On A River's Bank

On a River’s Bank is a story of ordinary people through an extraordinary narrative. Angusami, Panki and Damodaran have very different needs and yearnings. Panki, Angusami’s stepdaughter, is ill treated by him because of her deformed appearance. She holds this sulking father in high esteem while she dreams of a saviour. Her dream approaches reality when a young Damodaran joins Angusami in his work of dredging and selling sand, and acts as a bridge between daughter and father.

The riverfront pulsates with chaotic energy with the blessings of Madan Tampuran, the god on the banks. Prolonged sand-dredging causes wounds in the river, forming deep pits in its bed, resulting in torrential flows during the rains. The business becomes increasingly hazardous, making Angusami believe that it is all due to the ill luck brought by the deformed Panki. During a day of heavy downpour, a boat capsizes mid-river and passengers are drowned. Panki is among them. Will she survive?

In what must be a rare and sensitive portrayal of an ugly female character, the author underlines that violation of the river leaves it ugly and invites retribution despite worship.

Published originally in 1974 in Tamil, Punalum Manalum is a path-breaking novel raising the issue of environmental degradation through overexploitation, long before this became a topic of discussion in India. An early example of what is now known as ‘ecofiction’.