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Stories / Novel – The Halo Reams
The Settlements
by TA Ramesh
The regular
meets of Kannan and his friends had gone to the winds. Instead, every
week the meets of Kannan and Meena took place at the exact times. Every
day he met her at 6 p.m. and discussed with her about the characters,
the incidences and the scenes of the concerned part of the novel till 8
p.m. Every Sunday he happened to meet some of his old friends or his Ex-Haleons
between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the Venus Café and conversed with them in
order to know something about the general affairs and business of the
town. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. he dictated to her the complete matters of
the concerned part he had discussed with her for the whole week. There
after he took her to his house and enjoyed with her a delicious lunch
and dinner prepared by the able hand of his mother-in-law. His
father-in-law too was very much pleased to see them in that happy mood
every week.
Kannan totally forgot the existence of his friends in the town after he
got the life companionship of Meena. The failure of his friends to turn
up to his house in order to express their regret for their inability to
meet him for their usual discussions for the correct understanding of
the matters concerned with their respective subjects or general subjects
useful to everyone of them did not breed any sort of malice in the heart
of Kannan. However the letter correspondences between him and Balu
ceaselessly continued like a free flowing river. Kannan was quite happy
about his friendship with Balu, his love with Meena and his company with
his father-in-law and mother-in-law. That life was sufficient and
satisfying to him and he did not expect much more than that.
A month had passed away. In the first week of October, like a bolt from
the blue, Selvam, with a great nervousness and excitement extended to
him his wedding invitation card and kindly requested him to attend his
marriage function in order to make that a grand success with everyone in
his family. Gopal said to Kannan that they could together attend the
marriage of their friend so that Selvam could be comfortable and really
happy in the ensuing function. Kannan could not say much, but simply
wished Selvam well. There upon they took leave of him and Kannan
prepared himself for his usual affair. It became an obligation for him
to honour the wedding invitation extended to him in his own house.
The night before the wedding day had come. As per the suggestion of
Gopal, Kannan decided to go to the wedding place that night itself and
spend the night joyfully among his friends. He made his way to the far
North end of the town along with Gopal carrying a beautifully packed
presentation material in his hand. By the time, they reached the wedding
hall where the marriage had to take place the following morning between
3 to 4 a.m. they could not see even a single companion of their sort.
Kannan saw Gopal with a great questioning look. Placing an encouraging
hand over the shoulder of Kannan, Gopal entered the inside door of the
big hall. Some elderly people requested them to have a cup of milk being
carried by a servant maid on the way. But the friends coolly requested
them to supply the milk to others as they too belonged to the
bridegroom’s party and went further inside to meet the bridegroom Selvam,
who was approaching them after having seen them walking in the centre of
the hall. Selvam shook hands with them and immediately scolded Gopal for
having come there so bluntly late along with Kannan with out fixing any
sort of programme before hand. They further came to understand that
every one of their sort had come and gone out too. Selvam, then, left
them by requesting them to present themselves there the following
morning without fail.
They came out to the road. Kannan purchased two packs of Wills cigarette
with one match box from a petty shop there. They further planned to meet
somehow or other a few companions who could have gone to the movie
running in a touring cinema theatre a furlong from that place. Kannan
lit a cigarette and offered the pack to Gopal in order to enjoy a long
and cool smoke. They could not find even a single fellow they knew well
in the theatre too! So, they set their foot to meet Vaithianathan, who
was living in a house situated one kilometer from that theatre.
Everything was dark because the time was 11.30p.m. They walked the
complete distance with a new sort of sensation till they reached the
house of Vaithianathan.
With a great astonishment, Vaithianathan asked them what made them to
come to his house at that unusual hour. Gopal coolly explained to him
about what he had planned to do along with Kannan and what had happened
to them. BY the time Vaithianathan’s mother too had come there from
inside the house and on knowing those friend’ intention, she suggested
to them to take rest in the house itself as after an elapse of three
hours they all had to get up, have bath and go to the wedding party.
Both the friends accepted it and willingly decided to take rest on the
verandah by refusing the wish of the whole family to remain inside the
house as both of them felt that it would be a great disturbance to
others.
