Thiagu Book Centre - Library is located at the calm Captain Palaniswamy Layout which is located off Thadagam Road in R.S.Puram, Coimbatore. It was founded by P.Thiagarajan in 1980. The well stocked library is home to a 100,000 books and its membership has crossed 5000. His father Perumalswamy had founded Excellent Book Centre in the year 1960 near the Stanes Mill. Later on he moved over to Variety Hall Road. About 2000 members were part of his library.
Thiagu Book Centre - Library is located at the calm Captain Palaniswamy Layout which is located off Thadagam Road in R.S.Puram, Coimbatore. It was founded by P.Thiagarajan in 1980. The well stocked library is home to a 100,000 books and its membership has crossed 5000. His father Perumalswamy had founded Excellent Book Centre in the year 1960 near the Stanes Mill. Later on he moved over to Variety Hall Road. About 2000 members were part of his library.
Thiagarajan has been hosting a ' Saturday Meeting ' regularly. "Basically readers and thinkers congregate and discuss subjects that have been elucidated upon in the books read by them. This takes place between 10:30 AM and 5:30 PM. A number of authors like Nanjil Nadan and Theodore Bhaskaran have graced the occasion. Atleast 15 people come for these get togethers and sometimes the crowd goes upto 25. More than 50 people came in during the visit of Jayamohan. I am glad that our centre is able to promote such gatherings on a regular basis," smiled Thiagarajan while handing over the Tamil book ' Pulinagakondrai ' by P.A.Krishnan.
The author had recently visited the centre and participated in the deliberations for a couple of hours. His frank and forthright expression was quite refreshing. P.A.Krishnan began his career as a teacher. He became a career bureaucrat and has served in a number of positions. P.A.Krishnan is the author of the two famous English books - The Tiger Claw Tree, Muddy River. Both these books have been successful and were presented in Tamil by P.A.Krishnan himself. While his wife Revathi has been a teacher, the son Siddharth works in the USA.
The Tiger Claw Tree / Pulinagakondrai draws its title from a A.K.Ramanujan translation of a Sangam poem. Pulinagakondrai follows the vicissitudes of a Tenkalai Iyengar family in Southern Tamilnadu. Tamilnadu is the home for the Visishtadvaita philosophy and it was propounded by Ramanujacharya ( 1017 - 1137 AD ). The followers of Ramanuja have organized themselves into ' Vadakalai ' and ' Thenkalai'. While Vedanta Desika is considered to be the main acharya for the Vadakalai people, Manavala Mamunigal has been the acharya for the followers of the Thenkalai tradition. Both of the branches of this school of thought have been known for their differences of opinion with regard to philosophy and the management of temples / institutions for centuries. However these issues were more focused due to ideological differences only.
In the story, Ponna ( Ponnammal ) is the matriarch of the family around whom the author has finely woven the plot. The Hindu had opined that ' It is epical but minus the constraints of an epic ' and The Stateman had stated that - ' Reminds one of Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.'
The story begins with the old Ponna in bed. It has been embedded with the happenings of four generations. A sin of the past seems to be the backdrop of the novel. P.A.Krishnan has given a family tree connected with the story along with the period. This helps the readers to understand the timeline which comes as part of the narration. The story is woven around the Vanamamalai Mutt in Nanguneri. The ancient Perumal Temple managed by the Jeeyars of the mutt is listed among the 108 Divya Desams ( most important among the sacred temples ) as per the Sri Vaishnavaite tradition. Until 1447, the place had been under the management of Nambodiris and later on Tamil speaking Vaishnavaites ( worshippers of Lord Vishnu ) had taken over the administration. Readers will get to learn about the mutt and its tradition while enjoying the book.
