Ozhivudivasathe Kali and Alicinte Albuthalokam- English Translation Attempt
Ozhivudivasathe Kali (An Off day Game) and Aliceinte Albuthalokam (Alice in Wonderland) are short stories written by Malayalam post modern author and award winning screen writer Unni .R. He was born on 9th August 1971 in Kottayam district of Kerala. His other notable works are Leela, Kottayam 17, Oru Bhayankara Kamukan (A Great Lover)etc. He has written screen play for major hit films like Kerala Cafe, Anwar, Chaapa Kurishu, and won The Kerala State Film Award for best screenplay for movie Charlie in 2015.
Foreword
Obtaining Malayalam short stories via Internet is not an easy task. Unlike novels, Malayalam short stories have fewer audience which makes the obtainment of resources even harder. Mathrubhoomi Azchapathipu (Mathrubhoomi Weekly) is one of the most prominent Malayalam literary magazines available in Kerala. I was able to procure one story via the magazine and luckily Google Books gave a preview of Alice in Wonderland . I was attracted to the short stories by Unni .R for various reasons. He was already a prominent author in Kerala and an award winning screen play writer. As a movie buff, I had watched all his movies and had a very good opinion about them. When I came across his two short stories I was surprised by the simple yet powerful language he uses, unlike some complicated usages by famous Malayalam authors. The language had its special charm, different from that of a style with complex similes and usages. Translating is already a hard work, when language gets poetic and complicated, translation becomes unsatisfactory and unclear to both the translator and the reader which leaves room for further improvement. The task here was to convey the idea that Mr. Unni intended to portray than getting across the word by word translation of each sentence. Beauty of his literary style is hidden in the emotional moments his story conveys. The event that is happening may seem simple but the impact it leaves after reading the entire work is equal to that of experiencing the event directly. He makes reader a silent witness, rendering us omnipresent yet powerless to change the destiny of his characters.
An Off Day Game[1]
As usual, on a Sunday, four of them- Dharmapalan, Asokan, Vinayan and Das met at Room 70 of the Nadavanam Lodge around a bottle of alcohol, with an urgency to escape that would remind one of the frenzied refugees fleeing from the plague of the Decameron story; just to escape from their monotonous boring work life. Usually after finishing just one peg, the room becomes a confession chamber condensed with whispers. Slowly the cacophony of the words hurled around transforms it into a washing machine. When they finally leave, the room that reeks of dirt and obscenity that puts even a public latrine to shame, gets locked down waiting for its chance on next Sunday.
May be that's why they decided to put aside the usual discussions about government policies, fight with the wife or description about the body of a small girl they saw in bus or road, aside this time and engage themselves in a fruitful activity of storytelling or a game.
Within a few minutes of chatter they discovered a major flaw with their plan to tell a story. Either a discussion or a grapevine gossip, anything is a story these days. Even the prescription by a doctor could be given a title and called a story. If one makes an attempt to tell a new story, the seasoned well established clichéd characters could come up anytime. It would tempt us like a Marichan[2] with cat calls and seducing smiles and would take you far away. By the time you realise the treachery it would be time to part with it. There was only one way to distance oneself from stories. Games. Thus they decided to give up storytelling and took up the age old Guess-the-Thief game to play and pass the time.
While the other three struggled to recollect the rules and regulations of the game they played when they were kids, Dharmapalan intervened and refreshed their memories.
For each of us we take four bits of paper and write King, Minister, Police and Thief in any order. Fold it, shake the pile and choose a bit. The one who gets Police has to correctly guess who the Thief is. If police wrongly guesses King to be the thief then he gets awarded by 5 beatings. Call minister the thief and you get three. Finally the thief goes under trial.
Before the game they finished another round of peg. Asokan gathered the paper bits, folded them and gave it a good shake. While each took a paper bit, Dharmapalan served another round of booze.
Asokan said " I'm the Police".
"Wonderful. Truth be told, the job of a journalist is not that different from that of a police" Vinayan teased with a slight smirk." They force feed us shit and piss, the other fellas feed us much more putrid stuff".
"Don't you mess with my designation" Asokan retorted.
"No fights and ruckus today okay?" Dharmapalan reprimanded both.
Asokan and Vinayan fell silent. Asokan smoothly finished another peg.
Police should find the criminal. Asokan shot his gaze to Dharmapalan. The unbothered Dharmapalan let out smoke rings with the cigarette he lit. Vinayan poked around his teeth ridge for some leftover food with his tongue. Das just smiled looking at Asokan. Who is the thief? Is it the R.T.O office employee Dharmapalan, Registration Department employee Vinayan or Tuition master Das? Asokan finishing his next two pegs ran his eyes around the semi circle of his drinking buddies, trying hard to decipher who the actual thief was.
