Maaku, published in 1968[1], is a novella[2] by Bengali author Leela Majumdar. It follows the adventure of the sisters Sona and Tiya through the infamous Kaaliyar Bon[3] in their search for the clockwork automaton Maaku.
Story
The story of Maaku starts with the sisters Sona and Tiya, who run away from home when they are not allowed to play with squeaky dolls and other toys bought for their cousin. They disobey their nanny, Amma, who warns them to not go to the Forest of Kaaliya, where lives the mysterious Bhoyonkor. The sisters taking advantage of Amma's osteoporosis. On the run, the first person they meet is a clockmaker by the graveyard gates. The baggy clothed Clockmaker requests the sisters to search for the clockwork automaton Maaku, who had run away from the Clockmaker after he had been unable to give Maaku the mechanisms of laughter and crying. Since been rejected form the Fairy Queen's hand in marriage by the Magician, Maaku has been chasing the Clockmaker to make the mechanisms, which has put him on the run too, but the Clockmaker is also worried that Maaku is in dire need of his springs wound again, because when the springs fail, the deactivated Maaku will be an easy target for anyone to break in and steal the strings.
The sisters after promising to find Maaku and keep an eye on him, enter the forest which takes them by wonder by its beauty and the dangers that might be lurking anywhere and finally tiring the sisters, who decide to take a nap by a river. The sisters are woken up by the sound of a platoon of animals, heralded by a Clown and as they watch in astonishment they are also made aware of another person sitting them who they take for Maaku by the appearances. The sisters learn from the Clown of the abandoned circus party and the absconding Master, and decide to follow Clown to the Inn-under-Banyan, whose Owner makes the best Suruwa in all realms.
The sister arrive at the inn with the Clown and the new found Maaku and easily become friend with the Owner who offers them free food and lodging in exchange of helping with the cooking during the day. That night the sisters eat what the acrobats swear to be the best Suruwa. While watching the after dinner acrobatic practices the Owner tells them how the Master rented and bought circus equipment, dresses, tents, and then ran away without paying the bill, leading to the shopkeepers to file a case against the circus members who as a result have been forced to hiding in the forest of Kaaliya. After the practice the sisters are sent off to sleep in the Owner's with Maaku, where they wake up next morning to find Maaku missing. But their anxiety and cries are soon relieved as it is revealed that Maaku was just downstairs at the inn. They are further consoled by Clown who tells them that the Magician is going to start his show after breakfast. But Sona gets worried that if Maaku sees the Magician's show and sees the summoning of the Fairy Queen, he'll become inconsolable and get back on the chase for the Clockmaker, so she starts to request the Owner to send Maaku away from the show, which the Owner obliges after initial confusion by sending Maaku to get rabbits from traps, but only after making a promise to cook only the black ones and bring the white the white ones as pets for the sisters after Tiya's insistence.
Maaku is sent off for the rabbits as the Magician enters, but the Owner gets busy searching for the half of the lottery ticket that Clown gave him for safekeeping. Tiya promises to find him the lottery ticket and the party sist down for the Magician's show and is awestruck by the Fairy Queen. But Tiya starts crying of homesickness but is soon consoled as the Owner tells them of a feast planned for the night and a show by the circus animals afterwards in practice for the Owner's birthday celebration that evening. After the magician's show while the sisters peel potatoes and peas, the Owner lets them on the secret behind the Suruwa and of his bearded disguise.
On their way from the animal show with Maaku in tow, who has been back from rabbit hunting, which they had been at after helping the Owner in the morning, the sisters run into a man in Khaki uniform holding a big letter. The sisters being sure that this is the police in search of Maaku after the Clockmaker had tipped off the police. In fear they run away to Inn-under-Banyan, and are met with a man clad in secrecy who hides seeing them and a very angry Owner who is upset at being left alone to deal with all the work. Maaku is immediately set to work by the owner, while the sisters are sat down to lunch after Tiya has another bout of crying brought around by Sona trying to stop her from revealing Maaku's automaton identity to the Owner. Very soon the other circus members also appear for lunch, but are interrupted by Clown who brings the news that the police has been seen inside the forest. The crowd is cleared immediately and the sisters are taken up to the treehouse to hide by the Owner. They find the Clockmaker also hiding here, who is soon revealed to be also the Owner's brother. The Clockmaker is visibly upset at the allegation that he had brought the police inside the forest, inspite of there being a FIR in his name for stealing Rs.5000 worth of springs and machine from a clock factory and putting it inside Maaku. He now wants to capture Maaku who has gone rogue, and send him back to the factory after dismantling him. While Clockmaker gets into an argument with Owner, the sisters sneak away into the forest to find Maaku before other so that they can warn him of the Clockmaker's devious plan. The sisters also think of a second plan in case Maaku does not listen to them which would be to throw her inside the big traps that the old settlers laid out for tigers and wolves. But as they reach near the traps, they are sighted by the khaki uniformed man with the letter from before who gives them chase to ask them for information, but falls in the trap. After this danger is averted, the sisters run helter-skelter to find Maaku but are unable to find him. On the path they are delayed by Tiya stopping often to cry. They finally make their way to the field where they the animals were showing in the morning, where the assembled acrobats let them know that Maaku has run away and they are quite glad to get rid of Maaku's arrogant self. As the clown has the animals take their vitamins he also lets the sisters know that Maaku has got them pretty gowns to wear to the evening party. While they are making plans for the evening, another disaster has struck as Clown has mistakenly give the animals the wrong medicine and now the animals are out of commission for the evening. In this increasingly disastrous news the sisters are reminded of the disaster that awaits Maaku, whom they must save.
