Deft Leg Work

Praise the Lord is a soliloquy of Joy, a happily-married Catholic rubberplanter. What News, Pilate? are correspondences between Pontius Pilate and TitusAntonius. Though the protagonists are men, their speech reaches us only through theprismatic presence of women—Ansy, Joy’s wife, and Ruth, Pilate’s secretary.Here Zacharia risks what Christ never did—assign his words only to his maledisciples. Pilate conceals his letters from his woman secretary. But women have a thousandears and no speech ever escapes them. In their pretended passivity they eavesdrop onmen’s dream talks, false praises and impotent prayers.

These stories explore the logic of deception which animates the vocative. “Whatnews” is the Malayali way of asking “How are you?”. This question is notmeant to elicit a truthful answer. Even if your life is in a mess, thou shalt politelytell the lie that ‘I am fine’. It is an address to the listener or readersoliciting further communication. Edo reader...Zacharia calls out to you in Malayalam. Bylending his ear, the reader becomes the victim and witness to a lie. Thus he becomes aman.
During a letter-writing session, Ruth plays a game of pretence with the old Pilate,exposing her pretty leg to him. As punishment, her sandals pinch her feet on her way towitness the resurrection of Christ. And her feet are redeemed only by the touch of Christ.For Zacharia, writing is this ‘leg’ work.

If Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the best writer in Malayalam, then GitaKrishnankutty’s translation proves that Malayalam reads much better when written inEnglish.