Moondraam Ulagappor (Third World War),
lyricist Vairamuthu’s latest work, is an ambitious attempt to weave an epic
around the travails of rural India.
Attanampatti is a microcosm of rural India,
where agriculture is in dire straits and farmers suicides have become the order
of the day. The scene of a poignant portrayal of rural life trapped in the
vicious cycle of crop failure, poor return from agricultural produce and
dependence on money lenders, the story of the village is a warning that the
primary sector in the country faces a strident attack from the twin evils of
globalisation and global warming.
Attanampatti is the setting for Moondraam
Ulagappor (Third World War), lyricist Vairamuthu’s latest work, and his
most ambitious attempt to weave an epic around the travails of rural India.
“We are depending far too much on the service
sector, leaving agriculture in the lurch. It is not just a problem in India.
All third world countries have become victims of the trend, in which
agricultural lands are up for sale,” Mr Vairamuthu told The Hindu a
couple of days before the launch of his book on Friday.
“There will be more and more slums as
agricultural lands are used for other purposes, forcing small farmers to
migrate to cities for survival. A day may come when there will be no small
farmers in the country. I am not against development, but it should have a
human face. I fear that our great culture and rural life may soon become
history and available for posterity only in literary works,” warns the poet and
writer. He said he drew upon several documents and articles, including the
writings of P. Sainath in The Hindu as background material.
Though close to politicians, Mr Vairamuthu
minces no words in criticising the government for running liquor shops in the
State and distributing freebies and doles aimed at garnering votes.
“Freebies are meant only for orphans, the
physically challenged and the aged who cannot work. As rice is available for
one rupee, the masses are gathering before liquor shops,” he says in the book.
[Rice is now available free in PDS outlets since the book was written]. He also
criticises political parties for mobilising crowds for their meetings by
offering liquor and biryani, while agriculturists struggle for want of farm
labourers.
Serialised in Tamil weekly ‘Ananda Vikatan’, Moondram
Ulagappor can variously be described as a novel, a well-researched series
on the Indian agricultural scenario, global warming and globalisation, a
serious piece of journalism with a human face and a strong indictment of
India’s policy towards agriculture and its destruction. But taken together, the
forty chapters, linked by elegant narration in the authentic dialect of the
Theni and Dindigul districts, broadly falls under the genre of fiction.
“It is a literary form in which the human
intellect rides on emotions,” said Mr Vairamuthu when asked how he would
describe his latest work. “I rewrote every chapter eight or nine times before
sending it to print. For me, it was chiselling the language,” he added.
Though he has portrayed rural life in his earlier
works, what makes Muntram Ulagappor different from the others is the
theme, absorbing characters, the author’s vast knowledge of agricultural
practices and command over the language and dialect.
There is Karuthamayee, the farmer who seeks
to protect his land, steadfastly rejecting the lure of money, his unscrupulous
elder son Muthupandi, a broker for a mill owner who buys farmlands, his
youngest son Chinnapandi, who spurns the calls of fortune coming in the form of
higher education in US to follow in his father’s footsteps.
The story ends with Chinnapandi picking up
his father’s farm tools after Karuthamayee is sent to jail for hacking to death
his son Muthupandi.
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