The Chariot Path: What makes a writer? What inspires him to write? All writing to any career for that matter, is - love. Siva Kadiresan, the protagonist of this novel, follows his innermost obsessions mercilessly. He wants to write, keeps on writing, he never stops. Ideas come to him in images: a beggar woman in front of a shuttered store: a mango tree hacked and fallen in the backyard like a woman widowed and abandoned. He makes his ideas flourish and his creativity soar. Whatever they are, he hangs on to them for as long as he could. Kadiresan hones his literary skills and struggles to make into the literary circles and the publishing world. That world. ever hostile to novelty, is awash with fakery, prejudice and betrayal. When major publications shun his heretical vision. Kadiresan writes for Small Magazines' that sought to promote art and innovation. Neela Padmanabhan, in the tradition of James Joyce and Virginia Wolf. takes us on a journey through the characters' mind. And what an array of characters! At their best, they demonstrate altruism and tenderness. At their worst, they display insensitivity and deceit. This "Stream of Consciousness' method lays bare their innermost thoughts.
Neela Padmanabhan (b. 1938) is the author of 20 novels, 10 short story collections. 4 volumes of poetry and 7 essay collections in Tamil. In Malayalam, he has published a novel four short story collections and a single essay collection. Besides Tamil and Malayalam, he also has a few English works to his credit. Many of his books are available in Indian and world languages, including German and Russian. In 2007, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for his novel llai Uthir Kaalam. He had earlier won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 2003 for his translation of Ayyappa Paniker's Malayalam poetry collection. Ayyappa Panikkerude Krithikal into Tamil Neela Padmanabhan is still involved in literary causes. He recently launched an endowment for giving awards to young poets and fiction writers, every year, Neela Padmam Thalaimuraigal through The Thiruvananthapuram Tamil Sangam.. Neela Padmanabhan lives in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sri Neela Padmanabhan is an outstanding Tamil writer whose novels, stories and poems have been translated into several Indian and foreign languages. A Tamilian settled in Kerala, he could shape his literary sensibility assimilating influences from both Tamil and Malayalam literatures. This gives him unique insights not available to those whose loyalty is confined to one tradition.
The novel as a genre portrays the texture of the everyday life faithfully with all its tensions, dilemmas and frustrations Neela Padmanabhan's novels like Thalaimuraikal, Pallikondapuram', 'Uravukal', 'Min Ulakam' etc. have established his reputation as an authentic chronicler of life in the southern regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
When Theroodum Veethi' appeared in 1987, it received widespread approbation from Tamil literary circles. The novel is an impressive portrayal of a writer's struggle to establish him in a hostile literary milieu. Literature is supposed to refine sensibility. But the world of writers, critics and publishers seems to be full of hypocrisy, envy and back-stabbing. Publishers treat works of art are commodities that will yield profit in the markets. The writer's talent, his creative labour, his 'tapasya' are irreverent. A lot of bargains, bickerings and intrigues are common in the corridors of akademies and journals which claim to make or mar reputations.
The Chariot Path may be categorized as a Bildungsroman (novel of education) which portrays the evolution of a central character, usually an artist or intellectual, who undergoes a series of experiences- pleasant and bitter, from which he learns the truth about himself and society and finally reaches a degree of maturity. The central character Kathiresan is a sensitive, introspective writer whose "touch-me-not attitude lande him in painful situations. He does not push himself to the fore, does not demand attention from others; but he is a keen observer of writers with whom he interacts. Kathiresan finds it extremely difficult to get his books published Publishers are mercenaries more interested in their own profit than in the writers' reputation. Inevitably Kathiresan is hurt in his dealings with rival writers who are often envious and hypocritical.
The novelist probes the psyche of the central character by using the technique called 'stream of consciousness" or 'interior monologue' which is a mode of narration often found in the twentieth century modernist novelists like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. The mental process of a character is represented as a stream in which thoughts and feelings, perceptions and imaginings, conscious and subconscious urges get mixed up. It often helps the authors in giving psychological depth and complexity to his characterization. But if the author is not careful, it may lead to obscurity. Neela Padmanabhan's deft handling of this narrative technique saves the novel from this pitfall. Readers will not be puzzled by the characters' random associations.
Kathiresan's travails are not confined to the literary world in which he attempts to find a secure place he thinks he deserves. His domestic life is not a bed of roses. External pressures combined with anxieties and disillusionments make him a heart patient. He starts wondering what is the goal of life. But it is too late to find a convincing answer.
I should congratulate Mr. Andy Sundaresan on his excellent translation of Neela Padmanabhan's magnum opus into felicitous English.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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