" Get your answer wrong and you shall be gifted with severe blows" Das reminded Asokan.
Warned by the punishment that awaited Asokan felt his courage draining away accompanied by a pain inside his palm.
"Let's change the punishment. One should pay 200 Rs instead of 5 blows and 100 Rs for 3 blows" Asokan suggested.
All the other three nodded in agreement.
Asokan got back into the role of a Police and barged back into the silence that loomed over . Dharmapalan must be the thief. Look at his role models : C.P Ramaswamy Iyer and Jayaram Padikal. The so - called Sri Rama devotee carried the photo of Indira Gandhi of the emergency period in his pocket. He even speaks very softly. He divides the money he acquired through bribe among his gods and his justification? 'He is just following his ancestral heritage of favouritism and nepotism' . "He must be the thief", Asokan thought. Oh god if I get it wrong, my two hundred rupees will fade into oblivion. Asokan to restore his courage finished another peg.
Dharmapalan's and Vinayan's glasses were already empty. Das merely chewed on roasted groundnuts and watched the concentration in Asokan's eyes with amusement.
"Fine ! I'm going to declare who the thief is " Asokan said.
All the other three nodded in agreement.
" The thief among this group is Dharmapalan".
Vinayan and Das turned their heads to look at Dharmapalan. Dharmapalan hadn't budged. He gulped down another ounce of booze, wiped his lips and replied in a hoarse voice " Who said I was the thief?"
Asokan gazed at the redness in Dharmapalan's eyes. He felt his courage fading away. He gathered it up again and proclaimed "Dharmapalan is the thief I'm sure "
Dharmapalan roared out laughing. It's disturbing acoustics reflected on the walls of that small room like the rattling of a bird's wings. All three looked towards Dharmapalan. He swallowed his laughter like a sword into a sheath and extended his bit of paper to their visibility.- KING !
Asokan tore his eyes away from the paper with anxiety.
Dharmapalan said " That's two hundred rupees fine for you !"
Asokan placed the money at the centre of the circle. " Go on ! Catch the thief"
Dharmapalan said in a husky voice.
Asokan looked at Das and Vinayan. Vinayan smiled at Asokan. Asokan knew that smile was a jab at his pride for his mistake. Vinayan proceeded to search for the leftover food in his tooth cavities with a tool of palm leaf stem in his hand. Das looked at his bit from time to time like prasadam[3] from a temple while consuming more booze.
Asokan first looked at Vinayan. He had begun his search for food bits in between his teeth. "He must be the thief. He has nothing but contempt to the rest of the world. Such an egotistical nature. The one who lends his salary for an interest to other people and live in his wife's home lavishly. The one who cares about nothing in this world but himself. The one who boasts that his father's father was a Brahmin to strengthen his bond with Dharmapalan with an invisible punool[4]. Who else would be the thief other than him?"
"Hey Policeman ! Do tell who is the thief !" Dharmapalan was getting impatient.
"Dharma, allow me some more time" Asokan requested.
"Not Dharma !" Dharmapalan corrected him in an arrogant tone. "King!"
"Forgive me my lord !" Asokan replied humbly. "I found out who the thief is"
Dharmapalan looked at all three, raised his hands dramatically and retorted " Hey policeman, you are telling me you found out the culprit? Who is he? Tell me !"
The king like speech from Dharmapalan generated a smile on Vinayan and Das' face.
Asokan bowed to Dharmapalan and said, " It's this man, who adorns a beard, the thief."
Dharmapalan tilted his head to left and looked at Vinayan. He was still searching for food in cavities with his mouth wide open.
"Him?" Dharmapalan asked cynically to Asokan. " This hippo?"
"Yes my lord ! " Asokan replied courteously.
Dharmapalan asked Vinayan " Hey you, yes! The guy with the beard ! My police man tells me you are the thief. Is this true?"
Vinayan took out the stick from his mouth, placed it on his lap, reached for the bit from his pocket and revealed it to Dharmapalan.
Dharmapalan laughed maniacally. "You lousy policeman ! Don't you know who he is ?"
Asokan shrugged and moved his head from side to side.
" This is my minister" Dharmapalan commanded. " That brings you another one hundred rupees fine !"
Asokan placed another hundred rupee note at the centre.
Dharmapalan, Vinayan and Asokan looked at Das who finished his third glass of booze and was moving like a snake from side to side with head tilted to one side.
" Oh my lord" Asokan reminded Dharmapalan. " He is the actual thief "
" He's the one?" Dharmapalan asked. " What did he steal?"
