AARUMUGAM - The Dark Side of Pondicherry.

 Pondicherry now feels totally different through Imayam's eyes. 

The book Aarumugam  is about the  coming of age of the titular character, born into a oppressed family. The presence/absence of his family has greatly shaped his adulthood, robbing off his innocence. Set in Pondicherry, the book traces the protected boyhood of Aarumugam, his straying away from studies rather life itself by consistently running away from bothersome situations.  The downtrodden people in his society represent the vicious cycle of poverty and the never ending struggle to meet the basic needs. The surrounding he engages in is a microcosm of the real world itself where the fittest and richest survive and the poor, oppressed people run a rat race that sees no light. 

Dhanabakiyam, Aarumugam's mother survives him post his father's demise while working at Auroville. she treats her son's wellbeing as the utmost priority and aspires to give him education and all the  opportunities which the world has denied her and her husband. Fate has different plans for her though. Like Hardy's Tess of the D'ubervile, cosmic irony gives a topsy turvy turn to her life in an unpredictable way.  Her arc in the novel is most heart wrenching one- from a stout, strong, beautiful and most sought after lady to a destitute, desperate mother who has lost all of them whom she rooted for. Her body becomes a tool in causing her downfall, the affair or the acquaintance fueled by power initiates her ruination which spirals down to Aarumugam encountering  her as a prostitute. 

The women in Imayam's world are fierce, violent and highly articulative and so is ChinnaPonnu. The destitute Aarumugam on the run seeks refuge under the prostitute ChinnaPonnu's deteriorating abode. She doesn't demand sympathy nor justifies her action. she reflects the reality and laughs away her troubles. Her humanity towards others offers rays of hope throughout, she is likeable and when she suffers sorrow grips the heart and you weep terribly. Her death is unjust and the way Imayam treated her funeral and the reality where the police and hospital guys seek money from the bunch of sex workers is gut wrenching. I dare you to read it without tearing up.  

Aarumugam enters adulthood abruptly by choosing to ceaselessly run or escape a difficult situation. Instigated by fury and desperation, Maari Selvaraj's Bison Kittan runs away from his insults and so does Aarumugam.  He never figures out the way to process power mechanisms, the sexual interplay in such circumstances. He navigates sexually confusing contexts by not encountering it and ends up in a whirlwind of complexities. His pain is very depressing because he never laments his loss nor chooses to act upon his desires. He always swallows his words, conceals his emotion and burdens the readers by succumbing to situation.  

                                                                                                                                                                       Aarumugam's life could have unfurled in so many other ways where he to express nor articulated what he ought to. The tragedy could have escaped him in 100 probable ways, but it didn't. Each of the character perpetrated sorrow and pain robbing off hope, nor did he properly comprehend a optimistic sign. His tragedy is frustrating. 

                     It was a troublesome read, painful, gripping and that's exactly why i like reading Imayam. He grabs your heart willfully, squeezes it and discards it with a smirk.