Apaswaram and Apajayam

Apaswaram, Apajayam Two novels originally written in Kannada by Popular Kannada writer Triveni, Translated into Telugu by Sarvani and Published by Seshachalam &Co (Emesco) November 1976 pages 208 price. Rs 2.50

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This is an attempt to review one story and two books – A sequel.

Apaswaram is disharmony caused by a wrong note in the music in the life of the protagonist, Meera. Triveni’s a popular novelist of 60s and 70s gave us this sequel which was translated by the equally well-known translator Sarvani. There was not a single wrong note as the Telugu version reads as powerful as the original and Triveni who was adept in Kannada and English languages Sarvani in Kannada and later Telugu language together ruled the Telugu fiction world for more than two decades.

Meerea’s individual dream of becoming a doctor strikes a wrong note and from a house in a town called Mysore she ended up marrying a sparsely educated village based but handsome and caring individual whose temperament does not match hers at all. Lack of compatibility is the apaswara in the novel.

At the outset to briefly narrate the story from the beginning, orphaned at a very early age Meera was brought up by her father’s elder brother, Krishnayya who had four sons of his own, Gopal, Shripadu and Shrihari and Govindu. His wife Kamalamma, though not unkind resented it as her own family’s needs are so many that she felt she could not possibly bear the burden of one more member, that too a girl. But her husband simply brushed her objections aside and started looking after her as his own daughter. Meera gradually learned to put up with her aunt Kamalamma’s indifference and thrived in the affection of her uncle and her four brothers. While she considered Gopal as her role model and admired him for his becoming a doctor, but as a child she had a happy childhood in the company of her younger brothers. She was a topper in school and participated in all the extracurricular activities winning laurels. Krishnayya and the brothers were happy and proud of her and Kamalamma was worried they might not be able get her a suitable match.

But an accidental visit of Krishnayya’s childhood friend’s son came as a boon. Meeting him by chance on the road he took him home and as he stayed for two days, he also watched Meera in her college festival as a theatre artist. Krishnayya decides Meera’s hand can be offered to Syam in marriage. No one asked Meera what her future plans were and Meera who dreamt of becoming a doctor right from the days when she watched her brother studying medicine and becoming a doctor and the dream stayed with her even after he left home to settle in Mumbai with his wife. But Meera had little to say in her marriage with Syam. It took her a long time to come to terms with her new life, which was in fact by far much better than her life in her uncle’s house. First time she was living in a house which was totally her own and it was a huge house and hers was a rich life. Her husband was very fond of her and though he realised that their marriage was not his wife’s first choice he made every effort to win her heart. He with a dissatisfaction and she with this discord learned to live their lives coming to terms with their strengths and shortcomings. At one stage she hated him as he forced himself on her once in anxiety to prove his right over her.

She attributes it to his lack of culture. While she was fond of reading and he constantly provided the books she constantly demanded and he was fond of his land and totally dedicated to his fields. Gradually, a working relationship developed between them and soon she conceived and delivered a baby girl. That changed her whole life and her daughter became the centre of her existence. She forgot every other disappointment she had in life and he doted on his daughter unconditionally. After five years of bliss the daughter dies and Meera’s life was totally shattered and she slipped back into a life of despondency and despair. The added tragedy was that when the baby was born the doctors told her she would not be able to conceive again and for both of them it was the worst thing that should happen to their already shaking relationship He loses his interest in life the passion of his life, his land. They drift apart and the gap kept growing. Two human beings both individually good and strong but together work towards shattering each other’s life.

The story continues in the sequel Apajayam. Syam gradually recovered his equilibrium and undertakes the responsibility of setting Meera’s life. He understood her so totally that he who had once refused to leave her even for week and who had refused to send her to study medicine earlier, now realised that it was imperative to send her for studies ahead or otherwise she would lose her sanity had she continued to live in the village with him. They come to an understanding and he told her to go and study medicine assuring her he would finance her education. She was surprised at his generosity and in her happiness promises him that she would come back to the village as a doctor and serve the village. The possibility of living with her again kindled a new hope and against the apprehensions of all his relatives he allowed her to go away to recover from the sorrows of life.

She had thus gone to the fulfil her dream and performed well in studies and rediscovered her talents in theatre and on all holidays came to spend time with him. They became good friends and such good friends that she got convinced that he could not be happy if he remained her husband and started on a long haul of convincing him that he should marry again. He kept resisting but her insistence increased and to get out of harassment he agrees to marry any girl she chooses for him. For him marrying again was not giving up Meera and he always tried to keep Meera in his heart and the second wife was his wife’s choice. His marriage with his cousin who was originally supposed to marry him had Meera not come into his life. But the girl who always resented Syam’s marriage with Meera jumped at the opportunity of marrying him and ever since the marriage took place did everything she could to drive Syam mad with her constant effort to drive Meera away from the house and his life.

They had a son and some semblance of order came to their lives. Meera found it extremely difficult to live in that house and not wanting to become the cause of Syam’s misery decided to leave the village. She decided to join the clinic of a doctor couple. Vijaya and Gopinath were her friends in medical college and in fact she helped them in getting married by organising the marriage in her village in her house when their parents refused to give permission for their marriage. So accepting her defeat she decided to leave Syam and go to town to work in their hospital. Syam had to stay a silent spectator to all the struggles of Meera had in the house due to his new wife. Meera strangely realises how deeply she loved Syam only when he married again. She only had his happiness at heart. She was defeated in that purpose as the marriage did not make him happy and she was defeated on her personal happiness also as she realised her love her for her husband only after she had given him up and in addition could not practice her medicine in her village as she dreamed of while doing her medicine.

On both these books, discord and defeat, Apaswaram and Apajayam are true only to one side of her life. Discord in her personal life was her expectation of achieving some thing in life by becoming a doctor in her village which she could not realise her big dream. But she could not come to terms to her with the reality of her life. He was a good man, hard-working man and caring husband, doting father and also his love evolved so completely that he generously allowed her to go and make her life liveable yielding to her needs. Again she could have waited till she finished her medicine but got him married much against his will and made him immensely unhappy. She was made to feel guilty for leaving him alone after the daughter’s death to pursue her dreams. To relieve herself of her guilty conscience she went all out to get him married. Defeat for her again on personal front and she did manage to become a doctor though that did not ultimately give her any sense of satisfaction. Altogether moving story and leaves one with a feeling of one’s helplessness when life’s twists and turns open our eyes to the fact that one cannot write one’s own destiny and if one thing comes into hand another door may close on life and cause untold misery.

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