After the doors were closed, Kannan lit a cigarette and offered the
other materials to the custody of Gopal. The night was cool and calm.
Kannan enjoyed smoking the cigarette to the best he could. Two hours
went by without any notice. Vaithianathan opened the door of the house
and came out to wake them up. Kannan was not asleep and so, he along
with Vaithianathan made Gopal to get up from his sleep. They all had a
French bath, a cup of hot coffee and the friends and all the members of
the family made a quick move to the wedding place.
The renowned South Indian Carnatic music attracted the on coming people
and the beautifully decorated illumination settings welcomed everyone to
enter the wedding hall. Kannan and his friends took a convenient seat in
the hall to observe the wedding proceedings going on there. The short
man Selvam had actually selected a mango red coloured lady as his bride.
Many had come to bless the couple. The friends had also come to bless
the couple. The friends were happy to listen to the marriage rituals
going on there in the centre of the hall. The bridegroom was sitting
there in dhoti performing the religious duties as per the direction of
the priests. The marriage madapam looked very small due to the in-rush
of the crowd. Hence the friends could not talk much with Selvam or see
properly the bride. However from along distance it was quite clear to
note that the bride was decorated much with jewels from head to foot.
After the ceremony, people took fiftin on the floor. The items included
in the tiffin were a sweet boiled cake, kesari pongal and coffee.
Finally they got the opportunity to see the couple while taking photos
with them. The couple was matching with one another.
The time passed without any one’s notice. It was heard there that the
bride was decorated with 30 sovereigns of Gold and the bridegroom was
donated with a cash of Rs. 10,000. A clandestine note spread in the area
of the friends that the couple was going to enjoy their honey moon in a
nearby village and in the library of a near by town. Some people said
that Selvam was a lucky person and had settled in life with a good lady.
The friends gave their presents and wishes to the couple, took leave of
them and somehow escaped from the crowds.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Balu could not come for the marriage of Selvam as he was busy with his
exam preparation works. Vaithianathan’s mother could not get on well
after that marriage, as suitable brides were not available for her son.
In a state of hysteria she uttered to her relatives that she would
certainly bag a freshly blossomed flower for the sake of decorating the
life of her son. The selection of a bride for Gopal also went on at a
full swing. Gopal’s mother too seemed to have been going on a
negotiation with a would be father-in-law of Gopal as far as the dowry
matter was concerned. Gopal did not interfere in here adventure. She
tried for a dowry of 5+4 sovereigns of Gold and a cash of Rs. 1000 or so
with the party of the bride. Balu’s father also did not remain in
inertia. He set out in search of good and suitable brides for his son.
It was impossible for Kannan to predict whose marriage would take place
next. Every day he talked about those matters with his lady, while he
had headlong plunged in dictating suitable matters to her for his maiden
novel.
In the second week of December, Gopal gave his wedding invitation card
to Kannan and requested him to attend his marriage function going to be
held in the third week of the same month in a village near Cuddalore.
The marriage function was a simple one. Gopla’s friends, important
relatives and one or two dignitaries came for the marriage. Gopal’s
better half was educated up to BA, BEd. and was working as a school
teacher in Cuddalore. They were perfectly matching well. Kannan and
other friends congratulated the couple, wished them a prosperous life,
gave them a huge presentation collectively and took leave of them
immediately in order to attend to their other engagements. Though Gopal
wanted to settle himself in an established position in his legal
profession first, he had to get married to settle himself in life,
because he had happened to be the eldest son of a big family with many
sisters and brothers and everyone expected him to remain with them
together and show them a better way of life by actively participating in
the affairs of the whole family. Though it was a difficult
responsibility for him, yet he had to shoulder it one day or other. Balu
could not come for the second marriage also as that occurred within a
very short notice to everyone concerned. Kannan wrote to him in a
detailed letter regarding the position of Gopal, the marriage ceremony
and the responsibility he had to shoulder in the future.