The evening descends into chaos with the circus animals out of commission, the Owner having lost his half of the lottery ticket, Maaku missing and the Circus show scheduled for the evening for Owner's birthday on the verge of being cancelled. The Clockmaker starts lamenting that if he still had Maaku he could still have the circus go on. So, a plan is devised that if Maaku is found, then the Magician's show will also include Maaku getting married to the Fairy Queen. As everyone spreads out in search of Maaku, the sisters find him sitting on a rock, lethargic and bored of everything, which worries the sisters that his springs are running out of time. As they try to convince Maaku to come back with them, Maaku runs away, which greatly upsetting the sisters they decide they don't want anything to do with Maaku and don't want him in the evening show either.
As the evening progresses, news arrives to the sisters who had been sleeping in the treehouse for some time, that Maaku has been found but in a deactivated state. Inspite of everyone's best effort, including the Clockmaker's Maaku has not been able to be revived. Tiya solves this problem by being handy with a silver earpick that she stole from her mother's before leaving. Sona also solves the problem of the Owner's lost lottery by figuring that the pink outer case of the earpick was infact the lottery ticket. Maaku having come alive at this point, everyone is rejoiced and the only obstacle that remains is giving Maaku crying mechanism, which Sona solves by putting water in a jar and placing it inside Maaku's skull and adding a funnel connecting the jar to the eyes.
With the problems solved, everyone is rushed to the circus ground where the show is supposed to happen. The show is a success, and in the closing act it is revealed to that the Owner of the inn is actually the missing Master of the circus. He reveals that even though he escaped, he couldn't live without the party so he came back as the Owner to take care of the circus party. As everyone makes their way back to the Inn, overjoyed they find it over run by police and the sisters' family. The final conclusion reveals that after the sisters ran away their father and uncle found them sleeping by the forest stream, from where their uncle who was also the police chief, stayed on under the guise of Maaku. It is also revealed that the man with the letter whom the sisters had dropped in the trap, was infact not the police but the postman who had brought news of Clown winning a Rs.5000 lottery. Thus, everyone is sat down to dinner, where the unparalleled taste of the Suruwa is once again verified and the story ends in a note of "All's well that ends well"
Characters
Following is a list of the characters in the story.
Sona- The elder sister, brave and witty. Is instrumental in fixing the crying mechanism of Maaku.
Tiya- The little sister. Notable for crying often. Is unwittingly the saviour of the circus by both reviving Maaku and finding the lottery ticket.
The Clockmaker- On the run from Maaku and the law. Creator of Maaku, whom he made in the basement of the clock factory over a period of 17 years. Also is the brother of the Inn-owner/Circus-master.
The Owner/Master- Initially the Master of the circus, absconded and abandoned the circus after failing to pay for the things he bought and rented for the circus. Is also the Owner of Inn-under-Banyan in the Forest of Kaaliya. Is sweet of nature and caring.
Clown- Is the circus clown, on run from the law. Is the first of the circus party to meet the sisters and is fond of them. Bought a Rs.1 lottery ticket and is hopeful of clearing away the circus debt with the money he gets from there. Finally uses the Rs.5000 prize of the lottery to let the Clockmaker clear away his debt and buy the property rights to Maaku.
Magician- The Magician is the summoner of the Fairy Queen, who initially refuses to a marriage between Maaku and the Fairy Queen because Maaku can neither cry nor laugh, leading into Maaku chasing the Clockmaker, and forcing them both into a runaway life.
Fairy Queen- Is not an actual Fairy Queen. Is performed by one of the younger members of the Acrobatic team.
Maaku/Uncle- Finds the sisters sleeping beside a stream inside the forest and stays with them taking on a disguise that was accidentally similar to Maaku. Is the sister's uncle and also the Police Chief, and by virtue of his station forgives both the Owner and the Clockmaker as long as they go to the Police station at their earliest and pay their dues.
Maaku- The actual automaton. Is only found in the story near the ending. Looks physically different from the Maaku that the sisters got used to. Is described by the sisters as robotic and too rigid. Has bright red hair and a dimple on the nose. Was found out of battery, lying inside a tiger trap.