Onji kundu Nalpa kathekulu- Dr. Ashok Alva

Onji Kundu Nalpa Kathekulu (Tulu)

Onji Kundu Nalpa Kathekulu (Tulu) “Thirty Nine stories”-  is a selection  of folk –tales from the treasure of  documented Tulu folktales in the Siri-Sampada Archives of RRC. The stories were originally recorded by the scholar-duo Dr. Purushothama Bilimale and Dr. Chinnappa Gowda in the course of a  field–survey during 1990-92 under a special  research Project of the RRC sanctioned by the then Director Prof. K.S Haridas Bhat. Some of these stories were transcribed  by Dharmendra Kudroli and Ranjit Kumar. The transcribed stories remained in the manuscript form. Dr. Ashok Alva of the RRC desired to compile a selection of Tulu folk-tales for publication under the auspices of the RRC. While going through the earlier transcription he felt it would be better to transcribe them afresh and therefore he listened to the original recordings of the  tales in the earlier manuscript.  The thirty nine stories so transcribed were reviewed by Dr. Amrith Someshwar who made valuable suggestions and emendations. With the due revision the book was printed and published under the above title.

The selected stories, edited by Prof. Heranje Krishna Bhat and Dr. Ashok Alva show all the typical  features of folk-tales. They are fine examples of the art of story-telling – with graphic descriptions, colloquial speech, appropriate  juxtaposition  of dialogues,  cleverly interwoven  repetitions, familiar and casual  towards the audience. The motifs, themes, characters  and settings are remarkably  varied.  No single   story of this selection adopts the same framework or constituent elements of another. The characters are astoundingly varied; humans, birds, animals both pets and wild ones.  Interestingly very few characters in the selected stories are supernatural. Even Rakshasas as are just wild men, some of whom can however show quite  human  qualities like sympathy and love.   But imagination runs wild in the  stories where many characters–man, reptile or animal – can  display superhuman powers.  All the characters are gifted with powers of speech and even wild animals like a tiger can become tame  and be led by a rope tied  to the  neck; superhuman beings appear  at all  they come as old men or women.  The usual motifs of folk tales are  present here- step  mother  ill-treating step children, daughter-in-law plotting against  mother-in-law, brother  taking care of a sister, servants  loyal and rebellious, masters kindly and cruel;  characters are rescued  from danger; at the nick of time the crisis is resolved and the characters  live happily ever after. But there are frequent instances  of nemesis - a misdeed is rewarded with punishment, which can be abominably horrible.  The rustic mind narrating  the stories  can take a lot of  liberty in describing people defecating  or urinating  or breaking wind. A Harikatha artiste, given a challenge  to make half the audience laugh  and the other half weep makes them weep by  narrating the  story of Seethe in exile, but makes the children sitting in the front rows laugh by letting one of his testicles be seen out of his underwear. Events highly impossible in the work-a-day world become a reality in this world of fantasy- eating a mango-stone can lead to conception, throwing a stone on the ground can make a golden castle appear from nowhere and dropping of another stone can make all the paraphernalia  disappear.  Most of the sufferers in the stories  are women, especially those awaiting childbirth,   even at the hands of  their husbands, not to speak of jealous  step sisters or mothers-in-law. Poetic justice and nemesis go hand in hand. Most  stories end happily though some end on a tragic  note. With the age of realism now giving  way to one of fantasy, this collection of stories  can win the hearts  not only of children, but of adults, though  hard-core  rationalists may find in them only  stereo –types.