It was the talk of the seaside when Chemban Kunju got together the money and began to look around for a boat and net.
Some said that he had got bars of gold from the depths of the sea; that one day he found a piece of black rock which has been washed onto the seashore and it turned out to be a bar of gold. Others said that his good fortune was due to his foresight. But that was hard to believe. Every one of them worked as hard as he did, and they made no more than enough to live. How could he have saved so much?
The fisherman Achakunju lived next door to Chemban Kunju. They were the same age and from childhood they had been inseparable. Everyone questioned Achakunju: How much money had Chemban Kunju taken with him? When he bought his boat, who would he engage to work for him? Where did he get the money?
Achakunju did not know a thing. Yet he pretended he knew. Chemban Kunju was becoming an important person, so his closest friend also put on an air of importance.
“We hear that you have also a share in this boat. Is that true?” Fisherman Kochuvelu asked him.
It was a difficult question for Achakunju to answer, but he didn’t give in.
“Can’t say whether I have or haven’t.”
Kochuvelu had asked the question to make fun of Achakunju. Hearing his answer, the fisherman burst out laughing. Achakunju was confused.
“Why are you all laughing?” Asked one fisherman mischievously. “Do you think Achakunju cannot get a boat and net on his own? Why share?”
Achakunju, still perplexed, answered, “If everyone gets a boat and net, who will there be to work on them?”
Kochuvelu suppressed his laugh. “That is right. That is why Achakunju is not buying one himself.”
Only then did Achakunju realize that they were all making fun of him. After that, whenever anyone asked him about Chemban Kunju’s boats, Achakunju just swore at him.
To hear him swear, the men asked him about it frequently.
And it so happened that one day the haul was a poor one. Achakunju managed to get only some three rupees. He owned Ahmad Kutty, who ran a teashop, an old debt. That day Ahmad Kutty got hold of Achakunju and got his money back. At home Achakunju’s wife, Nallapennu, with nothing for supper, was awaiting the arrival of her husband. When he returned empty- handed, Achakunju and his wife began to quarrel. Nallapennu accused him of having squandered the money drinking. She did not believe Achakunju’s denials. To prove that he had not drunk that day he breathed straight into her nose. But she was not convinced.
“You drink up whatever you make. Then how can we manage on a day when we get nothing?” Nallapennu said.
“Have I drunk today? No point in your disbelieving everything.”
“Perhaps not today. But whenever you did make money, wasn’t it what you did?” She said it out despair.
There was nothing in the home for supper. But Achakunju raised his voice haughtily. “Don’t be cheeky.”
“Cheeky? Your old playmate and friend has his own boat and net, and in your own home there isn’t a morsel of food. Is this anything to be conceited about?”
For that Achakunju slapped his wife hard on her shoulder. Look at his misfortune. Chemban Kunju was getting his boat and net. And for that everyone was making fun of Achakunju. Even at home he got no peace.
“If someone is getting a boat and a net, why should I worry? Must I do penance for that?”
Chemban Kunju had literally starved to raise the money. Not only Achakunju, no one on that seaside could have achieved a thing like that, she accused him.
Chakki and Karuthamma listened to all the altercation from the neighboring house.
“Achakunju, even if we did starve, did we ever come to you for a meal?” Chakki called out.
“Don’t talk too much. I know Chemban Kunju. I have known him from childhood,” Achakunju answered her.
Chakki didn’t give up. “What do you know? Today you haven’t lighted a fire in your kitchen. That is because you and your wife have bad thoughts.”
When Chakki mentioned her, Nallapennu flushed. She asked, “Well, don’t talk of me. What did I do?”
“That are these bad thoughts you speak of?” Achakunju asked.
“Envy.”
“Envious of whom? Your husband?” Achakunju spat with contempt. “Would any man be envious of that stinker?”
Chakki’s anger grew. “Now if you start talking like that…”
“ What will you do?” Achakunju asked.
“What will I do?”
“Look at your conceit because you have made a little money!”
Karuthamma, worried that the quarrel was becoming too heated, put her hand over her mother’s mouth. Achakunju did not stop. Chakki choked. Karuthamma dragged her inside the house.
When he cooled down Achakunju began to realize something. That day in his house no cooking had been done. But the quarrel upset him even more. Never before had he exchange words with Chemban Kunju or his wife. Achakunju could not sleep that night.
The next morning Achakunju went to the boat owner for whom he worked, borrowed two rupees and took it home to his wife. At noon he gave Nallapennu all his takings for the day. He said that he was going to set an example for the future.
“Look, Nallapennu, I am going to bring you all the money I make from this day onward. Look after it carefully. Let us see if we can’t put by something ourselves.”
Nallapennu liked this arrangement. “Even if we do not get a boat and net, we shall at least not have to go without supper,” she said.
“Who said we won’t be able to get a boat and net? Don’t be so sure. It might happen, you know.” Achakunju said with new determination.
In the evening Achakunju had to go to the seashore to check and mend the net. Most of the other fishermen were already there and had begun their work when he arrived. Even there the topic of conversation was Chemban Kunju.
“Haven’t you anything else to talk about, my friends? Why are you always talking of other people’s affairs? Chemban Kunju’s sins will be absolved by your talk,” Achakunju said.
“Why are you so unhappy?” Fisherman Ayyankunju asked.
“Did I say anything bad?” Achakunju said calmly.
Old Ramanmuppan raised a fair point. “Haven’t we the right to talk of Chemban Kunju’s affairs?” He said.
“What right?”
“Well, Achakunju. I can understand youngsters asking a question like that. But you are an elderly fisherman.”
