கானகன் - லக்ஷ்மி சரவணகுமார்

அவள் கண்ணீரும் ஒப்பாரியுமாய் அந்தக் காட்டின் ஆதிக் கதை நோக்கி தன்னை நகர்த்திக் கொள்ள நினைத்தவளாகவும் மனிதர்களின் மீதான அச்சத்தில் பைத்தியங்கொண்டவளாகவும் அரற்றினாள். ‘மனுசனுக்கு ஒரு பாடுன்னா தெய்வத்துக்கிட்ட போறோம-தெய்வத்துக்கு ஒரு பாடுன்னா அது எங்க போவும்…’  கிழவிகள் வாய்க்குள்ளாகவே புழுங்கிக் கண்ணீர் விட்டனர்.”

I heard about this novel after the announcement of Sakitya Academy award winners .  Few years back i read a short story written by Lakshmi Saravanakumar and like it . I never read any novel of this author. I was really excited to find this book in the library.  Finished the book in three days.

This is the novel of two sets of contrasting characters - father versus son ,and nature versus human, for harmony of all both these needs to support and live together. But in this story there is a constant tension between these two. Thangappan , a notoriously famous hunter who kills a Tiger. The revenge starts there.The very first scene about the setup for the hunt is very interesting and the author's attention to details made the scene memorable. I think no reader will forget that scene. He knows the forest inside out.

"காட்டுக்குள்ள திருடித் தின்னு பழக்கப்பட்டுட்டா மனுஷன் மிருகமாயிருவான் . அவனத் திருத்த முடியாது "

 Vaasi, stepson of Thangappan , is a son of Sadaiyan whom the tribal community leader think of as a forest child. Sadaiyan talks to the forest. Same like his biological father Vassi loves the forest so much that he is ready to give his life to protect it.  Thangappan wants Vaasi to learn hunting and he did but Vassi never used it unnecessarily. All three wives of Thangappan treats Vaasi as their own son and loves hims as one.

"வேட்டை ஒருவகையான யுத்தம் . ஆனால் தாக்குதலுக்கு எதிரியை அனுமதிக்காத யுத்தம் யுத்தமே அல்ல.அது  சூது ." 

The Casanova like lifestyle of Thangappan is something some readers will not accept but the author beautifully justifies the three wives of him with believable explanations.  All three wives are living together without any complaints, though Thangappan favours Chellayi more. Chellayi is the wife of Sadaiyan. She left Sadaiyan in pursuit of hunting and started living with Thangappan. Wherever Thangappan goes he mesmerises women . The sexual desires by various characters looks real (though many readers will not agree)- many out of marriage sexual acts in this story.

பொம்பள வாசம் இருக்கற வரைக்கும் தாண்ட ,ஆம்பளைக்கு உடம்புல வேகமும் தெம்பும் இருக்கும் .ஒரு பொம்பளைக்காக எதையும் செய்ய தயாரா இருக்க ஆம்பளதாண்ட எம்புட்டு காரியத்தையும் அசராம செய்வான்.

For the tribal people the forest is everything , the author tells their story from their point of view and it is very true. These communities lives should be documented and their knowledge should be shared and used. Its always the marginalised and tribal who gets affected most by deforestation.  These people knows that the forest provides whatever they needs and they are happy with that. But everything changed when men started destroying and accumulating more than needed.

தன் தாய்மையை அங்கீகரிக்கும் எல்லோரையும் ஒரு பெண்  அதீதமாய் நேசிக்கத்தான் செய்வாள் . 

The pain of these people and their inability to stop the deforestation will make the reader too to think of his or her inability to stop the exploitation of the natural resources by the various corporate companies.  In this story , these people realises the coming disaster but could not do anything except to go to safer place. Sadaiyan warns the people about the unhappiness of the forest and its disaster consequences.

வெறுப்பு ஒரு மாபெரும் நாக்கு , யாரோ ஒருவரின் மீது ஒருமுறை சுழன்று திரும்பிவிட்டால் பின்பு ஒருபோதும் அவரை விடுவதில்லை . 

At one point , the rivalry between Thangappan and Vaasi comes to blows when Vaasi  helps the elephants to escape from the trap . The possessed Thangappan wants to kill elephants and uses Vaasi to accompolish it. But Vaasi understood the trap and did whatever he could and helps the herd to escape. The animosity grew even more .

எல்லோருக்கும் காடு வேண்டும் , தனக்குத் தேவையான ஒன்றை என்ன விலை கொடுத்து வேண்டுமானாலும் வாங்க வேண்டுமென நினைப்பதுதானே மனித இயல்பு . 

I liked the characterisation of Poosani ,the community elder who discovered the talent of Sadaiyan and Vaasi.  He leads his community closer to the forest as much he could as his ancestors did.  Ansari , another important character who is with Thangappan throughout .Though Sagayarani loves Thangappan , he goes with Ansari and live with him. I really don't understand why the auhtor construct her story like this. All female characters are strong and sexually independent.

ஒரு மனிதன்  அல்லது இனம் ,சரணடைவதற்கு முன்பாக மரணத்தைத் தேர்வு செய்யும் ஆன்ம பலத்தைக் கொண்டிருக்காவிட்டால் அடிமையாவதுதான் தவிர்க்க முடியாத விளைவாக இருக்கும் . 

There is a shade of another novel "Kaadodi" but the language and the place made this novel different and interesting one. This is the forest around Madurai which brought me closer to the story. The ending is bit cinematic but I expected it. The tiger kills Thangappan with the help of Vaasi.  Though one can read this novel in one sitting but there are some places where I thought editing would have been better. This story is mixture of heroism, lust, sentiments and nature - typical to screenwriting. The author did a good job in making the mixture a interesting one with good pace and lyrical language.This book received Yuva Puraskar award.

A good read.