Author Perumal Murugan is exploring new forms and techniques of self-expression to counter censorship, says Saimi Sattar
Censorship did exist always but its extent has increased drastically in recent times,” says author Perumal Murugan. And of course, he should know. His Madhurobhagan or One Part Woman, a novel based on a possible ancient cultural practice among people living around the Ardhanareeswarar Temple at Tiruchengode, led to protests attracting controversy in 2014. local caste-based and religious groups objected to the fictional portrayal of traditions at Tiruchengode. The protests were eventually called off after the local police summoned the protesters and Murugan for a peace talk and compelled him to sign an “unconditional apology” and withdraw all copies of the novel.
As a mark of protest, Murugan in January 2015 announced that he was giving up writing and said on his Facebook page that “Perumal Murugan the writer is dead. As he is no God, he is not going to resurrect himself.” Many perceived this act to be a passive form of protest. Says the man himself, “I wanted to stop writing and that is what came from within. This act was perceived in different ways. If you choose to see it as a passive or a non violent form of protest, I have no problems.”
Post-controversy, Murugan is wiser. He believes that authors and other creative people should adapt themselves and evolve a newer style of getting their point through in changed circumstances. The Tamil writer says, “Writers should look at new forms and techniques to express themselves because writing directly is more difficult now. That should be avoided. One needs to say things differently.”
He also believes that creativity increases in difficult times. He quotes Beckett, saying, “Good poetry exists in dark times. The poet said yes, it would be about darkness.”
He feels that in times of crisis the cultural elite unconsciously comes together for a coalescence of ideas. “However, I have a question whether they are doing it in these times and whether what they are doing is enough” he asks and goes on to add, “We have to think about what other forms can be used to meet these challenges.”
Murugan appeared for Day 5 of Penguin Fever at a session on translations along with Kannan Sundaram, Bibek Debroy and Rana Safvi in conversation with Namita Gokhale. Dressed in a blue shirt and white dhoti, the author of six novels, four collection of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, looks calm and collected. Three of his novels have been translated into English: Seasons of the Palm, which was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize in 2005, Current Show and One Part Woman.
However, growing up Murugan had no plans of being a writer. “My family was illiterate and they had no big notion of education. They were essentially waiting for me to fail so that they could send me to do farming or to the soda shop that my father ran. Contrary to their expectations, I kept passing classes and unlike other parents they felt that it was actually a crisis for them,” he recalls. It was only when he finished high school that his father thought about the idea that he should study further. And this too germinated, when his father saw a teacher at the same theatre where he had a soda shop, working part time to issue tickets. Murugan’s father wanted him to be a teacher. However, his father passed away and did not see him become one. “In my village people call me ‘big teacher’ as I went to college,” he says.
Murugan’s writing style changes according to the goals he has set for himself. “When I write while running the daily course of life, I sleep a little early, wake at midnight and write for two-three hours as it is peaceful and there is no disturbance,” he says. However, if he is planning to write a novel in a particular month, he wakes up early.
Usually the plot line of a novel or a story come to him first rather than the characters. He usually puts his characters around the pivot and spins them on it. “Rarely does a great character come to me and I build the plot around it,” he says.
He fleshes out the complete plot, be it a short story or a novel, and it is only after that he starts to write. “If I begin before it is clear, it does not work out for me. Sometimes, I even had to put aside novels for decades as it didn’t work. I waited for years to complete a novel. Once it is clear in my head, I can write it within a month,” he says.
However, Murugan refuses to discuss his future plans. “I am planning several works, the first of which will come out next year,” is all he is willing to divulge as he walks off.