Foolish Malayali Manoj STORY – KAROOR SOMAN

The city of London was blanketed in snow. Loud commotion from the next house hammered through the walls, in tandem with the snowdrops falling from the sky. Noise that caused nuisance to others was not tolerated in Britain. Simon, the next door neighbour, informed the cops. Within minutes, two police officers, one of whom was a woman, approached the house. Here, the police officers would not release details of who complained. They knocked on the door. Seventy -five-year old Saraswathi’s eldest son Manoj answered. His face that had earlier expressed anger, hatred and disapproval, now became gloomy, and he sighed. He felt as if his nerves were paralyzed.

The officer said politely, “Good evening Sir.”

He said good evening and respectfully invited the officers inside.

Beena, the housemaid, was shocked to see the police. Who had informed them about the racket? The police officers questioned both of them in detail. Manoj could not believe that Beena spoke English as fluently as Malayalam. When Saraswathi had vomited and felt dizzy that morning, Beena stated, she had called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Beena had then passed this information over the phone to her two sons, who lived in Essex. Instead of going to hospital to find out what happened to his mother, the eldest son hurried to his mother’s house to kick Beena out. What had bothered him was the worry that she would not leave the house if his mother died. Manoj became depressed as he watched the police record everything he said.

Saraswathi kept Beena in the house because she had realized that her children would not be taking care and looking after her. Saraswathi used to often tell Beena an old saying:  “Don’t expect to eat mangoes after seeing flowers in the mango tree the same way that you should not expect your children to look after you in old age’’. The younger son, Ajeesh, very rarely came to see his mother. He wanted however to inherit the house that was worth crores. The mother’s fingerprint should appear on the will and that was his only desire. Parents write a will in the name of their children but Saraswathi was not yet ready for it. Were my two sons, slaves to their wives, was burning in Saraswathi’s mind. Another concern of the children was that the government would take over the house if their mother died. After listening to the arguments of the two, the police kept an eye on Manoj. He remained tongue-tied in the face of many questions from the cops.

The officers admonished Manoj. “What a fool you are you? Is it enough to study economics alone? Don’t you have to learn to look after your old mother too? If you fail in your own work, are others responsible for it? Shall we let you go now or should we arrest you for abusing a woman? Hearing these words, Manoj became heartbroken and realized what they were saying was true. Like a convicted prisoner, he bowed his head in shame and walked out feeling like a fool. His head was immersed in deep thought as he drove his car on the road. The words of the police officers were stuck in his mind and it hurt deeply. It was because of him and his brother that this situation had arrived at this stage, their lack of love for their own mother.

Beena felt a great deal of gratitude to the police for their sympathy but could only stare helplessly as the police let Manoj leave. The people who disrespect women should be arrested. She thought of framing Manoj in a false abuse case after his initial behavior but decided not to because of Saraswathi. She thought, it might be because of his profession as a real estate employee might have driven him greedier to forsake his own mother.  She even heard that Manoj once tried to extort money from an artist. Despite living in the UK, he showed no culture, no patience but behaved like a goon from India.  She murmured, even if he went to Kashi, his deeds would not be forgiven.

Engrossed in guilt, Manoj started to become more depressed. He was missing his mother, the mother whom he had left in solitary confinement. The mother, who taught him how to write alphabet AMMA(mother), who would wait on him for hours after school, who never remarried even after his father passed away, to look after him and his brother. Wealth had corrupted the mind and even the police could see it, thought Manoj. All this made him dizzy and lethargic with guilt. He forgot that the foundation of living being is made of father and mother. He can’t blame Beena, or his own wife. He suddenly remembered his mother’s words, “If a banana tree gets too mature and ripe, it cannot be immune from worms”.  His mother must have realized that he is a worm who is greedy for money!

What he did to his mother was cruelty. His eyes filled with tears, he said to himself, he needs to apologize to his mother. With a withered mind and body, Manoj drove to the hospital through the dark snowy roads. The noiseless snow kept falling thicker and thicker…

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