The Malayalam edition of the Mini Krishnan-helmed collections of newly translated classic short stories offers readers a glimpse into the changing social landscape of Kerala. Covering stories written and published across forty decades, the writers of The Second Marriage of Kunju Namboodiri and Other Classic Malayalam Stories navigate the various promises of the early 20th century: education, freedom, and the emancipation of women. Venugopal Menon serves as the translator for the nineteen stories of the collection, also contributing a detailed translator's note that enriches the reading experience. In it, Menon deconstructs the stories, offers insight into their source, and, of course, proffers insights into the translation process that are sagacious enough to warrant a longer essay. One such introductory highlight is an older quote by Krishnan:
“The struggle a translator faces when he/she has to translocate jasmine from Coimbatore to somewhere in Scotland … would it retain its heady fragrance … if it lost something, would it gain something else … say size?”
One of the most delectable throughlines across Krishnan's three books is the introductory pieces: Krishnan's note on the series, the translator's note, and an introduction – in this volume written by MM Basheer, a figure who worked alongside Krishnan in the selection of Malayalam stories.
Law and order
Across the 19 stories in the collection, two key focal points emerge: a social preoccupation with BA degrees and the growth of writerly pursuits at home. In the translator's note, Menon writes that “the most coveted position” at the time of British rule was “the legal profession and in consonance, law and order.” In many stories, characters are either practising or aspiring lawyers and even when they aren’t, whisperings of court cases and legal minutiae pepper the pages.
The BA degree became a social symbol and a natural stepping stone for a society shifting its focus toward the institutionalisation of education and labour. It’s a shift that – across Krishnan’s collections – is only visible in the Malayalam stories. The growth extends beyond the characters to their authors as well. While many of the collection’s short story writers were journalists and editors, an equal number also partook in Menon’s focus on “law and order”, working as advocates, legal clerks, legislative assembly members, and civil court assistants.
It then comes as no surprise that one of the sharpest stories in the collection follows a court case in perhaps one of the earliest Indian beginnings of the now-abundant genre of legal dramas. In “A Brief Missive” by CS Gopala Panicker, the written word – in this case, through an exchange of letters – is manipulated and twisted until it heeds a Holmesian discovery toward the end. Krishna Menon has found someone who wants the plot of land he wishes to sell, but the buyer, Kunyunni Menon, is trying to haggle the price down. Equally frustrated by each other, the two repeatedly write letters to each other to push their agendas: for Krishna, to sell the property at one thousand and nine hundred rupees. For Kunyunni, to buy the property at nine hundred rupees. Yet one day, Krishna is slapped with a lawsuit claiming that he had previously agreed to nine hundred. Furious and confused, Krishna fights the case against a withering Kunyunni. Trickery ensues. Enormously entertaining and deliciously clever, Panicker's story is one of the best the collection offers.
Writerly pursuits at home
Other highlights include CP Achutha Menon's “My First Fee”, Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar's “Dwaraka”, Ambadi Karthyayani Amma’s “Conscience and Avarice”, and M Saraswatibhai’s “Witless Women”. In the latter, a married woman contemplates the casual misogyny and cruelty of her husband, eventually building herself a life replete with his greatest desires. Kalyaniamma, a devoted wife, suffers through a series of purse-tightening while her husband, a proud and conceited writer, barely publishes anything while refusing to look for other work. His writing is tedious and opaque – traits that serve poorly when catering to the pleasures of the public. When Kalyaniamma offers her opinions on his writing (she is, after all, a reader), he demeans and degrades her. The two continue like this, while the husband’s literary rival – Balakrishnan Nair – grows his readership, earns more bylines, and reaps the rewards of steady work. The grand reveal, as you might have guessed, arrives in the form of Kalyaniamma’s declaration that she is Balakrishnan Nair. The “aha!” moment of the story is irrelevant, for the true pleasure comes in watching Kalyaniamma rise to power while her husband, foolish and small, retreats into the background.
Like the others in the series, the Malayalam edition of Krishnan’s collection offers readers a peek into the stories that shaped regional literature, and it’s a sight to behold. The stories are varied enough for every reader to find something worthwhile to bite into. For enthusiasts of history and linguistics, the changing panorama of Kerala as written forms bleed into daily life is a treat. Like Krishnan’s metaphorical translatory jasmine, in this collection, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Second Marriage Of Kunju Namboodiri and Other Classic Malayalam Stories, translated from the Malayalam by Venugopal Menon, series edited by Mini Krishnan, HarperCollins India.
