மிளிர் கல் (Milir Kal) - இரா.முருகவேள்

தமிழ்ல மாணிக்கம் ,மரகதம் ,கோமேதகம்னு சொல்றோம் இல்லையா அதுதான் . ஆங்கிலத்துல சபையர் ,ரூபி ,எமரால்டு, அக்வாமெரைன் .இந்த மாதிரி கர்களுக்குப் பொதுவான பெயர் ரத்தினம் .... நமது இலக்கியங்கள் இந்த வகைக் கற்களை மிளிரமணிகள்னு சொல்லுது.

After reading this novel the first man came to my mind was Dan Brown - a writer who uses historical themes, symbols and conspiracy theories in his thrillers. Murugavel succeeded in writing a good story with historical themes. I think this is the first Tamil book to do so. Another novel which came to my mind was  Sudhagar's 6174 . 6147 was good but failed in many areas and not a memorable one. The author made sure that the facts are correct and his language did not let him down.

I need to acknowledge that I have never read Silappathikaram fully before I start reading this book . As I was reading this book I also started reading the prose of those described in this novel. I think this book will be even more interesting and enjoyable if one knows Silappathikaram fully. Its a shame that our schools and colleges not teaching our epics any more. 

This is the story of Mullai , a Tamil girl born and living in Delhi, who wants to follow the footsteps of Kannagi from Poombugar to Madruai to Chera Kingdom. For Mullai Kannagi is fascinating , through her father's storytelling she imagined a lot about Kannagi which lead her to take a documentary on Kannai . She leaves Delhi and travels to Chennai to fulfil her dream. Naveen her college friend and a leftist helps her in filming. They were joined by Srikumar ,a professor later.  These three characters are very different from each other.  

Through their journey the author beautifully explains the precious stones trade and their history in Tamilnadu. As Mullai and Naveen starts from Chennai , a multinational gem company (JK Diamonds) starts their business of finding gem mining location.Without he himself knowing Professor Srikumar was helping them. The kidnapping of Srikumar , the arrival of Naveen's friend Kannan and the arrest of various activists creates a thriller like feel.  The author beautifully links corporate companies who are thousands of kilometres away to the local goons and farmers and how these people link to Kovalan and Kannagi.

Though Mullai and Naveen started the journey for the documentary they slowly understands the problems faced by the people and the real politics played out. Naveen ,though he is left leaning, this journey made him to see everything first hand.The author answers lots of difficult questions in a simple manner through conversations. The author explains how King Ashoka sent missionaries to bring the tribal people under his rule and how Jainism used the tribal people and later how Dravidian parties specially DMK made Kannagi as role model woman. Both Buddhism and Jainism were dominant religion of traders of those times.

The novel bring back the life of those times with excellent description of places and people. The namesake of Kovalan and the lifestyle of Madhavi and everything related to them were as real as one can get . As a crown to top it all, the authors description of Kannagi festival at Kodunganallur was simply amazing. During this festival the devotees sing songs with full of bad words . The way Dalits defended this festival from the high caste and the politics behind it are very important fact to know. For many communities Kannagi is a semi-god. The different beliefs of different communities regarding Kannagi makes her a mystic and fascinating.

Till I read this novel whenever someone said "kangeyam" I thought only of  bulls and Jallikattu but this book changed that, and its surprising to know Kangeyam's precious stone deposits and business. One thing this novel did to me was to read more about Silappathikkaram and our history. I already order Silappathikkarm and watched the movie "Poombuhar "- i think its better to stick with reading and not to watch that movie. This novel won many awards. The writing is simple and easy to read.

"தம்பி , பக்கத்தில் கோடியக்கரையிலயிருந்து மீன் பிடிக்க போன நம்ம ஆளுங்க இருபது பேர புடிச்சிட்டு போயிட்டாங்க . அதபத்தியும் ஏதாச்சும் படம் எடுங்க உங்களுக்கு புண்ணியமா போகும்." 

A shining light among Tamil historical fictions - must read!!