Itipahan (Burly Lamp) Chapter 2

by Sumithra RAHUBADDHE

(Translated by Ranga Chandrarathne and Edited by Indeewara Thilakarathne)

"I am a lamp burning

on both ends

Known well that

I cannot pass the night

Yet

See my friends

Foes

How powerful light

Burnt

To dispel the darkness"

Continued from last week...

As if by habit, Nanawathi Hamine looked at Duleena, carrying a pail of milky-white liquid rubber and a bag of ottapalu. Nanawathi Hamine thought that Dulina was a beautiful woman ; she walks, talks, dresses and even behaves like a girl. Nanawathi Hamine thought, with unintentionally upturned lips, that Duleena despite her poverty, was dressed well as if to impersonate a lady. Her breasts are still like those of a young girl. She thought, even if they were not, Duleena was crafty enough, somehow, to project them in that manner. Her cheeks were as red as a kernel of a ripened grape fruit. She tried hard to think that thin tall body, firm breasts and round and wide hips are the dowry that women like Duleena inherits by birth. After handing over the two pales of milky-white liquid rubber and a bag of Ottapalu to Sugathapala, she knitted the hair a little high, and came before Nanawathi Hamine. She looked sharply on Duleena's chest. Noticing that strange glance, she looked at her breast.

"Why, Hamine? "

"No, nothing special!" said Nanawathi Hamine looking at Duleena's unclothed part of the stomach.

"Dear lady, why seems out of sorts?"

"I do not know Duleena but someone should point out if there is a fault in your dress. You should dress so as to cover the areas that should be covered; half of the stomach is exposed; are you still a girl?. These things would badly affect your girl", said Nanawathi Hamine, walking into the kitchen. She knew well that Duleena would follow her. Duleena knew that Nanawathi Hamine would find fault with the way she dressed, walking and her behaviour. Duleena was silent as she knew that she could not retort.

"Hamine, where is our daughter?", asked Duleena, Nanawathi Hamine sat on a low chair in the kitchen.

"She must be playing with Punchchi Mahathaya. Sriyadari is very fond of her, Now, she speaks Sinhala well..." said Nanawathi Hamine pushing some burning rubber logs into the fire and smelling on the boiling pot of paddy. She considered Duleena's arrival in the village as a strength for her. Now, there are no women as Duleena who perform any given task. In this respect, she is a good woman. She does not refuse any task; whether it is boiling of the pot of paddy, cooking rice and curry for lunch or dinner, cleaning the house or the garden or filling the attic with firewood, she does not say no. Since she had learnt work at AG's bungalow, she works methodically. With no instruction from Nanawathi Hamine, Duleena took some rice from the box and put it onto the winnowing pan. She went to the place where the children played while collecting paddy from the rice.

"Somawathie, I have told you not to meddle with my books. You never listen to me! ", said Sirinatha pinching Somawathie's earlobes. Somawathie looked at Sirinatha with protruding eyes. Duleena felt a pang in her heart. On the spur of the moment, she thought she should tolerate minor harassments of her daughter who she looks after with much love, by Punchchi Mahathaya.

"Please Punchchi Mathathayo; it is not nice to hurt the little one," said Duleena tightening the winnowing pan on to the hip with one hand and patting the girl with the other.

"Duleena Akke, I did not pinch hard. Tell her not to meddle with my books," said Sirinatha getting up and tightening the "Sarang" like an adult.

Somawathie looked at Sirinatha as if she did not hear it. In a second, she took the book that Sirinatha asked her not to take, from the heap of books and threw it out of the window. Though the winnowing pan slipped from Duleena's hands, she held on to it with effort. Sirinatha looked at Somawathie angrily. He was fuming with rage as he could not either hit her or pinch her earlobes. Sriyadari untying the border of a cloth stood up seeing the act. She was afraid that her brother would hit the girl in the presence of her mother.

"Malli, you should not pinch Somawathie's earlobes. She is younger than you," said Sriyadari drawing Somawathie to her.

"Sriya Akka, I do not like Sirinatha. He is always like this," Somawathie told Sriyadari.

"Please ignore them. Some, Malli loves you. He hurts you for fun", said Sriyadari and patted Somawathie on the head. Duleena stepped onto the courtyard and picked up the book that Somawathie had thrown out. Sriyadari took the girl to the mango-shrub in the courtyard. Sriyadari knew that Somawathie as well as she herself liked listening to the chirping of the birds in the mango-shrub.

Quietly stepping onto it, Sirinatha sat on the grass in the shrub. Sirinatha was angry with Somawathie who always speaks in English. The English books of stories that father bought for him from Colombo were kept on the side of shelve for him to read when he could read English. Somawathie would drag them out from the shelve and she reads them. She not only read them out but also tried to explain them.

"Malli, are you angry with Somawathie?", asked Sriyadari smiling. Sirinatha did not respond.

As usual, Duleena went to the cottage at dusk. She put rice and curry, the leftover of the lunch into the "Matikoppe" and led the girl ahead of her. She thought it was too late for her to pour some water over her, though she wanted to. After working for Nanawathie Hamine for the day, Duleena felt her entire body aching. Nanawathie Hamine was clear assigning work one by one.

Duleena thought that Nanawathie Hamine, who had never married, was jealous of beautiful women. Duleena smiled reminding the skelton-like body of Nanawathie Hamine in cotton sari. She had more masculine features. She thought, however, that it was a meritorious deed to look after her brother's offspring and manage the properties.

