Sri Lanka’s internal struggles i.e. the Civil War started by the LTTE for a new Tamil state or ‘Eelam’ as they called it are a source of much heartbreak. Separating people from their families, bringing people together only to break them apart for unnecessary reasons, degenerating into a group that considers women their conquests – there’s a lot more where these come from. ‘Sugandhi Alias Andal Devanayaki’ doesn’t promise to give a full insight into these happenings, it does expose a little of the narcissism and hypocrisy that is reflective of world politics in general. Except maybe Canada. Canada is a peach.
‘Sugandhi Alias Andal Devanayaki’ is about scriptwriter Peter Jeevanandam’s search for Sugandhi, an ex-LTTE personnel. He is in Sri Lanka with a director and cinematographer from Hollywood to make a movie on slain women’s activist Rajani Thiranagama. But being there opens up a can of worms, both in the realm of politics and history.
Peter’s search for Sugandhi and research for the film leads him to the legend of Queen Devanayaki. The narrative talks about this Queen extensively, describing her life from the time she first became Queen to the time she attained nirvana. How this track merges with the main track forms the entirety of the book.
While the intention of using old legends to enhance the story and combine it with the atrocities of both sides of the Sri Lankan civil war is commendable, it is the execution that falls flat on its face.
If the history lesson of Devanayaki had been given in short bursts between related events in the present, it would have been an interesting read. But half the book is steeped in talking about the events way back when, and in the process, the present slips out of memory. It doesn’t seem necessary to bring out the Queen’s story when all the connection can show is one page of reasoning. Because of this, the narrative begins to spin out of control, leaving the reader to gather the splintered pieces and try to make sense of it.
Convenient plot points appear all over without preamble, without any connection. Every other page in the latter half of the book reveals a different motive of a recently introduced character. It would have been alright if the book had been structured and fleshed out properly, but in the current scenario, it seems absolutely rushed.
There are quite a few strong female characters in the story, Sugandhi herself having been through too many atrocities at the hands of misogynistic men. But the point of there being a few good men in the world amidst the monsters out there kind of gets repetitive at this point in time. It is common knowledge that there are good men. The hope is that the overall perspective and thinking changes. This book reinforces these negative thoughts in a time when we need books that will shatter stereotypes. All in all, ‘Sugandhi Alias Andal Devanayaki’ isn’t a great book to indulge in. Could be avoided if you have others to read.
Publisher: Harper Perennial India, Price: `399