Fine Insight into Human Psychology Author Deva’s stories captured people with their idiosynchrosies. It was a well attended discourse. The speaker emphasised the evanescence of fame and popularity, leaving the audience in no doubt that it was wrong to pursue and hanker after fame. At the end of the discourse he asked me anxiously when a gist of his discourse would be published in the paper, reminding me that the last time he had been published was three weeks ago. I smiled to myself and added one more member to the Brahmasri Govardhana Sroutikal Club.Of course there is no such club. Srouthikal is a character in one of Devan’s “Thuppariyum Sambu” stories. Srouthikal lectures on the dangers of being attached to one’s wealth and Sambu is deeply impressed. So when Sambu’s wife Vembu tells him that Srouthikal is distraught because his wife’s necklace is lost, he wonders why SArouthikal who preaches that material possessions should not be sought after , should worry over the loss of a necklace. Vembu’s reply to her husband is telling and needs no elaboration. “To preach is Strouthikal’s profession.Does that mean that he should give away all his possessions?” This is quintessential Devan – justthe right amount of irreverence to make one burst out laughing. Not that Devan was an atheist. But he recognised that some people are devout, because devoutness has its uses. . . In “Gomathiyin Kathalan” Pranathaarthihara Iyer’s sister is a frequent visitor to the temple, because she see it as an ideal place to boast about her brother’s wealth and status. The astrologer in “Gomathiyin Kathalan” proves to be nothing more than a clever interrogator, who worms his information from gullible Kaveri Ammal and cunningly gives his astrological exercise the colour of prescience. Devan’s characters are not monochromatic. Santhanam Iyengar a strict hard taskmaster who does not part with his money easily chides the cook when Vedhantham is served a watery liquid that passes for Coffee. One of the criticisms of Devan is that his stories were “Brahmin” ones, what ever that means. Yes! Most of his heroes and heroines were Brahmins. But that does not mean But that does not mean that heb portrayed Brahmins in a uniformly good light. For example, Vairam Gopalaswamy Iyengar ignores Vedhantham is no longer wealthy, Ranganathan does not hesitate to cheat a poor widow. Pranathaarthihara Iyer and his family cheat their driver of his salary. Ringside View Devan’s Brahmin readers enjoyed Devan’s critiquing of their community for Devaan had a ringside view of its shortcomings and held up a mirror. In “Mr Vedhantham “ 51 year old Rangoon Chari, “ who has a 17 year old daughter ,does not hesitate to ask for 18 year old Chellam’s hand in marriage. This was the curse of the Brahmin community, parents sometimes married off their daughters to men old enough to be their grandfathers. We are glad when Chellam escapes the clutches of Chari. But in the last chapter we find that some other hapless girl has fallen victim to her father’s avarice or poverty. And yet, why is the same reader happy when Sambu’s bachor days are over, , for after all 40 year old Sambu too married a young Vembu? While Devan’s portrayal of Sambu makes it difficult for anyone to dislike him, the fact also remains that in this marriage there is no element of compulsion. Sambu is also innocent of using money as a bait.We do not also feel the revulsion we feel in the case of Chari.In later stories we find delightful romantic exchanges between Vembu and Sambu and there is never a dull moment in this marriage.. Vembu is as happy with Sambu as she might have been with a younger man. Sambu is is one of Devan’s most adorable characters and we wont grudge him his success as a Detective. CID Chandhru despite his acute intelligence and Sherlock Holmes like observations, is a cold fish. He is self possessed and disdainful of others. . We are glad that Sambu is more successful of Devan’s two detectives despite the fact that he is rather intellectually deficient.. Devan’s knowledge of human psychology is evident in all his stories.In “CID Chandhru” eight year old Chemba is able to guess her sister padma does not like the woman visitor because teh visitor is beautiful.. We all like to be purveyors of bad news and we derive some ghoulish satisfaction from this. .Aravamudu in Gomathiyin Kathalan is no exception.When T V S Iyer warns him not to mention to Gopalan that Rangarajan might have stolen a pair of bangles, Aravamudu resolves that this is the first thing he will talk about when he gets home. There are some people who like to claim kinship where there is none. Through Kamakshi ammal in “Mythili” Devan gives us a hilarious example. Kamakshi ammal says that her husband is once removed cousin of Soorangudi Subbu Kutti Iyer’s wife’s uncle’s step-mother’s grad-daughter’s sister-in-law’s brother-in-law! And so establishes a that she is related to her co-passenger in the train. In one of her letters to Sambu Vembu says “ My mother had asked you to pick up a cup-board for hersome months ago. But you forgot all about it.My mother says that I am not to mention it to you again. So I am not mentioning it.” In Mr Vedhantham three appalams “accidentally” slip from Kausalya’s hands on Sarangan’s plate when she asks Sarangan to find her son Venkatachari a job. “Rajiyin Pillai” (Raji was the name of Devan’s first wife whose death he mourned for ten long years refusing to marry a second time.) is a collection of short stories about a little boy. The child fades away at the end of each story, and the author realises that he has been dreaming. The stories are reminiscent of Charles Lamb’s “ Dream Children- A Reverie.” In one story the child is lifted by Goddess Parvathi, and mother and son slowly disappear and we see Devan’s Muruga Bakthi and his desire for a child-merge. It is a story that tugs at one’s heart strings. Devan even has a name for this child he aches for – Subrahmanyam, after his favourite deity. Shades of Wodehouse Devan was an avid reader and this evident in his stories. We see shades of Wodehouse in many of his stories. Swamy in Mr Vedhantham is clearly inspired by Gold Smith’s “Man in Black”. What a refreshingly different character Swamy is! He has a heart of Gold but dons a cloak of rudeness and hates to be thanked for his help. In life it is common to find men in white, men who have a pleasing demeanour but whose intentions are malicious. One cannot help wishing there were more Men in Black , like Swamy, in this world. Some people criticise Devan for being unduly optimistic, and giving all his stories happy endings. Devan, they argue is therefore predictable, because no matter what vicissitudes the hero and heroine face they will eventually overcome all their difficulties. Well! So what if he is predictable? Fate drags us towards a future we have no control over. Why shouldn’t a story be different? Why couldn’t we comfort ourselves with the thought that at least the travails of our hero and heroine will soon be over because a predictable Devan is in control and not an inscrutable God, whose ways are a mystery to us?.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 15:23:52 +0000
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