Courtyard Drama

Fifty years after it was published, MT8217;s affecting tale about a crumbled house comes in an English translation

Naalukettu: The House Around the Courtyard
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
Translated by Gita Krishnankutty
OUP, Rs 395

In the 50 years since its publication, M.T. Vasudevan Nair8217;s first novel has seen 23 reprints and 14 translations, and sold half a million copies. Gita Krishnankutty now brings us this affecting work in a skilful English translation. Written in three weeks when MT, as all his readers call him, was a 24-year-old trainee at Mathrubhumi, Naalukettu is about many things 8212; the decline of the matrilineal system, the disintegration of the tharavad Nair joint family and, literally, the crumbling of the naalukettu the family house around the courtyard. More than anything else, it is about life in Kudallur, MT8217;s Kerala village to which he returns repeatedly in his writings. A small village, with a river running through it 8212; and the ebbs and tides of destiny that can take its inhabitants from bitter anger to forgiveness within a lifetime.

Appunni is a young Nair boy who dreams of taking revenge on his father8217;s murderer. His mother, Parukutty, is the daughter of a great tharavad who falls in love with Kondunni Nair, the best pagida dice player in the village, and escapes the arranged marriage that her family has planned for her. Kondunni has no wealth, but he and his partner Syedalikutty start a tapioca business that looks promising 8212; until, one evening, after a dinner at Syedali8217;s house, Kondunni collapses. Now, with the tharavad having turned away from her troubles, Parukutty works as a domestic help to bring up her son.

Curious about the naalukettu, Appunni goes there one day during an elaborate ritual. His grandmother greets him with warmth, but his uncle 8212; the tyrannical head of the family 8212; throws the boy out of the house.

As the years pass, Appunni8217;s mother sends him to high school with the support of her late husband8217;s friend Sankaran Nair. But village gossip about their friendship affects Appunni, and he leaves home in anger. Counselled by Syedali, he goes again to the tharavad and claims his right to live there. He finds unlikely support in one of the family members who has become resentful of the uncle8217;s high-handedness. Cracks form within the joint family, and Appunni8217;s years at the tharavad are spent amid legal wrangling.

As evoked by the game of pagida that is played obsessively on the banks of the river 8212; and at which Kondunni is skilled 8212; the novel ends with a dramatic reversal of fortunes. The old ways of life have almost disappeared, but there is also a mood of loss. Naalukettu is about the old joint families, matrilineal but patriarchal, protective of the tribe as a whole but deeply unjust to weaker members. Where the aunt who is always in the kitchen is very likely the one who has no children of her own. Where an uncle, discovering a strand of hair in his food, is said to have kicked a teenage niece until she died. Where the ghosts of bitter ancestors still haunt the corridors.

It is a novel about growing up in poverty, about sitting in school on an empty stomach and never having enough money to pay the fees. It is also about many other things, things of beauty and feeling 8212; motherhood, young love, school friendship and the old-time teacher who will give all he can to encourage a bright student. Finally, it is a novel about the endless possibility for redemption.