ഇന്ദുലേഖ

Chapter the First. Commencement.

Chathara Menon: Why, Madhavan, have you spoken in such a rash manner? Fie! It was not well done at all. Let him do as he pleases. Must we not submit to the *karanavar*s (the senior male heads of the joint household)? Your words have rather overstepped their bounds.

Madhavan: They have not overstepped in the least. Let no one show such stubbornness. If he is not of a mind to do it, then let it not be done. I shall take Shinnan with me. I shall see to his education.

Kummini Amma: Do not, my child. He has not yet reached an age to live apart from me. Take Chathara, or Gopalan, and have them educated. In any case, the *karanavar* is now displeased with you. Though he has been displeased with us for some time, he has held you in great affection until now.

Madhavan: Indeed. It would be a strange thing to take brother Chathara and Gopalan for an English education now.

While they stood thus conversing, a servant came and announced that Madhavan’s *ammavan* (maternal uncle), Sankara Menon, was calling for him. Madhavan at once went to his *ammavan*’s chamber.

Before this story unfolds further, it has become necessary to state here a few particulars concerning Madhavan’s circumstances. Of Madhavan’s age, the details of his *sambandham* (a conjugal alliance particular to the Nair-Namboodiri context) with Panchu Menon, and an account of the examinations he has passed, mention has already been made in the preface. What remains to be said of him, I shall state in brief.

Madhavan is a youth of surpassing intelligence and extreme grace. The distinction of his intellectual prowess was made plainly and completely evident by the very fame which he had laudably and progressively acquired at his school, from the commencement of his English studies until his passing of the B.L. degree. There was not a single examination which Madhavan did not pass upon his first attempt. He passed both the F.A. and the B.A. examinations in the first class. For his B.A. examination, his second language was Sanskrit, in which he had attained a first-rate proficiency. Having passed the B.L. in the first class and with the first rank, Madhavan had been awarded many prizes. All the masters who had taught him at school were of the conviction that they had never had amongst their pupils one who possessed greater ability and merit than Madhavan.

To any who saw and became acquainted with him, it would seem that Madhavan’s body was fashioned as a fitting habitation for this extraordinary intellect. In describing the virtues and faults of a man, it is generally unnecessary to dwell particularly upon the beauty of his physique. It is sufficient to speak of his intelligence, ability, education, manliness, and such virtues as humility. Nevertheless, I fear that my readers may at some point opine that to refrain here from a few words on Madhavan’s physical radiance would be an inadequacy in the context of this story, and for that reason I shall speak of it briefly.

His complexion was the colour of gold. Through the daily exercises he had practised for the good of his body, Madhavan’s physique in this his youthful prime was most captivating. Neither in the least overwrought with flesh, nor with any appearance of thinness, Madhavan’s arms, chest, and legs might, upon sight, be thought to have been cast in gold. He was of a considerable height. If one wished to measure Madhavan’s person, it could be done without difficulty, for his *kuduma*, which was of a length equal to the height of his knees, and of great beauty, could be used to measure him precisely to that point. The lustre and manly grace of Madhavan’s countenance, the particular beauty of each of his features and their harmony one with another, and the overall splendour that arose when his face and physical character were seen as a whole—these can only be described as wondrous. All the Europeans who were acquainted with Madhavan were, upon mere sight, struck with great admiration for him and became his well-wishers.

Whether it was from the consideration that his person and his reputation at the beginning of his youth were, in the opinion of all people, exceedingly fine, and that this was a great ornament to him which must never be lost, or whether it was from the innate quality of his mind, I know not; but I may say with certainty that Madhavan had not entered in the least into any of the dissipated pursuits that are sometimes unfortunately to be found among common youths from about the age of eighteen, in the interval before they marry and become householders. For this reason, the natural radiance of his body, his sharpness, and his manliness were a sight to behold when Madhavan reached his full youth.

That Madhavan possessed great skill in the English language, I need not say again. In English-style athletic pastimes such as Lawn Tennis and Cricket, he was likewise most adept. From his childhood, he had practised the art of the hunt; this may perhaps have been an inclination inherited from his father, Govindappanikkar, who was a great hunting enthusiast. Madhavan’s passion for the hunt was most intense; he was accustomed to carry with him, wherever he went, two or three special guns, and two or three pistols and revolvers. Until his pleasures finally turned in another direction, it was chiefly in the hunt that Madhavan found his recreation.

The servant having come and called him, Madhavan went and stood before his *ammavan*.

Sankara Menon: Madhavan, what is this I hear! What manner of disrespectful words have you spoken to the *karanavar* in his old age? Is this the fruit of his having had you educated in English? How much wealth he has spent on your account!

Madhavan: That my *ammavan* too should be of this opinion is our misfortune! When I speak the truth of a matter, I shall not, out of fear for any man, refrain from speaking. I cannot abide these kinds of injustices. I have not asked him to spend even a single coin that my grand-uncle has earned by the sweat of his brow. I have only asked that the money earned by our ancestors, which he holds in his possession for our advancement and benefit, be spent for our rightful needs. Kummini Amma and her children are not the servants of this place. Why has my grand-uncle cast them aside so cruelly? He did not have her two sons taught English—nor was Kalyani Kutty properly educated in any way. What a terrible thing he is doing! Can such injustice be shown? And now, it seems, his intention is to raise that little Shinnan like a bull-calf. To this I shall not consent. I will take him away and see that he is educated.

Sankara Menon: Punish him! Punish him! A fine thing indeed! With what will you educate him? Are you not given but fifty rupees a month? With what will you pay for his schooling? If you incur your uncle’s displeasure, many difficulties may arise. Go at once and fall at his feet.

Upon hearing the words, “If you incur your uncle’s displeasure, many difficulties may arise,” the first person of whom Madhavan thought was Indulekha. The moment this thought arose, a change of feeling became manifest upon Madhavan’s face. However, he suppressed it in an instant. Pacing to and fro in the chamber, Madhavan replied with a slight smile.

Madhavan: In what way am I displeasing him? Why should he be displeased if I speak what is just? I have no fear of that unjust displeasure of his.

Sankara Menon: Fie! Do not speak with such insolence.

Madhavan: What insolence? I do not even know the meaning of that word.

Sankara Menon: That you do not know it is the trouble. Appu! Do not, thinking that you have become clever by learning a little English, cast aside our customs and ways. Has the boy had his meal?

Madhavan: No. I felt a great unease of mind. My mother had come along with some rice-gruel and milk.

At that moment, Parvathi Amma entered, holding in her hand a silver bowl of rice-gruel and milk.

Sankara Menon: Parvathi! Did you not hear all that the boy said?

Parvathi Amma: I heard! It was not well done at all.

Madhavan: Give me the gruel hither. Having drunk two mouthfuls of the gruel, still standing by her, he looked into his mother’s face and smiled.

Madhavan: What, has my mother too turned against me?

Parvathi Amma: Of course; what doubt is there in that? What is not pleasing to my elder brother and my uncle is not pleasing to me. Come now; drink up this gruel. We can talk after. It is past noon. Why do you always let your *kuduma* hang loose like this? Come hither; I shall tie it for you. It has come half undone.

Madhavan: Mother, is it necessary that Shinnan be taught English, or is it not? You tell me.

Parvathi Amma: Is that not for your grand-uncle to decide, my child? What do I know? Was it not your grand-uncle who had you educated? He himself will likely have him educated as well.

Madhavan: And what if my grand-uncle does not have him educated?

Parvathi Amma: Then he shall not be educated.

Madhavan: To that I will not consent.

Parvathi Amma: Give me the bowl; I am going. Come quickly for your meal.