Perumal Murugan

Even though it all went wrong

Translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan
Media:Audio
Read by Peter Holdway
Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins

This is a story of a married couple Kali and Ponna in Southern India who have been happy for many years but who have been unable to conceive a child. For many years they have pondered going to the festival of the god Maadhorubaagan. Maadhorubaagan is half woman, half man. On the eighteenth day of the annual festival this god allows men and women to have consensual sex outside of marriage. The men in this case become gods. If the problem of conception is Kali, then there’s a chance that if Ponna attends the festival on the eighteenth day, she will conceive.

Neither Kali or Ponna have wanted Ponna to attend, though all but one of their families’ members have encouraged this course of action. If Ponna does not have a child Kali worries she will regret it. If she doesn’t have a child Ponna worries that Kali will regret it. What can they do?

The story is set during colonial rule, though colonial actions do not play a proactive part in the main story. It’s more about the daily lives of Kali and Poona, and their friends and family, as they live mostly happy lives in rural India. Until. Or maybe forever. You’ll have to read the book.

I doubt many of you will have my delightful experience though. I “read” the book using an electronic copy from the US Talking Books library. It’s read by Peter Holdway, a non-professional volunteer who does an excellent job. At times he repeats a phrase. There was at least one time when I heard an intake of breath and the sound of a turning page. It was sort of comforting, like having a real live person reading to me.

The book was written in Tamil. Many Tamil writers have written in English. This includes Sri Lankan Anuk Arudpragasam who noted, … English is the language of aspiration and opportunity in Sri Lanka, as in many other former British colonies, and it is taught to those of us in Sri Lanka who have the privilege, even if our parents were educated in Tamil or Sinhalese. Very few people in South Asia are capable of writing and speaking in sophisticated English, but almost all South Asian writing disseminated internationally has been originally written in English, because it is financially and institutionally supported globally. in A SMALL WINDOW OF CONSCIOUSNESS

On listening to One Part Woman I could feel the authenticity of the book. Whether it was because it was originally written in the writer’s native language , or because of the Audible page-turning of the narrator, I’m unsure. Whichever it was, or perhaps it was both, I found it a gentle and pleasant read.… (mais)

A Tamil Love Stoty

Translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudeva
Media: Audio
Read by: Suvash Mohan
Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize and beautifully narrated by Suvash Mohan, the short novel tells a tale of two young lovers, and like so many such love stories it can only end in tragedy.

Saroja and Kumaresan meet in Saroja’s town where Kuaresan works. After falling in love they marry and Kumaresan takes his bride to live in his tiny rural village where his the couple is immediately ostracized.

Despite Kumarestan’s protestations the villagers believe that Saraja is from a different caste. Everyone there is related to each other. Everyone is of the same caste. The hostility toward Sareja extends to Kumaresan. He has to leave her alone in their hut, when he leaves for work in the town where they met. We follow her life alone. She sees Kumaresan only at night and on a festival day, when the couple are shunned.

The book is delicately written and the reader is put into the village where Saraja waits alone. She has no human contact in the day but can hear the villagers deriding her as they talk to each other outside her hut.

Surprisingly this is not a difficult read. Despite the ostracism of the couple their love for each other shines through. Kumaresan is optimistic and naive. Saraja wants only to love.

I’m reminded Story of Anuk Arudpragasam ’s Story of a Brief Marriage, another poignant story of two young Tamil lovers. Gentle and delicate in the face of britality.… (mais)

*Longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize*

4.5⭐️ rounded up.

As the story begins, we are introduced to Saroja and Kumaresan, a young newly married couple who have recently eloped and are traveling to Kumaresan’s native village in hopes of starting their new life together Kumaresan is aware that their inter-caste marriage will raise eyebrows and create a stir. He decides to keep the fact that Saroja does not belong to the same caste a secret until the fuss dies down and incorrectly assumes that in time things will settle down and Saroja will be accepted in his fold.

His mother Marayi , having raised her son alone after being widowed at a young age, is horrified at their arrival and does not mince her words in condemning their actions. Her anger is propelled not only by missing out on being able to choose a “suitable” daughter-in-law who would come with a dowry but also the fact that her family and fellow villagers would react adversely and her status in their community would be affected by her son's actions.

While Kumaresan goes about in an effort to set up his own business venture, Saroja spends her days a home forced to endure her mother- in- law's berating and taunts from relatives and neighbors. Alone in her thatched roof hut, she misses her family, and through flashbacks , we see how she met and fell in love with Kumaresan. The villagers eventually ex-communicate the family until the upcoming religious festivals are over. When the couple receives no support from Kumaresan’s relatives , he starts to break under the pressure of both economic uncertainty and being ostracized by his community. He starts drinking to numb his pain, compounding Saroja’s fears for their future. When Kumaresan finally finds a location for his business in location at a distance from their village, Saroja hopes that they could leave and settle down somewhere people would be more accepting of them as a couple. The situation with the mounting conflict and tension with the villagers eventually spins out of control and the climax leaves Saroja’s fate hanging in the balance.

Compelling and powerful, Perumal Murugan’s Pyre evokes strong emotions and paints a harsh picture of the dark side of human nature and the ill–effects of certain social beliefs and practices that promote hatred, discrimination and violence. Vivid descriptions of the harsh terrain and landscapes add to the atmosphere of the novel. While the descriptions of the rituals , customs and traditions of the region are beautifully penned throughout the narrative, the darker side of societal structure and practices in terms of discrimination and intolerance are also exposed as the story progresses. When Saroja and Kumaresan fall in love, they remain hopeful that their love can withstand all resistance and can bring about change in the way society perceives such relationships that defy age-old social norms. Their naïveté and misplaced hopefulness, mostly Kumaresan’s inability to comprehend the possible dangers they could face when the entire community and his family stands against them is in stark contrast to the animosity displayed by his family and fellow villagers. The beauty of Perumal Murugan’s Pyre (translated brilliantly by Aniruddhan Vasudevan) lies in the simplicity with which the thoughts and emotions of these characters are expressed.

This is not a happy or light read. Dealing with a sensitive social issue, it is harsh but rooted in reality. It remains unfortunate that even in today’s world, there are instances of unfiltered hatred, discrimination and violence based on the age-old caste system and family 'status'. This is my first Perumal Murugan novel and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)