MALAYALAM
Rags to riches story
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
ORU GRAMATHINTE KATHA CHILA NAGARANGALUDEYUM — Novel: Sugunan Njekkad; Prabhath Book House, Thiruvananthapuram-695038.
Rs. 130.
THIS IS the story of Appu and of his transformation from a coastal south Kerala village boy to a senior executive in Bank of New York in the U.S. From a poor family, he rises to an enviable position in a powerful multinational bank. His reflections on life, and his trials and tribulations, and his pangs of conscience are narrated in a remarkably lucid style.
The narrative is in the first person by the central character, often mingling with that of the third person of the narrator conveying the nostalgia and yearning that Appu has for his native village, his mother, close friends and for loved ones. His student days and then slipping into communist party work and leaving it at the right time for seeking employment in a government department in Delhi, the closeness he develops with friends are all described without any frills. He also does not forget his amorous relationships in his village and his conscience pricks him for the first one.
Appu has been remarkably lucky to have friends and colleagues who wished him the best and helped him throughout his life: in the U.S. also life has been smooth for the villager. Life is always charted with the blessings that Appu has been showered with.
His characterisation evokes powerful empathy of the reader. His love Gopika sums up his character of doing things in a totally different, but ideal manner.
The story promotes national integration and transcends geographical barriers across continents.
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