Ripples Roping Memories

By Usha Raman

Partridge India has released a book of poems, Drifting Emotions and Flowering Thoughts authored by Usha Raman. It is a lyrical celebration of experiences. Another book are leaves from the 1960s which springs into Ripples Roping Memories, a fiction radiating into experiences. Walking to school with a school bag on her shoulder, Rani gazes at her surroundings and findings and revels in her sweet and resents her bitter experiences. Rani makes a comment about doctors. I considered doctors as healers who could mend peoples bodies. Doctors can drive away disease and pain. I revered them. The guilt feeling which Rani feels after stealing- My fabric of morality was stained. Fear and remorse ruled me. Pleasant experiences are- These songs infiltrated into my psyche and sowed a pleasant feeling Excerpts which reveal unpleasant experiences My head would become a sudden sweeping merry go round and I would slump on the floor Innocence and ignorance combined in me and aroused fear. A mothers attempt to blackmail is evident in the lines- Kanna, I am the only one mother of yours, You must listen to your mother or I am going to cut my wrist with a knife Do you want me or your friends? Atrocities against women leads her to believe It seems there is no security im marriage. Child abuse develops A constant feeling of disrespect towards elders continued to dwell in my mind.

Reading the book Ripples Roping Memories helps one to experience cosmopolitan Indian society. It is a slow moving life where Rani gets time to observe. Din of commercialisation makes a slow penetration into Vanavli. It is an overall composite wade into middle class Indian life. Villas, chawls and shanties existed side by side. Languages of characters are coded in English. Meanings are provided to facilitate understanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Mar 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781482845549

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Usha Raman.

ISBN:      Softcover            978-1-4828-4555-6

                 eBook                 978-1-4828-4554-9

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Contents

Preface

Chapter I.   A Blow to Stability

Chapter II.   Ties with Family and Society

Chapter III.   Life in Mogra Chawl

Chapter IV.   Family in Difficulty

Chapter V.   V School with Idyllic Surroundings

Chapter VI.   Culture, Cinema and Reality

Chapter VII.   Tradition and Astrology

Chapter VIII.   Man, Woman and Society

Chapter IX.   Culmination of School Life

Preface

T he wind sets ripples in water in motion and takes the mind back in time and space to rope in memories of Vanavli, a small place in Sagarpur . Rani lives in Vanavli , a small town of Sagarpur , located near the coast. The area abounds in natural resources. People from all parts of India have made it their home. Rani visits the homes of her neighbours who have brought with them traditions, languages and religions which she does not know of. Rani caters to a middle class lifestyle and morality. She is a typical school girl who learns from experiences in life. School, for Rani, becomes an aperture through which she learns to perceive the world at large. She develops curiosity to know the people and living beings in the world in which she lives.

The story begins with Rani’s struggle for stability when she cannot understand why her parents decide to shift to Siddarthnagar from Sthaipada. Her stable friendship with her playmates is shattered. She feels insecure because she is sick and her mother gives more attention to new babies instead of her. But entertainment of music and dance provided by Vanita Steels enthralls her. She doesn’t understand all that is taught in school in English. She develops a system to study. Hard work ultimately helps her to score good grades in her new school. Ignorant about sex, she fears men, who are according to her, dangerous beings. She enjoys comedy films and decries films which motivate her brother to pawn her school text books. Her mother, whose mind has been piped through tradition, thinks that daughters are economic burdens and deterrents to good life. In Siddarthnagar, she was surprised to find men dominated by women. Stella is dominated by her husband because she is economically dependent on him whereas Natesh, a man is dominated by Janaki who is economically independent. She fears changeable love when the man who loved Stella, deserts her for another woman. She experiences the good and the bad in their true raw form.

The protagonist Rani takes her own stand. She educates herself. School, society, media and home act as influences. She has convent culture for discipline and morality whereas she has home, cinema, society and community for understanding life. Responses to surroundings, balancing emotions, work and duties are things which Rani learns to manage in life. The prime need is always given the highest priority as in the case of Rani who wants to free herself economically. Rani tries to fabricate a future. She doesn’t accept tradition which she feels will smother her very being. She understands tradition fosters lopsided values. The struggle leads to a hiatus when she finishes her school education. Success opens the door for her aspirations.

The characters and locales in the story are fictitious. They have been designed to create an understanding and experience of the world in which Rani lives. Any resemblance to real life situations is just a coincidence. The writer does not personally subscribe to the views of the main character in the story. The comments in certain instances show that the writer has tried to link the past with the present day world.

