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ఈ క్రింది లింక్ ద్వారా Life in Anantaaram పీడీఎఫ్ పుస్తకాన్ని ఉచితంగా డౌన్ లోడ్ చేసుకొవచ్చు:
అనువాదం లోని కొంత భాగం మీకోసం ఇక్కడ ఫొందుపరుస్తున్నాం:
… … … … … …
I knew Telugu, Maths, Science and Hindi quite well but English was
difficult. Maybe I was careless in studying English from the beginning, but I
was unable to master it now and was ashamed to be so. As the exams approached,
I learnt the answers by rote. I studied the important questions that the
teacher had asked, but simply could not form answers on my own. I thought that
I would score well in the other subjects. Since there was nothing more to do
now, I could only try to do better after passing this exam.
Meanwhile, my father wanted to get me married. `I may die soon, who
will arrange his marriage?’ This had started two years earlier. My elder
brothers were married when they were only 14 years old. Similarly, he wanted to
get me married with my mother playing chorus to him. All they wanted was to get
me married, but did not worry how I would live after that.
This time, I knew that I could not escape. I got ready to see a girl in
Tipparti. In those days, I used to wear a half shirt and shorts. How could I go
to meet a girl with just shorts on? I borrowed a kameez and pajamas from a
friend.
The poor Brahmin had no hair. They stuck some hair on him and got him
married off. My parents and I went together to Tipparti for
the bride viewing. She was fatter than I, and it was not going to work. Saying
that we would send word, we returned. I thought that I had got rid of the
problem.
Two months later, my parents started the war again. This time, they
said that there was a girl in Yelkaram on the road to Jangaon. I agreed and we
left one Sunday to see her. We reached Yelkaram. They girl was led in to where
we sat. She was a hand taller than me and dark skinned as well. We said that we
would send word and left.
Arvapalli where my paternal aunt lived, is near Yelkaram. We thought
we would rest there and reached by night, walking all the way. Arvapalli is a
pilgrimage centre. Devotees visit every day for darshan. My aunt Salamma ran a
small shop there. She sold snacks, puffed gram and sweets., and in the evening,
fried stuffed chillis, coconut and incense sticks. Her husband and son also
worked in this business. They were originally from Nomula near Nakrekal. As
work on the loom was failing, they had come here to eke out a livelihood. They
had earned enough to buy a small plot in Arvapalli and had set up this small
shop. The work was good and they had enough to eat. They hosted us well.
Before we went to bed, my father told Aunt Salamma why he had come.
She heard everything, and told us about a likely family she knew. Chikku Satyam
was an Ayurvedic doctor in Nakrekal. He was not only related to us, but was
also from Nomula. During police action, he had left for Nakrekal, set up
medical practice there and ran his household well. While praising his good
qualities, she also said that they drank tea every day, a sign of relative
wealth and sophistication. My father seemed to like this alliance. At dawn, we
left with my uncle, and passing through Jajireddigudem, and crossing the Musi,
reached Nakrekal by dusk. Since Chikku Satyam was closely related to my uncle, we
stayed there for the night.
Chikku Satyam's father Lakshmiah was also a doctor in the family
tradition. He had come before the police action to Nakrekal from Nomula. People
from surrounding villages came here for treatment. His reputation for right
diagnoses and treatment grew. There were no hospitals nearby. One had to go
either to Suryapet or Nalgonda. Satyam's clinic was on the main road in
Nakrekal. In his clinic, tablets and potions were kept in glass almirahs.
Adjacent were the handloom weavers’ cooperative society office, a mosque and a
police station opposite.
In the morning, my uncle told Satyam why we had come. `The boy is a
good boy. He is in Class X.’ They thought that I had potential for good
employment in the future and arranged for me to see the girl. She was neither
fair nor dark. She was about 12 years old, and was studying in class 4, they
said. `The girl is a golden doll,’ said my parents. My uncle was delighted.
No one asked me for my opinion. Well, whatever happens will happen, I
thought, and we came away to Suryapet. My parents went home. In a week, Satyam
sent word that the alliance was acceptable to them, and that they would come to
see our house.
There is a
private bus to my village in the morning which goes upto Miryalguda. Chikku
Satyam and
his brother-in-law, along with an elder, came in this bus. As the bus went past
the Durajpalli hillock and on the bullock cart way, it raised much dust. When
the visitors saw this, would they want to give their girl to a boy from this
area? This was a land of hillocks.
When they arrived and saw our house, it seems that they decided
against the alliance. They left in the evening for Nakrekal. The hillocks, the
bullock cart road, the condition of our house and that of our village – when
they related all this, Satyam’s wife, aunt and their other relatives, strongly
felt that they should not go ahead with the alliance. It was Satyam’s
determination alone to have an alliance with us that broke their resistance.
After the weeping and moaning was over, they decided on a date for the wedding.
Now the wedding was settled, but there was no money for expenses. There was
only the house we lived in. My parents got Rs. 300 when they put it up for
sale. Thus, my house was sold for my wedding.
I had told them that my H.Sc exams would end on April 9. But they
decided, after
consultations
with the Brahmins, that the night of April 9 was an auspicious time for me. The
last exam was over by the noon of April 9, the wedding was to take place the
same night.
There was no bus at that time. I hired a cycle. Since I could not know
cycle too well, I walked the cycle till outside the town, looked for a rock,
balanced myself, jumped onto the seat and started pedaling. I pedaled slowly.
If I found a lorry or bus approaching, I got down, and reseated myself after it
passed. In this fashion, I reached home. They were waiting anxiously for me and
were happy to see me. We left on bullock carts for Nakrekal and reached.
By the time, the wedding was over, it was midnight.
…. ……
….
Life in Anantaram
Telugu Original : Ooru VaaDa Batuku
by Devulapalli Krishnamurthy
Translated in to English by : GEETA RAMASWAMY
