காடோடி - நக்கீரன்

I came to know about this novel through Vikatan website. This book was in their list of best books of 2015. I have no idea of reading this book any time soon but everything changed when I went to library and found this book. The book cover itself made me to choose this book. Within a minute I started reading. It seems like a memoir as author worked in that industry. But how much is fiction and how is not , only he knows. The author in one interview says that this kind of writing as "narrative display text" and it makes sense to this novel.

மரம் என்றால் அது இலைகள் அல்ல .பூக்கள் அல்ல. காய்கள் அல்ல. கனிகளும் அல்ல.ஏன் அது மரமே அல்ல. மரம் என்றால் அது டாலர் ,டாலர் , டாலர் மட்டுமே .

This novel explores the corporate destruction of pristine forest of Borneo. How these corporations without any hint of tribal knowledge cuts thousands of tress killing innumerable wildlife along with it. Though I have read about deforestation in many articles this is the first time reading a full length Tamil novel with this subject as theme. Kudos to the author.

The author brings the essence of multi-racial logging camp environment alive with lively characters. The real life experience of the author is visible everywhere. All characters has their own story to tell specially the tribal ones. The author beautifully highlights the nature centred life of those tribal people. Though, very painful but these people do not have any other choice except to adopt to the modernity.The author handles two completely different view of forest - one by the corporate and another by the tribes .

பழி என்ற சொல் எல்லாம் இயற்கைக்குத் தெரியாது . அது ஒன்றும் மனிதர் அல்ல. அதன் ஒவ்வொரு செயலுக்கும் காரணம் இருக்கும் . அது நமக்குத் தெரியாது என்பதால்தான் இப்படியெல்லாம் ஊகித்துக் கொள்கிறோம் .

The two stand-out characters are Omar , the manager of the camp and Piliyav ,elderly tribal man. Omar , due to his family situation entered into this logging industry and could not go out of it.  He is a man of great knowledge of forest.  He understood the elderly man more than anyone else. The letter he wrote explain his decision to quit was something everyone should read.  Piliyav is the real hero of this story. A man who knows the forest inside out and keeps learning. He keeps his heart and mind open to the nature. He helps Omar and 'Dhuwan' to understand the forest. He respects them as they are , he did not hate them for helping the companies to cut the trees.  He knew that they cannot take decisions. Piliyav's character shows how one can live along with nature. The ingenious ways he do things without affecting the environment is something we all needs to learn.

எங்களுக்கு அன்பு செலுத்த மட்டுமே தெரியும் . அதையும் ஒவ்வொரு உயிருக்கும் ஒவ்வொரு வகையாக வேறுபட்டுச் செலுத்தத் தெரியாது .

Its fitting that in this story the company goes down with the forest but in reality all these big companies are reaping millions of dollars .The author also highlights the problem with capitalism - how the management of the camp goes from one hand to another for the sake of earning more without thinking even slightly about the environment , for these corporates everything is "Green Dollars."

Though voluminous, the author hold the reader's hand and lead to the beauty of the forest. The Tamil words used in describing the animals and forestry are very new to me. It would have been very helpful if the author attached some appendix for the names of the places, animals and trees in English.In the end I too cried with the characters. Tamil readers should welcome this theme. Very well written book.

White nest swiftlet
Black nest swiftlet
Layang-layang (Swift )
Kayu balak = timber
Masting year
Murut people
Dusun people
Tidung people
Ontoros Antanom
Story of Raja Tua Batulong
கூரன் பன்றி / சருகு மான்  =  Mouse Deer
தாடிப் பன்றி = Bornean Bearded Pig
சும்பித்தான் = sumpitan (blow gun)

List of primates in Borneo: (Needs to fill in the Tamil names)

No.	English Name	Tamil Name
1.	Orangutan
2.	Agile Gibbon
3.	Bornean Gibbon
4.	Banded Leaf Monkey
5.	Bornean Leaf Monkey
6.	White-fronted Leaf Monkey
7.	Maroon Leaf Monkey
8.	Proboscis Monkey	தும்பிக்கைக் குரங்கு
9.	Silvered Langur	வெள்ளி நிறக்  குரங்கு
10.	Pig-tailed Macaque	பன்றிவால்  குரங்கு
11.	Long-tailed Macaque
12.	Slow Loris
13.	Western Tarsier	பேய்க்  குரங்கு

Run - 23-01-2016

Started :  4:50 AM

Location : ECP

Distance : 15 KM

Before run : 1 cup black coffee . I found drinking coffee aleast 30 minutes before makes me feel better and energized.

Started the run without fixing the distance , started slowly. Once reached ECP, I upped my pace a bit. The reason to write this blog is to note down what I was thinking while running ;

• Thought of rain
• Till 2KM thought of how much oxygen I was taking-in, was everything OK with my body.
• After 2KM random thoughts  
• How Ilaiyaraja makes his music? 
• How my another cousin Loyo, who posted about his running last week, will he run this week? will he able to increase his distance?
• Laughed thinking about the response by Tamilnadu minister on 'Alcohol Prohibition' . Seems like government wants money more than people welfare.
• Will India win today's ODI against Australia? Will Dhoni score some runs?
•  Repeatedly played "Tharai Thappattai" hero introduction music, awesome. Automatically my pace increased.
• Thought of how good Vineeth Srinivasan's voice, Im becoming a big fan of him.