USHA RAMAN

I

A Blow to Stability

I t was a sapling. I wanted to make it stand in front of my house. I dug the earth and fixed its roots with mud on all sides. I looked at it with fulfillment. The bizarre wind started toppling things which people had placed outside the house. My sapling fell. I erected it after the wind subsided. This time, I picked up small stones and placed them on all sides of the sapling to ensure that it will not fall again. After some time, to my disgust, I found it had fallen. The stem was tender and its roots were fragile. It couldn’t combat the blatant and snarling wind. The spirit in me did not accept defeat. I erected it several times and it fell again and again. The wind did not allow me to do what I wanted. A strong feeling of sadness was aroused in my mind. I did not know what was happening to me. There was turmoil inside the house. Mom and dad seemed to be hurrying up packing things. A big truck was seen on the road. Everything was loaded in it. I watched my house being emptied. I asked my mother what was happening. She said, "Rani, we will have to move out of this place. We are going to another house in Vanavli . I said, No mom, we will stay here. I have my friends here." Mother kept quiet and didn’t say anything. I was not happy to leave my childhood place behind. I went to my friends and waved them goodbye. I lifted my doll and walked behind the truck with tears in my eyes. I watched the truck disappear into the busy road. The truck hastened to shift me to the new place. My steps were heavy and my mind was bogged down by the thought of leaving the place forever. The truck took our family belongings to Siddesh society, flat number twenty one, Siddharthnagar Seventh road, Van avli.

As a child, I didn’t have control over what was happening. At first I did not know why my parents opted to shift. Later I learnt that my maternal aunt Janaki could not find a baby sitter for her new born Karnesh. Both Janaki and her husband Natesh came to our house in Sthaipada and pleaded that it would be good if we shifted our residence to Siddesh society. Being a working woman, she needed a babysitter. Women who went for work were few. They had their relatives or in-laws to take care of their babies. So babysitting was not a commercial activity. The working couple did not want to approach a stranger or neighbour to look after their child. They wanted my mother to look after the new child. If we shifted to Siddesh society, Janaki would have to walk five minutes to leave the child under the care of my mother. In the evening the child would be picked up for home by its mother. Moreover aunt Janaki did not like our house in Sthaipada. In those days there was no transport facility in rural suburbs. People did not use scooters. Three wheelers were not in vogue. Dad was reluctant at first. He realized he had his family to look after. He told Natesh it was impossible for him to take an extra economic burden. He was happy living in a house, which the Government Housing Board had allotted to him. Natesh said, "Shiva, do not worry. You can trust me as your brother. I am badly in need of your help. You are from Vikas Mission School. It would be interesting for you to know that I had been in the same school. Sengath told me about you. I know that you had been my junior. Our school has fostered brotherhood. We are brothers and as brothers we must help each other. It’s only then the family can come up. Shiva nodded his head and said, I will help you, but I will return to my house when situation demands me to." So it was agreed that Shiva and his family would shift to Siddesh society. Aunt Janaki worked for Abita Mills. I saw Janaki and her husband for the first time in Siddharthnagar. Both Aunt Janaki and her husband were tall, fair and well built.

Things were stuffed in a hotch potch manner in the new house. I didn’t like the new house. I chose to be indifferent. The next day dawned. I continued my schooling in Paramount High School. The new house was near Bhîma Park, Vanavli. I was not happy because I had to walk a long distance to reach the bus stop. I took a bus to Pehrauli. I would get down at the school bus stop. I didn’t enjoy going to school since I plodded all alone. Previously, I had a group of friends and the lively ammi, a middle aged woman who took us from Sthaipada to our school. We walked the distance talking and frolicking.

The seventh lane of Siddharthnagar ended up in Neel Dongri. It was crammed by small human settlements and ‘tabelas’ or cowsheds which were seen on both sides of Neel Dongri road. While passing by, one could smell cow dung. One could see ‘bhaiyyas’ (men who come from Uttar Pradesh) sitting on ‘khatiyas’ (Cot made of coir ropes) during twilight. Early morning, the ‘bhaiyyas’ would milk the buffaloes. They would sell milk to the customers who came in the morning to their sheds. They would give the buffaloes their daily bath. Buffaloes would be fed at regular intervals. They would speak Hindi in their typical accent. The Neel Dongri road led to Sthaipada railway crossing and one had to cross the railway lines to reach the west. Sometimes I took the Neel Dongri road to reach the West to join ammi and my friends to walk the way to school.

In the new house my mother had an additional burden to shoulder. Karnesh, who was my cousin, was a small kid to be looked after. My youngest brother Mohan was just a four month baby and other kids were three, four and two year olds.

Life at Sthaipada was different. Our family was happy. Mom chose to be a housewife instead of an office woman. When the family lived in Mogra chawl, mom would be pregnant again and again. My small mind could not take it. The sight of mom’s bloated tummy would make