I was waiting for my turn at the Ayurveda massage centre....No, this is not some seedy place where bikini clad babes would go to work on your body. It is bang in the middle of the city, a huge place that resembles an abandoned house, with consultation facilities and a medical dispensary. The thought of stripping down to underclothes in front of strangers and displaying an old creaky body ravaged by time, is not really a pleasant one. Here two men go to work on your body in a dark room, with copious amounts of hot oil, pressing hard on joints and synchronized pounding of your back...You feel so defenceless
While I was waiting my turn, a man walks in carrying a few Malayalam books. They are handed over at the counter and some other books are returned to him. I was curious and asked what is going on. He said he is a travelling librarian and has come to issue books. The books were of a certain kind which are not read by young adults or lazy housewives, in search of instant gratification. I was then curious to know who is the reader in the Ayurveda Centre. Apparently the reader was busy at work and had given the books that he had borrowed last month at the counter to be returned. I asked the travelling librarian how does it work? He explained that the requests for books can be placed online and it is supplied once a month.
I took down the details of the travelling librarian. (I later enrolled myself in this library too) Then I went in for the massage. Two men were inside in a dark room and I was asked to take down my clothes and lie flat on my stomach while two pairs of hands pounded my weary body with oil. I asked who is the reader between the two? A short bearded young man admitted he is the reader. I appreciated his tastes in literature while admitting that I haven't done any serious reading in Malayalam in ages.
We got chatting. While my reading in Malayalam was largely limited to authors of 60s to 80s, (the golden period as one would like to say for any literature) his range was vast. He suggested many new writers who, he thinks, I ought to check out. Over the next few months during my visits, he introduced me to many new age writers in Malayalam. V J James, T D Ramakrishnan, A S Priya, K R Meera, Subash Chandran and many others. I either borrowed or bought books of these authors. I also discovered to my astonishment that he has read many world classics also in the translated Malayalam versions. Kazantzakis, Kafka, Orhan Pamuk, Sartre... you name it and he has read it. (Along with Chetan Bhagat and Shobha De for good measure) I was looking forward to these visits which combined body cure with adrenaline for the brain. I saw a little bit of myself in him, from my school days, thirsting for books, reading whatever I can lay my hands on
He told me that he studied only up to 12th Grade from Thodupuzha, his hometown. Circumstances at the home prompted him to learn a skill and earn a living. Hence he turned to Ayurvedic massage which puts bread on the table. He said he writes in his spare time and is toying with the idea of a movie script. I asked him to let me see a sample of his writing. He shyly brushed off my suggestion. I started carrying some books from my personal library for him to read. These were promptly returned on my next visit. I invited him home to check out my library...
Over the past few months I became irregular at the Ayurveda centre. The work front got tough, with very few holidays and a transfer to Kolkata looming in the horizon. I went there last month, eager to listen to some suggestions on the latest works in literature while getting a hot oil massage. Unfortunately, I was told that he had left this job a few months back.
I took the news with great disappointment. An Ayurveda massage clinic is the most unlikely place where one could meet a discerning reader and have a cerebral discussion. I don't meet readers at the workplace. Increasingly, it has become a place for disgruntled souls, looking forward to an evening of drinks and party games. Life's vagaries dealt him a wild card, but I hope to see him one day as a successful novelist or a screenplay writer.....Although I have no friends in the literary world, I wish I could do something to get him a break in life. I fervently hope for his success....
