The last three times I had been to DC, I was told that Nalini Jameela’s autobiography has been sold out. Had been reading so much about the latest bestseller, that I was disappointed. Yesterday hence, it seemed a big surprise, that when I was at DC to buy a copy of Coelho’s Eleven Minutes, I saw Jameela donning the bookshelves. And a huge coincidence that both the books deal with a similar theme, though set in distinctly different milieu.
‘Oru Laingika Thozhilaaliyude Aathma Katha’ would disappoint, if sex and sleaze is what one looks out for. For once, its all about tearing the mask off the average Malayali’s farcical face, leaving his warped psyche stark naked, to be dissected and analysed. Jameela impresses not with her lexical embellishments, nor does she put forward a fancy claim of being the most-promising-writer to have struck the Malayalam literary scene of late. Aided by I. Gopinath, she merely engages in an absorbing tête-à-tête with the reader, opening up a whole new world that is unfamiliar and seemingly uncouth to most of us. A world of lusty men and ruthless cops, shady goons and mindless gore, shabby brothels and shabbier lives, dreaded disease and lingering pain. She stuns us when she revels in selling sex, and dismisses the idea that she wouldn’t mind her daughter being a sex worker with an indifferent shrug. Amidst all these and more, Jameela lets us be voyeurs of her own life, as she transcends across variegated levels of human experience, and at the end of it all, declares without a second thought, that life is worth living.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I get to see quite a few screwed eyebrows all around me, gauging each and every morsel that has ever fallen out of Jameela’s mouth. I wouldn’t be astounded if they hold a protest march before her shack at Bangladesh Colony, Kozhikode, condemning the ‘profoundly negatory influence’ that she has had on their children. I wouldn’t be amused to see them bait for her blood, shocked at her unambiguously candid expositions. I wouldn’t be bewildered by their ever-growing concern regarding the ‘inevitable shattering of sacred family ties’ that we have for long, painfully hung on to. It wouldn’t amaze me to hear them murmur their dissent over her having shown the courage to deliver a slap where it has been long due.
And I wouldn’t be too much awed to see them rushing to the bookshops to grab a copy of her book, before it’s sold out again.
:-)
Marriage or Mirage?.
" Marriage or Mirage?
Wednesday, November 02, 2005 ||
6:26 PM ||
Commitment Phobia - sounds menacing ofcourse. I have been diagnosed as suffering from this fatal ailment, that intends to wreak havoc on my future life. When I see newly married couples on the beach walking hand in hand, it amuses me. It doesnt surprise me much when I watch an older couple on a park bench staring up at the dark sky that hasnt got much to offer, for hours on end. Life has taken its toll; the silence and the distance have become unnerving, I feel. 'Its not as bad as you think' - a veteran explains. 'We have had our share of differences, but togetherness is pure bliss'. Yeah.. for some. But what if one prefers to live peacefully in the small, painfully routine space one has created for oneself, without much of an intrusion? "No.. you have got it all wrong - why dont you find a girl who doesnt 'intrude' much?" It gags me at times, to see that my friends, my realtives, my have-seen-you-somewhere kinda acquaintances, everyone (barring my parents) have been distressed with my single status, at 30. "You gotta rush, if babies are what you have in mind." "The fun is lost, the older you get.." " What??? Are you waiting for Aishwarya Rai to come along??" The queries are too many, and I dont have answers all the time.
"When you love someone all the more, you learn to live with her. Its not a matter of adjustment any more, its plainly a matter of acceptance." How nice!!! I see marriages all around me, and a few happily married ones at that. And quite a few absolutely disastrous ones - they push along; "I dont have much of a choice. Seperation? Are you crazy??" These are men and women who badly wanted to marry and live happily ever after. I have seen people living together, with and without marriage certificates to boost their already spirited or dampened lives.
"Dont tell me you are advocating one of those ridiculous life styles that doesnt have the sanctity of the Saath Pheras!!" I am not - but it makes sense to me when I have the choice to make a damn decision about my life, without the rest of the world commenting on it. It makes sense to me, to see people getting to know each other really well, even if it means living under a roof - (dont ya worry moralists, in separate bed rooms ofcourse ;-))) before they take the giant leap (if at all, they have to leap - I prefer to walk along). It seems even more sensible to me, when people move on their separate ways, when they realise that being together is anything but that, and that life is not to be shamelessly lost in the intricacies of the constant efforts to make it work. I feel it sensible to live with a person, when I feel I badly need to have her in my life, no matter what. And not coz the rest of India tells me that "You are way past the marriagable age - Boys of your age have had three children, by now". Great for them!!
As for now, the going is great. Period.
