Mullaikaaga Kathirin Thedal

~ Beginning of Something Extremely Pure ~

A Friday afternoon...

The sun's rays were unapologetically draining everyone who came out of their houses either out of compulsion of their jobs or out of boredom. Kunnakudi was a place where people are used to its heat and even this mere reason of high temperature has always been a point of bursting arguments between people who are actually kind hearted in contrast to their attitude.

There stands our hero Kathirvelan who turned 25, a few days back without much recognition from himself and his surroundings of him turning a year older, in the shop which had been his lifeline for the last 10 years of his life. His thoughts always revolved around their shop, his brothers and family and his life was nothing but a monotonous drill of repetitive tasks until yesterday when he saw his cousin, Mullai in the shop, who has recently returned back from Madurai after completing her PG.

His hate for her family was undeniable but he has never hated her and will never hate her in future too because she has been a sparkle of happiness and joy to him, his late father and their family before all the mishappenings. He loved her and by love in his terms, it has been unconditional and pure. Until she went to college, he always found her pleading with the Pandian family to talk to her everytime she happened to meet any of them. He had maintained a rude, careless face towards her for many years. But things changed when she came back for holidays from college. She seemed to be having a crush on his elder brother Jeeva. He never understood where this new found love came from because she was not that close with Jeeva from the beginning. She has always talked to him with respect and not out of love.

To top it all in the last two years, she had been visiting their house whenever she came to Kunnakudi proclaiming that she would be the house's daughter-in-law. He wasn't offended by it in the beginning because he knew she was a good human being and would make a perfect wife for his brother. But he was worried for her when Jeeva disclosed that he was in love with Meena and would only marry her at any cost. When Kathir tried to initiate a conversation with Jeeva regarding Mullai's wish of marrying him, Jeeva set that aside saying she is a small girl and doesn't mean anything serious and was doing it for fun. His point made sense when he said that she has never tried to contact him through the phone in all these years. Kathir convinced him that his worries were pointless because if she really was in love, she would have at least talked to him personally.

He didn't think of her much until yesterday when she made her reappearance after many months and seemed to be with the same thoughts and wishes she had till then.

This time she had completed her education and as much as he could decipher she had no plans about her future except for getting married into their family. For a girl not to be serious and do this for fun at that crucial point of her life, was dumb and Kathir thought Mullai can never be someone who makes fun or has fun in terms of relationships with people.

After much pondering for a whole day, he decided to talk to Jeeva and as a good omen saw him entering the shop at the exact moment. They were alone in the shop and the frequency of customers in the afternoon has been very low all these years.

Kathir: Enna ne... Romba veyilo kadaila irukurapove indha koluthu koluthudhu.. Pesama oru mooru order pannu na namma annachi kadaila...

Jeeva: Amaa da... Sema veyilu aana ippa thaan da moor kudichutu vandha.. Meena va paathu time spend panna vera mudiyala athaan kadaiku vara solli oru pathu nimisham pesitu vandhen..

Kathir: Anna... Nee thappa eduthukalana na onnu sollatuma...

Jeeva: Yelei enna da nee.. Eppa irundhu permission laam keka aarambicha enkita.. Summa sollu da..

Kathir: Ennaku ennavo nee Mullai kitta Meena anniya pathi thaniya paathu sollurathu nalladhunu thonudhu.. Veetla ellarukittayum ippa solla venam avungaluku theriya venam nu nee nenaikurathu correct thaan aana Mullai ku idhu kandipa theriyanum ne... nethu ava namma kadaiku vandhu pesunathu ennaku ennavo ava unmaiyila unna kalyanam pannika kanavu kandutrukaanu thaan thonudhu... Ava yaaru kittayum solla maata.. Enna thuduka pesuvaale thavira yaarukum keduthal nenaika maata...

Jeeva: Naanum Meena ta idha pathi thaanda nethi pesi rendu pethukum sanda vanthuchu.. Samaadhanam panna thaan na inniku avala meet ye panna... aavalum nee sonnathe thaanda sonna.. Aana ennaku thaan bayama iruku yenga veetula anni anna amma ellam kashta paduvaangolo vishayam therinjaanu...

Kathir: Aiyo anna yosika idhu oru saadhana vishayam illa oru ponnoda vaazhka.. Athuvum illama Mulla namma chinna vayasula irundhu namma paathu vazhandha ponnu... thappa aayidum na...

Jeeva: Nee solrathum seri thaanda aana eduthom kavuthom nu edhayum seiya mudiyaathu... ellaatha pathiyum yosikanum la...

Kathir: etha yosikartha irundhalum konjam seekiram yosi na... avalavuthaan ennala solla mudiyum athuku mela nee thaan mudivu edukanum...

Jeeva stood speechless for a few minutes and once he got a call regarding work he left without any traces of the conversation they had. Kathir suddenly had immense doubt on his very own brother regarding this matter and somewhere in the corner of his mind, he thought Jeeva might take a decision selfishly. He mentally hated himself for thinking something so bad about his beloved brother but Kathir of all people, can never put a lie above the truth. He thought to himself that he has to take a step if things turn out the way he didn't want it to be.

P.S.: Sometimes a woman's voice, dreams and feelings are neglected and buried deep in the ground by everyone around her and many times by even herself. What if a man who is thought to be uneducated and not fit to have anything to make him loved by others, has values that even the most educated don't have? Do you think we really need degrees to be a good human being?

To be continued...