There’s a Malayalam saying that goes, ‘Venamengil chakka verilum kaaykkum’. Literal translation, jackfruits can grow on roots too, if you will. It sort of means ‘if you put your mind to it, you can/will be able to do whatever you want.’

That’s what I thought too when I decided to write a post yesterday. I had every intention of following the venamengil chakka verilum kaaykkum philosophy to the letter. But, I found myself falling asleep by 6 p.m. It didn’t help that on my return after a long day, and after a relaxing bath, I plopped down in front of the TV to watch a movie called, of all things, ‘Love’.

Believe me, of love, the movie had none. By the end of it, I had none for the director as well. Anyways… Apparently the husband and wife in the movie did love each other in the past. But in the present it was all about their apathy and fights. If that wasn’t enough the movie followed the ‘take your pick’ policy. We’ll show you some scenes, pick whatever meaning you want from it.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like movies that are open ended. I love movies that delve into the mysteries of the mind with scenes that leave the viewer to interpret what the director is showcasing. In fact I quite enjoy books of the sort. But this was something else.

Just when I thought the wife was dead, killed and left in the bathroom, with the husband all the while trying to fight his two conflicted inner selves, the front doorbell rings (in the movie, not mine) and she walks in. ‘Eh? What?’ That was the L&M looking at me bewildered. I was equally at sea. ‘I thought she was dead!’ he added. So had I. But what did I know. Perhaps I had fallen asleep I thought, and this is all simply a bad dream.

The whole thing shook me enough for me to open my eyes wide and pay more attention. Not that it helped. Things got curiouser and curiouser. On screen, the woman died a second time and I started pulling out tufts of MY hair. I tell you my hair stylist is not going to be happy about this at all, but what else could I do under the circumstances? And just when I thought, ‘Ahh he is imagining it all’ the woman is shown alive and the husband ends up dead in the boot of of her car. Aaaaargh.

I knew I shouldn’t have sat down to watch a movie when I was this tired and sleepy. I should have gone straight to bed even though I hadn’t had my dinner. But then the L&M wasn’t sleepy and he still had a lost look on his face! I felt pity on the poor man. ‘Let me check Google for the meaning of the story!’ I pacified him.

There was a lengthy article online ‘explaining’ the meaning of the story, rather meanings. Plural. It could be this or it could be that, it was definitely this, and it was definitely that too. The viewers could decide to ‘see’ what they chose. Blah, blah, blah, blah. How very magnanimous of the director, and story-writer and the whole team. They cared so much for the viewers that they wanted each of us to make our own stories out of their ‘creation’!

I wanted to write all of this yesterday after the movie. But what I did do was make three dosas, one for me, two for the L&M, and eat it with half a fried mackerel (the L&M had sambar), watch a nonsensical comedy show while eating, and go straight to bed afterwards.

Now about the chakka that can grow on roots if the tree so wills. That was what I told myself in no uncertain terms yesterday. Kinda like where there is a will there is a way, Shail. No more excuses of being busy. And yet, the closest I managed to come to my decision had been to eat two pieces of jackfruits before hitting the bed. Such is life.

That’s why I am here today writing of yesterday. Tomorrow, I shall write about today and the day after I shall write about tomorrow…. Oh you get the drift 😉

Shail Mohan 2023