"The name looks funny. What kind of a tabloid is it?"
"As the name suggests, the tabloid carries 'news' about interesting things happening in the town, including things kept secret by the people concerned and of course rumours."
"How are they running it? How are they circulating a hand-written tabloid?"
"The tabloid is released once in a week. The publishers will fill 10 pages with news stories and gossip columns written in legible hand and then release it. There are people who read this tabloid regularly. There are also casual readers who read it now and then. Every one, after reading it, will pass it on to someone else. That is how it gets circulated."
"How do they gather the news? Is it not scandalous to write about happenings in other people's lives?"
"I don't know how they gather the news. Someone eavesdropping the conversation between you and me may also publish it under the title "A conversation about 'Local Gossip.'" When they publish a news story, they won't directly reveal the names of the people involved. But they will give enough hints to ensure that the readers will have no doubt about the identity of the people mentioned in the news. For example, if the news story says, 'The wife of Dasaratha's son, residing in the street named after Siva's younger son, had a fight with her husband and left for her mother's place,' the reader can decode the message, by understanding that the lady referred to in the news is the wife of Ramasamy (Rama being the son of of Dasaratha), residing in Subramaniam Street (Subramaniam being the name of Lord Siva's younger son.) If she had been away, it would serve as a confirmation of the news. Thus, the people who run this tabloid, will use mythological references and names from folk stories to give hints to the readers, for identifying the persons mentioned in the news stories."
"My goodness! Will that person Ramasamy not be outraged, after reading the story about him?"
"If he gets outraged and protests, would it not amount to exposing himself? So, he would, in all probability, keep quiet. Moreover, when you don't know who the publisher of the tabloid is, how will you fight him?"
"This is atrocious. If the tabloid writes about me, I will show it to the police and file a complaint. The police will find out who the publisher is."
"In that case, the time has come for you to go to the police" said Murali, with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" asked Kalyanaraman, startled by Murali's words.
"Look at this!" said Murali, showing the 'Local Gossip' issue he had kept by his side and then read aloud a particular news item.
"Rama, the bridegroom working in a central government office, secretly loves Green Stone working in a private company. Since Green Stone's father is hard like a mountain, Rama is scared to meet Green Stone's father and tell him that he loves his daughter.
"Some more details are given, but I think that these details are sufficient to identify 'Rama, the bridegroom' as you, 'Green Stone' as Maragatham, which term, in Tamil, refers to a gem with a green hue and her father Annamalai, described as being hard like a mountain, the English word for the Tamil word 'malai.'" added Murali.
"Oh! They have made the references so clear that no reader would miss identifying the characters" said Kalyanaraman, in exasperation.
"Here is the tabloid. You can take it to the police station, if you want" said Murali.
Kalyanaraman reluctantly received the issue of the tabloid from Murali.
The next day, when Murali met Kalyanraman, he asked him, "Did you go to the police?"
"No."
"Why?"
"It has been a week since this issue of the tabloid was released. A lot of people would have read it by this time."
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"If I know who the publisher of this tabloid is, I will meet him and..."
"strangle him?" interjected Murali.
"thank him!" said Kalyanaraman, completing the sentence.
"What for?"
"As this news report says, I had been afraid to meet Maragatham's father and tell him that I love his daughter. But, to my good fortune, Maragatham's father had learned about our love through this 'Local Gossip.' He asked Maragatham about it. After Maragatham confirmed the news story to be true, he told Maragatham to ask me to meet him with my parents, to discuss the marriage arrangements. Maragatam told me this news only last evening, when I met her. Therefore, should I not express my gratefulness to 'Local Gossip' for helping our love to succeed?" said Kalyanasndaram.
Section 3
Shedding Shyness
uRA adhO Ur aRindha kouvai adhanaip
Verse 1142
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