TELUGU HUMOR and FAMILY VALUES - Bhanumati Ramakrishna And Family Values.
Bhanumati, apart from her unparalleled stature in the movie industry, made her mark as a writer of fiction,
writer of humor at that. Bhanumati has written a few stories of serious nature also, but it is her mother-in-law
character that has become the hallmark of her writing. While almost every critic agrees that Bhanumati's
creation of the mother-in-law character is unique, it is often left just at that, that she is hilarious.
It may sound illogical but humor fiction is rarely taken seriously. More often than not, the message is lost
between laughs.
Bhanumati's stories are one such example. The celebrated author did more than than create a unique
character. Her mother-in-law stories reflect her belief in tradition and family values. Her stories brim with
her belief in god, astrology, and family values.
Bhanumati draws her humor primarily from situations and the human ideosyncrasies; and, she never missed
a chance to take a jab at our customs and beliefs. That is not however to be interpreted as disrespect for
tradition.
Bhanumati's talent in creating humorous situations speaks of her keen eye for the incongruities in human
behavior. One good example is in her "Attagaru - avakaya" (Attagaru and pickles).
In general, attagaru does not let anyone see her food plate; she sits on the floor with her back to the rest of
the world, and facing the wall. "The only way one could know what she was eating was to jump out of the
wall in front of her, like Lord Narasimha," the author comments. For those who are not familiar with the
reference, lord Narasimha was one of the ten incarnations; he jumped out of a pillar to prove his existence
to a non-believer, demon king Hiranyaksha. The parallel is a stretch but the point is the overextended shield
her mother-in-law would create for her food in the name of madi - one more custom in Brahmin families.
And then, author goes on to describe a second instance, the family members will know of what she's eating;
that is when she moves the pickles jar. The story goes to say:
"The smells of her pickles extended beyond the kitchen walls and into the living room. ... One day, my
husband sat down to eat, along with atta garu.
She moved the pickles jar; and the smells exploded and filled the entire house."
Her husband blames it on the narrator and her incompetence as a housewife.
“Huh! What's that smell? Is it the oranges' gone bad? Maybe not, uh, what a stench! Maybe the maid didn't
clean the area after washing the dishes,” my husband started yelling. Then he turned to me and said with a
grimace, “Didn't you notice that? What're you doing all day sitting at home? Can’t you take care of the
cleanliness, at least?”
I was nearly dead by the time I'd finished explaining to him that he was wrong in his assumption about the
smell. (Bhanumati kathanikalu)
Taken out of context, the husband's comment could ruffle a few women. In Bhanumati's story, the narrator
is the having the last laugh; readers might even see a wink and a nod from her husband. Let's not forget that
he was ridiculing his mother's pickles.
The incongruities in our actions and the eccentricities in human nature are great stuff for humor. And, our
beliefs and gods are no exception for a good laugh as you'll see in some of the irreverent comments in
Bhanumati's story. A few common phrases such as apachaaram [sacrilege] are used sometimes seriously
and at other times flippantly to make fun of those who use it seriously. Bhanumati makes best use of this
practice. and "tapping on one's own cheeks" as a way of tendering an apology (lempalu vesukonu,
lempalesukonu) is another phrase used in her stories. In other words, even gods and the sanctity
surrounding gods are no exception in the realm of humor.
Attagaru refers to Lord Venkateswara as Venkanna (nickname) and compares him to a neighbor in physical
appearance and make up.
Bhanumati used laughter itself as core theme in two stories, which are serious in nature. In jeevitamlo
agaathaalu [the depth of darkness in life] and telivitetala viluvalu [The Value of Intelligence], both the
protagonists, Rambabu and Rao, laugh incessantly, much to the dismay of the narrator.
