Book Review: Poonachi by Perumal Murugan and Kalyan Raman

Quote: ONCE, IN A village, there was a goat. No one knew where she was born. The birth of an ordinary life never leaves a trace, does it? Even so, her arrival was somewhat unusual.

The story of an orphan goat, given to an old man by a giant, whom he calls Bakasuran. Named Poonachi after a kitten his old wife once had.

You open this book and you woosh past it in one sitting. Animal Farm meets Female Dalit Narrative meets the Golden Geese story. It's a love story, a tragic love story with some tropey classic scenes, but it is the love story of goats.

After a long time, it's a book I thoroughly enjoyed as well chocked on. The language so caring, lucid and sensitive that it comes out as a witty because it is paralleled with the harsh life of a female goat.

The animals in the story think, feel, question the working of society. The nameless old man and old woman are as human as they could be, their economic hardships and gracious moments dictate their moods and how they treat Poonachi and other goats.

The structural violence of the feminine, at hands of her protector and her abuser, has never been personified so well. While Poonachi bleats for a mate, she gets violated by an old ram chosen by her owner to stop her yearning noises at the night. She cries when her litter is snatched away and bargained off and her milk sold. This is also a text that's a true narrative to the vegan cause.

When her mate Poovan utters: We die for meat. We die for sacrifice. It makes one think. Indeed I am a selectively empathic person, my love for cats and dogs is more than for goats, lambs, chicken, cows. Her owners are same, they hail Poonachi as their child but sell off Kalli, Oothan and other lambs when times are hard.

This also aligns with Thaons' concern, if life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. Poonachi gives birth to a litter of seven, but it sucks her dry, sucks her owner dry. Through famine, rain, and festivities, she survives and dreams of a peaceful life that almost echoes the pain of Nnu-Ego from Buchi Emecheta's Joys of Motherhood

This is the best fiction book from 2018 and must read for people interested in Dalit Studies.

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