“The Cat is My Grief Today” by Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan

The Poet:
M. R. Ramakrishna Panikkar (1935 –2008), popularly known as Kadammanitta
Ramakrishnan or Kadammanitta, was born in the Kadammanitta village
of Pathanamthitta district, in Kerala. His childhood experiences, especially
the Patayani songs, had a strong influence on his literary work.
Influential in contemporary Malayalam literature, Kadammanitta had played a vital role in
reviving interest in poetry by holding thousands of recital sessions in the 1970s and 80s. His
work has been widely appreciated for its force, energy and folk touch and gave a mass appeal
and popularity making poetry enjoyable even to common man. Ramakrishnan’s close
association with literary and cultural luminaries, which included M. Govindan, Ayyappa
Paniker, M. V. Devan, P. K. Balakrishnan, O. N. V. Kurup, Kavalam Narayana
Panicker,D.Vinayachandran and K. V. Thampi, helped him to give a popular image to
Malayalam poetry recital. He was editor of a poetry journal “Kerala Kavitha” that attempted
to take the essence of poetry from the academic cloisters to the realms of everyday life.
The Poem:
The Malayalam poem is titled Poochayaaninnente Dhukkam.
After his undergraduate studies, Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan got employed in Kolkotta, and
then in Chennai. Poochayaaninnente Dhukkam was written in 1980, in reminiscence of an
incident while at Chennai, when the poet and his family lived near a slum in Chetpet. A kitten
became a regular visitor in the poet’s house. Kadamanitta wanted to get rid of it, and asked
his younger brother to help him. The kitten was placed in a sack and taken off to the other
side of a small, polluted river. But soon, it came back, covered with dirt – it had swum back
through the murky water. Then the poet decided to keep the kitten at home.
The Main Ideas in the Poem:
A cat, which has lost its folk, appears in the room of the narrator. This cat becomes his grief
for some time!
The narrator wonders why the cat has come to his room – there’s not even a morsel of wasted
food there.
The cat’s actions and occasional cry for milk becomes other causes of grief. The grief
accelerates when the poet wonders why the cat stays so close to him and tries to become his
pet, even when there is nothing for him to offer.
The narrator has commitments outside, especially as it is a season of draught. But, he feels
that the cat has bound him inside, tied with a rope or caught in a net. In the net, he struggles
like a fish. Who else but the cat can be the fisherman?
He remembers the old story of the cat caught in the net, who asks a rat to cut off the cords.
But here, no rat comes to his help as he is entangled in the net made by a cat... and this cat
has become his grief.
He decides to act: he throws the cat into the gutter. But, even while he was ruminating on this
action in its freshness, there appears the cat before him, all covered with dirt. Once again, the
cat becomes his grief.
At last, he decides to take a desperate step: to kill and eat the cat. But he finds that he himself
is being eaten by the cat, which has been eating into his peace. He is helpless, with his hands
tied to the back. But he is relieved: once he is killed and eaten, the daily dose of grief will no
more bite into him!
Analysing the Poem:
The description of the cat – more of a kitten – has a ring of natural experience around it. In
between descriptions, the poet becomes philosophical when he tries to assess why the cat has
come to his place.
The connected images around the idea of being entangled in the net takes an ordinary reader
to stories that are popular – the fish and the fisherman, and the cat caught in the net. Through
suggestions, the narrator becomes the fish and the cat, which are the two characters who get
entangled in the net. The cat of the poem becomes the fisherman and the rat.
The whole plot moves around a handful of incidents: a stray cat is seen in the narrator’s
room. It refuses to leave. The narrator tries to cast it off, but it returns. And then the narrator
decides to kill and eat it.
The philosophical and meditative notes that are woven into the lines render charm to the
poem.
The Translation
The translation of the poem appeared in a collection titled “The Cat is My Grief Today and
Other Poems” published by the Sahitya Academy India in 2009. The translator P P Ravindran
is an academic, critic, editor and translator. He is known for his contributions to literary/
cultural studies and especially for his lucid interpretations of texts and trends in Indian
literature. He served as Director, School of Letters of the Mahatma Gandhi University.
The translation is in a lucid style, and is successful in conveying the feeling and essence of
the poem. It appeals to readers who are not familiar with the source language. The translator
follows the poet in communicating the agony of the narrator who can’t shake off a small
animal, and finally realises that he has fallen prey to its affection.
Questions Probable:
Bring out the irony and humour in the poem.
How do the references to legends and folk tales reflect in the poem?
How do you estimate the poem as a translation?