of palm tree and started working with the palmyrah farmers.  Thanks to my profession, being a professor, I invest at least a part of my lecture, to inculcate environmental consciousness, awareness, and values.  For the past six years, I have engaged my beloved student community with palmyrah tree toddy tappers in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin Districts.

Me and my students with palmyra toddy tapper in the field.

I gratefully acknowledge my friends and supporters, Dr. Sethu Kumanan, Chairman, Sethu Bhaskara Group of Institutions, Mr. Bharathi, Director, RUDSET, and my co-worker, Samson.  Now, I am happy to see my grandma's assignment continued with farmers planting palm seedling.  This has made me feel that I have successfully crossed few milestones, but I agree with Robert Frost when he says, "Miles to go before I sleep."

The palmyra tree is one of our nature's best defense mechanism that can be saved; as well as our planet.

அம்மாவின் கையெழுத்து

நேர்க்கோட்டில் கோர்க்கப்பட்ட

குன்னிமுத்துக்களாக

அம்மாவின் மனசுபோல

சீரான எழுத்துக்கள்

செத்துப்போனவனின்

கபாலச் சிரிப்பென

கரடுமுரடாய்

என் கையெழுத்து

எனக்கு மட்டும்

ஏன் இப்படி

கழுத்தைச் சாய்த்து

கைகளை உதறி

சிணுங்கும் என்னிடம்

கையெழுத்து நல்லா இல்லேன்னா

தலையெழுத்து நல்லாயிருக்கும்

இலைகளெல்லாம் உதிர்ந்துபோன

மொட்டை மரத்தில்

ஒட்டியிருக்கும்

ஒரே ஒரு ஒற்றைப் பூவாய்

புன்னகையுடன் சொல்லும்

அம்மா!

அப்படியா

உனக்கு தலையெழுத்து

நல்லாயில்லையா?

உலகம் உருண்டையா

இல்லை சதுரம்தான்

என்று

குட்டைப் பென்சிலால்

கோடு கிழித்துக் காட்டும்

சுபாவம் எனக்கு.

என் கேள்விக்கெல்லாம்

கன்னத்தில் முத்தத்தைப்

பதிலாக்கி விடுவாள் அம்மா!

அந்தக் கணத்தில்

கேள்வி வீச்சின்

வீரியம் குறையும் தான்

மண்டை மண்டையாய்

எழுதியிருக்கிறாயே

டீச்சர்

உச்சி மண்டையில்

ஓங்கி அடிக்கும்போது

வலியோடு வேகமெடுக்கும்

அதே கேள்வி.

கெணத்துல

தண்ணி எறைக்கப்

போனியா?

கருப்பனோட

கொஞ்சப் போனியா?

வண்டி வண்டியா

ஒங்கப்பன்

சீர் கொடுத்துட்டான்

கல்லு கம்மல்ல

மினுக்கலேன்னா என்னடி

கழற்றிக் குடுத்தா

கொறஞ்சுப் போய்டுவியோ?

எல்லா இரவுகளிலும்

ஏதோ ஒரு

கேள்வியோடு

அம்மாவின் கதறலோடு

போட்டியிட்டு ஜெயிக்கும்

விளக்க மாத்து சப்தம்.

தேடிப் பிடித்து

குடிகார அப்பன்

கடிக்கும்

நல்லி எலும்பில்

கேட்கும்

என் அம்மாவின்

உயிர் ஓலம்.

கடைசியாய்

ஊரெல்லாம்

கடனை வச்சுட்டுப்

பொட்டப் புள்ளையோட

மூளியாய் விட்டுட்டுப்

போய்ட்டானே

அம்மாவைக்

கட்டியணைத்து

ஊர் கூடி

அழுத போது

கையெழுத்து கதை

உண்மைதான் என்று

உறுதியானது எனக்கு.

எப்படியும்

படித்துவிடு

படி அரிசிக்காகப்

படாதபாடுபட்ட

அம்மா

அல்லும் பகலும் சொன்னதில்

பட்டதாரியாகி

வேலையும் கிடைத்தது.

