Rarely we, the people belonging from a different part of the country other than Tamil Nadu, where the story is set, get to taste the local or regional flavor of other states other than ours own. Little did they knew, that this holy union of a man and woman would enrage the entire village from Kumaresan’s own mother to the neighbors o the distant relatives to the random strangers from the nearby villages, and that these people instead of accepting the marriage or welcoming the new bride in her home, they begin scheming against the newly wed couple that would ultimately snatch away the only happiness they ever longed for. Kumaresan and Saroja are slightly criticized by a villager, yet this slight negative remark did not give them any idea about what was waiting for them at the end of their long journey. Soon to their dismay, even before setting foot in the village, both So this newly wed embarks upon a journey to the village where Kumaresan was born and brought up from the city where they eloped and got married. Kumaresan and Saroja marries one another out of love, despite the fact that they both belong from different caste and in no possible way their individual families would accept this inter-caste union of two loving souls, adding more, Saroja is a very pretty and fair skinned city girl and not a typical village girl, that Kumaresan’s family would never approve of. With spare, powerful prose, Murugan masterfully conjures a terrifying vision of intolerance in this devastating tale of innocent young love pitted against chilling savagery. It is only a matter of time before their suspicions harden into certainty and, outraged, they set about exacting their revenge. The villagers strongly suspect that Saroja must belong to a different caste. He naively believes that after the initial round of curious questions, the inquiries will die down and the couple will be left alone. Kumaresan is confident that all will be well. After a hasty wedding, they arrive in Kumaresan’s village, harboring the dangerous secret that their marriage is an inter-caste one, likely to anger the villagers should they learn of it. Perumal Murugan, the idol of Tamil literature in India, who has been shunned by a court of law because of the fact that his books have erupted fires of scandal amongst its people, thus bringing an end to the glowing career of a talented writer in the country, whose another Tamil book named, Pookkuzi has been translated from the original version of Kongu rural dialect into English by the author's dedicated translator named, Aniruddhan Vasudevan and in English its called, Pyre. “We are united by our common fears and divided by our individual freedom!” -Ramana Pemmaraju Perumal Murugan, the idol of Tamil literature in India, who has been shunned by a court of law because of the fact that his books have erupted fires of scandal amongst its people, thus bringing an end to the glowing career of a talented writer in the country, whose another Tamil book named, Pookkuzi has been translated from the original version of Kongu rural dialect into English by the author's dedi “We are united by our common fears and divided by our individual freedom!” That's where I got really frustrated though!īut I totally enjoyed the book from cover to cover.more The ending is quite overwhelming as it's left to you to decide what's going to happen. The entire story is quite gripping as you will want to save the girl everytime but you will also get frustrated because you will be unable to do so. You will be surprised with the good writing the subtle romance, the emotions being so well painted in different hues all over the chapters in the book. The story background illustrates the village life well. There's no exaggeration or things that are overdone in the story. The intolerance shown in this book is quite realistic as much more hatred and violence is shown to such couples. My most favourite by the author so far, this book tells the story of a newly married couple being harrassed and discriminated by the community just because of their intercaste marriage. My most favourite book from the author now, this book kept my mind, my eyes and my heart open throughout the entire read. There's no exaggeration or things that a It actually got over. like too soon ? My most favourite book from the author now, this book kept my mind, my eyes and my heart open throughout the entire read.