The story takes off exactly from the moment where "Thulasi Thalam" ends. This time it starts from the view of antagonists and how they try to settle the scores with the people who killed their leader "Kaadhara". It is really tough to write a sequel to the novel that had raised the bar to higher standards. Endemoori Virendranath manages to succeed only to a certain extent but my opinion is that he has deliberately attempted to reduce the starkness and smudge the drear of sorcery. I personally feel that this sequel is a sort of bit confused effort in which direction the novel had to be taken either to believe that black magic exists or it is just a early concept of hypnotism.

I won't recommend this novel to people with weak heart or soft hearted people. It is a real spooky thriller that gives an eerie feeling of deja vu. My experience of reading this were really terrific. Yes! they were, not it was. First time I read it about 5 years back at my cousin's place. I read it at a stretch because I had to leave to my home that night. I reached Cuddalore, since I didn't get an auto rickshaw at late night I walked all the way to home. Through out the way it was very haunting and felt relieved once I reached the home. That night I slept with lights on. Second time I read last week here in Abu Dhabi.

It is a simple phrase we use mostly when we get drowned in the sweet old memories and this novel by Stella Bruce is also on the same theme. Sometimes the painful memories give a sarcastic pleasure in revisting them and thats how our protagonist Ramkumar derives it from the incidents that wrench his heart. After all life is something that should be balanced with the past and the present. You can't completely forget the past. This was one of the most acclaimed novel of its times when it came as a series in Anandha Vikatan weekly. This novel had a terrific impact on me in the sense that it reminded me a lot of incidents when I used to be an impulsive person and some incidents of this novel had actually happened in my place. In a way this novel is something I took closer to my heart as it showed how one should be in relationships.

Sujatha does it again. This time he takes up the problems urban college goers have and had portrayed it in a realistic manner that makes you realise with the brutal facts. As the name suggests it is about the pleasure of touch, one night stands, that brings along with complications like unwanted pregnancy, Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and its implications over the psyche of the concerned individuals. The best of a Sujatha's novel is that the incidents are not sugar coated but offered as a bitter pill tough to swallow. Here also Sujatha does the same with the protagonists Akalya, Sridhar & Raghu.

It was a pure co-incidence that I mentioned of "Ishtam", a movie about son getting his father married in my last post, which is very similar to what I read yesterday. This post is about Indhra Sounderrajan's latest offering "Analai Kayum Ambilikal", which roughly translates into "Burning moons". This novel is very much unlike Indhra's, because his forte are always Thrillers & historicals. He, as said in his foreword, loves to be associated more with socials than thrillers. He cites some of the critically acclaimed social novels like Krishnadhasi, En peyar Ranganayaki, etc., yet that didn't really add to his portfolio.

Some 2-3 years back I saw and was mesmerized by this Malayalam movie "Ishtam" which advocated the marriage of widowers at 60's because they also need a soul for companionship. It was about a son engaging a marriage for his father and ended with the occasion. I hope that marriage was successful. But when a marriage at 60 with a beautiful 25 is for cooking and pampering egoistic pride alone, what will be the outcome is something I read at this fantastic novel called "Maya Nadhikal". Written by Stella Bruce (A Tamil writer) and touted as his best ever, this lives upto its eulogies.

Indra Sounderrajan is a specialist in writing thrillers rooted in superstitions & God beliefs and how the cunning individuals exploit them over the innocent people. I had seen his creations on Sun TV (his combination with director Naga works the best) and had been bowled over by its narration. But this is the first time I am reading his novel, without knowing that it was actually made as serial some times back by the same team in Sun TV. The novel was highly engrossing that I read it at a strech, which normally I won't do. (I prefer reading slowly and enjoy it by rehashing of what I read). I couldn't resist finishing it at a go.

Anitavin Kaadhalagal, which translates into Anita's affairs, may sound lurid initially but once you complete it you find the title wholly misleading. Written by Sujatha, it portrays the love story of a simple vulnerable, young girl who has been used to tranquil and calm living style. When she happens to meet the man who sweeps the ground off her feet with love the world around her changes but she couldn't. By the time she could adjust herself to that hectic pace, a rough wave topples her life and she is left stranded. Meanwhile she comes across four young men who are desperate to get her and their proposals.

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.

"Thayumanavan" is the name for Lord Shiva, who also served as a mother. I feel it is a poem in one word, something that conveys the need of a feminine sensitivity in a man. I came across the novel by my favourite writer Balakumaran when I was in 9th standard. Before reading that I saw it as a TV serial in DD, with Chandrasekar and Vanaja essaying the lead roles. Only when I read the novel I realised the difference between the paper and execution on screen. The written form was simply amazing. Somewhere deep inside my mind it stayed and I feel it started influencing over my personality too, as those were the formative years of a human personality. I loved the way of life "Thayumanavan" portrayed.