Das replied with a slight shake in his voice " I'm not a thief !"
All three laughed in unison.
"Hey police man, what's this guy's name ?" Dharmapalan enquired. " What crime did he commit"?
Asokan finished another peg quickly and replied " Oh majesty ! I first caught a glimpse of him near to your royal bedroom. It's after great struggle and wrestle I was able to subdue him. I wound a rope around his wrists and legs and bound him to a tree. However I tried to question him, he never revealed his name, place or home address to me. All he said was that he would loot this palace, distribute the booty of grain and money to poor people and boasted that he would exile corrupted, greedy and promiscuous king and minsters from this land. He complained that all citizens were fed up with this government's rule, the lower caste would rule in future and he even tried to bring me to his side by advising me to leave my job as a slave policeman to the king and join his rebellion as an ally.
Dharmapalan after hearing this jumped out of the chair and kicked Das in his face. Das fell backwards.
Vinayan who stood up advising Dharma to stop his unthinkable act was blocked by the roar of Dharmapalan's command that he was a minister to his king and it's the duty of the king to punish traitors like him. Vinayan complied by dropping his head down in silence .
Dharmapalan kicked the Das again who was at that time struggling to get up from the unexpected bash. "You arrogant thief ! You boasted that you would loot my bedroom and exile us all didn't you "?
Das looked up at Dharmapalan who was towering over him with one leg up in mid air. Observing at his brain balanced on the broken legs of three pegs reminded Das of the role of a king in the opera. Das smiled and replied " I'm a tuition master. My job is to teach children".
Dharmapalan asked to Vinayan enraged " Hey Minister ! Why is thief muttering nonsense?"
"Oh Majesty, can't you see? He's drunk. That's why he speaks in such a confused form". Asokan tried to explain.
Vinayan and Asokan helped Das up and pushed him to a dirty wall of the room.
Dharmapalan roared " I charge him with sedition and give him death sentence by hanging."
Asokan and Vinayan bowed down again and stood on either side of Das. Das tried to regain balance by leaning on to the dirty wall.
"It's time to hang him, this traitor. Are all arrangements in place ?" Dharmapalan enquired to Vinayan and Das.
Both nodded in agreement.
Asokan took out the jute thread that bound the food items they bought from the grocery store, made it into a hoop and put it around Das' neck.
" What nonsense is this ? Isn't there a slightly thicker thread to do this ?" Dharmapalan impatiently asked while removing the jute thread.
All three searched for a thicker thread all around the room and Vinayan and Asokan replied with disappointment " No my majesty, This is all we have.:"
Dharmapalan looked at Das. Then he wound his fingers around the neck of the alcohol bottle. He flung the bottle in air and broke its bottom on a desk. The bottle shattered with a loud bang. With an animalistic rage Dharmapalan ran towards Das with the broken shard. Das fell to the floor wide eyed with shock due to the sudden stab to his stomach with the shard.
The day after the Guess-the-Thief game, room 70 of the Nadavanam Lodge was locked again awaiting the next off day.
Alice in Wonderland
Thresyamma and Joseph were staunch believers. They were poor. They had no kids. Thresyamma had to face three abortions in her life. Every single time an abortion occurred it seemed life was draining away from Thresyamma. Her body resembled a tender tendril. Joseph extended an offering in Arthungal and Marthashmuni churches for her health. Even without Thresyamma's knowledge he vowed to set aside his portion of harvest entirely to Kudamaloor Church. Just give us a baby- Joseph prayed.
Thresyamma vomited. She felt a discomfort occasionally. Joseph felt joy. Joseph felt fear. Whenever he got scared he closed his eyes and prayed to Virgin Mary. He additionally offered an extra 50 Rs. with the harvest portion already offered.
Thesyamma's belly expanded in size. From time to time she would ask " Will He take back this too?"
Then Joseph would say, "Don't worry, He will definitely gift us this child!". On a midnight with no rain, heavy wind , thunder or lightening Thresyamma gave birth to a child. The mid wife Kalyani emerged from the shack and said "It's a girl!".
Two
Thresyamma asked," What will we name the child?"
Joseph also wondered the same, "What will we name the child?"
In between them the girl child with her lifted legs, curled fingers and no name played and gurgled with laughter.
Thresyamma said, "Shall I put my Aunt's name?"
Joseph asked," What is your Aunt's name?"
"Kochupennu[5]", Thresyamma replied.
"Yuck!"Jospeh responded" No way ! The name sounds like that of a lower caste". " Now we are Christians".
"Then you itself suggest a good name" Thresyamma said angrily.