Achakunju did not get the point. He had merely stated that it was not nice to talk ill of others. Shouldn’t elderly people say that? Wasn’t it a good thing?
“Why are you speaking like this, Ramanmuppan?” Achakunju asked.
Ramanmuppan stopped in his work and looking Achakunju straight in the face said, “Achakunju, there are customs and traditions among fishermen.”
Achakunju agreed there were.
Ramanmuppan continued. “All right. Is Chemban Kunju keeping to these customs and traditions?”
Achakunju could not get the point of this question. Ramanmuppan made it clearer.
“On our seafront not only in the old days, but even now, have we ever had a grown-up girl who has gone about the seafront unmarried?” He asked.
“In those days the seafront had a real Headman of his own,” Ayyankunju said.
Ramanmuppan continued his questioning. “If a man has a grown-up daughter to be married off, should he spend all his money to get a boat and net?”
In the old days the Headman of the community wouldn’t allow such thing. The traditions of the seafront have purpose and should never be broken. They help to build up the prosperity of the fishermen.
“Does the rule say the year a girl is to be wed?” Ayyankunju asked.
Ramanmuppan, who was an old-timer, said, “at the age of ten.”
Vellamanalil Velayudhan interrupted. “And if the girl stays unmarried after ten?”
He wasn’t asking for information. His tone clearly showed his contempt for the rule. But Ramanmuppan answered, “stays unmarried? She just can’t stay so.”
Velayudhan again made it quite clear what was at the back of his mind. “What will the Headman do?”
“He will excommunicate the family. After that they won’t be able to stay on the seafront.”
Another young fellow, Punian, said, “that was all long ago.”
Ayyankunju reacted angrily. “No. Even now it is so. Would you like to see? I’ll show you. I will show you this great Chemban Kunju crawling in the mud.”
Ramanmuppan agreed it could be so. Then he raised another point.
“Ayyankunju, has it ever been said that everyone should have a boat and net?”
Ayyankunju said “no” emphatically. Ramanmuppan explained further. The children of the sea goddess are the owners of unlimited wealth. Often a man is well off and in a position to own a boat and net. But if everyone on the seafront owned his own boat and net, who was there to do the work at sea?
“If he really makes up his mind, is there anyone here who cannot get his own boat and net?” He asked.
This was true.
“Then why is it that everyone hasn’t his own boat?” Ayyankunju said.
There was a reason for it. There are four castes of fishermen- Arayan, Valakkaran, Mukkuvan, Marakkan - as well as a lower fifth caste. There are also the fishermen of the backwaters inland. In the old days the Headman of the seafront would permit only a Valakkaran to buy a boat and net. Even then the Valakkaran should pay his tribute to the Headman before permission was granted.
“To which caste does Uncle Chemban Kunju belong?” Velayudhan asked.
Punian laughed.
“To the Mukkuvan caste,” Ramanmuppan said.
“Velayudhan is now trying to find out Chemban Kunju’s caste and his daughter’s,” Punian said laughing.
“What do you mean, Punian?” Achakunju asked.
“He is thinking of marrying Chemban Kunju’s daughter, Karuthamma .”
“That is good,” said Achakunju. “She is a good girl, that one.”
Ayyankunju didn’t like that. “For Achakunju, everything that belongs to Chemban Kunju is good,’ he said.
Then Ayyankunju gave Velayudhan a piece of advice.
“You won’t get an anna from that miser. Remember that. And she is some girl.”
Achakunju was annoyed. “What are you saying? If there is an offer of marriage for a girl, is it right to obstruct it? Is that the right thing to do for a fisherman?”
“I was only speaking the truth,” Ayyankunju answered.
Fisherman Andi, who had been silent all that time, turned the conversation in another direction. “Are there any instances of any fishermen of the wrong caste getting a boat and net?”
“Yes. But the boat and net did not last long,” Ramanmuppan said.
Ayyankunju asked if he could name the fishermen and the families in the various fishing villages to whom this had happened.
“The fishermen of Pallikunnath in Chertalai, of Paruthikkal in Alleppey - and here at Kunnel, Ramankunju. There you are,” Ramanmuppan said.
Punian asked what kind of tribute had to be paid to the Headman for permission to buy the boat and net.
“Seven leaves of tobacco and fifteen rupees in cash. The Valakkaran must do it.”
So the topic of conversation changed to the Headman of the village, his rights as well as his dues. As if questioning these rights, Velayudhan asked, “a man buys his own boat and net with his own hard-earned cash. Why does he pay the Headman for that?”
“See, he is already speaking like Chemban Kunju’s son-in- law,” Punian said.
“All right, when the father-in-law and son bring their boat and net, let them stand up to the village Headman. Then you will see!” Ayyankunju said.
That was a challenge. They wanted to see if Chemban Kunju, after he bought his boat and net, would go fishing without the approval of the Headman. Ayyankunju stated without the shadow of a doubt that such a thing could not happen. Velayudhan was prepared to accept that challenge. But then what right did he have? Yet he questioned it.
“You are jealous,” he said. “ A fisherman jealous?”
“ And why not?”
Achakunju thought that the argument might develop into a fight.
“Keep quiet, my boy,” he advised Velayudhan.
For a while no one spoke.
That evening Achakunju came to Chemban Kunju’s place. He described to Chakki all that had happened on the seafront. Some of the fishermen had decided to create trouble. Ayyankunju and Ramanmuppan were the ringleaders.
“When Chemban Kunju returns, the first thing he should do is to look into these difficulties,” he said. “Chemban Kunju and I have grown up together. I cannot listen to all this, much less agree with the troubllemakers.”
Chakki knew what it was to have the community against her. What mistake had they committed? Was it that they had not given away their daughter in marriage?