TAMIL
Humorous novel
P. SUNDARESAN
SIVASAAMIYIN SABADHAM:
J. S. Raghavan; Kizhakku, an imprint of New Horizon Media Pvt. Ltd, 33/15 Second Floor, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai-600018. Rs. 70.
J.S.RAGHAVAN HAS carved a niche for himself in the realm of humorous literature. He embarked on his maiden novel cast in the famous Wodehouse mould. Thus another Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves have emerged as Panchaami and Sivasaami. This well illustrated fiction with inbuilt humour and amazing anecdotes is in a class by itself.
Naive and henpecked Panchaami, a laughable figure of a doctor, is like a frog in a well. Smashing a coconut to smithereens in a temple is an art. When Panchaami lacked the skill, it was a young human dynamo Sivasaami who extended a helping hand. With the meeting of minds at first sight, this confirmed bachelor took charge of the household chores much against the will of the domineering housewife Kamakshi who was soon to make a trip to the U.S. where their son Vikas was employed. By rushing to the airport at the eleventh hour to hand over the passport and ticket allegedly left behind and also engineering an escort, Sivasaami adroitly won the admiration of the lady who was relieved of her tension. The impression gained lasted forever.
What follows is only an outline of a novel which is hilariously funny and where wordplay abounds.
Sivasaami succeeds in effecting a marriage summarily rejected before on astrological grounds, unmindful of the sensitivities of the boy and girl concerned. Sivasaami's strategy to solve a "Pakistan Occupied Kashmir" (POK) situation in the house. How Sivasaami, as per the e-mail from Kamakshi, manoeuvred to stop Panchaami playing the role of a henpecked husband for a serial. How Sivasaami, the joker in the pack, saved a musician in a marriage reception from a terrifying nightmare of a forthright critic.
The last chapter has the `O Henry twist' to it. It unfolds, with the passage of time, a skeleton in the cupboard and the close ties of relationship between Panchaami and Sivasaami who happened to be half-brothers. Vikas was just an adopted son of Panchaami. By their grand gesture behind the scenes they rise to lofty heights. The novel will lend itself to dramatisation for television and the stage.
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