Kolangal

Its been a while since I saw this episode of Kolangal, that great mega-serial, but since it left an indelible impression upon me, I thought it is best that I record it in this manner.

I happenned to be at my cousin's place on that crucial day and hence got the opportunity to see the historic episode (since all I get to see in my house is Pokemon, Digimon and other wierd Japanese cartoons). This is the episode in which the woman, whose husband abandoned her (although one school of thought asserts that he didn't really abandon her as she had left the place by the time he came back from Bombay; however, since my sympathies are usually with the women in such issues, and such issues alone, I pointed an accusatory finger at one elderly gentleman who participated in the discussion- and belonged to this school of thought- and accused him of, among other things, a patriarchal mindset and chauvinism, after which he gave me a wounded look and refused to participate in the discussion thereafter), abandoned her and later 'linked his lot' with another woman, had kids and at some point became rich.

Now the main character is the deserted (yes, I vehemently reject the alternate view) woman's daughter - ravishing beauty, keen intellect, gentle disposition, compassion for fellow creatures (to a fault), to mention a few of her attributes - and she is having some problem with her step brother but nobody except the father knows that the heartless guy is indeed her step brother.

So the heart-broken mother seeks out the heartless guy's father, since he is known for his kindness and 'nalla manasu', so as to ensure her daughter is no longer troubled. The wily man sees her before she enters the office and so he immedietely tells his secretary that he is busy and that he will not see anybody. The indiscreet, not to mention ill-mannerred secretary tells the mother that 'sir' is not in town although just a few moments before, she had informed the mother that 'sir' would meet them (mother and son) soon. Shamless! A blot on the fair race of secretaries!
Anyway nobody but me seemed to care, the mother included. Moving on, the mother then gets into the auto but soon she realizes that she left her handbag at the office. So off they go (the automan and the mother), with the automan (a little too friendly) donning the role of a reassuring son, unasked. If I were her I would have been shocked at the way the man was driving but the mother was a complex woman - although she had a sad face and spoke incessantly about her innumerable worries, such matters hardly affected her.

The mother walks to the sofa and retrieves her handbag (after obtaining the permission of the horrible secretary; the mother was infact polite to the totally undeserving woman. A complex character indeed). And now for the climax.

The husband escorts a seedy looking client to the door when they see each other. The director goes beserk now - he shows only the eyes of the estranged couple. What emotion! All the husband could manage was a sheepish grin (I don't think he intended that) and a shifty look (which,if I may say so, was always there so not particularly relevant for this all important scene). The mother/wife made up for the complete lack of effort (both in this context and according to the story) on her husband's (or whatever you call that relationship) part. Her eyes first became large, to show shock or amazement I suppose. However, something went wrong - her eyes seem to continue growing larger. That her eyeballs may actually pop out did not seem impossible at one point. The camera continued to shift from one pair of eyes to another - one showing no discernable emotion and the other seemed as though they had been artificially enlarged in order to perform an eye surgery - for an unreasonable amount of time; the director seemed to have no pity on the viewers whatsoever.

Yet, the inadequacies (by no means substantial) of the actors notwithstanding, the atmosphere that was created ensured that there was complete silence - only the fascinating music of Kolangal could be heard for miles. And why not? It was a brilliant scene. One was so moved that one felt tears rolling down one's cheek. I sincerely hope Sun T V telecasts this particular show again for the benefit of all those who unfortunately missed it.

And so this was another twist in the grand saga that is Kolangal.

And That Was That.

They laughed. Then they hung up. Arjun had reminded her, as always, that they had to work. Although Lakshmi and Arjun did not have much time to spend together because of all the work they had to do, there was a remarkable friendship between them. Perhaps they were friends not out of choice, but due to the lack of it. They got along with their colleagues, no doubt but they were no more than that. They did not share an interest with the rest of them and hence found very little to say to them besides the usual office talk, which didn’t last very long. Most people felt that it was carpentry that brought them together. Odd as it may seem, both of them loved carpentry; and by this I do not mean fixing an old table or repairing a broken chair. They liked to make things out of wood. Arjun could never forget the day when he discovered that there were other people in the world who were as passionate about carpentry as he was. Better yet, they were in his office; who would have thought…!

They had endless conversations about carpentry – how each of them had learnt it, how it was a part of their life, the funny things they had made and so on. The best part about these conversations was that they were never serious. They joked about almost everything – even when they were talking about ‘important’ matters. This, of course, does not mean that the conversations were meaningless. In fact, Arjun believed that it meant a lot to both of them because of that – there was an instinctive understanding of the other which meant there was no need to mouth the usual lines like, “we are friends” or “I care a lot about you” etc.

They spent all the free time that they had together and naturally this lead to a lot of gossip. However, they were so engrossed in their work that this hardly affected them. They remained, as cliched as it may sound, "just friends".

Once the training was over, they were told that their permanent posting would be announced in about a week and during that time, they were free to do as they pleased. Lakshmi and Arjun decided to go to Poetry class during this time. Both of them thought the class was absolutely brilliant and that they would continue going to these classes even after their permanent postings were announced. They found that this was one other thing they had in common. This was the time when Arjun wondered whether they were indeed "just friends" and in any case whether they should be. When he asked Lakshmi about it, Arjun thought her response was equivocal and the ball was back in his court. After some thought he decided that there was no point in changing anything as things seemed perfect just the way they were, the influence of Poetry notwithstanding.

When they received the letters informing them of their permanent postings, they found that Arjun had to move to a new branch – this meant more work and even less opportunities to see each other. However, there was no tearful farewell since they knew – a tacit understanding – that they would keep in touch.

Somehow, few weeks after they started working again, Laksmi had less and less time for Arjun. She involved herself in so many activities that kept her busy. Even during vacations she had no time at all – no time to meet, no time to e-mail and no time to even return phone calls. Soon, both of them realized that it was over. Arjun was quite shocked, not so much that it was over, but the way in which it ended. He had assumed that they may not stay friends for ever because they may drift apart. However, he was absolutely unprepared for the ‘no time’ routine. He continued to care for her as much as he did earlier but he didn’t understand how priorities could change so quickly. He had assumed what he had thought of the relationship was what she had thought too; unfortunately, the ‘they knew's in the preceding paragraphs were, in reality, merely, ‘he thought’s.

Arjun continued to go for Poetry classes while Lakshmi discontinued a week after they started work again. Poetry was as puzzled as Arjun.
Thinking about all this made Arjun feel tired. He rubbed his eyes, closed his book, switched off the light and went to bed.

And that was that.