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Savan Francis


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    Gayathri Nair

    I was fascinated by the film again when I saw it yesterday, at the age of forty one. (I had remembered it only as a dark movie from my childhood, but with captivating songs.)

    I think that the right path for Ramu would have been to write a detailed letter to his benefactor, the advocate, and explain the history of his relationship and indebtedness to Gauri, and of their informal engagement in the presence of the local temple deity.

    He could then have explained his deep gratitude to the family for all they had given him, that he views the advocate as a father and his daughter Lakshmi as his own sister. He can offer that as he is young and so are the other young people in the family, he would himself marry his betrothed only after he has found a good husband for his sister by indebtitude, Lakshmi. If such an undertaking is insufficient for the family, he can offer to leave the home and feed for himself while continuing to be bound by his commitment, in lieu of all they had done for him.

    If he were forced to leave the family’s patronage, he might solicit his College’s help with finding scholarship, as he is an excellent student. If that fails, he can seek gainful employment elsewhere with his skills, and make himself the hard way upward.

    I believe that the true tragedy of Ramu’s life had been the abuse he suffered for so so long, which rendered him incapable of standing up for himself against an authoritative father figure or elder, which engendered in him a latent sense of hopelessness that he could communicate his misery or predicament effectively to an older individual, and achieve their empathy or cooperation. I believe that ultimately, it is Ramu’s orphanhood and profound loneliness and abandonment that led to a tragic, irreversible decision in a situation in which a more self-assured young man, confident of the support of those who knew him, would have actively engineered better outcomes for everyone. In this sense too, Nakhakshatangal is an unfathomable tragedy.


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