Malar Manjam (Tamil for 'Bed of Flowers'), by T.Janakiraman
A typical T.J. novel with all the essential ingredients that spice up the story. Based on the two places that I inhabit in my life right now - Thanjavur and Triplicane - I found this a riveting book.
The plot is simple. Ramaiah is all that makes an ideal human being - soft-spoken, honest, assiduous, loyal and just. Unfortunately for him, one by one, all the four women that he marries die within a year or two of marriage. The last wife, however, dies while delivering a girl baby. On the verge of death, she asks him to get married again and also asks him to get their just-born baby to be given in marriage to their neighbour's son, Thangarajan.
Ramaiah is too dejected to get married for the fifth time and instead he chooses to devote his life for taking care of his daughter and getting her married to the boy as his wife wanted. Due to unfortunate circumstances, he moves to Thanjavur town from his native place. His daughter grows as brilliant as she was destined to be and his good friend Krishna Nayakkar and another lawyer ask him to let his daughter Balambal be allowed to study further by moving to Chennai. Meanwhile, Bali (Balambal) also starts practising Bharathanatyam and becomes an excellent performance, though not giving any public performances yet.
Once she moves to Chennai for higher studies the deep crevices in her mind open and she finds herself in direct conflict with her father's wishes, having fallen in love with the lawyer's grandson, Raja, with whom she became acquainted on their arrival in Thanjavur. She is unable to choose between Thangarajan and Raja and she feels that she is in love with them both.
Was Ramaiah able to keep his promise that he made to his wife on the verge of her death? Was Bali's love for Raja fruitful? Did Bali become a dancer? Whom did she marry?
All these questions are answered by the T.Janakiraman in his typical, simple and easily-flowing vernacular style. He always ensures success in the subtle elements of time, place and people's behaviour that makes any area-oriented story to become a success. Reading the book, I feel proud to be walking on all the areas where these characters would have walked once - or did they?!
Occasionally, you feel that being an avid reader of novels and such love stories, especially conversant with the style of T.J, you can guess the end of the story. T.J catches you by surprise and the end you are hoping for is not what you end up reading. Also, the end that we are hoping for is only the ante-climax. The speciality of T.J, where he doesn't start at the very beginning and end with a 'they-lived-happily-ever-after' kind of climaxes, is seen in this novel too. The story starts at one phase of the characters’ life and ends somewhere in the middle, like how we start a train journey from one station and step down at the other, though the train is on its journey always.
The novel ends with an entirely unexpected twist you won’t even guess in your dreams. Brings tears to your eyes, but saying more will be a spoiler. The best 'emotional thriller' of a book and a treat for T.J's readers. 584 pages of lovable read!