In the first story, jeevitamlo agaathaalu, the reader would come to know at the end that Rambabu was
laughing to hide his pain; his wife was a hysteria patient and there was nothing he could do about it. In the
second story, Rao laughs recurrently but this time it was just his habit. Additionally, in the latter story, the
narrator's husband and Rao call each other "fool" and neither was offended by this name calling. The story
ends with the narrator commenting, "I stood there watching those two fools."
Bhanumati's respect for tradition is evident in her use of the proper names. In our homes, people are often
referred to by relational terminology - somebody' son, somebody's daughter-in-law, and somebody's
daughter-in-law's daughter-in-law; and this true even when two persons are cousins, two or three times
removed.
As all of us, Telugu people, Bhanumati would not mind laughing at herself. In her story, pedda aakaaraalu,
chinna vikaaraalu [big people and their little quirks], she gives a hilarious description of her fear of lizards.
Bhanumati writes:
Usually those who're not scared of lizards make fun of those who're scared of them. You know the popular
proverb, “The cat has the time of its life while the rat's running for its life!”
I am one of those rats. ... Lizard is my enemy for life. I'll not walk into a room if there is a lizard on
the wall. If I have to, I'll ask one of the servants to remove it, and then enter the room slowly
watching every nook and corner to make sure that it's gone. Under unavoidable circumstances, I'll
enter the room cautiously, as if I were walking into a lion’s cage, tiptoeing around and watching it's
every move. We two move around in different directions like two planets. No matter how far I am
from it, my eyes spot its presence automatically. Then my body moves like a robot in the opposite
direction.
As a final note, Bhanumati has captured a wide circle of readership with her easy-going style and by telling
us to laugh freely. Further discussion follows.
***
Three stories by three remarkable humor writers.
Sometimes I try to impress my daughter, an American-born and raised, with our Telugu humor. I tell her a
joke and she laughs, hee hee hee. I am not sure she got it. So I ask her, "Are you laughing because you
found it funny or because I thought it was funny." She narrows her eyes, looks at me, and says, "both."
Humor has its time and place. What is funny for us Telugu people may not be funny for people in other
cultures. Remember the popular saying in America? If someone slips and falls, it's funny and if you slip and
fall, it's tragedy. That's not the case in Telugu homes, at least, not in the fifties and sixties.
In the nineteen fifties and sixties, the three stalwarts in Telugu humor writing that come to my mind are
Munimanikyam Narasimha Rao, Mullapudi Venkataramana and Bhanumati Ramakrishna were the writers I
grew up with. Munimanikyam Narasimha Rao was already an established writer by then and Mullapudi
Venkataramana was making his name in the early fifties. Chronologically, Bhanumati Ramakrishna was a
contemporary of Venkataramana and started writing fiction a little later.
All the three writers showcased the laughter in Telugu homes as never before.
Bhanumati mentioned that she was inspired by Narasimha Rao's Kantham kathalu (Stories of Kantham,
narrator's wife), published in 1944. She also mentioned that Mullapudi Venkataramana had encouraged her.
Interestingly, Mullapudi Venkataramana dedicated his anthology of short stories, Radha and Gopalam
(1965), to Bhanumati. Bhanumati's Attagari Kathalu was published in 1966.
In regard to the themes, I am not sure if Narasimha Rao had written about topics other than familial
relationships. Bhanumati wrote a few stories, about five or six I believe, depicting the tragic situations in life.
Mullapudi Venkataramana has written about almost every aspect - politics, society, entertainment (movies),
and children, and also critiques, and he continues to write.
I chose to discuss three stories based on family values and domestic bliss as depicted by the three writers.
Like any other custom or tradition, humor in a given culture develops from its own environment. In that,
demographics do play a huge role. When several members of a family - aged parents, sons and daughters-
in-law and grandchildren - are thrown in together under one roof (Brady Bunch style), good sense of humor
becomes a major part of the skills for coexistence, peaceful or not. In Telugu homes, we tease each other,
poke fun at each other, and call each other names; and at the end of the day, all's well; no offense intended,
none taken.
