|
Book Review
TAMIL
Social novel
P.SUNDARESAN
DAEGHAMAE KANGHALAAI: Uthamachozhan, Thiruvarasu Pathippaga Nilayam, 23/13, Deenadayalu Street, T.Nagar, Chennai – 600007. Rs.60
THIS GRIPPING novel rings a bell from the life of Helen Keller, who was hearing and visually challenged, and championed the cause of such people. “Why should I not submit with complacency to this loss of sight, which seems only withdrawn from the body without to increase the sight of the mind within?” Possessed with such Miltonic attitude, the hero of the novel Akilon, who was born blind and walked with a pronounced limp, turned out to be an organiser par excellence to highlight the importance of eye bank as also the indomitable spirit of those of his ilk to take it all in their stride. Seized of a social conscience, Azhagunachi volunteered to throw in her lot with the hero nonpareil. Having got a job in a textiles concern adjacent to the STD booth where Akilon was running the show, she strengthened the bonds of love which eventually blossomed into marriage breaking the shackles of caste and disparity in age. His traumatic childhood moved her deeply.
Replete with anecdotes, the novel brings home the truth that impaired vision is no bar to phenomenal growth in any walk of life for the undaunted. A pragmatic approach to the problems faced by the visually impaired and even the handicapped by an intensive study of the subject as to how they could be overcome has yielded what the prolific author calls his magnum opus. The novel ends on a happy note when Uthamachozhan takes us to the lawns of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan to witness the event of the Akilons being jointly honoured by the President for their service.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
|