- - ---------
By the end of that year Kannan had developed the story of his novel to a
great extent. He had almost beautifully completed more than sixteen
chapters with the sustained encouragement and the able assistance of
Meena. Kannan revealed to Balu only about the love affair with Meena and
his secret venture of writing a novel. Other friends were totally
unaware of those astonishing facts. Kannan wanted to keep those matters
in suspense till he finished his ambitious work of art. In his letter,
on the last week of December, to Balu alone he announced his intention
that the novel would get into the print with in a period of four months.
For each and everyone of his letter Kannan regularly received kind and
encouraging response from Balu. He shared all of his happy news, ideas
and thoughts with his beloved Meena.
Yet another New Year too came. Kannan sent New Year greeting cards to
everyone concerned. He wished prosperity and life long happiness to
everyone he met everywhere. Quite early on that day he met Vaithianathan
in the Venus cafe. Vaithianathan looked to be quite indifferent in that
crowded Café. He was not in a cheerful mood, which was a great
contradiction against the general mood of cheerfulness prevailing there
on that New Year Day.
On enquiry, Kannan came to understand for the first time certain facts
regarding Vaithianathan’s marriage affair which was the cause for his
general break down. Vaithianathan’s mother had been going on seeing so
many brides in order to select one bride most suitable to him. A few
months ago actually she had selected a beautiful bride. While the
parents of the bride visited her house to see the bridegroom
Vaithianathan, she out of overwhelming happiness decorated the bride,
who had also come with them, with many jewels. On their departure, she
did not take back the jewels from the bride. After an elapse of a few
days some of the relatives of Vaithianathan’s mother created a bad
impression about the mother and the son in the minds of the bridal party
by telling them a story basing some misunderstanding of the past between
them and Vaithianathan’s family. Due to this set-back, the marriage
matter got postponed for months together. Finally she came to understand
that the bride’s side was not interested to have alliance with them.
More over jewels had also not been returned to Vaithianathan’s mother.
On enquiry they got the response that the jewels were not at all taken
by them. Vaithianathan, her mother and others could not do anything with
them and they were afraid to see some other bride due to the adverse
intervention of their relatives in their affairs everywhere.
Kannan, who got a clear picture of Vaithianathan’s position, told him to
forget the past and search for a better bride without the knowledge of
anyone of his own family. That way he could settle his marriage matter
in a concrete way. And in addition to that suggestion Kannan wished him
that he would get married before the end of that year itself.
Vaithianathan became cheerful and talked with him about man things such
as his office works, his new interest in photography and a few more
unknown matters regarding Selvam.
From Vaithianathan he came to know that a rumor had prevailed in the
area in which Selvam lived regarding the conversion of Selvam to
Christianity by some local people there who mistook the general
acceptance of all the religions as one by visiting the church whenever
possible by him had been taken as a proof of confirmation of the rumor
by the neighbors gave him a sort of irritable uneasiness whenever he
entered or left his house and he was quite restive at home for a period
of six months or so as the other members of his family too admonished
him very much believing the rumors to be a real fact. Only his marriage
had put an end to the great confusion which had been prevailing in his
locality and clarified everyone there that he was what had been in the
past. Kannan also felt bad to hear about that rumor, but he felt happy
that Selvam had done a right thing at the right moment to dispel the
wrong notion about him.
Then Kannan came to know about how Gopal had happened to see his
better-half since a few years back before the marriage. It seemed Gopal
had known one of the uncle of his wife working in a government office in
the town. On several occasions he had been meeting that uncle in the
Govt. Office itself on some purpose. By some rare coincidence, he had
seen her too along with her uncle many times. But he had never felt in
his heart that she would become his wife one day. For the first time,
when he had been to her house in Cuddalore along with his mother and
other relatives as a bridegroom he could not believe own eyes and was
out of wits! He had immediately given his consent to his mother and
everyone of his acceptance of the bride known to him pretty well and had
married her without any delay. Kannan felt that Gopal’s marriage had
become a natural one. He felt very much pleased to hear many good things
of the past. After he took leave of Vaithianathan, he contacted Meena
and conveyed to her those happy news in that New Year day.