Secondly, with the progress of civilization, the code of conduct has put a rigid barrier between people and
clouded our sense of humor to a certain degree, I think. But if one wants to have good hearty laugh, one
must be prepared to laugh and be laughed at with equal ease. That's a prerequisite to foster one's sense of
humor. These stories illustrate this point.
In "Nenu-Kantham" (Kantham and I), the couple appear to be mature, although the husband does act
immature at times. Most of the humor in this story is anchored in the husband's miserable experience with
eating out.
In "Radha's debt", the couple, Radha and Gopalam, are newlyweds, and between the two, Radha is the
level-headed; Gopalam acts like a juvenile. Gopalam's insistence that Radha owed him for the expenses he
had incurred to get attention prior to marriage itself is humorous.
In "Attaa-Kodaleeyam", (A story of a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law), the story revolves round
attagaru (mother-in-law) with kodalu (daughter-in-law) as sidekick. Attagaru is a charming, naive,
traditional woman who's also a busybody, which often lands her in trouble; kodalu, the narrator, is also
traditional in that she's respectful toward her husband and his mother (mother-in-law), and steps in only
when her services as a mediator/arbitrator are needed. She appears to be enjoying a private joke of her
own in the process. She never talks back, never offers to take matters into her own hand unless and until it
becomes absolutely necessary. In the story under reference, the story is woven around a trip to Lord
Venkateswara in Tirupati.
Mullapudi Venkataramana has successfully created humorous instances using "debt" as core theme in
several stories, including a series, "Runaananda lahari", in which his play upon words is hilarious. In the
story under discussion, "Radha's debt", Gopalam surprises his wife by asking her to pay back a loan she'd
never promised; she was not even aware that she owed him money. Soon enough she turned around, caught
up with him, and proved he had owed her too. The theme is frivolous on the surface. To me, the story
reflects the amicable relationship between husband and wife.
While in "Kantham and I", the narrator was depicted as being an egotist, conscious of his status as husband,
in "Radha and Gopalam", the husband and wife behave like friends, teasing each other for the fun of it.
The incongruities in our actions and the eccentricities in human nature are great stuff for humor. And, our
beliefs and gods are no exception for a good laugh as you'll see in some of the irreverent comments in
Bhanumati's story.
Humor in Kantham's story comes from everyday events and interaction between husband and wife. They
do care about each other, yet the husband could not take the apparent disrespect from his wife. To me it
seems to be a social comment on the irrational behavior of men and their ego trips.
Bhanumati also, like Naraasimha Rao, creates hilarious scenes from everyday life; but, unlike Narasimha
Rao, she narrates them while remaining complacent. Secondly, unlike the narrator in Kantham stories, the
narrator in attagaru stories stays in control. We do not see her laughing but on rare occasions, the "I" of
these stories seem to enjoy a private joke of her own while playing the innocent bystander.
NAMES AND FORMS OF ADDRESS:
A brief note on the names is in order here. Proper names are often abbreviated. More importantly, the
relational terminology is used in place of proper names, which could be confusing for non-native speakers,
or when the same term is used with reference to more than one person.
For instance, in "Attaa-kodaleeyam" there were three daughers-in-law and a son (the original attagaru's son
and the husband of the narrator/kodalu). Mother refers to him as abbayi (by attagaru), and the narrator
refers to him as maavaaru(meaning 'my husband' but his real name was never given in the story. In fact, in
this particular story, all the characters were referred to only in relation to each other, even when they were
cousins two or three times removed. (See glossary under relational terminology for further clarification).
This usage of relational terminology in the case of distant relatives could be a way of bringing them together
and of reinforcing family values. For the purpose of clarification in this discussion, I decided to leave
'attagaru' as is, she being the protagonist. The story is narrated in first person by kodalu (daughter-in-law)
and, I used 'kodalu' as a proper name for her. Her co-daughter-in-law (todikodalu) and her daughter-in-
law (kodalu of todikodalu) also figure in to the story. (Bhanumati used the comic side of the relational
terminology as her theme in another story, vavi varasalu).
