Dolls-game

Original:  Dr. Kolakaluri Enoch

Translated from Telugu by: GRKMurty

Krishnamurthy: aged forty-five

Adulthood: fear

Youth: asa – hope

It’s alarming to think of old-age

Anxious not to miss the youth

Though time is passing on

desire is not dying.

Discontentment is growing

Grey hair::

On the head:

Black dye:

On mustache::

Beard::

Daily shaving:::

Combing the hair neatly

 Blackening the mustache,

With no stubs on cheek,

spick and span

Krishnamurthy getting ready as a youngster:

Tight pants,

Ditto shirt,

Pointed shoe,

Water-polish,

Crew-cut:

Dark-glasses over short-sighted eyes.

Krishnamurthy turning into a youngster

Krishnamurthy: Lecturer: Not speaking with anyone in the Department

unless it is a must.

For him, they are the aged lot:

Ageing reflects in their talk:

Ageing reflects in their deeds:

Can’t stand it.

That’s why he is not talking to them.

Talking  to:

Youngsters:

Talks with the newly joined lecturers, tutors, demonstrators in the department, in the college, with male students and female students,

 Merrily.

With Principal

No:

With the Head of the Department

No:

With mother

No:

With father

No:

Only one criterion

No talking with aged people!—No::

Talks to youth:—Yes::

That’s not all.

Won’t seek advice from old people

No moving around them.

Won’t care about them.

Won’t even perceive them as living beings.

With youth,

Goes for stroll.

Aching feet:

They can roam freely well

They hop

They leap

He can’t do all that

Yet tries

In hotels

They eat a lot

They drink

They gobble down a lot

They devour

Thrust a lot down their throats

He can’t do it

Could not say “No”

Shows patience

Digests it slowly over a week.

In their chatting

They speak about girls,

About love.

About marriages,

About dowry,

About ideal love,

About imaginary world, illusionary lovers, romantic life,

About very many things in life

As they are dreaming,

Casually

Joining them hand in glove

Some illusion:

Some reality:

Mixing them up well

Makes them believe that Krishnamurthy too was a young man

At one time

Krishnamurthy is an old man:

Another time he is the one who wants to be like a young man

Yet another time thinks he is young.

Some other time he was like a young man.

Now he became a young man. Fully a lad! A perfect lad!!

A young man asked: “Are you married?”

Krishnamurthy smiled at it! “My relative’s daughter… good looking—why not consider?”

Krishnamurthy was delighted. “Won’t you invite us for your marriage:” 

Krishnamurthy squirmed in embarrassment. Why not,

Krishnamurthy is a perfect young man!

Today Krishnamurthy, before coming to the college, proposing to go for a movie, asked his wife to be ready by evening.

As he reached home in the evening, the mother of four children kept herself ready to go to a hotel, or to Kanakayya park, if not to a club or to a movie with the husband!

Forty two-year-old—a poor spouse!!

In the afternoon, his eldest daughter came with her two daughters.

Elder one is of four years! Younger one is one-and-a-half years old!

“Everything is alright?”  asks father. “Yes”, says daughter.

“Let’s go!” said to wife.

“Won’t change yourself!” asked wife, looking at her daughter.

“No,” said he, of course, looking at the daughter. “As he wishes!” replies mother, looking at the daughter*

On one side in the veranda, the elder one—the four-year-old, with her doll—

Krishnamurthy sees! Swinging the doll with hands, singing lullaby! Holding close to the chest, stroking, saying:

“Don’t cry, drink!”

Krishnamurthy is watching. Saying, “Drink amma! Drink!” baby is giving milk to the doll.

Doll  -  child are seeing.

The old-young man, Krishnamurthy, goes to the child-mother.

Closing her eyes playfully, the child is suckling the doll-child.   

 

* In the presence of grownup children, parents, traditionally, don’t feel comfortable talking straight to each other.