Minnalin oru Thuli

I have just read Minnalin oru thuli by Jey Sakthi. First of all I am quite taken by the importance that she places in her novels to the family members of the protagonists. Also the amount of patience and understanding displayed by the heroin, which is something that I believe young ladies of this generation lack. This is something that is not evident in books by Ramani amma, in her books, more emphasis is placed on the lady of the book (with the exceptions of very few books) and as I see it not enough importance is given to family relationships. I am always awed by the joint family concept, however since my marriage was a love marriage against both of our families wishes I didn’t get chance to be part of one. That wish is being partly fulfilled now, as we live near one of his cousin sister, whose house is always filled with people, all her brothers and in-laws live within walking distance and we all get together at least once a week.

When you are die hard fan of Ramani amma (RC) its bit hard to accept books written by other authors, it was the case for me too, I don’t appreciate the writing of Jey Sakthi (JS) madam, its drags on at parts and makes me skim over pages, but it’s the little things in her work that keeps me reading. Such as the Koyamputhoor accent that is evident in the books, the little romantic incidents between the couple and thoughtful happenings that keep the reader hooked. When comparing JS and RC, the names in RC books are always different (Madhurima for instance) whereas in JS books the names of the protagonist are always pure tamil (Illanchellian or Maanvizhi). Hats off for using Tamil names.

I really enjoyed the way Parani proposes to his loved one in this novel, the respect and care that the couple give to their elders. Another part of this book that I must share is at one point they are talking about no matter how modernized or intellectual women they can’t give up gossiping (especially in India), and they quote a poem to illustrate this point:

பெண்ணே!

அடுப்பிலே குழம்பு

இடுப்பிலே குழந்தை

நடுப்பகலில் ஊர் வம்பு

உடைத்து வெளிவருவது எப்போது?

Unfortunatly they don’t mention who the author to this is. But I think it beautifully makes a point.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and it is a must read and I would rate is 4 stars out of 5. share your thoughts on this book and other books by Jey Sakthi Madam…..

Mithra

Kannae Kanmaniyae

The first Ramani Chandran Novel that I read. I don’t think I can ever forget it, back at home most of January was holiday for us and I was just simply bored. After lunch my mother would take an afternoon nap and brothers would go out to play cricket leaving me all alone. It was during these few hours that I learned to sew, make handcrafts, learned to bake and most important of all started reading novels. My aunt had been a fan of Ramani amma and she had left behind Kannae Kanmaiyae from her previous visit, I picked the book up out of pure boredom. I didn’t like reading till that day and I only picked up the book because there was NOTHING else for me to do. The first chapter really didn’t capture me, the only that kept me going was the fact that her brother lost all his money gambling. I distinctly remember this because I had seen my eldest brother taking money from my father’s shirt pocket that day, and I had several theories to why he took the money (ranging from going to the movies with his friends to him eloping with someone only to be caught by my father around the street corner). So this book gave me one more theory that he can be gambling and I can be the one to tell my father this. This was the mere reason that kept me reading at that point, but soon afterwards I was so absorbed into the book I couldn’t put it down. After I finished that book I just had to read more books and I was addicted. I started asking my friends and they managed to give me some books. So this is the story of I got bitten by the book bug. (oh yea it turned out that I was partly right out my brother, he took the money to buy a gift for his girlfriend)
Most of my friends had to read books in secret as they were forbidden by their parents, but I was sure that wouldn’t be the case for me as my father loves to read and had his own small library in the storage room. My father had seen me read ramani amma’s books a couple of time and about a month after I started reading my mother told me my father wanted to talk to me and he was waiting for me on the back veranda. The back veranda doesn’t usually correspond to a lot of pampering so I knew it was not going to be good. We had a long talk and he showed me how separate reality from fiction. I am sure if I hadn’t had that talk with him, I would not be who I am today. He told me that there is no man that can be perfect as how they are portrayed in the books and how the struggles that I will have to face in life are much larger than the ones in the books. He explained that life is not a calm river running along smoothly to reach its lifelong ambition of joining the ocean but a fierce river that has many rocks and falls along the way. I understood that day that I cannot expect my life to be like the ones in the books which was really important at that age as I started to think my life was going to similar to that of the protagonists in Ramani amma’s books.
I fully understood the importance of my fathers talk 8 years later, when my best friend took her own life away. She had been a fan of Ramani amma, she was so absorbed in the books that it was really hard for her to realize what was reality and what was fiction. She fell in love just like in the books and afterwords she just couldn’t overcome the real obstacles of life. I wish I had been around her at those hard times but in her last letter to me she had said “life is not as how it is in Ramani amma’s books but much more complex…” I know a lot of young girls are reading Ramani amma’s books nowadays and I just want them to keep in my mind that reality is nothing like what it seems in the books, but much more adventurous and complex. Nevertheless I am still a HUGE fan of Ramani amma and her writing mesmerizes me and I will be updating on her books when I get the time.

Mithra

Here I go..

I have always wanted to start my own blog, to share my interests, passions and my thoughts. I love reading, especially books by Sandilyan, Kalki, Lakshmi and many others including my all time favorite Ramanichandran. I also love listening to music and watching movies. Being raised as a traditional tamil girl from the Jaffna penninsula, I have a passion for cooking. In the new world where everything can be found pre-packaged, I hope to share my favorite recipes that require a bit more than water and packaged contents. There are a very few around me that share similar interests, so I hope through this blog I can share my views to those that share similar interests.

Mithra