From January to March he occupied himself dictating matters for the
novel at the scheduled hours. At a stretch he finished this assignment
of his own interest without any difficulty. As per his plan he included
relevant matters from Part I to Part V. But the beginning chapters of
Parts I, II and V contained only vital points in brief without
supportive details in description. He felt he had to include supportive
points wherever necessary in those three parts. It was a problem for him
to insert matters without spoiling the beauty of the course of the theme
of the whole manuscript. Whenever he added any points in anyone of the
parts, he asked Meena to read the chapters one after the other to see
how the coherence was and how the structure of the whole novel remained.
He found out a lot of mistakes in the construction of sentences. He
reduced certain sentences in some places and added a few more words to
make them beautiful and sensible in some other places. At that moment
his work was some what tedious, dry and uninteresting. Till the end of
April he was able to correct his manuscript up to Part II. As he could
not proceed further in that sort of work, he decided to have a pause for
a period of one month, so that he would be fresh with new ideas which
would be enormously helpful for him to reconstruct with new maters for
the remaining parts of the novel.
One Thursday in the second week of May, Vaithianathan phoned Kannan to
be present at home as he would like to call on him and discuss with him
on a most important personal matter. He answered him in the affirmative
and waited for him unable to guess what that important matter could be.
Vaithianathan directly came from his office to Kannan’s house after half
an hour and met his friend in his study room. He sat on a chair below
the fan and gave a printed card to Kannan. While Kannan was going
through the card, the face of Vaithianathan was sweating much, and his
heart was unusually beating high. By the time Kannan finished reading
the card, his heart beat started becoming normal. It was the wedding
invitation card of Vaithianathan. After placing it on the near by table,
Kannan appreciated the quality of the paper, the style of the letters
printed on the card and the manner in which the matter was conveyed.
Then Vaithianathan handed over the photo of the bride he had selected to
Kannan and asked for his opinion. He observed the photo in hand for
sometime. Returning back the photo to Vaithianathan, Kannan said that
the lady in it looked to be a sensitive one. He reminded him that when
the Halo activities were going on smoothly and other Haloens were
properly responding to the needs of the Halo, he was the only Haloen,
who had promised much promulgated in action less and had not written
even single report till the close of The Halo. He warned Vaithianathan
that he could very well deceive his friends, but he could not do so with
his wife who had happened to be a sensitive one. It seemed to be a great
joke for Vaithianathan. He forgot all of his worries and confusion of
mind that moment and heartily laughed for a few minutes. Kannan also
joined him and agreed that he would attend his marriage and make it a
grand success. Vaithianathan had a few glasses of ice-water, thanked him
and took leave of him.
In the next Saturday at 6 a.m. Kannan, Gopal and Selvam traveled in a
Bus to Karaikal. In Karaikal they got down from the bus at 9.10 a.m.
Within a few minutes they walked on foot to the wedding mandapam. They
were received by kind and smiling faces. They were a sprinkled with
scented water, offered sandal solution to be applied on the hands and
threat and offered sweet smelling flowers. Honoring all these welcome
ceremonies they went inside and occupied the chairs close to the wedding
couple.
The marriage ceremonies did not proceed in the traditional way. It was
carried on in a new and reformed way, wherein the self-respect of the
personalities connected and involved in the marriage was maintained. In
the traditional method it was well known that the marriage rituals were
carried out by the prohithers belonging to Brahmin caste of the Hindu
community. In the present marriage instead of the prohithers, well
versed Tamil intellectuals undertook the responsibility of carrying out
the marriage proceeds as per the rich heritage of the Tamil Culture
cherished honorably by great Tamil Kings of the Golden Age in the Tamil
Historical Literature. It was a remarkable occasion for the friends of
Kannan and other dignitaries connected, related, dear and near to
Vaithianathan and his father-in-law to witness such marriage proceeds in
that memorable day. The marriage feast was simple and fine. The three
friends of Vaithianathan conveyed their hearty wishes for a long life to
the wedding couple. Each one gave them the presents which they thought
that to be a best one in that occasion. The wedding couple matched well,
Vaithianathan too had at last settled in life.