கூலி வேலைக்கு

உடல் நலத்தைக்

கூலியாகக் கொடுத்து

அம்மா

சிறுகச் சிறுகச்

சேர்த்து வைத்த

சிறுவாட்டுப் பணம்

தோடும் வளையலும்

காசு மாலையுமாய்

என்னுடம்பில்

மாறிய பிறகு

மாலையிட வந்தவன்

பத்தாங்கிளாஸ்

படித்திருந்தாலும்

பார்த்துக்கொள்வான்

என்று

அம்மா

கைபிடித்துக்

கொடுத்தாள்

கண்டிப்பாய்

என் தலையெழுத்து

நிமிர்ந்திருக்கும்

எனும் நினைப்பில்

நாலெழுத்துப் படிச்சுட்ட

தெனாவுட்டா?

நாலாவது நாளே

இன்னும் என் நினைவு

வங்கியில்

பத்திரப்படுத்தியிராத

என் கணவன்

என்ற

அந்த அந்நியன்

ஓங்கி அறைந்ததில்

உறுதியானது

பெண்களுக்கு

கையெழுத்து எப்படியிருந்தாலும்

தலையெழுத்து

ஒரே மாதிரிதான்!

Rev. Fr. Dr. S. Rajanayagam, a Unique Phenomenon in Tamil Postmodern Literature.

- I. Josephine Jeyashanthi, Dept. of Tamil Literature, Loyola College

Rev. Fr. Dr. S. Rajanayagam, a multifaceted personality, media expert, media critic, an intellectual giant, has made valuable contribution to Tamil literature, media, culture, and society.  This paper discusses the contribution of Rev. Fr. Dr. S. Rajanayagam to Tamil literature, especially in the postmodern genre.  His unique way of writing is a challenge to readers, writers, and also critics.  His books explore not only the psychological world of adults, but also children.

The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post-World War II literature. It is both a continuation of the experimentation championed by writers of the modernist period (relying heavily, for example, on fragmentation, paradox, questionable narrators, etc.) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact characteristics, scope, and importance of postmodern literature.

The distinction between high and low culture is also attacked with the employment of pastiche, the combination of multiple cultural elements including subjects and genres not previously deemed fit for literature.

Here I’ve taken his novels ‘Kaalamatra Kaalam’, ‘Saamikkannu enum sila manidhargal’, ‘sila mudivugalum, sila thodakkangalum’, and his poetry collection titled ‘Rojaakkal Kaaippadhillai’.

The plots of his novels are not easy to summarize.  These are the stories of a visitation from the past and the consequent upheaval in the emotional lives of its characters.  Rev. Fr. Dr. S. Rajanayagam’s technique is to thread various narratives together using the present tense to convey the vividness of the memories of his characters.  If we analyze his novel ‘Saamikkannu enum sila manidhargal’, we understand that his writings have a rich, many-layered structure which generates as many interpretations and readings as its eponymous character.  It is universal in its appeal:  the mysterious style and lyrical beauty combine with messages and images that maul the reader’s sensibility and conscience, making it a complex novel that is at times difficult and painful to read, but always rewarding.  The novel examines the inner conflicts of individuals which obviously raise controversial questions in reader’s mind, which itself is a success of any writing.

When we analyze ‘Kaalamatra Kaalam’, it is a new kind of writing melding and interlocking different accounts and versions of events, to create a fictional response to the emotional struggles of individuals.

We could see the tone of satire throughout this novel which enhances to enjoy the pleasure of text.  It also challenges and questions the sexual politics prevailing in all sections of society including religion, the ‘so-called’ sacred part of human life.  We should appreciate the straightforward writing of the author to openly discuss the sex and its need. His unique way of writing and the language do not fall under any already-framed traditional structure.

Hans-Peter Wagner’s comments on the writings of Beckett is also applicable to Dr. Rajanayagam’s writings.  He says, "Mostly concerned with what he saw as impossibilities in fiction (identity of characters; reliable consciousness; the reliability of language itself; and the rubrication of literature in genres).”  Dr. Rajanayagam's experiments with narrative form and with the disintegration of narration and character in fiction that must be read in light of his own theories and previous works and the attempt to deconstruct literary forms and genres.  For example, his novel ‘Sila mudivugalum, sila thodakkangalum’ is developed as a criticism for his own work ‘Saamikkannu enum sila manidhargal’.

Here literary critics may wonder whether ‘Sila mudivugalum, sila thodakkangalum’ is a replica of Sundara Ramasamy’s ‘Virivum Aazhamum Thaedi’, a commentary on his own writings, but ‘Sila mudivugalum, sila thodakkangalum’ is totally a different kind of work.  In other words, it is another story rediscovering the previous work ‘Saamikkannu enum sila manidhargal’.  The influence of his experiments with metafiction and magical realism (a movement coterminous with postmodernism) is fully realized in this novel.

