There is a conversation between Rodrigo, a Thoothukudi fisherman, and Sadanand Mukherjee, a Bengali anthropologist, in the novel Sippiyin Vayitril Muthu (Pearl in the Oyster), echoing the words of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin that the writing of the history of the Indian subcontinent should commence from the Tamil land. “If you are particular about tracing the roots of Indian civilisation, you should start the research in the Vaigai or the Thamirabarani instead of in the Ganges. But who is going to listen to us,” would argue Rodrigo in the novel originally written in Bengali with the title, Jhinuker Pete Mukto, by Bodhisatwa Maitreya, who came on a transfer in 1959 to Thoothukudi as a scientist at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. The excavations in Korkai, Keezhadi, Sivakalai, and other areas and the discoveries would have pleased Rodrigo and Bodhisatwa Maitreya, his creator, though it happened almost a half-a-century later.
Stories on Tamil characters
Maitreya wrote a lot of short and long stories on Tamil characters and Tamil Nadu in Bengali and Jhinuker Pete Mukto, translated in Tamil as Sippiyin Vayitril Muthu, is probably the first Bengali novel on Tamil society. It is a strange combination of the life of the Catholic fishermen in Thoothukudi and the devadasi system in the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district in the pre- and post-Independence period. While writing about the devadasi system, their dance and music, the author brings to mind passages from the works of T. Janakiraman, who had written like a painter while dealing with the music and landscape of Thanjavur. The aroma of filter coffee wafts on the pages when Rathinammal, the devadasi, freshly grinds the coffee beans. The fisheries scientist in him takes over while narrating seas, fish species and the life of fishermen.
