Rise Of The Phoenix

After the controversy over his book One Part Woman, the writer in Perumal Murugan resurrects himself in a different form.

- Anjuly Mathai

In Perumal Murugan’s book One Part Woman, everything begins with a portia tree. As a newly-married man, the protagonist Kali plants it in the front yard of his father-in-law’s house. Twelve years later, the tree is gigantic. In its shade, the story slowly unfolds—the inability of Kali’s wife, Ponna, to conceive; the slights the couple face in their village because of this; the strain it puts on their marriage; and finally, Ponna’s decision to attend the final day of the nine-day chariot festival in their village when sexual rules are relaxed, and any consenting man and woman can sleep together. The last scene is of Kali, broken by Ponna’s betrayal, looking up at the branches of the portia tree silhouetted against the sky, a noose tightening around his neck.