By
Published:
29th January 2013
Daniel Selvaraj,
who won the coveted Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2012, for
his novel Thol (Tamil for 'Leather'), says novels are a
mirror reflection of society.
The latest tome is
an in-depth work that portrays the life and struggles of tannery labourers of
Dindigul spanning from 1930 to 1958.
Selvaraj was
recently in Chennai when he was felicitated by Thamizh Perayam of SRM University.
Talking to City Express, Selvaraj shares his literary innings so far and his
professional life, from where he comes up with stories for his works.
Born in Thenkalam,
a small village in Tirunelveli district, Selvaraj, who spent early years of
youth in tea estates, has obtained law degrees and practises as a lawyer in
Dindigul at present.
Having watched the
struggles of contract labourers in tea estates, he has decided to record their
lives in his literary works.
“That was the time
when I was pursuing my undergraduate in Hindu College
in Tirunelveli. There I had very excellent and well-known professors such as
Tho. Mu. Si. Ragunathan, Thi. Ka. Sivasankaran and Vaanamaamalai among others.
We had Tirunelveli Murpokku Ezhuthaalargal Sangam there. Their views and
writings on forward thinking interested me,” he says.
His association
with the progressive writers union has made him write novels based on real time
scenarios.
This has resulted
in novels like Malarum Sarugum, his
debut novel, that spoke about the farmers lives of Tirunelveli and Thaeyneer, which presented the lives and
struggles of labourers in tea estates.
“It was an era of
Congress Socialist Party, when communists joined Congress, as the
Communist Party was banned by British. During Nehruvian period, the trade
unions’ movement began to gain momentum. Being a lawyer, I had many
opportunities to work with those trade unions, mainly those of tannery workers,
and was inspired to write about their lives and struggles in Thol,” he says.
In the
novel, there are 117 characters that are portrayed in four chapters. All
the characters sacrifice their lives with no expectations. One such character
is Irudhayasamy, a person who sparks the struggle but doesn’t get the due
credit after the purpose of the struggle is achieved.
“In real life too,
the same character did not get any credit,” says Selvaraj to our astonishment.
After a little pause he continues. “Not a single character in this novel is
imaginary. All the characters are real. Since, I am a lawyer, I have an
advantage that the other writers don’t have. Yes, everyday I am meeting people
and everyday I am in the midst of problems. So, my novels always have real life
incidents” he says.
He adds, “Nature
and society are not constant. A character may be nascent in the earlier parts
of a novel, but the same character matures after many experiences. The purpose
of a novel is to depict the transformation of a social order.”
When asked
about a few works that were always branded as Dalit writing, he explains,
“Many of the writers just record the sufferings of Dalit and eventually they
get branded as Dalit writing. But true Dalit writing must also include the
Dalit struggle for its liberation. Social freedom cannot be enjoyed until we
are having Dalit freedom. Both are intertwined.”
Selvaraj’s next
novel is also based on real life anecdotes. “I am in the process of writing a
novel based on the freedom struggle that first broke out in South
India,” he signs off.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
