Thyagabhoomi was one of Kalki's most inspiring works, it is a natural story of an orthodox brahmin family with the freedom struggle interwoven very appropriately. The way the story was...Sambu Sastry is an orthodox brahmin pundit/landowner who lives in Nedungarai, a traditional village. Sastry is a widower and has only daughter Savitri who is his everything. Savitri is a teenager when the story begins and is at home assisting her father with his daily poojas, taking care of cattle and cooking. Her father is looking for a bridegroom for her. He is also a very progressive man who is often seen visitng slum and being friends with Nallaan and Ponni (Kalki's standard rural pair:)) which antagonises his relationship with orthodox brahmin community. During a flood he opens his cattle shed and gives shelter to all slum dwellers and the brahmins ex communicate him.
There is a great dialogue in the cattle shed where cows talk about human beliefs and caste problems. I am red and you are black but we are still cows why these humans are like this, perhaps you have horns, i have never seen a human with a horn they only behave like they have horns :)) Kalki deserves an award just for that one chapter :))
Sastry eventually finds a groom in Calcutta for his daughter, Sridhar, an England returned handsome man. The family demands very high dowry which he pays by selling his property and without knowing his daughter - Savitri despite being a village girl is very 'thudukku' or outspoken and so he hides the dowry fact from her. She is married and moves to Calcutta. Sridhar in the meantime is having an affair with his secretary Susie who occasionally dresses like a guy and comes home with him. She even comes to the village with him for his marriage, dressed as a guy!! He repeatedly taunts Savitri for her village upbringing (to this day this happens in NRI marriages!!). Meanwhile Sambu Sastry is attracted to Gandhian ideals, sells whatever property he has left and joins the Mahatma's cause. Savitri's in laws do not get any response for more money, so one day they throw her out of the house. She is pregnant and in a strange city not knowing language. Some kindly neighbors put her on some charity ride to Nedungarai hoping to see her dear father. The house is locked, cows and property are sold, other than some curious new neighbors nobody is there. Savitri now in advanced pregnancy faints on the roadside and is taken to the general hospital.
There she delivers a girl, Chaaru and leaves for Chennai in search of her father, with the baby. She sees her father living in a 'kuppam' with nallaan and ponni, and abandons the baby near them. As she foresees her father takes the child and begins to raise her. Savitri meanwhile works somewhere and attracts the attention of another rich woman (who ultimately is her aunt). But the woman takes her on as a guardian,educates her and leaves all her money to her when she dies. She is now rich, educated Umaa Rani, drives around in a car and speaks English. She asks Sastry and Charu to come and live with her in her mansion (Sastry does not recognize his daughter which is a bit of 'uruthhal' but perhaps she changed so much). Sastry given to Gandhian ideals refuses but visits often with the child who is very attached to Uma Rani's dog.
Sridhar meanwhile mishandles some money in his office, his british girl friend leaves him, his father dies and he becomes a fugitive from the law. He is arrested one day and name appears in paper. Savitri goes to police station and pays for his bail, he sees her through jail bars and screams that she is his wife, and the policeman uses his stick on him to shut up. When he is bailed out he goes to Savitri's house, appeals to her to forget the past and reunite as a couple. Savitri asks him to leave and when he does not she asks the watchman to please ask him to get out. She then donates her wealth to charity and Sridhar sees her marching on a yatra, getting arrested. He joins the yatra himself, a reformed man.
That is the story in a nutshell. Like in PS it has some loose ends. What about Chaaru, and Sastry? Sastry eventually comes to know Uma Rani is Savitri but no mention of what happens to the child when she and he join the freedom struggle. Perhaps she lives with Nallaan and Ponni, perhaps her mother leaves her money, we don't really know.
That is the story, as it was written, how would it be if it was written now, more on that tomorrow.
A really beautiful summary! I have always admired Kalki's naming of his characters. Nallan,Ponni..incidentally Kamal Hassan used Nallan in Anbe Sivam. Ponni, these days, sounds too rural. BTW im naming a few of my projects Ponni. Its such a pretty name.
HI Rahul kalki always placed a importance on the hired help.
a cart driver, or a boat man/ boat girl or therotti
valli, kamali( udane devayani's name in kaathal kottai endru sollu)
perhaps it was to give a common man touch in a royal centred story. but the access he gave to these people to those in poer was unbeleivable. pungkuzhali argues with thte prime minister king parthiban gives responsibility of his son to a boat man even today we dont have access to elected representatives. how it would have been in the past is questionable. venketesh
dear madam, Thank you very much for the excellent narration of thyagabhoomi. You have re told the story in a nutshell in most attractive manner. thank you. Finally you have promised to continue the story how kalki will imagine in todays environment. I am expecting the current story in kalki's imagination. Once again thank you for the response
To write Thyagabhoomi today - most difficult challenge of all is to find a unifying cause such as the freedom movement. We live in an increasingly selfish, divided world, really even if we find worthy causes am not sure if it is worth giving up one's rights for. Otherwise...
Savitri perhaps lives in Chennai, instead of a village. Her father may still be an aging pundit, but a pundit who drives scooter/moped and carries a cell phone. Savitri may be working at the local call centre, even a call centre manager if you will. Her father gets a proposal perhaps from a green card holder, and it appeals to the daughter too, the dream many girls have about living with spouse in a far off paradise with all comforts, a lovely home and comeing home with suitcases laden with gifts for friends and relatives. The dowry part, sadly so is the same, perhaps even with her knowledge, after all 'phoren' proposal. She gets packed off after marriage and finds out life in the US of A is far from 'paradise', there are no neighbors to talk to, no friends who drop in, even a temple visit is only when husband is in a mood and on weekends. Soon she finds out he has an american girlfriend too, one who thinks she is a cook he has brought from home and even compliments her on her cooking!! The Savitri of today perhaps does not wait until husband or in laws throw her out, she walks out one day, when noone is home. Goes to some indian neighbors she has met in temple, gets to a women's shelter and files for divorce. Soon she is back on the next flight home, her dreams shattered and carrying a child. (This is very much the sad story of many many indian girls married to 'phoren' grooms).
Savitri perhaps moves in with father, has a child, starts working again, climbs the corporate ladder and is soon CEO. She meets again with Sridhar who has been deported for immigration fraud. She helps him through court case out of pity and regard for her child's father. Sridhar comes out of jail to see her successful, perhaps running many charities in addition to her position, and feels sad and resentful for what he did to her. He does not have courage to face her again, he goes back to his native village that his parents left many years ago in search for $ abroad and devotes his time and money to running a school there.
Something like that. I don't think the framework of the story is that important. What is more important is the issues that Kalki addressed and are still very much alive today - dowry, the quest for the 'fair, homely' girl with no respect for her courage or career goals, caste issues, and more than anything else, lack of a cause that unites people, like the freedom movement. Perhaps even by talking about these things we can increase awareness and do what we can do.
> centre, even a call centre manager if you will. Her father gets a > proposal perhaps from a green card holder, and it appeals to the > daughter too, the dream many girls have about living with spouse in > a far off paradise with all comforts, a lovely home and comeing home > with suitcases laden with gifts for friends and relatives. The dowry > part, sadly so is the same, perhaps even with her knowledge, after > all 'phoren' proposal. She gets packed off after marriage and finds > out life in the US of A is far from 'paradise', there are no > neighbors to talk to, no friends who drop in, even a temple visit is > only when husband is in a mood and on weekends. Soon she finds out > he has an american girlfriend too, one who thinks she is a cook he > has brought from home and even compliments her on her cooking!! The > Savitri of today perhaps does not wait until husband or in laws > throw her out, she walks out one day, when noone is home. Goes to > some indian neighbors she has met in temple, gets to a women's > shelter and files for divorce. Soon she is back on the next flight > home, her dreams shattered and carrying a child. (This is very much > the sad story of many many indian girls married to 'phoren' grooms). >
You really have good imagination and narration skills. I wish things will change as the dollar value going below, dependency with US getting thin, and as Abdul Kalaam's vision, we will be super power by 2020 and the story might have to rewritten the other way around !
> > You really have good imagination and narration skills.
but i guess your idea was stolen by the ancients..
balachander in 47 naatkal has chosen a similar story. but i think it was a novel by sivasankari earlier(?) of course to get "antha art film look" they didnt have the girl rising in life.
venketesh
I wish things > will change as the dollar value going below, dependency with US > getting thin, and as Abdul Kalaam's vision, we will be super power by > 2020 and the story might have to rewritten the other way around ! >
> > Something like that. I don't think the framework of the story is > that important. What is more important is the issues that Kalki > addressed and are still very much alive today - dowry, the quest for > the 'fair, homely' girl with no respect for her courage or career > goals, caste issues, and more than anything else, lack of a cause > that unites people, like the freedom movement. Perhaps even by > talking about these things we can increase awareness and do what we > can do.
That was a great imagination. But the real punch in the story comes at the last when savitri giving all her money and joining the freedom struggle, without which the story would never achieved the glory it has today right??
> That was a great imagination. But the real punch in > the story comes at > the last when savitri giving all her money and > joining the freedom > struggle, without which the story would never > achieved the glory it > has today right?? >
Perhaps...but then like I said before there is no cause that equals the freedom struggle in modern times. If you give all your money to the wrong cause you are probably likely to file for bankruptcy and have the world think of you as 'elichha vaayan' that is all :))
Also another clarification, the number of girls being cheated by NRI grooms has vastly reduced given increase in communication/internet and more girls leading educated, well informed lives. Second, I don't intend this to be an NRI bashing session (I am an NRI myself) - lots of girls are what they call wolly headed, they want only money/big house/car/showy things that come with marriage. Lots of girls also fail to respect the culture that they come into which is very different than indian culture but it is still the land you live in and make money of off.
In Kalki's times we did not have the complexities of cross cultural integration and women working as we do now, but still helps to keep basic issues alive, that is all.