Another angle to the proper names, as a form of address, is "calling each other names". Bhanumati takes it
to a new level in her story, telivitetala viluvalu [The Worth of Intellect]. The title seem to be a little off
base. The core theme is the form of address as used by two friends, (narrator's husband and his friend,
Rao) to address each other as 'fool' and laugh at each other. Rao's son-in-law gets involved in a scooter
accident and Rao tells the narrator about the accident with a big laugh; and again when the narrator and her
husband to go to the hospital to visit the son-in-law, the two friends talk about the accident, laughing and
calling each other, "fool". The narrator stands there "watching the two fools".
In "Radha-Gopalam", the author gives the characters acceptable proper names. Additionally, he uses a few
perfectly legitimate proper names like Ramanatham or Gurunatham as punchlines. Further discussion of this
is given in the story.
In "Nenu-Kantham", the husband is the narrator; his real name is never mentioned.
Second person singular pronoun has two forms in Telugu, meeru and nuvvu. Within a family, seniors
who're respected (father, grandfather, for instance) are addressed as 'meeru'. This is not a hard and fast rule
though. Kodalu always addresses attagaru as 'meeru' and attagaru addresses kodalu as 'nuvvu'. Wife
addresses husband as 'meeru' and husband addresses wife as 'nuvvu'. This protocol is maintained in the
stories of the fifties and sixties. The peculiar part however is, a kodalu (the co-daughter-in-law in "attaa -
kodaleeyam") or a wife (in "Radha - Gopalam") may address the other person as 'meeru' and still engage
in a lively banter, which may or may not be amiable, and adding one more shade of humor to it.
Regarding technique, the three stories present ordinary events in a humorous light. In Kantham story, the
narrative is tight: it opens with a husband upset with his wife; he refuses to eat at home to punish his wife;
and the punishment turns out to be his, yet he acts like he has the upper hand. It is not easy create humor in
such a negative atmosphere. The story is told in a straight forward manner, no unexpected twists and no
shock value incidents. Narasimha Rao succeeds in bringing the funny side up, that's the strength of an
established humor writer.
In the Mother-in-law story, there is more than one plot. The story opens with a proposed pilgrimage to
Tirupati by car, and as usual, the two main characters - mother-in-law and daughter-in-law--are thrown in
together to the exclusion of the son/husband. The second plot includes a second daughter-in-law
(todikodalu. I think Bhanumati did this on purpose. In general, the daughter-in-law's relationship with her
mother-in-law is not confrontational in any of her stories under the running title, attagaari kathalu. Thus the
author may have created the second daughter-in-law to reflect another side, a more common notion, a kind
of love-hate relationship. They both get into heated arguments in one moment and are affable in the next
moment. Notably the narrator (kodalu)herself never talked back to the mother-in-law and the mother-in-
law never put down the daughter-in-law in this story or in any other story. And then, there is one more
subplot,the arranged marriage; arranged by the mother-in-law and the second daughter-in-law in between
their heated arguments and boisterous laughter. The narrator however does not lose touch with reality. The
reality is "The two women are going to meet like two rival planets on a combat zone in the month of
magham." In a way, three plots make the story less tight, compared to the Kantham story, but entertaining
all the same.
The story is, as indicated by the title, about relationship between atta and kodalu. The incidents follow in a
lighter vein. The story of Radha and Gopalam takes this idea of a theme narrated in a lighter vein further. In
fact, it is a story about sweet nothings. The underlying message is the secret of marital bliss. As long as a
couple can laugh together, and at each other without malice, there is no cause for complaint in a marriage.
All's well that ends well. Most of the humor in this story, unlike the other two, comes from its language and
adolescent behavior of the couple.
With that note, let's move on to the stories, one at a time, and see how these elements are built into the three
stories under discussion.
***
(MN, March 2006)