All the above thoughts were not consistent , switching  here and there. And sometimes just blank mind with only music.

Pyongyang : A Journey in North Korea - Guy Delisle

The is a travel memoir. It was originally written in French. The author shares about  his experiences in Pyongyang, where he stayed two months for his work. Everything was monitored by the state. He too was followed and allowed to visit only preselected places. The writing is straight forward and  I liked it that way. I laughed loud many times while reading

The author explains his everyday routine with its uniqueness and some mundane behaviours of the people and the police. Most of the places he visited were devoted to state and glorifying its deeds. He was assigned personal translator , who was everything to him there. The author was taken aback by things such as reverse walking , no disabled and elderly people, the propaganda mechanisms and the cult of its past and current leaders.

The pencil drawings are excellent , brings the mood and emotion , I like it. I believe author used this strategy to highlight the monotony of the live under the military regime. The author is not politically leaning, he just sketched whatever he saw. On the other hand, the author was not interested in forming friendship locals and he was all alone.   Was Delisle judgemental ? was he over the top?  Was he poking fun at the people of  North Korea? , at the end all these questions arises. I believe we cannot define certain things .

Good read.

The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton& Daniel Coyle

This is one hell of a book. I could not believe how easily these 'dopers' specially Lance Armstrong cheated everyone. I have to admit that I was a big Armstrong fan back in the college days , even bought 'Livestrong' band. Also read his book 'Its not about bike' with great admiration.  Im a big fan of Tour de France , though i don't know anything about Cycling.

If you were careful and paid attention you could dope and be 99 percent certain that you would not get caught.

I have read many articles on the doping scandals in various magazines and sites, but this book stand out, as Hamilton tried to give full disclosure of the events and things happened during his riding time, which is riveting and heart breaking.  He systematically with details broke down what was going during Armstrong's period. From the time Armstrong won his first Tour title ,his dominance was something never happened before. He was not only winning but winning it in a remarkable manner. That itself arose suspicion.

“People think doping is for lazy people who want to avoid hard work. That might be true in some cases, but in mine, as with many riders I knew, it was precisely the opposite. EPO granted the ability to suffer more; to push yourself farther and harder than you'd ever imagined, in both training and racing”

Hamilton explains how he was introduced to the drugs and blood transfusion and he felt that everyone was doing the same  -'level playing field' and he had no choice.  At first he was bit hesitant but gradually accepted it as a way of cycling life. Hamilton gives a fascinating inside view of how these cyclist used those drugs . The code names they used like red eggs (testosterone) , Edgar (EP0) and oil (testosterone drops) and other code words for locations and hotel- very interesting. Its very painful to read about Hamilton's  recovery to his normal life and one can understand it. He also feels for Armstrong as he mentioned - "Sorry for him as a person, because he was trapped, imprisoned by all the secrets and lies. I thought: Lance would sooner die than admit it, but being forced to tell the truth might be the best thing that ever happened to him."

Here's the secret: You can't block out the pain. You have to embrace it

Armstrong threatened and intimated whoever questioned him , specially the journalist David Walsh, whom he even sued. His characters itself is dominant,self-centred, insensitive, fearless and cruel. He replaced his team mates if they showed signs of resistance and not obeying him. Armstrong is not the first one to dope but he is the one who pushed boundaries and controlled everything. And also he did it better than anyone else as he told to Hamilton ''whatever you do, those other fuckers are doing more".   It was like a ring - driver driving the car / motorbike across the international border to deliver the drugs and do blood transfusion , private jet carrying cyclist across countries to do blood transfusion, money transferred to Swiss account and of course threatening calls and actions.

We'd made it to the top of the bike-racing world, and when we got there we found mostly desolation and emptiness.

The doping laws in different countries made these cyclist escape from tests ,also UCI's archaic doping rules and methods , the testing schedule was ridiculous and in fact there was no test for EPO at that time.  Armstrong had all the backing of UCI.  The UCI used Armstrong's successful come back as advertisement / promotion for Cycling and adamant to handle the doping accusations properly. Its good  atleast now UCI have biological passport program which minimize chances of doping. Credit should be given to USDA too. They were very strict and never yielded to any pressure though at one point they gave up the case.

The writing is fast, clear,gripping and engrossing. A must read for anyone interested any sports.

Tyler Hamilton's interview (CBS)
Armstrong confession video 
David Walsh's interview

ரெயினீஸ் ஐயர் தெரு - வண்ணநிலவன்

The striking feature of this book is the language. Simply awesome. I read many paragraphs more than once. One of the few Tamil books which we can just read for the sake of language.

I was intrigued by the name of this book - Reyinees looks typical christian or rather western but Iyer as well know indicates Brahmin. How come a street name with this combination ? I searched and found out that Iyen / Iyer in Tamil indicates good person.

