My Love, My Endless Bliss is an English translation of T. Janakiraman's Tamil novel Anbe Aaramudhe. A reluctant bridegroom runs away on the eve of his marriage. After thirty years, as a monk, he encounters the lady whom he was supposed to marry. The novel sketches the course of their unconventional friendship. It has a parallel track of several layered characters, who in their own independent ways take bold decisions to lead a life on their own terms. The author in his signature style interrogates questions of right and wrong and finds virtue in the cracks between socially acceptable and unacceptable norms and values. It was serialized in a popular magazine in Tamil in 1960 and published in 1965.
The author. T. Janakiraman (1921-1982), was a celebrated writer in Tamil literature, with a wide readership then and now, is admired for his crisp conversational style, brilliant character sketches and his deeply humanistic convictions. His women characters, whether they were poor or rich, upper caste or lower caste, educated or not, were known for dignity, independence and courage; and their freedom over their sexuality. They inspired a whole generation of women and men so that some of them went searching for the houses the imaginary characters lived out their lives! Thija (as he was often referred to) wrote nine novels, seven novellas, over 150 short stories, four stage plays, four travelogues and a few essays. He also translated two Nobel prize winning novels into Tamil: The Dwarf (Par Lagerkvist) and Mother (Grazia Deledda). Three of his novels have been translated into English: Sins of Appu's Mother (Re-translated as Remembering Amma), Wooden Cow and Crimson Hibiscus. He scripted and produced several radio programs for the All India Radio where he worked and was designated as 'Producer Emeritus'. In 1979 he was conferred the Sahitya Akademi award.
The novel Anbe Aaramudbe by the iconic writer T. Janakiraman, fondly known as Thi Ja, was serialised way back in the prestigious magazine Kalki from 1961-62. It was subsequently published as a book by Meenakshi Putthaka Nilayam, Madurai in 1965. In 2019, a re-edition of the novel was published by Kalachuvadu, Nagercoil with a note on Thi Ja's writings by 'Thanjavur Kavirayar'. Addressing the title, Kavirayar says the essence of sweetness that has no touch of sourness can only come from 'amudu', that is ambrosia. For a Tamilian who has grown up to love the language, amudu is a layered and value-loaded word that suggests so many things-the ultimate fullness of taste, a sense of having something complete in itself. The word is amudu comes from the Sanskrit word, 'amrita', the drink which bestows immortality. One can never have enough of it, one can never be satiated by it. Tamil devotional hymns often speak of God and spiritual experience as amudu. One has to read the novel to fully understand why it culminates with Rukmini saying in the end that the taste of a 'family' with shared interests is like 'sweet ambrosia.'
Readers in English are now fortunate to have Uma Shankari's lucid translation of the novel, thanks to Sahitya Akademi. She has sensitively captured the nuances of Tamil expressions and has risen to the challenge of rendering conversations and dialogues in English, a difficult feat to accomplish. It is always a pleasure to see a translator take a creative leap, wherever it is called for, instead of being oppressively close to the syntax of the original.
On one level, the novel is essentially from a male gaze, rooted as it is in the social and cultural history of the times. Like it or not, even the older women had internalised the patriarchal norms so deeply that they too look at younger women with much the same kind of 'male gaze'. The three women protagonists-Rukmini, Chandra and Dokki (Kusuma) have been conditioned to an extent, by the social climate of their times. They do have traits that make them 'acceptable'. For instance, Dokki who comes from a middle-class family of modest means, can qualify as 'samarthu (good and smart) because she cooks well, is always ready to serve, and maintains the kitchen neatly (naruvisu). This earns for her the approval of the elderly women. Or else...! In short, for the women, it was a life circumscribed by domesticity, centered around serving proper meals to men and housekeeping. It is to the credit of Thi Ja that the three women are shown to rise above this stereotype blueprinted for them. They thirst for learning, for knowledge, are keen to educate themselves and wish to do some work that goes beyond what is expected within a marriage. Together, the three women herald the change that Tamil Nadu and the entire nation was to see in the decades to come.
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist