My Memoir

சிற்றிலக்கியங்களில் எத்தனை புதுமைகள் வந்தாலும், புதினங்களை சாராத இலக்கியஙகள் எழுதபட்டாலும், புதினங்கள் வளர்ந்து கொண்டு தான் இருக்கும். நரசிம்ம பல்லவனையும், வீரபாண்டியனையும் வரலாற்று விளக்கங்களால் அறிந்து கொள்ள மட்டுமே முடியும், ஆனால் அவர்களை கற்பனை மூலமாக நம் கண் முன் நிறுத்துவது புதினங்களே. அப்படி ஒரு அற்புதமான எழுத்தாளர் கல்கி

பொன்னியின் செல்வனை இரன்டாவது முறை படிக்க நேர்ந்தது. பல வருடங்களுக்குப் பிறகு. எவ்வளவு அழகிய தமிழ். எத்தனை கற்பனா சக்தி. எத்தனையொ புதினங்களை படித்திருக்கிறேன். வந்தியத்தேவனை விட இத்தனை நேர்த்தியான ஒரு கதாபாத்திரத்தை படித்த நினைவில்லை. ஒரு காலத்தில் Dan Brown வரலாற்று புதினங்களை படித்தபோது எற்பட்ட வியப்பு பொய்யாகி விட்டது. கல்கியை விடவா ஒருவர் அற்புதமாக வரலாற்றை சொல்லிவிட முடியும். அழ்வார்க்கடியான் முதல் அவனை கடிக்கும் “வீர சைவப்பூனை” வரை அத்தனை நேர்த்தியான கதாபாத்திரங்கள். குந்தவை வரலற்றில் எவ்வளவு இடம் பெற்றிறுக்கிறாள் , எவ்வளவு ராஜ ராஜ சோழனும், ராஜேந்திரனும் அவளால் அரிவுறுத்தப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள் என்பது முதல் சோழ நாட்டின் வளம், பஞ்சம், உணவு, கப்பற்படை வரை அத்தனயும் கண் முன் நிற்கிறது. சோழ மன்னன் ஒருவனின் பெயரில் இன்னமும் Indonesiavil ஒரு கப்பல் பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ளது என்பதை படிக்க நேர்ந்த்தது கல்கி எத்தனை அழகாக Indonesia வரை சென்ற அந்த கப்பற்படையை எழுதியிருக்கிறார். இன்னும் நான் படித்து முடிக்கவில்லை .. வியந்து கொண்டே படிக்கிறேன், படிக்கும்போதே எழுதுகிறேன்… தொடரும்..

“”அற்றார் அழிபசி தீர்த்தல்; அக்தொருவன்
பெற்றான் பொருள்வைப் புழி.”"

Yes, charity is what I am talking about !! I hardly had any idea of a big mafia abusing the fact expressed by the above kural , until I read ezham ulagam by Jeya Mohan !!
He is one of the best writers in Tamil who is able to write deep and wide!! Every word he writes to emphasize the undeniable truth comes as a bullet!! If you expect heroism, twists and big surprising events racing like a Bond movie then this may not be the book of your choice. The story flows like a stream, every now and then strikingly portraying a totally different world which we often ignore.

The story revolves around Velu Pandaram and many temples in South India(especially the ones for Lord Muruga)where his begger mafia operates.He buys and sells beggars and calls them “urupadi”. He treats them worse than cattle,but he still claims “நாம ஆருக்கும் ஒரு தீங்கும் செய்யல்ல”. The more physically and mentally challenged they are the more they survive in his beggar mafia.

Muthammai a lady with a single arm and a single leg is forced to mate with other physically challenged people to give birth to malformed children , who are sold at a very high price!! She says “எனக்க பிள்ளைய பதினெட்டாக்கும், பதினெட்டு , சப்ரிமலை படிபோல பதினெட்டு.’ கண்ணில்ல, கையிலயும் காலிலயும் ஒரோ விரலு மட்டும்தான், கூனுமுண்டு, மாறிலயும் வயித்தலயும் அடிச்சுட்டுல்லா கரைஞ்சேன்”. Ahmed, reading news paper while begging and informing fellow beggars about the recent events , erukku a girl who loves perumal (person who is like a watchdog for the beggars) madly just because he tied a nuptial knot to steal her away from a hospital, muthammai ,her son rajini kanth(a kid as physically challenged as her),kuyyan who claims to kill himself if he doesn get to eat “payasam” are all beautifully portrayed.

