Sethu - Aliyah: The Last Jew in the Village

The Last Jew in the Village

SETHU

Translated from the Malayalam by

CATHERINE THANKAMMA

NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY NEW DELHI

One night, in his sleep, Salamon inhaled the scent of the sea. Inhaled the sea breeze. Amidst the scattered specks of light, a flock of sea crows landed on the ship. They perched everywhere on the steps, on the loosely coiled bundles of rope, on the mast. Gasping for air they cawed loudly, almost tearing their throats, as though avenging themselves on someone. In the middle of that inauspicious cawing something rumbled up from the pit of Salamons stomach and he retched into the unfamiliar darkness outside. Half-digested bits of meat from last nights meal stuck to the dirt- and rust-covered window bars.

Entamme Salamon groaned. The crows echoed his cry and he took up theirs.

Eshimuthimma was the first to arrive. Evron, her son, followed.

What happened, mone? she asked, sitting on the edge of the cot, her heart pounding against her chest.

There was no answer. Salamon was seeing something, hearkening to something.

By this time Evron, whose eyes were prone to spotting failure, had noticed the wetness on the bed. Holding his nose he said, Look, the boy has peed in his sleep. A note of disgust crept into his voice.

Oh that Eshimuthimma said dismissively, something must have scared him.

Oh yes yes it is only an eighteen-year-old boy wetting his bed! Evrons voice rose.

Well, hes your son. He can even shit in bed if he wants. Eshimuthimma bristled in defence of her precious grandson.

Your tongue, Umma! Evron muttered under his breath. But Eshimuthimma heard him clearly. Her ears were adept at picking up even a murmur of criticism. That was one benefit the Lord had conferred upon her to compensate for her age. Muthimma had seen the wetness on the sheet, on the checked mundu too. But she did not cover her nose. She acted as if she had not noticed it. As an infant he had urinated in her lap so many times, had wet so many expensive silk tunics. That was his privilege. Whether twenty or forty, muthis cannot accept that grandchildren grow As they advance in age, the grandchildren seem to grow correspondingly younger.

You go out. Dismissing her son with that terse rebuke, Eshimuthimma began to stroke her grandsons head fondly.

Did my mon dream? Did he see imbachi in his dream? Eshimuthimmas voice dripped affection.

Yes, yes, hes at an age when he should be frightened by imbachi! Evron mocked.

Truth be told, Evron was furious. The woman was cosseting a boy who was almost twenty, the young buffalo. Yes, he was her grandson, but there should be a right and proper way for everything.

All the while, Salamon continued to murmur thickly, still half asleep.

Sea sea crows

Did the crow scare my mon? Muthimma asked.

Sea water he repeated.

Words her ears had yearned to hear for so many years! Suddenly, as if from a strange revelation, Eshimuthimmas face brightened. Her body thrilled in the glow of an unseen world.

Did you hear that? Did you hear what he said? He said the sea. What do you think it means, Evrone?

The meaning of sea? A crooked smile appeared on Evrons face. He couldnt believe the woman was asking him that. Of course he knew what sea meant. There are two types of seas, the ones you have seen and the ones you have heard of. The ones you have heard of have a brighter hue than the ones you have seen. You can make them larger, smaller, deeper, shallower. In the minds eye the sea becomes a vast expanse.

But which sea was this temperamental boy rambling about in his sleep? Evron wondered, perplexed.

It is that one: the sea of Sinai, the river of Jordan. Eshimuthimma had no doubt about it. And to think that he who could not even grasp the import of these words was dismissing his own son as good for nothing! It is about crossing over

Eshimuthimma felt her heart grow full. She had been longing to hear something like this from Salamons mouth for so long. When everyone around them, relatives and kinsfolk, eagerly awaited their turn to go across, he alone remained unsure. Muthimma knew the reason. After all, his friendship was not with their own people. He became wayward when he made friends with the Ezhava lads from Vadakkumpuram and Karimpadam. Those who professed communism, respected nothing, denied God.

Finally the Lord had heard her cry. He had shown the path the new generation needed to follow. The reward for going to the synagogue regularly and praying her heart out before the ehal where the holy book, the Torah, was placed.

Eshimuthimma stood for a while, her eyes closed, thanking those who were not visible. She then entered the prayer room slowly, began the routine prayer she said at dawn every day. Chants she had heard during her childhood, in her own voice, her own style.

Praised are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe.

You fix the cycles of light and darkness.

You ordain the order of all creation.

You cause light to shine over the earth.

Your radiant mercy is upon its inhabitants.

In your goodness the work of creation

Is continually renewed day by day.

Along with her prayer, daylight spread all around her

Well, at least for the time being Umma is at peace, Evron thought, smiling wryly as he leaned against a pillar in the veranda.

Umma pampered and spoilt her full-grown grandchild, yet Evron could never say anything to her face for she had borne the burden of that large family alone for so many years. She had done it in memory of Isaac muthacha who, with his boat, had been swept away near Palathuruthu by the flood waters that came down from the hills a long time ago. When those who searched the river and its banks for two nights and three days came back with many a lamentation, Eshumma did not waste time listening to them. She knew well the path he had seen, the one who had taken her hand when she was thirteen. It is a river in flood, dont go, dont go, she had pleaded a hundred times. Yet if he still took the boat into the water, paying no heed to her pleas, it was not that he did not know; only the prompting of his heart mattered. The remains of the one carried away by the floods should have been washed ashore somewhere. But if the call he heard was the call he was fated to hear, the call of the sea

When the water went down on the fifth day, the old boat was found near Thattukadavu. When someone brought home the spotted red cap with two mud-smeared gold-capped teeth sticking to it, Eshumma did not cry. She did not look at them either. She had a whole lot of work to do in the house and its surroundings older ones, children, brooding chicken, ducks to be led to the water, the spotted cow mooing somewhere in the yard. She did not have time to waste.

It was a long struggle. In its throes she grew old without knowing it. She became muthimma to everyone. Even when the children she gave birth to called her by that name she did not protest.

Though the Jews in that land called their fathers vava, Salamon preferred to call Evron appa. Gradually it became Evronappa, and the younger uncle, Elias, who should have been Evacha, became Eliacha.

Evron knew well the reason for Muthimmas affection for her grandson. The child had grown up without a mother. She, Rebecca, had died when he was barely five years old.