இரவுச் சுடர்

by R. Chudamani, ஆர். சூடாமணி

இரவின் மௌனத்திலும், தாரகைகளின் ஓளியிலும் ஒன்றி இயற்கையுடன் ஓர் அந்தரங்க உறவு பூணும் பெண்ணாக இரவுச் சுடர் நாவலின் நாயகி யாமினியைப் பிறகு வந்த ஆண்டுகளில் பார்த்தபோது அதிலுள்ள உணர்வுச் சிக்கல்களும், இதுதான் சரி என்று உலகம் நிர்ணயித்த ஓன்றிலிருந்து ஒருத்தி மாறுபடும்போது அவளுக்கு ஏற்படும் மன உளைச்சல்களும், அவளுடைய அந்த விலகலே அவளை மனப்பிறழ்வு கொண்ட ஓருத்தியாக மற்றவர்கள் பார்க்கும்படி மாற்றுவதும் மஞ்சு விலகியபின் தெரியும் காட்சியாக எனக்கு தெரிந்து மன ஆழத்தில் ஊன்றிக்கொண்ட தூய்மை பற்றிய எண்ணங்கள் ஒரு வெறியாகக் கிளர்ந்து பின் ஓர் உன்னத உன்மத்தமாக மாறிவிடும் கதை இரவுச் சுடர்.

93 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Raghavan Chudamani (January 10, 1931 – September 13, 2010) was an Indian writer writing in Tamil. She also wrote short stories in English as Chudamani Raghavan. Her name also appears as Choodamani.

She was born in Chennai and grew up there. Because of a physical disability, she was schooled at home. She published her first story "Kaveri" in 1957. In 1960, she published her first novel Manathukku Iniyaval (Beloved woman). Her 1961 play Iruvar Kandanar (Two persons witnessed), which has been performed many times, received the Ananda Vikatan award. Her stories have been translated into other Indian languages. She also translated stories from other Indian languages into Tamil.

She received the Tamil Nadu Government Award in 1966, the Lilly Devasigamani Award in 1992 and the Kalagnar Mu Karunanidhi Award at the Chennai Book Fair in 2009.

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a collection of R.Chudamani's short stories last year and loved it. Outside of that collection, her books were hard to come by. I found a slim novella called 'Iravu Chudar' ('Night Flame'). So I decided to read it now.

Yamini is the only daughter of her parents. She is an unusual kid when compared to her contemporaries. She doesn't like playing with other kids that much, she likes lots of me-time, she doesn't like people using endearments with her, she likes reading, she likes looking at the sky and the stars in the night and experiencing the infinite immensity of the universe with awe. Her parents think that this behaviour of hers will go away as she grows older. At some point, when she becomes a young woman, her parents want her to get married. They see a deep resistance within her. She says that she'll never get married. Her mom goes ahead and fixes her marriage. Though her father seems to understand Yamini, he doesn't have the strength of will to resist his wife, and stays a passive bystander. A few days before the wedding, Yamini disappears. Her parents make a complaint to the police. The police catch Yamini while she's trying to catch a train to flee out of town. She's brought back home. Her parents ensure that she gets married. As you might have guessed by now, this cannot end well. All hell breaks loose, and things go from bad to worse, as events move to a tragic, heartbreaking end. Chudamani almost pulls a rabbit out of the hat in the end and nearly gives us a happy ending, and while we are nearly basking in the warmth of it, she delivers a second devastating blow.

'Iravu Chudar' is a beautiful story, it is a heartbreaking story. It is the story of many young Indian women and men, who were different from their peers, who were shy and introverted, and wanted to mind their own business, but unfortunately the world didn't let them live in peace. Yamini is a beautiful character who goes through hell because she is different.

Reading Yamini's story left a deep impact on me, because in some ways I had similar experiences. I was a deep introvert when I was young, who wanted to be left alone, living with books and music and movies, and other small happinesses in life. My parents tried to thrust marriage on me, especially my dad. Things were so bad at one point that my whole family was ranged against me. How I came out of that time with my sanity intact, I still don't know. But I resisted and persisted, and deep inside my introverted self there was a strength that I never believed I had. That thing grew and became a plant and then a tree, and when my dad tried crushing my will, he saw something immense like an oak in front of him, which he had never seen before. He tried every trick to bring it down but it was too strong for him. It was the first time I've seen my dad defeated in life. I just got lucky. Unfortunately, Yamini wasn't. It is heartbreaking.

I don't understand why a person can't be shy, introverted, mind their own business and live their life. Not everyone wants to socialize or spend the whole day talking with someone. There are people who like lots of me-time, who like reading for the whole day, or contemplating the whole day, or listening to music the whole day, or learning something for the whole day. There are people who don't want to get married. They just want to live their lives on their own and be happy in their own way. As long as they mind their business, pay their taxes and don't break the law, they should be able live their lives in the way they like. Why push them to get married and make their lives hell? Why this deep hatred for introverts? This story shows what happens to one such person who wanted to mind her own business but her parents and family pushed her into a situation she was not comfortable with.

Everytime I read a Chudamani story, I'm filled with a sense of awe. How this person, who never went to school and never got a formal education (she was homeschooled during her younger years), had such deep insights into the human condition and wrote such profound, beautiful stories – we'll never know. It is pure magic.

'Iravu Chudar' (Night Flame) has been translated into English as 'Yamini'. Copies are hard to come by. If you stumble upon one, hope you decide to read it and like it.

Have you read 'Iravu Chudar' (Night Flame) or other stories by Chudamani? What do you think about her stories?