Pulinagakondrai exposes the reader to the background of the southern districts - Nanguneri, Vanamamalai Mutt and other places in the neighbourhood. The author enlightens the readers about the ' Undial Kadai ' ( money lending outlets ) business that existed those days. Some of the Undial Kadais were rich enough to finance warlords and polygars. One Iyengar Undial Kadai owner had existed during the times of the polygar wars. The sins associated with high interest rates and other unhealthy activities connected with the polygar wars are part of ' sinned ' backdrop. Kesavan Iyengar tells his grandson Krishna Iyengar about his grandfather who had lived during the polygar period. Krishna Iyengar's son Raman marries Ponna and she lives long enough to see her great grandsons grow up into manhood.
Ponna is the daughter of a ' Madapalli Iyengar ' ( cook ) who serves the Vanamamalai Mutt. The Madapalli Iyengar's father had been a scholar who lost his life during the year 1858 - during the time of the Sepoy Mutiny. He had been sent by the Jeeyar of Vanamamalai Mutt to work on some ancient scriptures and lost his life during an unfortunate happening. The Jeeyar therefore had taken it upon himself to employ the son who could only cook good stuff. Ponna leads a happy life but her husband Raman takes to eating too much. He passes away early and the young Ponna is left with Nammalwar, Pakshi and Andal. The daughter loses her husband early and stays with the mother. She develops a deep love for her nephew. Andal, the distractions faced by her and her private life are portrayed well. Affected families were keen to move on but societal reforms were yet to enter the mainstream.
The stories of the sufferings of the family of the first son Nammalwar is brought out in a lucid manner. P.A.Krishnan has connected the family to the happenings of the country and the region in a marvelous manner. It makes us think that it is a real story. Every part of the freedom struggle is reflected in the life of the characters found in the book. The disappearance of Nammalwar, the first son of Ponna and his reappearance is brought out well. Pakshi's grandson Kannan and his relationship with Uma makes the read interesting. The love showered by the couple Pakshi and his wife Veda on the family of Nammalwar makes us like the story even more.
The story of Nambi ( great grandson of Ponna through her son Nammalwar ) and his Dalit wife Rosa is portrayed beautifully. Both of them are communists who believe in serving the poor. We get to understand that life , love and service exist beyond caste considerations. Indu is the youngest descendant of the Undial Kadai family. Members of the Thenkalai Iyengar Undial Kadai family are deeply attached to each other and therefore are ready to accept each others' approach to life. This is true for everyone. P.A.Krishnan, the author has helped the reader to discover this aspect in each one of them. Its possible to see how one can have a good relationship in spite of ideological differences. Real love and affection remove barriers. The life of a committed couple who serve the poor is tragically destroyed because of a single event is shocking. We get to see the approach of individuals, society and the state to ideology at different times of history.
The plot moves around at a time when people pursuing extreme and non violent paths meet. This is seen in a different manner by the suspicious authorities and a life is lost unfortunately. One can get to understand the risks that may have to be faced by people adhering to ideologies at an extreme level. The book helps us to travel into the freedom struggle period and also the times when communist and socialist ideologies were ruling the roost. Those were times when Nationalism, Socialism and Communism were connected to freeing oneself and the country from foreign forces, poverty and inequity. The author tries to convey that travelling along with people on their routes becomes important if we have to make them understand and lead a life which will be fruitful to one and all. Common good is achieved through fellowship and harmonious living even if sections of the society differ with each other.
Rosa and her commitment to medically serving the downtrodden is admirable. We get to understand that life was unstable those days. Therefore people took life in a different manner. The story travels through almost 100 years and is concurrent to the life of Ponna.
They say that each person has a tree within himself and birds do not come to some of them. The story of the Undial Kadai family confirms the saying. Marriage, sex, social work, religious institutions, money lending, freedom struggle, ideology, romance, education, career, dispassion etc., are brought out in this magnum opus in a befitting manner by the author P.A.Krishnan.
"The book focuses on people who are living on the edges of history," stated P.A.Krishnan during the ' meet the author ' at Thiagu Book Centre - Library. Yes, the book surely is.