There is a mild humour that runs through out, among the beggars.That makes us feel that though they are “urupadis” to the world above them , they live their life as full as every other human being. Slowly we begin to feel like a part of their world enjoying their company.
unni aachi whose primary job is to gossip, kochan , Nayar stand as symbols for some evil characteristics that have been a part of man’s primitive behavior ever. The author has also mastered in nagercoil-tamil dialect.
‘Uripadi’s don’t have an assurance of the next meal , things that bother the middle class and upper middle class like pride , money , god , religion, society etc etc .. don’t even exist in their world !!! They live outside every temple,but the “deity” inside doesn’t attract them. They have their own deity “maangadi saami” , again a physically challenged beggar who sits amidst them and sings.

The author has also depicted their view on the world above them , how they look at us and even make fun !!
Survival is the only force that drives the ezham ulagam just like it drives every other life!!
The book also talks about the ill effects of institutionalizing “religion and god” and in turn commercializing devotion which is yet again a pure form of love. Pothi who is a priest in the temple says “இங்கே பாருடே பண்டாரம், இது ஆறடி கல்லு, பத்து நானூறு வரிசமாட்டு பலரும் கழுவி சந்தனம் போட்டு பூ போட்டு கும்பிடுதானுக. நமக்கு இது தொளிலு. உனக்கு முத்தம்மை, எனக்கு இது. “

The success of the novel is clear when you finish it , you feel like every other character in the novel is questioning you how far you have understood mankind and life’s longing for itself !!!

This book is basically a tale of a lost sister in Babar’s Family and of two great cities Fatehpur Sikhri and Florence.It talks really a lot about the customs and how Florence evolved through renaissance.I read it at a slower pace , because it was more of history A man calling himself “Mughal of Love” arrives at Akbars court and tells him that he is his uncle(Babar’s Sisters son) and thats how the tale goes.

Here goes my most liked and least liked lists about the book,

Rushdie has beautifully portrayed Akbar’s reign, his court , and the people there.I really enjoyed the way he narrated AbulFazl’s tactics.

Akbar , for once has been portrayed with his weakness as well his greatness.It made me wonder at his thirst for knowledge and at the same time his regret for being dyslexic.However i had little knowledge about the renaissance and I had no prior reading so I could not understand Florence’s history much:)

He has rightly explained how an woman wants to make her will win in a men’s world and how she succeeds using her power of enchantments

I was not happy with how he had ended.Or rather I did not get it fully How can Akbar raise someone from death? Is he that infatuated towards that enchantress to be so  imaginative of her rising from dead ?? No clue.

I also wonder why  Jodha has been portrayed as  a  lady who was created by Akbar out of pure imagination and she incfluenced him totally by living with him in his unreal world.It was funny when Akbar’s mother tried tried talking to Jodha imagining she was sitting in a chair next to her

I was not able to fully enjoy the humor as some part of it was dry and sarcastic. Hmm , so I had fun reading the book though i did not like it as Shalimar the Clown, it was worth spending some fifteen hours

Thanks to my neighbour for introducing me to JK!! I ve started off  reading JK and now i am through a book “A wholly different way of Living“  its a dialogue between JK and Professor Allan Anderson of San Diego State university.This happened in 1974.

J K starts it beautifully stating the importance of individual transformation needed to bring out societal transformation.Then he moves on to talk on conflict in human relationships, responsibility of a human being , fragmentd human mind , fear , knowledge desire so on an so forth. I hardly find words to express how i really wonder his great thinking. Its worth reading , really a hundred times !!!

Two things impressed me recently and thought i should blog about them.. One was a movie , The Prestiege , Christopher Priest’s novel picturised so well ! I actually watched it an year after its release!!The story revolves around two magicians(angier, borden) who initially work as ringers for a magicians and then start their carriers seperately after a conflict due to Julia’s death(angier’s wife , suspected to be killed by borden).Their rivalry, obsession towards magic have be beautifully portrayed.The lead roles also have been wonderfully played.

The other one is The Brief history of time which i read for the second time.The more i read the more i wanna read and wonder at Hawking’s genius mind and the simplicity with which he puts his thoughts. I also wanna read the sequel Universe in a Nutshell.If somebody has a copy i ll be glad to get it !!

I am also reading Vandhaargal Vendraargal by Madhan – I got it as my birthday gift from my friends thanks to them

Well , i am basically gnostic and i read books of spirituality as well!!! Recently , i read a book on why we perform hindu rituals. People say these are just our interpretations but still it impressed me!!! I happened to read God’s Debris some time back and i wondered reading this as how could these people have framed out Hinduism so perfectly as a way of life that it just gives you absolute freedom of worship  and so perfect is the way GOD has actually been presented to man ..May god be probability or the assembly of all matter(God’s dust?!) , Hinduism just gives you lot of options to relish the supreme energy as you wish!! I went to Nellaiappar Temple the same night and wondered the magnum opus and felt the supreme power!!!! I really want to read  the grand epics and works of athi sankara.. Will do that if i get resources!!!!