Kaalam

Read M.T.Vasudevan Nayar's 'Kaalam' recently.

M.T.Vasudevan Nayar is well known Malayalam author in the country and he works in films also as script writer and director.

I heard lot about M.T.V and wanted to read his works. but I wasn't able to find his works which were translated to English. I didn't tried enough I suppose. anyway, last month when I went to Sapna book house, I found M.T.Vasudevan Nayar's 'Kaalam' translated to English by Gita Krishnankutty.
Kaalam (1969) is M.T.V 's sixth novel.

As I started to read the novel, it started to pull me into its world. The story is about a young boy's journey across time (Kaalam) from adulthood to man in the backdrop of rural Kerala.

Set against the  backdrop of Tarawad system of Nair's in Kerala with its petty rivalries and jealousies, its Sambandhan system of contractual marriage, its conflicts and problems.

The first few chapters tells Sethu Madhavan the protagonists hopes and aspirations as a student. Sethu who is waiting for his 10th std result is attracted by his neighboring and childhood friend Sumitra. once he passes the 10th std he goes to city to continue his education. But he falls in love with Thangamani who is his distant relative. whom he meets when he goes to his fathers sisters home. He tries hard to remove Sumitra from his mind.

following chapters deals with Sethu's struggle to find job.he finds one with great difficulty, only to loose it.

The final section unfolds the  stages of Sethu's life in which it describes how Sethu got a job and his relationship with his boss and boss's wife.how he transforms from Sethu to Sethu Mudhalali.

The novel moves back and forth in time describing the events of Sethu's life. Sethu's confusions and mental turmoil, how he fails in his love affairs. how he fails to attend the funeral of his mother and returing to his native after nine years to witness the changes that had taken place in his absence from home in 9 years.

The character that attracted me next to Sethus is Sumitra. to young girl to unmarried woman living alone in a separate home. Sumitra's character leaves us with A question that who is responsible for Sumitra's life.

The real protagonist of the novel is kaalam itself, the ceaseless flow of time that shapes Sethu's life, separating him from everyone and everything he loves and carrying him from one mistake to another.

I was surprised to know that Kerala had contractual marriage system called sambandhan system.
the kinship terms used in the novel like amma, achan,cheriamma, edathi,ettan and so on gives us the Malayalam flavor.

Gita Krishnankutty should be appreciated for her excellent translation by preserving the nativity of Kerala and giving us the feeling that we are reading this novel in its
original language.

This is my first novel of M.T.V. I got what I expected. I enjoyed reading this novel. eager to read more Malayalam literature and M.T.V's works.