Alleppey Chronicles: Navigating the Dynamic Journey of the Pais-Ch4- Beauty in the Promises of Tomorrow, Beauty in All We Cannot Yet See

 

Recap: The story revolves around Achutha Pai. After his wife dies giving birth, he marries her friend Dindakka who courageously raises their children and manages the household. She inspires her daughter Nirmala to become a doctor. Meanwhile, Achutha’s sons Nagendra and Damodara (also known as Vishwanath) pursue different paths in life with Nagendra planning his investments in stock trading and Damodara exploring travel. The family faces various challenges such as marriages and illnesses, but they stick together and support each other. After the passing of their father, Achutha, they rely on each other even more for strength and support.

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Alleppey was called the “Venice of the East” due to its intricate canal systems. The vibrant local cuisine, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam art forms, and cultural richness were all evident. Dindakka and the family lived harmoniously with other communities, but their rituals were performed at the Konkani temple in Mullakkal. Dindakka and her family were always welcomed by the locals, making life a magical one for all of them.

Dindakka could sense her family moving away slowly but her daughters-in-law, Nagendra and Damodara’s wives were wise and knew how to keep the family bonded. Jainni lingered around Susheela when she had finished managing her milk business. She slowly began helping Susheela with the household chores and managed to play with the kids. Susheela gave birth to a bony boy whom they called Diwakar while Leela, Vishwanath’s wife gave birth to a son named Prakash. The kids were fair and lovely and the whole family grew closer. Nagendra was now a stock market veteran and Damodhar loved his short escapade tours all the more

Sarvotham fell seriously ill after returning to Alleppey from Benares. He received care from his family members, Dindakka, Susheela, Vatsala and the others. During his recovery, he often thought about how he had left home and gone to Benares. His father, Achutha, was a man of few words and did not approve of his sons pursuing higher education. Achutha would wear a Mundu, a white cloth with gold or coloured borders, and a veshti, a small piece of cloth placed on the shoulders, but never wore a shirt. Sarvotham aspired to become a gentleman and felt that the shop and its work were a dead end for his ambitions. After completing his BCom at SD College, he planned to study in Benares with his professor, Namboodri who worked for SD College, Alleppey. There were no almirahs at Puthen Mattom to keep track of the daily transactions. Instead, Achutha would keep the money in a cotton bag and hang it on a nail on the wood-panelled wall. Achutha’s children would contribute their daily earnings. Sarvotham utilised some of it to travel to Benares with Namboodari Sir. When the family became concerned about Sarvotham’s whereabouts, Namboodri Sir’s family kindly informed Dindakka and Achutha about their plans. Sarvotham earned a gold medal in his master’s in commerce, making Dindakka, Achutha, and his siblings proud. Sarvotham eagerly awaited his recovery, as he needed to resume his government job. After recovering from his illness, Sarvotham started working for the central government in Andhra Pradesh. Throughout his journey, his family stayed in touch and supported him.

Nirmala was a rational person who valued her education greatly. Her hard work and dedication were a source of pride for everyone around her. However, life was not easy for her. When Nirmala moved to the second year of her professional college, she had to share a room with her classmates, Saroja and Rajakumari Unnithan, in the college hostel. These two girls and Nirmala were new to the environment and were juniors. Unfortunately, the senior students in the college had a habit of ragging the new students. They would knock on Nirmala’s door at 4:30 am, wake her, Saroja, and Rajkumari up, and take all of them to the playground to make them exercise. When they returned, the seniors would pour buckets of water on them, drenching them. Nirmala and her friends thought that the ragging would stop after the first time, but it continued for a week, with the same treatment being repeated every day.

In the night these seniors would again gather and instruct Nirmala and her friends on some tasks. They would ask them to sing or enact a play to enliven the evening. These pranks were mischievous.

A few days after Nirmala’s admission to the medical college hostel, the seniors organized a welcome program for the freshers. During the program, Nirmala was asked to sing “Aajare Pardeshi” from the Hindi movie Madhumati. Being fond of singing, Nirmala gave her best performance. The other juniors also showcased their talents, making the event warm and heartfelt. As a result of this event, the seniors stopped ragging Nirmala and her friends. They became more helpful and started sharing their textbooks and knowledge with them.