"Shall we name her Alice?" Joseph suggested.
"Hmm. Where did you get this name?" Thresyamma asked with amusement.
"Let's just say I got it somehow", Joseph smiled and said.
By grabbing hold of both the small hands of the baby and rocking it from side to side with a rhythm, Thresyamma called out " Alicemol, Alicemol..."
Three
Walking straight from the front yard of the house through the small ridges of the ayacut one reaches the water bed. By following the stream to the left and taking the zigzag road one arrived at a road made of thick sand. One had to walk further from there to reach the school. Joseph would walk all the way, every day with Alice on his shoulder. It seemed to Alice that everyone was smaller than her from such a view point.: cow, goat, push wagons... everything was small. Alice would ask " Papa, how did all these things become small?". Then Joseph would respond "That's because you are bigger". "So I'm bigger than you Papa?" Alice asked. "Yes" Joseph would respond happily. But when Alice reached the school, she shrunk. There her tutor was bigger. His cane is bigger. What magic is this? The cow and goat outside are now bigger than her. Alice thought with wide eyes. One day Alice said to the girl sitting next to her " When I go back home I'll be bigger than our tutor and the cow". The girl laughed by hearing this. Alice also joined. Tutor saw both the girls laughing and both received punishment from the tutor. Alice returned home that day on Joseph's shoulders crying. The cows, goats and crows along the way looked up. Joseph teased her " Oh Alicemol, everyone is looking at you!" Alice in between her fresh tears looked back at them. Joseph consoled her " Alicemol don't cry dear... don't cry ".
Four
"Joseph! How's your kid?"
"It's all in the hands of the almighty", Joseph replied with grief.
"What happened to that kid?" weaver asked the grocer when Joseph left.
"They thought it was fever but then she vomited frequently and felt very sick". "Well, she's a little girl, must have eaten something from outside but now she falls unconscious often". "Yesterday night they took her to the big hospital".
When Joseph reached the hospital Thresyamma said" Our child opened her eyes". "She asked for Papa".
Joseph sat next to Alice. She laid on a small portion of the floor in between two beds just sufficient for a little kid. "It's a bit cold here" Joseph said.
"What can I do? No bed was available." Thresyamma complained.
Alice opened her eyes and looked at her mother and father. "Why are you crying Papa?" Joseph stood up and went next to Thresyamma without a reply. All night they watched and sat next to Alice, sleepless. Alice also couldn't sleep. Alice occasionally looked from side to side. Bottles of medicine, two wheels that cry when pushed, a sink to pee and an orange that rolled in between legs of bed to escape somewhere. "Papa!" Alice called. Joseph came and sat next to her. "Look! everyone has only legs and no faces". Joseph replied to Alice who was gazing with wonder " Go to sleep my child !"
Five
One night when Joseph was about to sleep, Thresyamma said " Hey ! Our daughter became a woman". Joseph had no clue about what Thresyamma had just said. Thresyamma got angry. Joseph also got angry, "Speak in a language that I can comprehend".
Thresyamma wispered " She has hit puberty".
Oh God save us all. He prayed.
Thresyamma stopped Alice who was about to go to bath in the stream. "Don't go alone".
Alice replied with irritation "Why not? Usually I go alone."
"Didn't I say not to go?" Thresyamma shouted at her. Alice became so sad. Thresyamma later went with her to the stream.
On the road Alice met toddy tapper Gopalan. She asked " Will you give me good toddy?"
Thresyamma became furious " How dare you? Women don't drink !".
"What's going on? What happened to you Mama?" Alice asked surprised. "I always ask him that!"
"Well, now onwards don't !" Thresyamma muttered. Alice had no clue about her mother's intentions.
Six
Alice threw up twice. Thresyamma rubbed her back and scolded " I told you not to eat stuff from here and there." Alice threw up again. To stop the nausea, Thresyamma made Alice smell lemon. Vomiting didn't stop. When the same condition continued for two more days Joseph took Alice to a physician. He examined Alice and asked " How old are you?.
"Twelve". It was Joseph who responded. Physician walked with Joseph to the corridor.
On the way back Alice asked to Joseph" Why aren't you saying anything Papa?" Joseph didn't reply. "Papa, can you lift me up on the shoulders?" The salamander that hid in the bush and the cow tied to a pole in the field looked at Joseph and Alice.
Seven
Alice wasn't sent to the school. She was said not to go outside, anywhere. Neither Thresyamma nor Joseph talked to Alice. A few neighbours who pretended to pluck grass from the fence tried to look inside and later left. Alice didn't understand anything.
