A peek into the life of...

Fire Bird

Author: Perumal Murugan

(translated from Tamil by Janani Kannan)

In my opinion, this is how a novel should be written. From a mundane job of riding on the bullock cart, traversing the country roads, looking for suitable land to start farming and hence to prosper his young family, he manages to tell the whole shebang of his family politics and the people and politics of the land he was passing through to scout.

Kuppan decides to take a long ride to the edge of the state with his faithful handyman, Muthu, in search of land to buy after a family feud. Being the youngest male child, he got the short end of the stick. His elder brothers decided that their father's land had to be divided. Perumal tells how the division of ancestral land works. Even the parents were given a measly piece of land. Kuppan, the timid one in the family who grew in awe of his brothers, did not fight back as it was not his colour to clash head-on despite his wife's constant nagging.

Through flashbacks and soliloquies, the readers learn tiny titbits about farming, traditional inheritance practices in some Tamil communities and that the whole of South India is not a monolith. Each part of the state has its peculiarities. Through his master storytelling, Perumal brings his viewer into the depth of its interiors to share Kuppan's sometimes hair-raising quest to start the right footing for his young family.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Comments

Gory historic details or gore fest?

Razakar: The Silent Genocide Of Hyderabad (Telegu, 2024) Director: Yata Satyanarayana In her last major speech before her disposition, Sheikh Hasina accused those who opposed her rule in Bangladesh of being Razakars. The opposition took offence to this term and soon widespread mob throughout the land. Of course, it is not that that single incident brought down an elected government but a culmination of joblessness and unjust reservations for a select population group. In the Bengali psyche, Razakar is a pejorative term meaning traitor or Judas. It was first used during the 1971 Pakistan Civil War. The paramilitary group who were against the then-East Pakistani leader, Majibur Rehman, were pro-West Pakistan. After establishing independence in Bangladesh, Razakars were disbanded, and many ran off to Pakistan. Around the time of Indian independence, turmoil brewed in the princely state of Hyderabad, which had been a province deputed by the Mughals from 1794. The rule of N...

The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human... Gems of Gemini Ganesan L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan, Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Dr Jaya Shreedhar. ( Abs: Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan) Seeing six of Ge...

Chicken's Invite? (Ajak-ajak ayam)

In the Malay lingo, the phrase 'ajak-ajak ayam' refers to an insincere invitation. Of course, many of us invite for courtesy's sake, but then the invitee may think that the invitation is for real! How does anyone know? Inviters and invitees must be smart enough to take the cue that one party may have gatecrashed with ulterior motives, or the other may not want him to join in the first place! Easily twenty years ago, my family was invited to a toddler's birthday party. As my children were toddlers, too, we were requested to come early so that my kids could run around and play in their big compound. And that the host said she would arrange a series of games for them to enjoy. So there we were in the early evening at a house that resembled very little of one immersed in joy and celebration. Instead, we were greeted by a house devoid of activities and no guests. The host was still out shopping her last-minute list, and her helper was knee-deep in her preparations to ...

RIFLE RANGE BOY

Search This Blog