Kalyanamaram (കല്യാണമരം)

Grandma...

I am not feeling sleepy.

Could you tell me once more the story of how Kunjathol died for this tree?

Long long... very long ago...

When Chandrasena Kolathiri used to rule this land...

When he was ruling...?

Nobody dared to question the king.

What does that mean, Grandma?

Which means everything belongs to the king.

And this king had a daughter.

She was so beautiful,

even the Apsaras (celestial nymphs) would be humbled by her beauty.

Days passed by and the princess grew mature.

And?

The King, too, felt that his daughter is now of age to be wed.

Then what happened, Grandma?

At last, her marriage was fixed with the son of a king

who used to rule Onattukara.

Even after giving her lots of gold and money as dowry,

her father had another wish for her.

He wanted to gift her a bed

that nobody had ever seen or built before.

For that he needed a suitable tree.

The carpenters ran from pillar to post.

They searched all over the country for the tree.

And?

Then what,

finally the soldiers and carpenters

ended up in our compound,

under our Athol tree.

And they decided to cut the tree

on an auspicious day in the month of Phalguna.

For Kunjathol, whose daily life revolved around

worshiping and meditating on the divine tree, this news was an intolerable blow.

Finally she decided to observe fasting.

Fasting to change the heart of people who are coming to cut the tree.

Severe and intense fasting.

Grandma

what is fasting?

It's a form of prayer and protest

by avoiding food and water till your demands are met.

- Prayers and prayers alone. - Is it?

Tell me the rest, Grandma.

By avoiding food and sleep.

Kunjathol stayed under the tree since then.

And finally when the workers and soldiers came to cut the tree,

with horses, elephants

and all other equipments as a huge group.

But Kunjathol didn't allow them to cut the tree.

She held on tightly to the tree,

refusing to release.

Many tried convincing her.

And tried their best.

Kunjathol was so adamant.

The soldiers lost patience.

One of the strong men among them

drew his sword and delivered one swift blow.

Kunjathol's head was severed, falling to the earth.

Even then, Kunjathol did not let go of her hold on the tree.

Was she alone, Grandma?

When her blood was spilled

everyone rose in anger.

The soldiers and other men of the king

could do nothing but retreat.

When the king go to know about this

he decided not cut the tree

and declared that as an order.

But poor Kunjathol lost her life, Grandma.

It is believed that.

Kunjathol's life is merged with the life of the tree Goddess.

Because of that,

our ancestors used to

worship this tree.

That's what our forefathers have taught us.

Is it?

Yeah, but your dad doesn't believe in any of this.

It's very late, go and sleep.

Okay.

This kid!

She's never tired of this story!

Eh?

It's not time for her to wake up?!

Dear, enough sleeping.

Wake up and get ready fast.

When you buy snacks from the bakery

buy some fruits too.

They're coming from the city.

We never know what they like.

Anyway, isn't it only because they liked her that they came all the way to these hills?

Let them come.

Let's hope everything will workout, right?

Yeah.

I'll go then.

Murali etta, come back fast, don't be late.

- They might've already started by now. - Okay.

Hey, Shekar!

Today some are coming to see her for a marriage proposal.

You better remove those sticks and open the gate.

Keep dreaming!

Shekaran didn't get any share when this house was partitioned.

All I ever got was this shed and this piece of land, nothing more.

I'll decide if I should keep the gate closed or not.

That's my right!

You have a walkway and talked to the Panchayat already.

Let them walk to get here.

No wonder you're still all alone!

I'm a sigma male! Who bloody cares!

Hey girl, can't you clean all these too?

You may clean your own land, Uncle.

Yeah I'll... I'll show you who I am!

Uncle, don't create any ruckus.

- I'll do as I please. - Mom...

- Mommy-dommy! - Look at what Uncle is doing!

I just swept the yard and he made it dirty again.

Look at this.

Shekar!

What are you doing?

She worked hard to clean this.

And you are doing this?

If you want to grow the tree in your land, you should do it in your land.

Otherwise don't don't dare to come to the neighbor's land.

You don't know me well!

You come here, there's no point talking to him.

Phew!

He won't let us live in peace!

- Haan, you woke up? - Yes, I am.

Grandma, why're they fighting?

The tree doesn't know it's the neighbor's land.

You know that, but he doesn't.

You ruined my sleep again today, didn't you?

You wouldn't know the bliss of lying tucked under the covers in the morning

because that's exactly what you destroyed.

You need to study when it's time to study.

Don't just think about eating all the time.

If you do, only your body will grow, not your brains!

Understood?

Malli, what are you doing under that tree?

- Okay, I'll go now. - Go take a shower and change.

Come fast, they'll be here any moment.

Grandma, who's coming here today?

You don't know that, girl?

Some people are coming from the city to see your sister for a marriage proposal.

Oh, so why can't people here marry my sister?

Apparently she wants to go to the city.

She might get all the facilities which are not available here.

But there're things here which are not available there.

The river... The mountain,

and the tree!

Who wants all those now?

Everyone wants to go to the city.

And at the end,

they'll try to come back to the village when they get bored of everything.

But that will never happen.

The city is like a prison.

Once you get trapped there, no one can come out of it.

Have you been to the city?

Yes! After I got married to your Grandfather,

we went on a tour from Nadukani temple.

That's when I went to the city for the first time.

That was back when I was pregnant with your father.

Grandma, once the wedding is over, do they give birth on that very same day?

If we plant a tree, providing it with water and fertilizer,

it takes time for it to actually become a tree.

In the same way,

for a child who is about to be born to grow up,

they must be fed and cared for over many days.

Then wouldn't it be fun if someone invented a medicine to make babies be born faster?

Look at cows, their babies start hopping and running around right after they're born!

Why can't we humans do that?

Laziness! Pure laziness!

That's the only reason.

We humans are so lazy!

Look at yourself, you wake up so late.

Mom wakes up at 4.30 in the morning.

But still I didn't hop and run!

Your mom is not lazy at all.

You're the lazy cat!

Don't be silly, Grandma.

Stop, stop!

We've reached.

- Is this the location? - Yes, it is.

The gate is closed.

Yeah, it's closed!!

It can't be.

Let me call and ask.

Yeah, call them.

As if there's no other girls in our place!