MALAYALAM
Truth stranger than fiction
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
THASKARAN — Maniyan Pilllayude Aatmakatha — Autobiography: compiled by G.R. Indugopan; DC Books, DC Kizhakemuri Edam, Good Shepherd Street, Kottayam-686001. Rs. 240.
IT IS not often that thieves write autobiographies. This unusual and honest life story makes arresting reading. It is sincere and the narrative probes into the psyche of a criminal, right from the days of childhood. Deprivation, neglect and discrimination contribute to the making of the thief and the police and jail authorities make him irredeemable. Once branded a thief, it is for life. The reader is taken on a detour of the darker side of society and the underworld, where the most inhuman cruelties, both physical and mental, are inflicted on the thief. The thief also confesses to the humanitarian attitude of some policemen and some judges. His accounts of corrupt judges are revealing. The book contains graphic details of the nexus between policemen and criminals. Maniyan Pilla candidly narrates his innumerable risky robberies and the variety of his tricks is amazing. Truth sounds stranger than fiction.
His efforts to reform and lead a normal life are shattered by the cruel fate on several occasions. The autobiography brings out the greatness of Maniyan Pilla’s mother and wife, and throughout the book he sings paeans about them and the devotion of his son.
The compiler of the narrative has done a commendable work, though some repetitions could have been avoided.
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