- - - - - - - - - - -
On the 31st of May, Kannan’s mother-in-law handed over a letter to him
when he was about to leave the house in the evening in order to meet
Meena. The letter was from Balu. He opened the letter after he had
reached her room. He asked her to read out the letter for him and he lay
on her bed in a relaxed mood. He was very glad to hear the contents of
his friend’s letter. The letter conveyed the message that Balu would be
coming to the Pudhu Town on the 3rd of June. He had got a leave of two
months. Within the leave period, he would like to select a suitable
bride for him and get married too and return back to Delhi to attend his
office works. Meena asked him after reading out the letter if two month
leave would be sufficient to accomplish that mission like, calculated
plan. Kannan coolly replied her that it would not be an impossible plan.
Two days passed quickly. No sooner Balu arrived there, he contacted
first Kannan in his house around 6 p.m. Kannan first wanted to introduce
him to his beloved Meena and second, Pleased to show him the manuscript
of his first novel, an achievement in his life. In no minute they
reached the room of Meena. Balu and Meena were introduced to each other
by Kannan. Meena called the room boy and ordered him to bring good
tiffin and coffee for three of them as per the wish of Kannan. They sat
around a table there and took the tiffin. After a few minutes, the room
boy cleared the contents on the table and placed on it three sets of cup
and saucer. Then he brought there a Thermos flask, opened the cark,
poured coffee in the cups and left the room.
While taking coffee, Balu said that his father had seen a few ladies
living in places like Trichy, Tanjore, Madurai, Madras and Coimbatore
for him and that he had to go along with his father to all those places
one by one to see face to face those brides and had to give his consent
of the bride he liked most to his father so that an alliance could be
finalized then and there between his family and the bride’s family. A
week or so he had decided to allot for selecting a suitable bride for
him.
Then their talk was on the Halo meets and their friends. Finally Balu
told Kannan that a few days back, while he was reading some of the poems
and essays written by Kannan could not fail to appreciate the beauty of
THAT MIDNIGHT STAR even after the passage of a long time. He said that
he had come to the breaking point and that he could not restrain any
more from putting forth his opinions on that master piece of his. It
was, he said, excellent and the rhythm in it was exquisite for the most
part. Further he expounded that Kannan had given a good shape to his
thoughts. Balu wondered very much how dexterously Kannan could employ
the words in the appropriate places. And he hoped that Kannan would
carry on in that field creating more and more good works of art. The
poem, THAT MIDNIGHT STAR had attracted different persons due to
different reasons. Kannan was very much fascinated and inspired beyond
the limit of any human being as he happened to experience a direct
singular impact produced by the coincidence of tastes on that same poem
of the type he was too fond of as he had the personal assistance,
cooperation and support of Meena. Then he asked her to hand over a copy
of the manuscript of the novel he had finished the previous month to
Balu for his perusal criticism, comments and suggestions. He said it was
a souvenir to Balu, a partial history of their past activities and a
first novel of his own efforts to fulfil one of the cherished goals of
his ambition in life. Balu readily received the copy from Meena. He
appreciated the sincere efforts of Kannan and promised him that he would
send him a detailed review of the novel after he had gone through it at
his leisure.
Balu went on a hiking trip to different places in search of a bride he
had already conceived about in his mind along with his father. A week
had passed. No use. At home one of his relatives brought the photo of a
bride and asked Balu for his consent. He invited all the Haloens to his
house for the lunch one day and discussed with them regarding the
selection of a bride. In that connection he showed them the photo of a
bride in hand and asked for their opinion. Selvam said that the bride
was a suitable one for Balu. Vaithianathan also said that the bride was
not bad and that it would be better for Balu to get all the information
regarding the relatives of the bride, the position of her parents before
he could go and see the bride in her residence.
Within a few days all the informations came to him. He was not satisfied
and so the selection of that bride had been dropped. After two days a
letter came from Dindugal. The letter was from the father of another
bride. The bride’s family and other relatives were followers of Gandhian
philosophy. Most of the members of that group were working as officials
in various levels through out India. Balu was interested in such a
family. He immediately went to Dindugal along with his father. He saw
the bride and he gave his consent of acceptance of that bride to his
father. His father gave his word of consent to the bride’s parents. Then
they talked about fixing the date It was unanimously decided by both
sides that both the ceremonies could be conducted on the 14th and 15th
of July respectively.
