Moments of Bliss ::: "Genius never dies"

Hi All
Too much of office bragging....Time to share some extra ordinary feeling when I read the short story of Sujatha in Ananda Vikatan today.....in the current issue. This master story teller is no more with us as he died recently and Ananda Vikatan had paid him rich tributes at the time of his demise with an article for close to 4 -5 pages..... as this person had made a immeasurable contribution to this magazine with his series writing AND being associated with them for more than 2 decades.
To add to the article, the AV also has started to post his wonderful short stories one per week and the one that I am going to write about now is the third week in the row...The first two stories were more in the nature of narrative style in which Sujatha had penned his own experience in his life (though he always have maintained that the storty teller has every right to decide on the percentage of truth & the ratio between the truth / exagerrations in his stories) but this particular story....is more imaginary and not involving him directly in the story...
The story is titled "nagaram" meaning city...and the pictures drawn for the stories (I mean even the earlier ones in the AV issues) is simply amazing and jelling with the story content nicely. Sujatha portrays a innocent village women reaching Madurai, quite a busy town (nagaram) with her sick daughter with an aim to cure her...I warn you this posting is going to be quite long....
The story in the typical style of sujatha desrcibes the kalam clearly and puts up the camera on this women who is waiting in the General Hospital with her daughter in unconscious state...wanting treatment immediately....Being from rural pockets, she is not sure of the formalities at the hospital and portrays her innocence quite clearly.....I am just translating a particular dialogue that happens with the Hospital staff and this lady below...

"Madam, come here...what is your name ?"
he intends to register the case as the chief doctor who has diagonised the daughter of our heroine & advises to be admitted..... & hence this question
"Valliammal"....
"Patient's name ?".....
"He is no more..."
He lifts up his head and tells her....
"by "patient" I meant the sick person..whom do you want to admit"....??
"my daughter.....sir !!"
"what is name ?"
"Valliammal".....
"are you playing....?? I was asking your daughter's name !!"
He gets tense now !!
It was so tempting to record the above dialogue in this prestigious blog.... and the story clearly records the struggles and mental agonies of an illiterate and poor woman who is not exposed to the formal life of organised sector.... There was a poetic description to describe her mental state in another part of the story...
She was asked to wait in front of the General Ward and her mind was fixed upon her daughter who is lying in unconscious sleep in the reception area.... Sujatha describes her condition like a short poem like this.....
"whether to go to reception area to have a look at her daughter OR to stay in the queue??.... this question becomes a life time confusion for this poor lady"
I was empathising this lady as I read through the story...to give some more details, I was standing in the corner of a road waiting for my daughter to come out of her music class....who is supposed to reach in next 10 minutes..I was so involved with the story and was secretly praying that some good happens to Valliammal' daughter in next two pages / next 10 minutes - which ever is earlier - by the time my own daughter reaches me.....
The story minutely records the struggle Valliammal faces to identify the various locations of the hospital and the indifferent people not caring much (its a government hospital and the treatment was free of cost...which is clearly expressed in the story) for the alien people reaching hospital particularly the poor segment of the society. The story also touches upon the human ness that continues to exist in a over populated country like India where the Chief clearly understands that this girl is having some critical illness, right in the first page of the story, advices for admission of the girl.... Yes... there are lot of wonderful decisions made inspite of world becoming cut throat ... and commercial.... the problem is that the required amount of time and resources is not being allocated...
The same thing happens in this story too... Considering the indifference and alien atmosphere, our poor herione Valliammal decides to take her daughter back to her village and feels that "every thing will be allright with the vibhoothi of Vaitheeswaran Temple"....sets off to bus stand late in the night as the hospital staff had asked her to admit the case on the next day as the ward is already full !! Where else will she go under the given circumstances other than to her own conditions...however primitive and ill equipped it is, she at least can be confident of her familiar situations and conditions....
The Chief Doctor is shouting at the pitch of his voice in the hospital on why the case referred by him in the morning (as hinted earlier, in the first page of the story by coincidence....) has not been admitted...He is shouting at the staff who had not adhered to his instruction and is seen yelling at them "That poor girl cannot survive even tonight...."
This happens exactly when While Valliammal is comforting herself in the Madurai Bus Stand with her unconscious daughter lying on her shoulder and quite confident that ALL will be well with her favourite God....!!!
Reading the last line of the story, an unconscious but loud sobbing came out of my stomach and I felt not just the power of Sujatha's narration.....& was quite proud at my ability to get involved with the story with scorching sun above my head and in the middle of a busy road...
This is one of the best stories that I have read of Sujatha.....!! and I wish there are lot more of him which I hope to get a glimpse through Ananda Vikatan in due course.....!!
Suchoo