Madhavikutty

''Prem korechi, besh korechi (I loved), goes a long ago Bengali song. Madhavikutty, for me dear Amme, loved. With pride confessed. Wrote of it. Indians could not stomach it. And when she became a Muslim, the dislike was complete,' ...the ignominy of being/undressed by strangers', as Madhavikutty writes. And still is. If a male had done and written the same, Indians would have applauded, appreciated. Today, he will be a Hero. For a male, 12 inches make a foot; for a female, 10 inches make a foot. Yet, the Lady has poetry and poems in her. In A Blessed Life, she pens:

True,
I broke a commandment
or two
but I shall not plead
for society's pardon,
or God's.
When I disobeyed
I tasted bliss
indeed
I count myself blessed
not for the fame
or fortune
bu for those wanton hours
of pure abandon....
(from Closure, some poems and a conversation, Kamala Das and Suresh Kohli)

Madhavikutty is a stand out in life and film. Rama and me have been going over and over the video song Neermathalam (lyrics by Rafeeq Ahamed, music M. Jayachandran, singers Shreya Ghoshal and Arnab Dutta). Stills. But Aami is off Mumbai after living in some six theatres, for a week, one show each day. Rama and me saw the film, first show, first day with some 15 citizens. Perhaps, superstars (no way artists) have numbed, coarsed taste buds. Dishoom dishoom, cheap dialogues, women reduced to add ons ... make hits. As if Madhavikutty does not belong. She belongs to Rama and me. In some manner, Aami reminds of Karuthamma in Chemmeen. Or is it that Madhavikutty is not in favour because she became a Muslim. For me, it is her fundamental right. Do religions change Madhavikutty? The Lady tells Kohli: "The only religion I know is the religion of love. I fell in love with a Muslim after my husband's death. He was kind and generous in the beginning. But I now feel one shouldn't change one's religion. It is not worth it." When will we accept Madhavikutty as Madhavikutty ...'It is a sad occupation but I wouldn't choose another.' Her last poem  Alzheimer's:

Alzheimer's disease
is a spider
deadlier even than
the tarantula.
It weaves its web
within the brain,
a web rugged like
wrought-iron
and thought-proof.
My mother
for seven years had
Alzheimer's.
It looked out
through her eyes
although she was
silent as a safe
plundered bare,
emptied of memories,
her disease talked.
Like a Buddhist monk,
it said
life is sorrow.....


Maybe, Madhavikutty, most of us are down with Alzheimer's. Have a laugh.