thi.janagiraman-tamil novels

I just finished reading one more of the finest Novels by Thi,Janagiraman.
Thi stands for Thevan Kudi in TANJORE DISTRICT.The fact that i also belonged to Tanjore district enabled me to appreciate the niceties and nuances of the cahracters etched by Janagi raman all the more.

The novel is titled as "Nala bagam".For the readers who are not very familiar with the tamil language, the best tasty food is always attributed to the preparations of BHEEMA and Nala who during their difficult days were reported to have chosen Cooking as their means of livelihood to stay away from the evil,waiting for the right time to come to make known their presence.

Thus as the title aptly indicates the novel is about the character called Kameswaran, who has chosen to be a Cook for the pilgrims from the south when they travel to North by way of conducted tours.NAME Kameswaran itself is symbolic and denotes a person who is loveable .

The story starts with Hot tiffin(IDDLY with Milagai podi,PONGAL and GOTSU with MEDHU VADA and Chutney) being served to the travellers with love and affection by Kameswaran.Waht follows is one of the gripping portrayal of the type of characters whom he happens to confront and how it takes his life along.

There is a fellow traveller who incidentally happens to be an astrologer. Because of his ability to predict things accurately(or so it is made to believe)one another traveller Rangamnai(mid forties) consults as to whether her son (an adopted one at that) will have issues of his own.ASTROLOGER predicts that her son may not have a child but his wife certainly shall have one.Wht follows therafter are incidents beatifully tied with each other and chracters each of whom had been chiselled to such perfection.

On hearing the prediction Rangamani invites KAMESWARAN to resign his job and instead come along with her and stay in her house doing poojas for the welfare of the family.In earlier chapters Kameswaran's masculinity, his devotion to Goddess Sakthi and his ability to focus all his sences the good of the felelow beings ahve all been described.

Kameswaran accepts the invitation and goes to Kumbakonam , the place of Rangamani.Description of Kumbakonam and its surroundings, the style of language used by the chracters are all another treat to readers.Kameswaran comes to know at kumbakonam(when he meets the astrologer by coincidence) that perhaps he has been invited to the house so that he can be the cause for the child to be borne to Rangamani's daughter in law.

The way in which all these three cahracters, Rangamani, her adopted son and her daughterin law relate to KAMESWARAN and how KAMESWARAN escapes the weaker moments all form part of the rest of the story.

This is not the first of the novels which i have read of Janagi Raman.I have in fact read almost all novels if i may say so. Ammini in MARAPPASU (about which i wrote a critical commentary and won the prize for the same during my days in kolkatta from none other than the one and only poet Kannadasan whom i always admire) , JAMUNA in Moga mul are the characters etched grEen in my memory .His other novels Uyir then and Anbe aramude are known for their concepts while MARAPPASU and Mogamul are known for its chracters.While it has always been the case of praising woman hood (atleast in most of his novels)nala bagam apprecaites the MANHOOD..

At the end of Novel,there is a sence of satisfaction , content and peace to the reader which very few novels are capable of giving. Some one said that books perse are not good or bad but it is the reader's mind which makes it appear so,AGRRED But then only few novelists have the capacity and greatness to describe both the positive and negative sides with such grace and artistry that at the end of it one starts appreciating how fortunate we are to be in this world to be blessed to read such books.

HATS OFF TO janagi raman and his characters who are not from heaven, but who represent our friends and neighbours only.

More on the works of JANAGIRAMAN and other writers who also happen to be from Kumbakonam and near by places later. My admiration for them grew by leaps and bound simply not because i belong to KODAVASAL, another town near Kumbakonam, but because they gave me further insights into the human beahaviour , the tradition and culture as it is built over generation after generation.

There is a new window and door opened every time when you read such novels.And more light and breeze starts flowing in. As jayakanthan said in "KAGITHAM OTTAPPATTA JANNALGAL", the world at large becomes a better place to live in.