Duleena put the "Matikoppe" with rice and curry on the table in the only room which served as a kitchen, living room and bedroom and lit the lamp.

Duleena was afraid that the lamp might be put out by a gush of wind from the window. She cut off the wind by putting a cardboard against the window.

"Puthe, let us wash the face?," mother asked the daughter. Somawathie remained silent. She was reminded of a story in Sirinatha's book but he did not allow her to read the story completely. She thought why mother had left that comfortable house and came to live in this cottage.

"Why did we come here?" asked Somawathie while Duleena was washing her face.

Comparing the life she now leads with that she left behind, they were like poles apart. Duleena understood that she had even experienced that difference. The little girl would experience it hard since she was accustomed to that life since birth. Her tender heart was hurt by Punchi Mahaththaya's harassments. She is too young to understand them.

"You know as the Government Agent returned to England, we could no longer stay there in the bungalow. The new Agent will find his own staff. Therefore, we could not stay there, my dear daughter," said Duleena wiping the girl's rosy cheeks, as if wiping out a petal from a flower. She did this with a towel brought from Jaffna.

"Then, we could have gone to England ..." said the girl.

The girl, who refused to eat rice and curry, fell into sleep embracing a bear-like toy which was gifted to her by the Government Agent of Jaffna.

The small lamp in the middle of the house could not dispel the gathering darkness from all directions in the small cottage at the far edge of the rubber plantation. Except for the different noises made by frogs, serpents and animals, Duleena could only hear the breathing of the girl. She had a fear that Kumatheris Aiyya would come that day too through the darkness.

During the last few days, he came into the cottage when the light was put out, clearing his throat. As she thought that there could not be a change , Duleena heard Kumatheris clearing his throat amidst noises of animals. Duleena knew how to block the door's blind with a cross bar though it was of no use. Kumatheris did not want any permission to lift the blind. The mat about to be finished was by the side. Duleena listened to Kumatheris with closed eyes. He cleared his throat while stepping into the cottage.

"Duleena, is the girl sleeping?" asked Kumatheris Aiyya. She did not speak.

Compared with Heenappu, Kumatheris Aiyya is a handsome man in the village.

Duleena thought for a moment that it was better to be enveloped in the embrace of a handsome man like Kumatheris against the cold breeze. On the spur of the moment she thought that she should get rid of that sinful thought. Duleena thought that she should not give into Kumatheris as he did not come to stay in the cottage and it was a secret jaunt without his wife's knowledge.

"Why don't you speak? Are you trying to be coquettish like a girl? "Kumatheris asked unable to bear Duleena's silence any more. He thought that this woman, who was alone, without a man and with an illegitimate girl, was proud. He thought it was a lie if there was a girl in this rubber plantation who did not feel the chilling cold.

"Let me have a chew of betel? ", said Kumatheris in a low tone as Duleena was silent. "I do not chew betel. So, is there any betel here?" she asked. Duleena stealthily looked at him. She made up her mind to bring up the child in the village without subjecting herself to rumours. It was not good for the girl to hear rumours.

"We could provide you with some rice and spices. Don't I give you some paddy during the season? You are not an outsider, aren't you?, "asked Kumatheris rubbing on his chest with full of body hair.

He thought that one should be patient to win the heart of a woman. Women did not express their consent at once, even though they wanted to. They would show displeasure. Therefore, they should be approached cautiously.

"Kumatheris Aiyya, I can somehow, provide spices for myself and the girl? Don't try to abuse me? You have your wife. Besides, you are my brother -in-law, please let me be in peace", said Duleena who understood Kumatheris's indirect overtures. Kumatheris leaned against the wall and then sat on the side of the camp-bed where the girl slept as if he heard nothing.

"Don't be offended, you may go now. You also have a wife and children to look after. I will, somehow, try to earn my living ," said Duleena seeing Kumatheris with closed eyes in silence.

There should not be any room for a scandal. Rumours are made if a woman refuses to engage in an affair. Duleena knows what the villagers talk about her.

"You try to be a Paththini Amma." I do not tolerate this. I have come for three days to you and told you as best as I could", said Kumatheris getting up from the camp-bed. Duleena stood up fearing that the girl would wake up.

"Please go Kumatheris Aiyya!". Duleena surrendered when Kumatheris dragged her to him by the hair. But Kumatheris did not like to return empty handed. It was an affront.

"Come here. You are shivering, don't put up a false front ", said Kumatheris embracing Duleena. She felt the warmth of Kumatheris's body. She thought she wanted to detach herself from Kumatheris. Subconsciously she enjoyed the warmth in his embrace.

"You were just pretending, you are a real woman", said Kumatheris laughing at last. When Duleena returned from the backyard, the girl was already sleeping. When she saw the girl, she felt guilty. But she tried to console herself as she could not help it.

"Really, whose is this girl? ", asked Kumatheris once again siting on the camp-bed.

"You have nothing to do with that. Now, you do not need to come here again, "said Duleena tightening the cloth around her hip.

"You are lying. I will come again, "said Kumatheris stepping out of the cottage. Then he disappeared into darkness.

Foot notes

Ottapalu - coagulated fresh rubber parchments gathered in and around tapped-line of the rubber tree.

Matikoppe - an earthenware plate with a pot-like body.

Osari - a particular way of wearing a Sari. Osari is worn by aristocratic women.

Paththini Amma: - the goddess who is famous for being faithful to the husband.