171. A Visit To the Village

Gopi was the only passenger to get down from the bus, that stopped at the village bus stop, after stirring up a large quantity of dust.

He reached Sakthivel's house, after ascertaining the location of the house, by enquiring with people on the way.

The door of the house was open. Standing in front of the doorstep, he could see the entire house, including the dark corridor immediately behind the door, the open yard at the middle of the house, the adjoining corridor and the backyard. But he couldn't see any person.

"Sir" Gopi called out, standing outside the dpprstep.

It appeared to him that his call, made in a feeble voice, was not heard by people inside the house.

After a couple of minutes, a woman made her appearance and asked Gopi, "Yes, please?"

 

Before Gopi could answer her, a man came from inside, walking in hurried paces.

'This should be Sakthivel' surmised Gopi. 

"You are Mr. Gopi, aren't you? Please come in" Saktivel welcomed Gopi and took him inside.

"He is the one I told you about. He has come in connection with the marriage proposal" Sakthivel told the woman, whom Gopi now identified as Sakthivel's wife.

"Please come in and take your seat. I am sorry. At first, I din't recognize who you were" said Sakthivel's wife, in an apologetic tone.

After exchanging pleasantries, Sakthivel told Gopi, "It is good of you to have come here, traveling a long distance, to discuss the marriage proposal."

"Is it not the convention for the girl's parents to meet the parents of the prospective bridegroom and discuss the alliance proposal?" replied Gopi. "I understand that you don't hail from this place" he added.

"Yes. I belong to Thanjavur. I came to this village, when I was posted as the VAO - Village Administrative Officer - of this village" said Sakthivel. 

"Oh, VAO? Earlier, there used to be officials like Karnam and Munsiff."

"Yes. Those positions were abolished in the 80's and replaced by VAOs."

"Did you know the person who was the last Karnam of this village?" asked Gopi.

"I didn't know him personally. But my predecessor has told me about him. Why are you asking about him?"

"After getting down from the bus, I asked some people the directions to your house. They told me that you were residing in the house that belonged to the erstwhile Karnam. That's why I was curious to know whether you had known him."

"This was his house. But, after his demise, his wife sold it. Now, it is owned by another person in this village. I hve taken the house on rent" said Sakthivel.

"I heard that that the Karnam had a bad reputation."

"It seems even before leaving for this village, you have gathered a lot of information about the people of this village!" said Sakthivel, laughing. 

He then added. "That is a long story. You have been living in big cities like Mumbai and Kolkatta. I wonder whether you would understand the systems and practices in a village like this. Those days, it was the Karmam who was maintaining the records of the ownership of lands in the village. With literacy having not spread much to the villages at that time, many of the villagers didn't have proper records for the lands owned by them. Taking advantage of this, the Karnam had cheated several people, by manipulating the records maintained by him. He would classify a piece of land belonging to a particular person as public land and later change the title in his favour. He had indulged in many such manipulative practices."

"Is it possible to make such changes in the land records?"

"I am talking about the system prevalent fifty years back. You and I would have been studying in a school at that time. If you can talk to the affected people, they would narrate many such stories that would appear strange and unbelievable, when we look at things from the way things are today. Parallel records were maintained at the Taluk office. But the Karnam would change even those records, using his contacts at the Taluk office."

"Oh!"

"One fine morning, the Government did away with the posts of Karnams and Munsiffs and replaced them with government appointed VAOs. After that, a large number of complaints were received against the Karnam. The complaints were probed. He was found guilty in some cases."

"Did the police arrest him?"

"No. the police came and questioned him. Realizing that he would be arrested and imprisoned, he ended his life one night, by consuming poison. 

"Oh. My God!"

"Why do you sympathize with a person like him? What else could happen to a person who cheated innocent people and deprived them of of the lands owned by them?"

"What happened to his family?"

"His family has to be pitied, of course. The Karnam had a son and a daughter. His son had run away from home, when he was a school-going boy, sometime before the Karnam was exposed. It was said that he ran away because he was unable to live with the things he heard people saying about his father."

"How could other people know about the reason for his running away?"

"I heard that his mother herself had said this. He had conveyed his anguish about his father's misdeeds to his mother several times, before he chose to run away. She was heard lamenting, narrating his conversations with her."

"Where are the Karnam's wife and daughter now?"

"That lady could have continued to reside in this village, living on the income from the properties the family had. But, she could not live here, listening to the blame and curse the village continued to harp on the Karnam, even after his death and bearing the stigma imposed on the family by the guilt of her late husband. Therefore, she sold all her properties in the village and migrated to her mother's place, situated nearby. Oh, why are we talking about this? You have come here to discuss the marriage proposal. Let us talk about it." 

Sakthivel then narrated details about his family to Gopi and asked him, "Please tell me about you."

"I have nothing to add beyond what I had said in my letter. I had lived in places like Mumbai and Kolkatta. I came to Chennai recently and settled down there. I came to Thanjavur on an assignment. I thought I could meet you in person. I will come again with my wife, after a few weeks. I take leave of you now" said Gopi and got up to leave.  

"Please have your lunch here and then leave" said Sakthivel's wife. 

"No. I have to leave now. I will have lunch at your home, when I come here again with my wife" said Gopi and left.

'I left home resenting my father's ways. But, it was a sin on my part to have not communicated with my family for forty years. Now, I will go to Panthanallur, my grandma's place and meet my mother living there. I don't know where my sister is living, after getting married.'

Reflecting as above, Gopi walked towards the bus stop.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 18
Not Coveting Others' Belongings

Verse 171 (In Tamil)

naduvinRi nan poruL vehkin kudi ponRik
kuRRamum AngE tharum.

Meaning:

A desire to usurp the well-earned wealth of others, using unfair means, will destroy one's family and attach the stigma of guilt and blame.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thappuk kaNakku' by the same author)

Verse 172 (Soon)
Verse 170