A Comma in a sentence by R Gopalakrishnan- Review of the book

A Comma in a sentence by R Gopalakrishnan published by Rupa Rainlight

Book Review by C P Chandrasekaran

 I read the book with great interest for two reasons one is that I belong to Kumbakonam near Vilakkudi,  which is the epicentre of the story (though unlike the author, I was brought up in the lively streets of that town). Second is I myself have been writing about my ancestors and can understand the difficulties in writing about the events that took place so many years back.  I enjoyed reading the book (in fact finished over the weekend) and I sincerely appreciate the author’s tremendous repository of knowledge which he had at this command while writing this book.  

For the sake of review,  I would divide the book in three parts part 1 upto page no 70 which is about the environment of vilakkudi and the lives of the author’s ancestors. The second part from page no 75 to page no 114 deals with the author as son of Rajam and the third part after the page no 115 deals with the author as the growing boy maturing into the Leadership role in which we know him today.

I would say that the third part is the best as he is in his own territory. His narration of the interview in HLL and the subsequent euphoria reflects the life of a student at its best and every student can identify himself or herself with it.

The second part reveals the extreme respect which the author has towards his father and I admire him for that. Few successful leaders hold their fathers in such awe. It is difficult for a reader to believe that Rajam who had gained so much of wealth and social standing over the years would have to abandon the entire fortune and move to Mumbai in such a situation that his house had to be auctioned. The fate has been really cruel to the author’s father and the author is right when he moves over the incidents which led to the shift very quickly. The author is at ease in Kolkata (9, Elgin Road) and its environs and probably sums up the whole thing when he says that he should actually be called “ Calcutta Ramabadran Gopalakrishnan”  (page no 94).

I am at ease in reviewing the first part of the book because I genuinely am from that world which he describes. My first sincere observation is that the author does not belong there. His writing about Vilakkudi is a remote view of the life in a village. He has read about life in Tamilnadu and probably has heard a lot about it but he has never been an insider or a participant in the village culture. This makes his account wanting in authenticity.  Even the Tamil which he writes often in the book  is not the typical “Iyengar” Tamil. I would quote a few examples. Young Ooshi tells his father  “Shollikkitte Pongo” in Page no 15 and later in Page no 19 and it is a common fact that the Tanjore Brahmins never use the word “shollikkitte”. It is invariably “sollinde”. In page no 35, the author writes about Bharathiar ( we never address him as Subramanya Bharathi) and quotes a few lines from his poem “senthamizh nadennum pothinile”. One can clearly make out here that the words are not phonetically right. (kaadinile not kaadinele). I am afraid that he never tried singing the song in Tamil. In page no 68, “Unnam illadai ingae yaar varuvaa?” would be unclear to any one in Tamilnadu unless he reads the English translation. “Shumma kadaiye Sholunge” (page no 24) is equally not clear in phonetics.

Apart from these linguistic issues, the author has not been fair in describing how culture in Tanjore flourished and declined over the centuries. Contrary to what the author would have us believe (page no 3) Marathas did not bring culture to Tamils nor supported us in our literary pursuits.  We had all the music, dance and literature already handed over to us from the chola period and in fact our decline started due to Telugu domination during Tanjore Nayaks and the transfer of power to Marathas in a questionable manner in 1680 when Ekoji ascended the Tanjore throne.  Uttiramerur Kalvettu (misspelt as Kalli vettu- another example that the author has limited knowledge of Tamil) on election system does not belong to Maratha period nor even Nayak (read Vijayanagara if you want) period. It is straight away from Parantaka Chola.

Tanjore Mirasdars were never the kind of characters portrayed by the author. The endless card games on the “thinnais” and the unlimited “betel leaf chewing” accompanied by consumption of pots of coffee while indulging in sarcastic talk about others’ families were essential parts of their lives. I do not mean to show any disrespect to the author’s ancestors who, in all probability were very religious. I am only against a sweeping generalisation like “Brahmins devoted themselves to study of Sanskrit” etc (page no 3).

The health of the young mothers in Thanjavur district in those days as it was in rest of the Tamilnadu was absolutely hopeless. Infant mortality was high and hundreds of young mothers died as they were never administered proper medicines or given care after the child birth. While this is a bitter fact, how can any one accept the author praising the customs of those horrendous days in glowing terms like “she (daughter-in-law) could not enter the kitchen for sixty days after child birth” (page no 52).  She might not have entered the kitchen but the daughter-in-laws who were bitten by scorpions and snakes as they were put in some rooms in backyards are alive even today to tell the stories of Tanjore landlords and their clan.  

I found the foray into Periyar, Subhas Chandra Bose and Mejo Kumar a bit distracting to the main theme that the author took which was the transformation of a family from village as the stage to the world as the stage. Rise of other political ideas or personalities, in my view, did not merit so much space. I agree that the author may have his own reasons for dealing with them at length.

The author reflects the common feeling among many Brahmins about the way agraharams disappeared and the houses which once reverberated with the Vedas have been sold to muslims.  (page no 67) However, he does not analyse the situation logically and accept the fact that people like him (and the reviewer) who left “swadharma” of practising the religious rites and went after the riches are the reasons for it.  Is it not true that for every one Brahmin boy who got a job in Mumbai or Kolkata one house was sold ?

“A Comma in a sentence” is a readable book from a corporate leader and it could have been much more appealing had it been more accurate in its approach to villages and the customs practised there. There is always a chance for the author to make up for this shortcoming as according to him, the book is a comma and not a full stop.