Agni Pravesam

In 1966, the noted Tamil writer Jayakanthan wrote a short story called Agni Pravesam in the Tamil weekly Anantha Vikatan. It was a watershed event in modern Tamil literature. Some people found the ending very disturbing. A couple of years later, another author wrote his version of Agni Pravesam in the Tamil weekly Dinamani Kadir, keeping most of Jayakanthan's text but changing the ending. Like it or not, very few short stories get this type of attention. Jayakanthan later expanded it into a novel called Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal, which was made into a movie starring Lakshmi. (I understand that the novel was translated into Telugu as konni samayAlalO koMdaru manushulu).

The protagonist is a lower middle class college student waiting for a bus in the evening outside her women's college. It rains, she doesn't have an umbrella, and her clothes are completely soaked. A man in a car stops and offers her a ride which the girl is innocent enough to accept. She has never been in a private car before. Everything inside the car is amusing to her -- the light in the glove compartment, the windshield wipers, and the radio, for instance. She ends up being seduced by the man.

She comes home and tells her mother what happened. They live in a multiple family house (the so called "store"). The mother does something bold and unexpected. She tells the girl to go take a shower and that when she comes out of the shower, she will be as pure as Seethai after her agni pravesam.

This is the ending that caused the furore. In the Dinamani Kadir ending, the girl's elder brother shames her into killing herself.

A few years ago, I read about an incident on a Web site where students applying to top American professional colleges discuss things. They express their hopes and fears, talk about strategies and tactics for admission, ask questions, and critique each other's admission essays. An Indian girl (a Tamil Brahmin I think from some of the details she had posted) had posted asking for help. She had excellent grades except for two semesters. One of the semesters was a study abroad semester. She had gone to South America and was raped while traveling in a train. Understandably her grades plummeted. She wanted to bring this to the attention of the admissions committee but didn't know how. She didn't want to come across as someone just offering excuses. In her shoes, I would definitely have mentioned this in a supplementary essay -- if anybody had a legitimate reason, she did. (I may have mentioned this to her on that site but I am not sure.) This incident transformed her life -- she decided to become a women's rights lawyer. She had had a very comfortable upbringing prior to this and might have ended up as another spoilt investment banker. She reminded me of Jayakanthan's protagonist.

----------------Added about 10 Hours later ---------------------
Click here for a link to Agni Pravesam on line. It is the 8th story in this collection.

Rereading the story after about 45 years (I may have read this once or twice in the intervening period), I am struck by the following:

His narration is superb. Obviously, the plot is great. His style of writing is just as good.

 

> if I was in the position of the mom, I would definitely did the same

Me too.

> The true incident of another girl was very touching and thoughtful

I was wondering whether to write about this or not but finally decided to do so. This is Agni Pravesam in action. It looked like her parents had a tough time dealing with this. (Of course, everything is easier in fiction.) The girl herself seemed to have moved on though. (I can't imagine one person in the US not being supportive of her.)

> this is the first story i read written by Thiru. jayagandhan

You should read more of his stories. I will write a blog entry about him soon. There is one called பிணக்கு in the same link, which is delightful. He dropped out of school after the 3rd grade and learnt Tamil from a பண்டிதர். He was the first Tamil writer to support himself solely from his writing. And in rather good style too. He had a car which was a big thing in those days. He came and talked to us in IISc as did நா பார்த்தசாரதி.

 

I am coming to my blog after a long time. This particular piece (including the comments I have received) is one of my favorite blogs. Thanks.