இந்த ஐயர் என்கிற சொல் தமிழகத்தின் பெரும்பாலான மாவட்டங்களில் பிராமணர்களைக் குறிப்பதற்காகப் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. ஐயர் என்கிற சொல்லிற்குச்  சிறந்தவன் என்று பொருள். வள்ளுவன், ஐயன் வள்ளுவனானது அப்படித்தான். தமிழகத்தினுடைய தென்கோடி மாவட்டங்களான திருநெல்வேலி மாவட்டத்திலேயும் , கன்னியாகுமரி மாவட்டத்திலேயும் கிறிஸ்துவப் பாதிரிமார்களைக் குறிப்பதற்காக இந்த ஐயர் என்ற சொல்லைப் பயன்படுத்துகிறார்கள். கேரளத்தில் ஃபாதர் தாமஸை, தாமஸ் அச்சன் என்று சொல்வாரகள். ஆனால் தமிழகத்தின் பல மாவட்டங்களிலும் ஃபாதர் தாமஸ் என்றேதான் சொல்கிறார்கள். திருநெல்வேலி, கன்னியாகுமரி மாவட்டங்களில் ஃபாதர் தாமஸ், தாமஸ் ஐயர் ஆகிறார். அப்படியான ஒரு ஐயர்தான் ரெயினீஸ் ஐயர்.  -  மு இராமனாதன் (taken from Thinnai website. thanks to them)

This is a story of Reyinees Iyer street, a street with only six houses on both sides. How many of us living in cities know our neighbours? If you are from village , you will definitely miss the 'typical' street environment.  This book brought back lots of great memories of my childhood specially the camaraderie among the people.Each house and it's inhabitants has their own stories.This book brings their happiness and struggles with raw emotions.  By loving others these people move forward in their life.

Its a small book, I love all the characters . I cannot forget these characters easily. The way the author describes this street's  days of the week is simply amazing :

திங்கட் கிழமை ஏராளமான வீட்டு வேலைகள் இருப்பது போன்ற தோற்றம் தந்து கழித்தது .

 செவ்வாய்  கிழமை , மீண்டும் வாழ்கையில் நிகழபோகும் ஒரு ஆனந்த்தத்துக்கு உறுதியளிப்பது .

 புதன் கிழமையோ இன்னும் முக்கியமானது . முன் தினத்தில் பெற்ற சிறு சிறு சந்தோஷங்களையும் , வரப்போகிற ஓய்வு நாளைக் குறித்த ஞாபகத்தையும் மேலும் உறுதிப்படுத்துகிறது ."

The book ends with this (What else one can expect , this is simply too good)
எல்லாவற்றையும் உய்விக்கிற மழைதான் ரெய்னீஸ் ஐயர் தெருவை பெருமைப்படுத்துகிறது. டாரதி நினைத்தபடியே அன்று மழை வந்தது. மழையில் ரெய்னீஸ் ஐயர் தெருவைப் பார்க்க அழகாக இருந்தது. தெருவின் அமைதியில் மழை மேலும் பிரகாசம் எய்தியது. மழை தெருவுக்குப் புது மணலைக்  கொண்டு வரும். எதிர்த்த  வீட்டு இருதயத்து டீச்சர் வீட்டுக் கோழிகள் தங்களுடைய எளிய அலகுகளால் மண்ணைக் கிளறுகிற சந்தோஷத்தையும் மழைதான் தருகிறது. மழை எப்பொழுதும் நல்லதே செய்யும் என்பதை ரெய்னீஸ் ஐயர் தெருக்காரர்கள் நம்பினார்கள். இருதயத்து டீச்சர் இந்த மழைக்கு பிறகு சேசய்யா திடீரென ஆச்சரியப்படத்தக்க விதமாய் குணமடைந்து விடுவானென்று நம்பினாள். அன்னமேரி டீச்சர் ஓட்டிலிருந்து இறங்கி வரும் தண்ணீரை பிடிப்பதற்காக வரிசையாக பாத்திரங்களை மழையில் நனைந்துக்கொண்டே வைத்தாள். சாம்ஸனுக்கும் மழையை வேடிக்கை பார்க்க மனம் இருந்தது. டாரதி, தாத்தாவின் கால்மாட்டில் கட்டிலில் உட்கார்ந்துக் கொண்டாள், மழையைப் பார்க்க.”

“ஆசீர்வாதம் பிள்ளையின் மனைவி ரெபேக்காள் மழைத் தண்ணீர் வீட்டுக்குள் வந்து விடாதபடி பழைய சாக்குத்துண்டுகள் இரண்டை எடுத்து வாசல் நடையில் போட்டாள். மழையைப் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருக்கும் போது எல்லோருடைய மனமும் கடவுள் தன்மையை அடைந்து விடுகிறது. யாரும் யாருக்கும் தீங்கிழைக்க மாட்டார்கள் போலத் தோன்றுவார்கள் மழையின் போது

Just read it.