The Master Carpenter
by MT Vasudevan Nair
Paperback
Katha
Price: Rs 200
ISBN: 818902023-4
Bhargavi Thamburatti’s room, inside the house. Thamburatti has just finished her bath and is applying kohl to her eyes. She hears loud laughter outside and listens attentively. She is between thirty and thirty five years old. When she comes out, Mani Embrandiri, who is in charge of the kovilakam kitchen, is arranging milk and snacks on a low stool in the outer room. He is fifty five.
Mani Embrandiri: (with an air of protest) Imagine, they’re seated side by side! He’s talking away, one leg crossed over the other. They’re in the room on the side of the gatehouse.
Thamburatti: Who?
Mani: When they asked me to bring milk and snacks, I, Embrandiri thought they were for a Thamburan or a namboodiri. Do you know who it is? A carpenter! Just because they studied Sanskrit together, doesn’t his caste matter/
A laugh is heard again, outside.
_______________________________________________________________
Embrandiri is a Kerala Brahmin, like a namboodiri, but whose family is originally from Karnataka.