Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna
Does Sarita Mandanna sound Indian to you? It does to me and
that’s the sole reason why I bought this book. Now don’t stamp me as a racist,
but come on, since I read Rishi Reddi’s Karma, I feel obliged to buy Indian
author’s penning. I am an Indian, I mean, I am a Malaysian, but my ancestors
are from India and that is probably the reason why I feel drawn to Indian
authors.
So back to this book, first of all, let’s talk about the
cover. Not that very enticing, I should say. The cover is framed by different
types of plants, like bamboo and flowers and there are two herons flying above
the title. At first glance, the cover did not make any sense to me, but once I
started to read, then it dawned on me. The very core of this book is all
painted on the cover. Friendship and nature.
Generally, Tiger’s Hills is 593 pages long (I finished it in 5 days) and the plot is
divided into three main chapters, viewed from the three main male protagonists
in the story, namely, Devanna, Machu and Appu. Interestingly, I realized much
later that they all are from the same family. Their lives revolve around Devamma or
frequently called as Devi. Devi, happened to be an enchantingly beautiful lady
who is Devanna’s best friend since she was 5 years old and who was in love with
Machu since she was 9 years old, since the she first time she saw Machu was
being celebrated for killing a tiger.
The story was set in Coorg or better known now as Kodagu in
Karnataka, India. The story covers a long time span, from 1878 when Devi was
born until 1940s when Gandhi made his presence seen in Coorg.
| So, according to GoogleMaps, thats Coorg/Kodagu. The one bordered in violet. |
What I really like about this book is, first of all, the
language used in this book. Of course, my nights could have been made shorter
by the use of simple sentences and subtracting the unwanted details about
flowers and nature, but as I said, the language is used in this book is one of
its plus points. The words used in this
book made me feel like someone was reciting a poem to me. A poem that I could
actually, easily understand. The words crafted by Sarita Mandanna literally
filled up my sense receptors, for example, “To
the North, the undulating hills of bamboo country, softly rounded, dotted with
towering arches of bamboo and slender knots of trees.” While I was reading
that particular sentence, slowly, the hills and the tall bamboo trees were
unfolding right before my eyes and I could smell the greenness of it. There’s
another part that I love so much, which is, “It
was a perfect specimen, the dew still glistening from its pistil, and with such
a fragrance. Sweeter than a rose, richer than jasmine, with the musky
underpinnings of an orchid.” I died intoxicated for a second there. I was
longing for that fragrant. I searched all my olfactory memories and tried to
find the perfect fragrant that would suit her description, but nothing comes
close to her narration. I settled for vanilla blended with jasmine in the end.
But, that’s what I am telling, Sarita has really vivid imagination and she
stitched them perfectly into a beautiful prose.
Secondly, the thing that I like and at the same time, hate,
about this book is, the story itself. I like it because it keeps me turning
from a page to another. It’s cryptic enough to make me wonder, why the hell is
she telling me about bamboo flowers, why do I need to know that the Reverend
would probably be gay, why Devanna is so gifted in learning? Sarita answered all my questions, slowly,
sometimes even after the curiosity dissipated and all the answers burned me, because
the idea of the story is to create ramifications. One single action triggers a
domino effect, not just to you, but to the world, to everyone else and I guess,
that’s what I got from the story. The story ended perfectly, but for days after
completing this book, the story keeps playing in my timid head. What would have
happened if Devi….? Does Appu deserve all that wealth and attention? Poor
Nanju, his birth wasn’t his fault at all. Probably Devi has a mental disorder?
Have I done this to anyone’s life? All these questions keep repeating in my
head and that’s what I hate about this book. It gives you a scar.
What I don’t like about this book is the usage of too many
local slangs and words. Words like odekathi, uyii, monae, and many more,
repeatedly made me wonder whether are they English or some other language? I could
have just googled them up but I chose to ignore those words.
Five words about this book: Lyrical, sensual, natural, yearning
and love.
I love this book and the haunting capability of it and it’s
definitely a long, yet worthwhile read.
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1 comments:
Tiger hills novel is a beautiful novel written by Sarita Mandanna. Referring to local slangs Uyyi, monae etc I do agree a layman would not understand. Well, since the setting of novel is of Coorg, some coorg (Kodava) words are used. Its coorg language.
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