Sujatha
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சுஜாதாSujatha does it again. This time he takes up the problems urban college goers have and had portrayed it in a realistic manner that makes you realise with the brutal facts. As the name suggests it is about the pleasure of touch, one night stands, that brings along with complications like unwanted pregnancy, Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and its implications over the psyche of the concerned individuals. The best of a Sujatha's novel is that the incidents are not sugar coated but offered as a bitter pill tough to swallow. Here also Sujatha does the same with the protagonists Akalya, Sridhar & Raghu.

It is all about a simple yet supremely talented girl Akalya, who is aspiring to do IAS and already representing the college in various forums. She is going steady with a guy and one fine day she finds herself pregnant. She decides to bear it and agrees to give for adoption after the delivery. She delivers as per plans, her priorities change and towards the end she tries to give a meaning to her existence in this world.

Like any other Sujatha's novels, this too travels in the viewpoint of the main protagonist Akalya. The transformation of a happy outgoing girl to a traumatic single mother is well conceived and told. We had seen similar characters opting for single motherhood in "Kya Kehna.." and another TV serial with Deepa Venkat (I forgot its name), but what makes Akalya apart from those characters is the simple practical solution the character offers. While the former two made their decisions on emotional note, Akalya realises the problems of being emotional and opts for a practical decision.

The novel, I swear, will surely make the readers feel uncomfortable while reading even though the story telling is engrossing, especially for the people like me brought up with small town & middle class values. But you can't deny its presence in this westernizing society where onenight stands, MMS scandals are becoming a casual. It won't be an exaggerated statement if I say that this novel had shaken my beliefs in marriage and virginity.

Sujatha in the pretext of going through the Akalya's character exposes all the dark elements that prevail in the campus. The campus he had portrayed is very much believable. The celebration parties with dark corners that ends up as sex spots, the way guys try to provoke the instincts of girls are really hard to digest. The feeling Akalya undergo when she realises that sl1e is pregnant and consequent activities to abort it are fine.

Sujatha exposes the industry that survives on illegal pregnancy in this novel. The so called "inter-country adoption" centres that thrive on young victims, by brainwashing them to deliver the babies at the royal expense of the adoption parents and getting donations in US Dollars, the noble cause turned into a lucrative profession are well explained. When the girls refuse to part with the children how they are tortured is narrated well.

Besides scams, Sujatha also depicts the practical problems of being a single mother especially at the time life just starts unfolding in a major way. He suggests the ending in a practical way leaving the sentiments and emotions behind. I couldn't identify or agree fully with the ending but felt it is one of the possible endings.

This novel is plausible because of the writing style of Sujatha. Even though the stark reality slaps hard at your face, you will learn to accept the happenings towards the end rather than closing your eyes to deny its existence.