Dear Jeyamohan,
Hope you are enjoying your stay in Singapore.
I
am writing this, to share my thoughts and also to know whether my
understanding on some of your works are in the right direction.
Some
time back, I read you short story நீரும்நெருப்பும் in வெண் கடல், at
that time I saw the story just as a metaphor for Gandhi's choice between
Violence and Non-Violence as a weapon for the Independence struggle.
But
when I while reading சொல்வளர்க்காடு, the same நீரும்நெருப்பும் took a
different meaning for me, it's the reasoning behind the choice Gandhi
had taken. He had to consider what the country needed for the present
and future and balance it with the political & economic situation in
that era (ethnic, poverty issues etc). ie balancing the contradictory
directions. I find the same parallel in what Dharman had to consider in
சொல்வளர்க்காடு.
Years back I read a tome of a book - Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Goodwin. I read the book from a Management perspective,
looking at how Lincoln harnessed the skills of his political opponents
as a team. But while reading the book I had the frustrating thought that
Lincoln was indecisive, took long time in making decisions, always
trying for a compromise, but in few instances dragged on an issue for
few principles. He was full of contradictions.
A
frustrating question lingered in my mind throughout the book "Why was
such a man called a Great Leader" or "Was he just happened to be in the
right place at the right time". It didn't fit into the model I had for a
leader. It took me few years to understand all the above was what made
him a great "Leader".
I am finding the
same shades in சொல்வளர்க்காடு. For Dharman, he is in a midst of
contradictory directions - his own aspirations, the responsibilities on
him as a husband, brother, son, warrior or even as a king, the
political situation, the ideal way what he has been taught and he has to
manage that, with the what he stands for, what he sees as the future -
not just for his brothers and kingdom but also for the future of the
family members of the warriors they are going to vanquish.
For
me, till now, the entire book is making of Dharman from a king to a
Leader. He has to not just create a new path for himself but also for
all his followers for the future. In a way create a whole new brave
world.
Is my understanding right ? Or have I jumped the gun in thinking too much.
Regards,
Sathya
