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Devadasi
Chapter Listing
Chapter IX
The next morning, Meena walked to the temple accompanied by her mother,
to present herself before the trustees. They waited in the outer hall where
the various paraphernalia of the temple were kept, because that was where the
enquiry was to be held. Meena was calm and composed, but Muthu was restless,
going out frequently to see if any of the trustees were arriving, asking one
of the priests how long it would be and what they would decide. But the priest
could not give her a satsfactory answer. ' What will happen, will happen,' he
said.
At last, the trustees arrived one by one. The first to come was Natesa Gounder
a fat, middle aged agriculturist with a hairy chest and an untidy turban. As
he saw Meena, he said,'So you have turned up?'
'Yes sir,' Meena replied politely.
'She has come to offer her apologies sir,' Muthu said in an emotional voice.
'Hmm ! ' he grunted.
Lakshmana Chetty, an elderly shopkeeper was the next to arrive. He and Natesa
Gounder went into one of the inner rooms to confer with each other. They were
soon joined by Sankara Sastri, the managing trustee, who was a pleader in the
local court. As the only man who knew English and who moved in offlcial circles,
he had considerable influence with the public. He was the only one among the
trustees who was modern enough to wear a shirt in addition to the usual turban.
The last to arrive was Krishna Konar, a comparatively young cotton merchant.
They whispered among themselves for sometime before coming out and taking their
seats on a carpet that had been spread on the stone floor in the outer room.
Betel nuts and leaves were brought for them to chew.
At last, Sankara Sastri, the managing trustee spcle. 'What have you to say for
yourself ? ' he asked as he took a of the betel leaves and spread some lime
on it.
'Sir, as I promised, I have brought my daughter to you,' Muthu said in a tone
of supplication.
Mr. Sastri carefully folded the green leaf and put it into his mouth before
he spoke. ' Your daughter has a tongle, hasn't she ? ' he asked. ' Let her
speak for herself.'
Meena came forward from behind a pillar as Muthu prodded her. She was terribly
frightened at what these men might do to her, but she knew that she had to go
through with it and come out of it with self-respect, if possible. She had been
quietly praying for courage and now she spoke.
' I committed an unpardonable sin when I didn't kecp my engagement at the
temple and I have already asked Lord Ranganatha's forgiveness. Now, I beg you
to excuse me. I shall of course perform the necessary pujas to atone for it,
I also promise that it will not happen again,'
She had spoken with courtesy but without cringing like her mother. The trustees
looked at each other meaningfully.
The managing trustee spoke again. ' Your perfunctory apology is not sufflcient,
'he said. ' This is not a matter to be forgotten light-heartedly after such an
apology. You have affronted the deity and insulted the temple authorities,
apart from breaking your sacred vow. Therefore, we have to go into the
circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident so that it can be prevented
in the future.'
'Yes, we want to know why you did it,' Natesa Gounder asked as Mr. Sastri went
out into the yard to spit out the red saliva that had accumulated in his mouth
from chewing.
'I have already explained, sir, about the dream' Muthu pleaded as Mr. Sastri
came back and sat down again.
'We know what you told us,' said Mr. Sastri. 'We want your daughter's
explanation now.'
Meena was silent. 'Come on, speak !' shouted Mr. Sastri.
'I have already apologised for my behaviour,' Meena spoke almost in a whisper.
'I had no excuse and I have taken all the blame on myself. Therefore, there
is no need to go into the circumstances.'
'That is for us to decide,' said Mr. Sastri patiently. He wanted to make a
show of reasonableness before getting angry. But the other trustees started
shouting.' She is not truly repentant !' ' She has not come to us in the
proper mood.' ' She is arrogant.' ' This is an insult to us.'
Meena began to get an idea of the direction in which theirs minds were working.
They wanted to make her implicate Udayar as the cause of her breaking the vow
and then tell her she should give him up. When once that happened and she had
no protector, she would be easy prey for any one of them, She made up her mind
not to fall into that trap.
' You are all elders and very wise,' shc said. ' I am only a young, ignorant
girl. It is for you to excuse me when I come to you on bended knees.'She
waited.
They were obviously pleased at the flattery and their faces showed their
pleasure. Suddenly Meena found new strength. ' They cannot do any real harm to
me,' she thought and continued.
' I have come to you with true repentance and remorse. In future, I shall
fulfil the duties of a temple dancer without fail. But my personal life
outside the temple is my own. I am not answerable to you gentlemen for
my private life.'
Afterwards, she was to wonder how she ever had the courage. to utter
those words. But she had said them and there could be no mistaking them.
She implied that she would not give up Udayar in the first place and would
have nothing to do with any of them in the second place. The trustees
were struck dumb. For a miserable temple dancer to speak to the trustees
of the temple in such terrns was unheard of. Mr. Sastri was the first to
recover. ' What impertinence ! What arrogance ! ' he cried. ' You shall pay
for it and pay for it dearly. You will be hounded out of this town in
shame and humiliation ! '
Muthu cried in desperation. 'Please forgive her, sirs. She is silly and
ignorant. Excuse her this time and I shall take her home and teach her
some manners.'
Suddenly all the trustees started speaking all at once, but Mr. Sastri
silenced them. He got up and walked towards Meena and stood over her.
She stood still, afraid but without flinching. ' Young woman,' he cried.
' You are not only unrepentant, but a challenge to duly constituted
authority. As a temple dancer, you are married to God and subject to
the authority of the temple. You have no personal life. Your life
belongs to the temple. Don't you know it ? '
Meena had taken a step which she could not retrace. ' I have dedicated
my art to God and to the temple, but my body is my own,' she insisted.
Muthu stood helpless and stupefied at her daughter's words, wringing
her hands and crying.
' All right, in spite of your insolence, I give you one more chance,'
Mr. Sastri said wagging his finger at her and coming closer. ' We
consider that man Ramaswamy Udayar as being responsible for your behavior.
So, your repentance cannot be accepted unless you promise to give him up.
There it was at last, out in the open. A direct question had been asked
and a direct- answer demanded. But Meena remained silent.
' What do you say ? ' demanded Mr. Sastri.
Slowly Meena spoke. She knew that the moment she spoke he would
probably hit her. But she had to speak.
' That I cannot promise,' she said.
' What ! We have given you too much latitude ! ' and he raised his hand
to strike her.
At that moment Udayar appeared as though from nowhere and shouted.
' You touch a single hair on her head and I will beat you to a pulp !'
Mr. Sastri turned and glared at him. 'Who asked you to come here ? '
he demanded.
' No one asked me,' Udayar said. ' But a temple is a public place, a place
of worship for all, not a place for ill treating a young and innocent
girl. I just wanted to make sure that nothing happened to Meena, so I was
waiting behind the Garuda Vahana,' and he indicated the huge flying
transport of Vishnu used in processions on ceremonial occasions.
' She has given you her apology as well as a promise to honor her
commitments to the temple. You can either accept it or do what you like
with it. But you cannot insult her or ill-treat her.'
Then he turned to Meena. ' Come Meena, let us go. These gentlemen can make
up their minds and inform your mother.' He moved towards the door, with
Meena following him close behind.
' You cannot take her away ! ' cried the other trustees.
Udayar turned round. 'Who wants to stop me?' he challenged. But none of
the trustees moved. So, he walked out with Meena, got into his bullock
cart that Ganapathy had waiting for him and drove away to his new house.
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