Reading between the lines 2

book review

It was immense pleasure to read Mr.Nikhil Ramteke's new novel "The 365 Days".I was greatly impressed by the story, style, narrative, diction and nice description of both Vizhinjam and the pathetic condition of labour camps in the desert.Shijukutty, the protagonist in the novel represents thousands of migrants who embraced desert for a better life giving up their native land and dearest nones. Here, the fisherman, apart from his family , abandons sea and getting away from her everlasting pulling force which fosters the rhythm of every fisherman's life.Yes, the sea has gravity. She plays a crucial role in a fisherman's life and the realization of this fact is found to be the leitmotif of many great works in world literature depicting the life of fisherfolk.It may be Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" or Thakazhi's romantic masterpiece " Chemmeen", whatsover the sea and the life are intricately woven together.The words of Shijukutty in the end of the novel confirms this idea as he comes to know that sea is his healer and no longer will she betray him unless he violates her.

Like Benyamin's Najeeb in "Aadujeevitham"(Goat Days), Shijukutty can be considered as a paradigm of virtues like endurance, perseverance and kindness.The questions of religion Mr. Ramteke raises in the novel , might be different from Benyamin's religious aspects in 'Goat Days', still remain to be relevant. Of course we can't reject the "importance of being faithful" in "Goat Days" and it could be possible that the character Ibrahim Khadiri in "Goat Days" was an incarnation of Allah as the saviour for Najeeb who got trapped in the mssara. But still, I shall say Mr.Ramteke's questions are noteworthy.Something is there beyond the mere words like 'religion' and 'luxurious faith' . Morals like harmony, understanding ,kindness and caring each other will matter a lot than what religion does or in another sense it is not religion but unity in diverstity which makes a pravasi an absolute human being. Despite of his religious views, Shijukutty, the atheist ,or rather could be a sceptic, can be in harmony with his God-fearing fellow beings.He is kind hearted and keen to nourish his dreams even after being deceived by the agent. His kindness and perseverance make him equal to Najeeb, the religious man of masara in "Goat Days".Najeeb's faith is pure and might be innately in a purgational process in the sacrificial fire. He catches hold of it as a helpless person in the isolated desert and this purity of faith he safely keeps within ,takes shape as symbol of expecation and optimism in 'Goat Days', which was inevitable too for the melodious undercurrent of the story.At the same time , by negating the disparity between these two religious thoughts and considering them as two sides of a same coin, we can say the protagonists of both novels , Najeeb and Shijukutty stand to be the mirror images of thousands of malayali migrants whose dreams are shattered and rights down trodden.Hakkim in 'Goat Days' and Thavanmani in 'The 365 Days' are the two characters who deserve our pity and compassion. Both are punished by desert. Hakkim succumbs to destiny by the wrath of the desert and Thavanmani finds solace in death as a victim of man made recession.

The novel focuses on many other facts also. Jabbar chettan is a fully -lived pravasi who is free of debt and with enough savings back in kerala but still he becomes afraid of losing job and at the end of the novel finds himself heart broken.The novel indirectly unveils the fact that materialistic benefits and 'corporal pleasure' are not the factors which determine the entity of a pravasi, but rather, the experience with hard realities in desert,willingness to struggle for the survival ,persevarance and after all the broad -mindedness to embrace the fellow beings regardless of their ethnicity are those ones which make a pravasi different from a common man.

Pravasi literature draws considerable attention in the literary circle especially in India. Our experience as migrants across the world should not go in vain.As I always say the NRI writers should be encouraged.Mr.Ramteke's is the first hand experience.I know it is very hard to become an experienced pravasi, and even harder is to become a pravasi writer. It is a Himalayan task to go on with work and writing together.I personally appreciate Mr.Ramteke's great effort to give us picturesque description of our own Vizhinjam and fatal realities in the desert.
Good luck!