It's common for postmodernists to treat serious subjects in a playful and humorous way.

Linda Hutcheon claimed postmodern fiction as a whole could be characterized by the ironic quote marks, that much of it can be taken as tongue-in-cheek. This irony, along with black humor and the general concept of "play" (related to Derrida's concept or the ideas advocated by Dr. Rajanayagam in all his writings.  But as a narrator, he has emotional detachment from his writings though he himself seems to be a character or even hiding himself in all the characters.

Dr. Rajanayagam attempted to replicate the underprivileged female slave’s voice, her ‘unpseakable thoughts, unspoken’.  The result is a new kind of poetry collection titled ‘Rojaakkal Kaaipadhillai’.  It is interesting to feminists due to its focus on women.

Even in the religious sphere, women have no dominant role or authority.  The dominant gods are male.  Their representatives are also male.  She is the temptress, in the image of Eve.  The submissive, chaste, hardworking, even suffering wife is held up as the ideal.  They are used and socially marginalized.  Not living as a woman, but espousing virginity, is her only way of gaining a certain respect.  The woman is often considered ritually impure, because of her menstruation.  ‘Rojaakkal Kaaippadhillai’ seriously discusses these issues where we can see Dr. Rajanayagam as a writer conscious of his intent and its effect.  In his sure hands, the reader of ‘Rojaakkal Kaaippadhillai’ enjoys the terrible poems which shaken their mind.  The portrayal of women, their sufferings tell us that the aim of his writing these poems is to bear witness to a history that is unrecorded, untaught in mainstream education.

We can compare his writings with American writer, Gabriele Dietrich

A poem by Gabriele Dietrich makes a powerful link between the blood of the Cross, the bleeding women and the Eucharist.

Who are you

to deny life

to the life-givers?

Each one of you

has come from the womb

but none of you

can bear woman …

I am a woman

and my monthly bloodshed

makes me aware

that blood

is meant for life.

It is you

who have invented

those lethal machines

spreading death:

Three kilotonnes of explosives

for every human being

on earth.

…

I am a woman

and my blood

cries out.

We are millions

and strong together.

You better hear us

or you may be doomed

Dr. Rajanayagam’s poems are stronger and more powerful than the above-mentioned poem in usage of language and depth of meaning.  Gabriele Dietrich is challenging priests who treat women as impure and polluting factor because of their menstruation.

I am a woman

and the blood

of my sacrifices

cries out to the sky

which you call heaven.

I am sick of you priests

who have never bled

and yet say:

This is my body

given up for you

and my blood

shed for you

drink it.

Whose blood

has been shed

for life

since eternity?

I am sick of you priests…

It is quite interesting to note that when a feminist writer like Gabriele Dietrich curse priests for their insensitive and indifferent attitude towards women, our author Dr. Rajanayagam, being a priest evokes the suffering and bloodshed imposed on women in abortion, rape, birth control, and domestic labor.

It is a general opinion or criticism that only women can understand and express their sufferings, both physical and mental, but Dr. Rajanayagam has proved this concept to be false.

When we read the painful lines of ‘Rojaakkal Kaaippadhillai’, we recall Kate Millet’s quotes from ‘Sexual Politics’:

“No doubt also, the very existence of the inner productive space exposes women early to a specific sense of loneliness, to a fear of being left empty or deprived of treasures, of remaining unfulfilled and of drying up . . . For, as pointed out, clinical observation suggests that in female experience an “inner space” is at the center of despair even as it is the very center of potential fulfillment.  Emptiness is the female form of perdition – known at times to men of the inner life . . . but standard experience for all women.  To be left, for her, means to be left empty . . . such hurt can be re-experienced in each menstruation; it is a crying to heaven in the mourning over a child; and it becomes a permanent scar in the menopause.”

The ideal Postmodernist writing will somehow rise above the quarrel between realism and irrealism, formalism and 'contentism,' pure and committed literature, coterie fiction and junk fiction.  But, we cannot claim Dr. Rajanayagam as an ideal postmodernist because he has reached the next milestone.  His books are a source of comment for all kinds of readers, men and women, who read for pleasure and those who study the text for academic ends.  One will need to read his writings more than once which will generate new ideas and take the reader to a new platform.

***** ----- *****