Editorial, September 2010
Molla, known as Kummara Molla, is famous for her Ramayanam particularly for the
ease of diction and native flavor in the text.
I came across some comments or references to Molla and her Ramayanam, while
working on a book, a critical study of Telugu women’s writing a few years ago. Ever
since, my interest kept rising to a point I had to say something about the famous
author. This article is by no means erudite but a few thoughts, which came to my mind
after reading the original work, Molla Ramayanam, and some reviews. I hope you’ll
appreciate my thoughts.
R. Vasundhara Devi is a veteran writer, whose stories have appeared in several
reputable magazines in Andhra Pradesh and a few translations on websites. The
story, "mother deified", addresses the concept of motherhood as perceived in Indian
context. Mother is considered a goddess in our culture but her role in real life is
complex. Sarada, the protagonist, is confounded perpetually by her mother’s apparent
indifference to her accomplishments and heartbreaks. The story contains several
layers: Interpersonal relationships between daughter and mother, daughter and father
and the two sisters. At yet another level, the story raises several questions: Why the
mother was so hard on one daughter and not the other? Why the protagonist could
not appreciate mother’s intentions until after her death? Did mother’s will play a part in
her understanding of the true purpose underlying mother’s actions?
The author wrote to me, “It is a story with a complex almost Faulkner-ish
characterization, and with hard-to-grasp and hard-to-express feelings. Nobody else will
ever pick it [the story] and do justice to it, I feel.” Further, she added, “’An inexplicable
restlessness and heaviness of heart that was not grief’ is what troubles the narrator in
the story as I see it.”
The original title in Telugu matru devo bhava is a tenet taken from the upanishads. In
that, the message of the story probably is that a mother’s actions are mysterious like
the actions of god. Another down to earth interpretation would be the protagonist
could see her mother’s demeanor towards her [the protagonist] after the mother willed
her the money to buy a house, which the mother always wanted her to have.
The story "skin color" highlights a major difference in our attitude towards the color of
skin in two countries. In America, the skin color carries several layers of cultural and
historical connotations. In India, it has only one significance, the beauty, which is skin-
deep, literally. While the black color is glorified by praising Krishna as the dark lord
and by presenting dark clouds and dark lotus in fascinating poetic terms in literature,
the social stigma attached to the skin color, especially in the case of women is
unmistakable. The protagonist Neelaveni has lived all her life with this stigma and
later, after coming to America, finds yet another angle to it. The revelation at the end
is a lesson for not only to Neelaveni but all of us.
Fear originates in one’s own mind and often for ridiculous reasons.
Two rainbows may not measure up to any level of poetry. I just like share the two
incidents mentioned in it as happened and felt like sharing with you.
Happy reading.
Malathi
August 31, 2010