A different kind of book
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`Paa. Visalam has chosen a topic where she has had to tread cautiously and she has successfully negotiated the knife-edge walk.'
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PAA. VISALAM weaving her firm convictions with a judicious mixture of history and fiction has raised her novel, Unmai Olirkavendru Paadavo — Shall I Sing, `May Truth shine' — from being a mere historical register to the status of literature. It throws up questions and creates resonance in its readers.
A reading of the novel clearly shows that Visalam is a writer with a social conscience. Asked what motivated her to write this book, she says, "...at a certain point in my life I realised that societal changes were inevitable and I began to think about how I could contribute to make the changes positive. I was drawn to Marxism. I was by nature a believer in humanitarian principles. I was pained to see that our very history and epics had barely created a ripple in the minds of most people. Reading the Bible and the Quran gave me a fairly good understanding of them. I saw, that whatever the religion, social behaviour was contradictory to their teachings and ideologies. I wanted a society where people went beyond caste or religion and looked at each other with amity. What I saw of the role of religion inside the home and outside of it as well as the disparity between an individual's actions and the religious codes he believed in, troubled me. An urge to speak out and share my ideas began to torment me."
Unmai Olirkavendru Paadavo emerged out of this urge. It is the story of a family of Christian converts — a family consisting of domineering Mariadas, submissive Annamma, their daughter Rajam and three sons Nesan, Singan and Saveri. Mariadas is away in Colombo most of the time and his daughter acts as his deputy, practically running the household. Of the sons, Singam takes to religion, Saveri becomes a confirmed Marxist and Nesan is also drawn to Marxist ideals. Nesan finds an echo of his beliefs in Meena, a Hindu girl. He shows her a diary left behind by his great grandfather, which proves to be a historical record of Christian conversions as well as other events of that period. Meena and Nesan are surprised at how generations of people have stuck to their caste prejudices and empty rituals, irrespective of what religion they belonged to. Visalam's conviction that there is a wide gap between the practice and theory of religion runs like a leitmotif throughout the narrative. In spite of the apparent understanding Nesan and Meena have, Nesan is not able to ignore the demands made by his conservative, authoritarian father and marry Meena. A disillusioned Meena decides to find her life elsewhere.
Paa. Visalam has chosen a topic where she has had to tread cautiously and she has successfully negotiated the knife-edge walk. Sundararamaswamy says that is just what any attempt to write about caste and religion is, a knife-edge walk. That Visalam has not slipped anywhere from her neutral stand is borne out by all her readers and critics. The first thing that strikes anybody is the extraordinary courage and unswerving neutrality with which she handles such a delicate issue. Yet another strand that is woven into the story is the way women have been treated by their men through generations. Annamma is no match for her husband either in stature or in qualities and accepts her lot with resignation. Yet, she is not an average woman because she ponders a lot on her position in her family and gradually starts to question the justice of it. Her mental maturity takes her from blind submission to condescending acquiescence. Her decision to divorce herself from her husband in spirit rather than by law seems to be a triumph of womanhood. Visalam says, " I could not ignore the domination and insensitiveness of our men on the one hand and the unquestioning acceptance and submissiveness of our women on the other. I had to register them too." Maa. Aranganathan, a writer and literary critic of repute, has written an article on Paa.Visalam's book. He says, "A calm is what we feel after reading the book. Instead of rousing the readers' emotions by overt descriptions of violence, Visalam's novel concentrates more on the background to that violence. Though they arouse negative emotions among her characters, they spare the readers. And Paa. Visalam's honesty makes her speak the `whole truth'; that will include cruelty and inhuman behaviour; her honesty is her strength. She stands aloof, looking at religion dispassionately. It is a big step forward for Annamma of the novel that at some point she is able to question whether a woman should continue to be abused, always be a doormat. As for Meena, she accepts her lot and moves away. But the last line of the story, `she started talking to her mother' is remarkable in its eloquence."
All are agreed that Unmai Olirgavendru Paadavo is not a "time-pass" book. So, what motivated the publisher to publish a book that may not have much commercial value?
Publisher Velayudham of Vijaya Padippakam in Coimbatore has this to say. "This book has a message that should reach more people. But I have not been able to pay the royalty I owe to the author. It is a pity that the government libraries will not include this book in their lists. I would like very much to publish a cheaper version and take it to Nagercoil; but I do not have the means."
Many critics and readers feel that this book, published in September, 2000, deserves much more attention and reach than it has had so far. Paa. Visalam wonders why people are afraid to talk about it and why the government libraries will not stock it, for, she has had many
favourable comments and
commendations from the Christian community too.
Unmai Olirkavendru Paadavo,
Paa. Visalam, Vijaya Padippakam.
PADMA NARAYAN and
PREMA SEETHARAM
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