Balu returned back home along with his father, conveyed the sweet news
to all of his friends and relatives and occupied himself over the matter
of selecting clothes, printing wedding invitation cards and purchasing
other articles necessary on the occasion of his marriage. Before the end
of third week of June, invitation cards were printed, clothes were
stitched into Pants and Shirts and other items were purchased. In the
last week of June Balu’s father started visiting different places to see
his relatives and to invite them for his son’s marriage. Balu on his
part met all of his friends close, near and dear and kindly invited them
to attend his marriage. All the works went on at a full swing.
Two weeks passed as If a day had ended and another day has come. On the
15th July marriage of Balu took place at the bride’s residence in
Madras. Every one came for the marriage and blessed the couple with long
life and prosperity. Next day of the marriage Balu gave a fine reception
to all of the dignitaries colleagues, friends and important persons at a
grand reception hall in Madras itself. Kannan, Gopal and Selvam
individually came and attended the function. Kannan with Meena were
standing close to the couple. Kannan and Balu were laughing for most of
the time. Gopal with his wife did the same and stood there talking with
the relatives of Balu. Vaithianathan with his wife congratulated the
couple for the success of their marriage. Gopal seeing Kannan sitting
with Meena near by the couple approaching him and slowly enquired him
when he had come there. Kannan told him that he had come first for the
function along with Meena whom would marry soon. Gopal was surprised
very much and told that sweet news to his wife. They both approached
Meena and talked with great surprise, laugher and praised her to be a
lucky one as she had been chosen by Kannan at long last as his better
half for life. Gopal and Vaithianathan talked with Balu and they did not
seem to have noticed Kannan. Gopal approached them too and said about
that happy news to them. They smiled a bit and restored their poise as
if they were talking about a trivial joke. At about 8 P.M the function
came to an end everyone took leave of the couple and vacated the hall
slowly.
At last Balu had wonderfully settled with a good lady for his life
partnership as per plan. He took leave of everyone and returned to New
Delhi along with his newly married wife to mind his duty in order to
better himself further in life. Another successful matter had added a
few more sweetness to his happiness soon after he reached Delhi. The
result of IAS Exams had come out. He had passed in the exams. Later he
had been posted to Pune for a training of six months before he was given
a post somewhere in India as an IAS Officer Truly he had successfully
settled himself both in life and in job.
~*~
One day in the
beginning of August while taking coffee at home in the evening Kannan
was musing over a topic in order to write an essay. He was brooding over
what was called the settlement. So many points came and clashed in his
mind. Settlement was also a state of mind he thought. Society preferred
to follow a routine which was changeable as tradition too. Evolution
thrived on change. Some say it was a struggle. There was joy in
creation. Everything in nature was creative under a set pattern. So
evolution was not a struggle.
For him it was creative. Change was the essence of evolution. Creation
was change. If you say a fixed routine was settlement it would be a
struggle for you in life. Settlement was not the same pattern for
everyone. There was variation in the pattern as per the taste of each
person. The settlement of a person should allow a creative change in
life than only everyone could feel free to follow a pattern that was
possible by one which was the essential ingredient contributing much to
the evolution in the larger context.
Kannan felt he had not drifted away from the right path He felt an
inward happiness to see that he was actually in line with the
evolutionary process which was beneficially aiding him to give shape to
the sensitive and beautiful thoughts of his creative mind.
–
Continued
March 9,
2008
The Halo Dreams : A Novel
Writing a Novel | The Park |
Philosophy | The Confusion |
The Conversation
The Appointment | The Journey
| The First Publication | The Change
The Secret | The Painted Veil |
The Halo Magazine | The Debts |
The Break
A Letter | A Surprise Letter |
The Literary Muse | The Souvenir |
The Questionnaire
The Reconciliation
| The Lake
| The Final Meets |
The Surprise |
The
Settlements
The Result
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