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is spoiler tag necessary? haven't given away the ending
the section, kesari on.. is a 'summarized' translation of the intro by kab. i wonder if the article is too big for a little book. but i don't know what to leave out.
Also, k. says: the vazhiyambalam scene creates the effect of a dream.. does it, reaaly?
here's some translated quotes: decided against including in article:
W=writer, S=soldier
W: Since very long ago, men have loved women. And women men. Do you understand? In living things, male and female. Attraction. Mating. Reproduction. Love is the path towards it. Nothing but a wonderful fraud with a little bit of scent! A scented handkerchief!
on questions of cosmos
w: why should we think hard about things we don't have a clue about? Assume that everything was created by God; that the sun and moon and stars are lamps lit by God for us in his kindness.
[Theism as "settling for the simplest explanation":'this is enough for us, why worry too much?']
Vazhiyambalam
"What does it matter if I don't have both eyes!"
"You can't see a thing."
"What is there to see in this world? I can hear everything."
From concluding climactic scene:
W: Have you never felt what happiness is?
S: Like a dream
W: What does that mean?
S: To eat when hungry, to drink when thirsty, to sit by a fire when cold, to sleep when sleepy--In all these I've known happiness.
W: In what else?
S: The moon-rise, sun-rise, sweet-smelling flowers, beautiful looking women, music--all these have given me happiness.
W: What else?
S: Alcohol, drugs--In those too.
W: What else?
S: In scratching when it itches. In urinating when nature calls. If you think like that...life is filled with joy.
W: Have you ever done anything on your own and found joy in doing it? Make a garden...Plant at least one little bush and see its flower and fruit. Make something new. Give water to a thirsty street dog; or give food to a hungry man. Like this--
S: You know: that the only thing I have ever done on my own is-- killing people by shooting at them..And then..yes--I've drunk human blood..And then... Once--I tried to kill myself"