The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Golden Stag'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Golden Stag' - a quest

Susan Muthalaly

Actor Kamal Haasan launched the book at Landmark

CHENNAI: When actor Kamal Haasan is around, the crowd is a given.

Even though a lot of the audience attending the book launch at Landmark didn't look very literarily inclined, the actor created enough of a buzz about the book for a successful debut. The book was author Sivasundari Bose's novel `Golden Stag'.

One of the younger, thriftier members of the audiences even enquired aloud whether he could sit in Landmark and read the book. At this, Kamal clicked his tongue and said, "... And, you spend Rs.15 to drink Coca-Cola."

The actor was all praise for the novel. He started his speech in Tamil, explaining that even though the book was in English, it is a Tamil story. "The story is universal, you understand it no matter where you come from, because we have a collective conscience... But, it is a very South Indian story."

He said that though the book is written in English, "our national language," `Golden Stag' does not lose its cultural background or heritage.

Ms. Bose read a few excerpts from her book and then spoke about it.

She had worked on the book for 12 years. She said that she wanted to restrict the story to a small "slice of time." So, the story is set in 1900-2000 and spans five generations of a Tamil family.

She said that she also felt it important to include significant events of the time period - thus the entry of TV, the invasion of the computer, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the Mandal Commission report all find more than a passing mention in the book.

The title comes from a poem about a quest by Rabindranath Tagore - all her characters are in search of something.

But, despite everything that the book covers, she said the book was essentially a love story between two of the characters.

The book is now available at stores for Rs.350.

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