I have read many articles and some short stories by Shoba Sakthi but this novel is the best of his writings.Its really heartening to read this book in Tamil, never read anything like this before in Tamil, may be due to the novel's story which revolves around Eelam and different organizations in it.
The story starts with Nirami in hospital ,she was admitted after she fainted in school,her parents were shocked to find that she was pregnant.Her parents Ernest Nesakumaran and Premini were Srilankan tamil immigrants living in Paris.Nesakumaran had done something unheard of in our culture(I leave others to judge him).But that was the impact of past (tortured life)As the police came for inquiries, Nesakumaran starts thinking of his life in Srilanka(sort of flashback).
He is a son of a famous school teacher,his parents joined him in seminary as they wished him to be a catholic priest.Those days becoming a priest was prestigious thing.But unfortunately Nesakumaran followed his own steps.Deeply in love with the girl , he quit seminary and go in search of her but fate made him to join in a liberation 'organization'. He was told to do certain things which he did without asking any questions, he did not had direct contact with the 'organization' but through a middleman. Once he tried to bomb the nearby police station and another time he tried to kill the village head during the local church feast.He was caught and put in the jail.
From this jail his whirlwind life in different jails starts.
Then the story moves to the 'Black July' pogrom in 1983.The authors description of the prison and their officers were something we can expect from Shoba Sakthi since he himself would have seen some of them.From here the novels moves in a thrilling pace(But sad that this incident really happened).The efforts of the tamil inmates to protect themselves from the Sinhalese mob and their state of mind was told in a first hand account.When i was reading the passages describing these inmates i got angry on so many people.
I can imagine how much they suffered ,unspeakable atrocities.The inmates includes Douglas Devananada,Pakiri, Kutty Mani,Maanikadasan and others.The used all kinds things to protect themselves.After days of riots ,some of them escaped death but majority (57) of them died.The rest of the story is about he was tortured by 'organization' and his life after.
He is a son of a famous school teacher,his parents joined him in seminary as they wished him to be a catholic priest.Those days becoming a priest was prestigious thing.But unfortunately Nesakumaran followed his own steps.Deeply in love with the girl , he quit seminary and go in search of her but fate made him to join in a liberation 'organization'. He was told to do certain things which he did without asking any questions, he did not had direct contact with the 'organization' but through a middleman. Once he tried to bomb the nearby police station and another time he tried to kill the village head during the local church feast.He was caught and put in the jail.
From this jail his whirlwind life in different jails starts.
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| Welikada prison outline-taken from the book |
Then the story moves to the 'Black July' pogrom in 1983.The authors description of the prison and their officers were something we can expect from Shoba Sakthi since he himself would have seen some of them.From here the novels moves in a thrilling pace(But sad that this incident really happened).The efforts of the tamil inmates to protect themselves from the Sinhalese mob and their state of mind was told in a first hand account.When i was reading the passages describing these inmates i got angry on so many people.
I can imagine how much they suffered ,unspeakable atrocities.The inmates includes Douglas Devananada,Pakiri, Kutty Mani,Maanikadasan and others.The used all kinds things to protect themselves.After days of riots ,some of them escaped death but majority (57) of them died.The rest of the story is about he was tortured by 'organization' and his life after.
Shoba Sakthi brings the essence of Eelam and its people by describing everything in detail starting from Christmas to the torture chambers.He writes with some sort of authority and he is clear in what he wants to convey,well done. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a experience of life in war torn Eelam and life of an tamil immigrants(specially 'freedom fighters').
Shoba Sakthi is now living in France.I plan to read his other novel "Gorilla" soon. He has also written many short stories and essays for different magazines.
Click here to know more about Shoba Sakthi
Click here to know more about Welikada prison
Click here to know more about 1982 Massacre 1 & 2
Shoba Sakthi is now living in France.I plan to read his other novel "Gorilla" soon. He has also written many short stories and essays for different magazines.
Click here to know more about Shoba Sakthi
Click here to know more about Welikada prison
Click here to know more about 1982 Massacre 1 & 2
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