One day Alice said to her Mama. "Look Mom! My stomach is expanding". Thresyamma looked at Alice. Alice placed her hand on her small stomach and laughed.
One night Alice saw her father sitting on the veranda sleepless. She went near to him " Papa!".
Joseph pulled Alice close to him. "Mole?[6]"
"What is it Papa?" Alice asked with doubtful eyes.
"Do we need this ?" Alice didn't understand the question.
"This child?" Joseph asked.
"Child? Where?"
Joseph held her close. Alice still didn't understand why her father was crying.
Alice's belly expanded more and more; like a balloon. She looked at her growing belly with amusement.
Eight
On a night with no rain, no heavy wind, no thunder and lightning, neighbours heard the cries of Alice. Then it subdued. Alice opened her eyes. In the dim light of her room, she saw a baby lying next to her right side. She looked at it with wide eyes. A baby with the colour of blood and size of a palm. Alice touched the baby gently. The baby started crying. Alice got scared and called her mama. On the veranda, Thresyamma was crying. Joseph was crying. Alice said to the baby "Don't cry... Don't cry..."
Translator's Endnote
Plot lines are always easier to convey in such stories. There is no room for confusion among the readers about the written event. It's certain concepts and aspects that proved difficult for me as a translator to extract the true essence of the story and reproduce it.
Emotion: The emotion of the plot drives a good short story. If the emotion of the character generates a catharsis in the reader even through a translated text; the job of translator is done. The jealousy, rage, hatred and foolishness of An Off day Game and the helplessness, grief and innocence of Alice in Wonderland. An Off day game was recently made into a movie which shows its literary success. Can a translate work be as good as the movie? Can it convey the same emotions? Does visual media has an added advantage or should we give more credit to our own imagination? Readers should decide.
Accent: Characters in An Off day Game are from the middle class. None express a specific accent, thus conversations happen in standard Malayalam. Characters of Alice in Wonderland are Christian converts. They have a specific accent that can never be captured in another language. A chunk of the sentiments involved is lost in translation since the grief expressed through the specific accent fails to be transferred. The way a daughter is addressed with love, a daughter address her parents with innocence gets muddled up in English adjectives. But overall I'm sure I have done justice to those characters in my ability.
Regional culture: Words like prasadam and Marichan might be identified by Indian readers but the word punool is culture and caste specific. Vowing to give an offer to a temple or a church is very common in Kerala's culture. The names of the characters in An Off day Game bring in Indian culture too. Dharmapalan is the one who guards justice. Vinayan is the one who is humble. Das is the servant and Asoka is the King. The plot of the story shows the irony of the names. In Alice in Wonderland, the name Alice is chosen to convey the innocence. The world is a wonderland for her with amusing incidents and images. How Alice gets treated by the world is the plot dilemma. The word Thresyamma comes from the word Theresa which means 'harvest' and father's name is Joseph. The fact that he prays to Virgin Mary and his name is that of Jesus' father reminds one of an innocent that was crucified for no sin. Alice also attains the victimhood with her innocence and for no fault of her own. He raises Alice on the shoulders to enhance her view point. She changed but the world around her couldn't or wouldn't.
Crime and Punishment: Both the stories end in a crime. Both done purposefully to an innocent being. Will the real culprit be punished in both the stories? Readers should come up with a conclusion with their contemporary legal trends. Alice's wonder towards everything is encompassed by the Malayalam language in a certain way. English could do justice to the objects she viewed but not the hue of her imagination.
Translation Process: Translation was a bit easy compared to other works since a portion of the story consists of dialogues. It's always easier to translate a dialogue than a statement. Words used were common to both languages with few exceptions. Events narrated contained emotions that were universal. The original text was kept side to the translated text were compared from time to time for just for missing concepts or sentiments. Further research was only for synonyms to avoid repetition of words and make the story more interesting to read. Extra effort was taken to get to know more about the author. Though translation might work with a story with an anonymous author, the talent of the well known writer gives a special impact while translating thus increasing the pressure to make the translated work sound more sensible. The author tend to make use of abrupt fragmented sentences while describing a character or event. Though it appears fractured in the English version, it had to be carried out to be loyal to the original text and literary style.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
· IMDB. Ozhivudivasathe Kali. 25 November 2015. 12 April 2016 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4920960/>.
· R, Unni. Ozhivudivasathe Kali.Alicinte Albuthalokam. Kottayam: DC Books, 2003: 1-5.
· R, Unni. “Ozhivudivasathe Kali[Republished].” Mathrubhoomi Azchapathippu 27 March 2016: 22-25.
[4] Punool: a thin holy thread donned during the Upanayanam (rite of passage) ceremony of the Brahmins.
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