Udayampalayam’s nights were meant for stories. When Devibharathi visited the village during his summer holidays, his periamma (aunt) would spread a mat on the floor at bedtime, and tell the children stories. She told a variety of them: of a mosquito and fox that got married and a tree on whose branches sprouted clothes. The children would howl with laughter at the atrocious things periamma made up. But there was one thing she did not tell them: her story.
Neervazhi Padooum is that story — of the people of Udayampalayam in Tiruppur district near Coimbatore, of Kaaru mama, of Devibharathi’s mother and father. The novel recently won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2023 for Tamil.
The 65-year-old author who lives in Pudhu Vengaraiyampalayam in Tiruppur, speaks to us over phone in between a string of interviews. Devibharathi, whose given name is Rajasekaran, has been writing novels, short-stories, poetry, and political essays since the 1980s.
