A RECENT REVIEW IN THE HINDUSTAN TIMES
Saaz Aggarwal
August 15, 2014 HINDUSTAN TIMES
First Published: 23:00 IST(15/8/2014)
Last Updated: 23:21 IST(15/8/2014) Print
The Legend of Ramulamma: A
midwife’s tale
The strong characterisation of the culture of the Deccan, the
rendering of a community, and deft storytelling makes The Legend of Ramulamma
an excellent read. The Legend of Ramulamma
Vithal Rajan
Hachette India
Rs 350 PP272 At first, the word ‘legend’ in the title
of this book seemed pretentious. If Ramulamma is a real woman in the
contemporary world, how could anecdotes from her life be legends? But as I
read, I felt enveloped by a complex reality. The situations in which Vithal
Rajan has depicted Ramulamma are generic to the region around what the book’s
blurb calls a ‘typical village somewhere in the Deccan’. Each one is rich with
detail and symbolism. If Ramulamma is more icon than character, ‘legend’ is a
good description.
In this book, NGOs work with street children, and arrange parties
with cakes, balloons and paper hats. Landlords are sometimes gracious,
high-minded and isolated from grim realities; they are also crude and
evil-intentioned. Modernity jostles against tradition; great wealth and
education against abject poverty. It’s a multicultural society, syncretic at many
levels, but terrible caste oppression pervades. A tiny slit of light
illuminates that very special power held by a Dalit in a position of authority.
A host may be a strict vegetarian, but as a classic liberal, makes arrangements
for Hyderabadi biriyani and patthar-ka-gosht for his guests. And when the drums
beat for Yellama, the feast comprises
chicken biriyani, served with potato and tomato curry. But isn’t
that pot of rice, brought from the temple, a Brahmin rather than a Dalit
tradition?
Serious mistakes can be made when English numerals are confused
with Telugu ones! An aptitude for intellectual concepts transforms to struggles
in distant lands, and happily resolves into flood tides of wealth and power.
The countryside is strewn with little white-washed stone mounds dedicated to
long-forgotten pirs. And, like a defining note in a raga, the Naxalite presence
manifests in different ways. In the malls of the city, shop assistants would
sneer at Ramulamma (if she managed to get past the darwan standing guard at the
entrance). Ludicrous statues collapse into lakes. The police are loutish and
terribly corrupt. Doctors can be careless and arrogant. Ramulamma’s
professional skills as a dai (midwife) have given her a little stature, and her
intrinsic goodness earns her the trust not just of powerful people but of
animals too. However, as a Dalit woman with no family, she must live by her
wits. And when things go wrong, Ramulamma unobtrusively sidles in. In myriad
creative ways, she ensures that justice is done.
Beyond the strong characterisation of a region and its culture,
this book is exceptional for two things. One is its artistic, appealing cover.
The other is its literary quality. Using a casual and contemporary idiom,
Vithal Rajan sketches tangible characters with a few carefully-chosen words,
sometimes just a short phrase or line of dialogue.
Though each of the twelve stories is independent, the story-teller’s
skill is evident in the way in which the events of our heroine’s own
event-filled life are carefully disclosed as the book unfolds. And,
Hitchcock-like, the author makes a cameo appearance at the end, giving
perspective to much of what came before. There are books that you wearily tick
off must-read lists without enjoying; there are books that are lauded and hyped
and yet too tedious to read to the end. But there are also books no one is
talking about, and yet they mesmerise you. This book is one of those.
Saaz Aggarwal is a Pune-based writer and corporate biographer.
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