Ullam Kavar Kalvan (The thief who stole my heart)… a nice word to describe the one in love, can be one of the most romantic phrases, but this Balakumaran's novel is not only romantic but simply practical too. The message is "Love doesn’t end in eloping or marriage, but one have to cross all the hardship and be practical to maintain love throughout the life". I liked the main protagonist Nandhini very much in this novel than Sampath.
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The storyline is simple, something in the lines of Alaipayuthey…. Nandhini, from a well off family falls in love with Sampath, a middle class journalist. Once Nandhini’s parents comes to know about her love, fearing of a tragic marriage, Sampath & Nandhini marry in a hush-hush registered marriage and continue in their respective homes. Sampath gets bedridden due to stone in urinary bladder and Nandhini finds out ways to be with him and serve him as his wife. Finally she decides to make their marriage public to take part in his joys and sorrows and does the same.I am sorry that what I had written sounds run-of-the mill stuff, but what makes it special is the treatment and how the incidents unfold. The poems of "Mahakavi Bharathiyar" and old song "Atthai magane poi varavaa…?" find their references more often making the reading a full experience replete with situational songs and sequences. Who told songs are for visual medium only? Balakumaran breaks the norm and makes the songs an integral part of story telling.
There is this interesting situation, where Sampath lets Nandhini know his love for the second time. He sings the song "Atthai magale poi varavaa? Ammaan magale poi varava?" and not only Nandhini got the kick, but me too. I don't know which is the situation the original song was written for but it suited to "T" here.
Same goes for the song "Thannilavu neer iraikka…" when Nandhini relates with the physical changes when she also feels in love. This is an another interesting segment to read.
Somewhere like Sampath, I too believe in love happening by itself rather than forced time frames. He lets her know his mind and leaves the matter till Nandhini decides on it, without banking so much on it. This touched my chord.
The novel starts like a routine stuff in the starting where Nandhini tells it in a flashback format on how she got married. It picks up speed with the incidents that make Nandhini falling in love with some breezy romance scenes, then gains momentum when Sampath falls ill with stone in urinary bladder.
The beauty of this novel is all the characters have a definite and valid reason for what they are. So you could empathise with everyone. It can be an arrogant father of Nandhini & affluent Nadhini's mother or clear headed Sampath's father, emotional Sampath's mother or ever young and inspiring Ramesh - Sampath's friend, everyone leaves a mark. But as a Balakumaran's mark, a small character that leaves an impact on you is Ramesh's wife, with her confident and kind nature. She says that she knows her husband's crush towards the lady vegetable vendor and a postwoman. Nandhini asks "How he will react if you do the same thing". For that she says "I too would say that guy on scooter is cute. He'll overtake him and ask me Nalla sight adichiyaa? Illai innoru thadavai thaandi kaattattuma?". She continues "Purushan pondattikkulle poi illama vaazharathu thaan sugam". She mouthes the best of the dialogue "Thaaliyai thazhaiya thazhaiya thaane kattikkirom, moocchu muttura maathiri illaiye..?", indicating the clear need of offering security and space to the spouse.
They say a love can be tested only in trying times. As Ramesh, Sampath's friend says "This is the testing time for your marriage and I wish it hadn't happened it. If you are unable to serve him at this situation, either he may start developing a feeling that you were not with him in the critical time or you may be guilty all your life that you hadn't performed your duty as a dutiful wife".
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When Sampath falls ill within 4-5 days of her marriage, the mental trauma she undergoes is clearly depicted and you can surely identify with it. The sequences she takes care of him like changing the bedpan, Sampath's reluctance to let her touch his private parts and how she convinces him to carry her duties as a wife are simply mind-blowing. Balakumaran is a master of romance between married couples. He usually elevates sex by placing it in the much needed distress times. Here Sampath caresses Nandhini in the hospital when he was bedridden and says that he needs her. We can identify the anxiousness of guy longing for physical proximity after getting married. However Balakumaran quashes out that sex alone is such an important thing in a marriage life even though its significance can't be ruled out.Nandhini prefers to marry secretly because she fears that her parents might marry her off to somebody against her consent. She also prefers to complete the studies before making her marriage public because of economical reasons. Beautiful and very practical is her ideology that husband and wife should share the family burdens. "Nee thaane ennai kadhalicche…. Devathai maathiri irukkeinnu sonne… Nee thaane ennai thuratthi thuratthi kadhalicche… athukkaga neeye kashtappadunnu solrathu paavam…. Veettukku Rs.300 aaguthunna, naan 150-um en purushan 150-um pottu vaanguvom…". She firmly believes that money is an important criterion in living and keeping the love alive. Her reasoning for a register marriage is not only the fear that her parents might get her married off to somebody else, but also to wait till she completes her studies and gets a good job that she can live a peaceful life with Sampath.
Yet when there comes a situation she had to choose between love and materials, her love overrides the materialistic part thus leading to a spurt decision. "Poovukku oru thadavi…. Pudavaikku oru thadavainnu purushan kooda padukkurathukku, daasithanam thevalai. Porulgale vaazhkkai enil, manithargal etharkku? Enakku en maamanar pola oru appa nanbanaga vendum, inbathilum thunbathilum pangu kolla Sampath vendum"…. These words really touched my heart. She finally decides to move into Sampath's home to look after him and his mother, she vows that she'll remain a celibate till she gets a job. "Till then I may see Sampath's body, etc..etc… I should remain a virgin till I am ready to accept his kid whole heartedly".
One of the beautiful characters in this novel is Sampath's father. Even though he is old, he is contemporary in thinking, concerned about his daughter-in-law living alone after her marriage, yet leaving the decisions to them and offering moral support and guidance. He is a communist and beautifully explains its concept. His ideologies about life and philosophy are evergreen, in the sense that this novel had been written in 1980's but they still hold true.
His concern about his son's marriage is that if the couples start feeling that living alone after the marriage is fine, then the system of family will collapse leading to cultural degradation. He also says that after a certain stage romance stops & boredom creeps in every marriage and to keep the marriage alive, there should be kids to divert your attention to and after that what lives is the love not lust. May be I am a person who gets bored easily I found this stuff interesting. And the way he convinces his wife (Sampath's mother) about getting back his daughter-in-law at home is nice.
On the whole it is a novel I recommend for a simple reason - A matured love story. Even though it has all the ingredients of a teeny-bopper romance, what keeps it apart is the fact that it doesn't stop once the marriage takes place. In fact it starts where other love stories end - at the marriage. It is a light weight book only with 160 pages, so it won't take much of your time too, but one thing is for sure - it is going to remain in your heart for years. That’s how I am reading it still even after more than a decade I read it for the first time.