As the academic year progressed, practicals became an essential part of the curriculum. During the anatomy practicals, the junior medical students were required to dissect a dead body, which was initially frightening. However, many overcame their hesitation and discomfort after the initial shock. Unfortunately, two male students fainted after seeing 30 dead bodies placed for dissection, creating chaos in the practical room. Eventually, Nirmala and her friends became familiar with the practicals and grew their skills.

Dindakka was worried that Ramdasa wasn’t willing to get married. She wanted Sarvotham to get married as they worried about how he was managing his food and staying in an alien place like Andhra Pradesh. Sarvotham also felt it was the best thing to do as he needed a companion. He was around 27 when he received a proposal from a girl named Neelamma from Adoor, a municipality in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, India. His job was taking a toll on his time. He told Nirmala to visit the girl when she came home that weekend. Sarvotham had great faith in Nirmala’s reasoning and decisions.

Over the weekend, Nirmala and Dindakka went to visit Neelamma. Although her family was affluent with acres of rubber plantation and land, it wasn’t a consideration for Nirmala and Dindakka in terms of their match-making intentions. When they met Neelamma, they discovered she was tall, good-looking, and well-behaved. She was the first woman to graduate in Adoor. Neelamma had two younger brothers named Gopalkrishna and Ranganathan. Nirmala believed that Neelamma was the perfect match for Sarvotham and the match was approved. When Sarvotham visited home the next time, he met Neelamma and married her. The wedding was a grand affair with Neelamma’s parents and brothers who adored her more than ever. Dindakka and the family changed Neelamma’s maiden name to Leela.

Sarvotham and Leela went to Andhra Pradesh. Sarvotham worked in Machilipatnam, also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar. It is a city in the Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. They would visit Adoor and Alleppey whenever they got some holidays. Leela adjusted well with Dindakka though she wasn’t as competent in housework as Susheela. She had a strong willingness to learn. She began learning Telugu and mastered it within a few years. She could read Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and English and never left an opportunity to read anything that her hand laid on.

Sarvotham and Leela were blessed with a beautiful daughter Mangala whom Sarvotham and Leela called ‘Rani’ and she was supreme in their lives. They were also blessed with a boy named Ramesh whom they called ‘Babu’. Leela was again in the family way and the whole family wondered how she would manage these children. Dindakka and Susheela told Leela and Sarvotham to leave Rani as the children would grow together.

Susheela and Nagendra were blessed with three children, a beautiful fair daughter with brown eyes named Sheetala, and sons Suresh and Gopinath. Susheela was also blessed with two pretty fair daughters, Sumitra who was a few months older than Rani, and Padma who was as old as Babu. Vatsala and Damodar were blessed with two more sons named Uday and Ganesh. They also had a pretty daughter Sandhya and a beautiful baby girl named Pushpa. The house was filled with children and all loved Rani as their own. However, it was unthinkable for Leela to leave Rani, but she felt helpless managing the kids in a rental place in Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, Sarvotham and Leela agreed to leave their loveliest daughter with Dindakka.

Sudhakar was intelligent and was pursuing his Chartered Accountancy in Chertalla. Despite having a whole world in front of him, he kept thinking about his lost opportunity to study at IITs. The constant lamenting took a toll on his mental health, and he became depressed and fell ill. Nirmala, who was now in her final year, visited him in Chertalla and took care of him. Eventually, she brought him back home to Alleppey. Although Sudhakar was angry with his circumstances, he did not direct his anger towards Nirmala.

The family was sad and felt low seeing Sudhakar do nothing about his well-being. Nagendra, Damodara and Ramdasa eventually took him to the shop and entrusted him with work. There wasn’t a lot that Sudhakar did as he kept looking at the past. Nirmala was heartbroken to see him in that state. She knew that Sudhakar needed to find his way back. She was determined to help him. Dindakka and Susheela felt a marriage would bring out Sudhakar from his situation but Nirmala reasoned that it was a risk. She said, ‘What if Sudhakar doesn’t recover, it will be a great pain for another human being’. Dindakka agreed to it.

Sudhakar lived alone, with no apparent purpose or enjoyment in life. Meanwhile, Damodar and his family lived on the same premises but had separate living arrangements. Despite this, they all shared meals with Dindakka and their large families with kids. Occasionally, Sudhakar would sense Rani’s loneliness and call out to her, but Rani had heard rumours about Sudhakar’s health and would often run away. Despite mixed emotions among the residents of Dindakka’s house, Susheela and Vatsala brought everyone together and built strong bonds.

“Every experience you go through in life results in an opportunity to discover your true self.”― Kemi Sogunle,