The face of Chennai that we comfortably ignore.
Getting to complete this on the eve of 'Madras day' feels like a self-gift to this guy who terribly misses being in Madras. From what mainstream media keeps portraying, Idly-Sambar and Filter Coffee might flash through the minds of outsiders when they hear the word Madras or Chennai. Or the other face of Chennai is the Koovam drainage river. But there is a face of Madras that even the natives comfortably ignore. The dailywage workers, sanitary workers, morgue keepers, fishermen, street performers, part workers, migrant workers from Andhra border that are mostly designated to unclutter the drainage, 'Kilpauk' cases, party workers, etc. We label them as "dangerous people". All we know about them is they are "uncultured drunkards". What we do not know about them is about their survival and whether they have a fair ground to play the game of life and attain the 'cultured' status we expect them to have.
The book contained a series of episodes which can neither be classified as short stories, nor as a novel. But it didn't feel like reading an essay collection at all. That too when I could finish it in a single stretch within a span of 7 days. It wasn't like reading short episodes about 100 different people. It felt like living with them because most characters come up as a spin-off in the stories of other people.
Every real life character talked about in each episode has a celebratory mindset and a positive outlook towards life. Despite all the institutionalized atrocities we perform on them and all the injustices they face, they constantly travel towards a source of light. Made me feel why do I whine about life at all while enjoying a very privileged life 🥺
Though I was not brought up oblivious to this face of Madras, there were certainly a number of things I never gave a thought about. At times I felt weak while reading the book. Guilt on one side that I am part of the problem. Sorrow on the other side that things are not changing for them at a pace it must be changing.
Cherry on the top was my inability... (or inaction?!) towards solving the problem. It made me feel even more worse that this mental pain is going to be a passing cloud for me. When the day breaks tomorrow or when I start reading another book, all these 'pristine' thoughts I'm thinking to be possessing right now will go away. Such a hypocrite I am.
#NaangamSuvar #நான்காம்சுவர் by Bakkiyam Sankar
