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Kaalam
Waiting for the boat which was on the other side of the river, a thought came suddenly to his mind, like a bolt from the blue.'At the start of every, the boat is on the other side !'
Waiting on the bus on end, at a closed railway gate, sweating, tireing, when minutes crawl like ages, the gates open on the other side of the track.
'May be because i'm in this!'
'But is it my case only?'
'Is it now only?'
The angst and despair of having to face the harsh realities of life may never could have been said better !!!
Sri M.T Vasudevan Nair's(MT) Kendra Sahithya Academy Award winning novel-Kaalam, set in the 60's is a MUST READ for every avid reader of malayalam literature. The novel beautifully portrays the hope and despair of an era. An era of changing values and systems, of unlimited openings. It is the story of a young man trying hard to get a foot hold in this cruel world and loosing his way!
The novel brings back to us, images from the past. Images that we have pushed in to the back alleys of our memory, long past! It enlivens the memories of an age and life style that has grown alien to most of us. The valluvanadan country side of the 60's with "NILA" river on the back drop, the peasent community trying hard to come to grips with the tumultuous changes that has been thrust upon them by the time. The beautiful landscape, with its vast expanses of fields lies a mute spectator to the life and times of "Sethu", the main protogonist of the novel.
We first meet Sethu on his way to a town, 40 miles away, where he is to join a college. As he takes this uncertain step towards his new life, he realises that this was a journey, he always wanted to take. For him it was not a journey, but an escape. An escape from the poverty and limitations, to the vast world outside.
But even as time flies past with it's share of agonies and tribulation,the reality that is life, lies in wait for him. As "Krishnan kutty", who is Sethu's soulmate says in the college, 'here everybody is posing as if they were princes. Only when they are out on the streets after these four years will they see what the world really is. It's just that they wouldn't care to see it earlier!'
And life is indeed harsh on sethu. Out of the college and looking for a job, Sethu finds how cruel the world can be to a young man, out on his own.
The plot develops as Sethu's life interwines with those of many other people, who have so many hopes pinned on him. His complaining, yet loving mother, his love interest "Thankamani", Sumitra, who is more a grinding stone of his manhood than a love interest, and the like. As he would put it, 'one always come to the sign post of life, late, when they have lost all meaning'.
"Kaalam" is one of the several masterpieces written by MT. As an exceptional story teller, MT excels through all his charecters in the novel. No wonder why he is so acclaimed!
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