Honouring a Son of the Sea

With Sahitya Akademy Award winning writer Joe D' Cruz during the interview for The New Indian Express

If you go through writer Joe D' Cruz's 1174 page Tamil novel Korkai, which has documented the lives of the fishing inhabitants of the ancient harbor town Korkai, you would be amazed to know that the writer has thrown light only on about a hundred year period of their social life in his voluminous novel. But, the fishing tribes, who are referred as Parathavars in ancient Sangam Literature, have a very long history dating back many hundred years.

“ I penned this novel to make my people aware of their rich tradition and culture” said Joe D' Cruz, who is also hailing from a Parathavar family at Uvari in Tirunelveli district.

The author was delivering his acceptance speech in the meeting organized by Vijaya Pathipagam in the city on Sunday to felicitate him on his bagging of the Sahitya Akademy Award for his novel Korkai.

However, Joe noted that the value of the award is only in the novel's wide readership by members of fishermen communities, about whose ancestors his literary work is. The writer said that he had taken about five years to complete the book and informed that his work was an outcome of the urge in him to register the social life of Parathavars.

Expressing pride over his writing of the novel in the natural backdrop of Neithal ( Maritime tract), which is one of the five landscapes mentioned in the ancient Tamil grammar work Tholkappiyam, Joe said:

“ The majestic sea, its rolling waves and the vast carpet of white sands on the shore always fascinated me when I was a boy in my village Uvari. And my lore about the sea and voyages is something handed down from my ancestors, who were a seafaring people”

Pointing out the elements of realism in the novel Korkai, Velayutham, proprietor of Vijaya Pathipagam averred:

“ I felt as if I was indeed traveling into the ancient harbor town Korkai while reading Joe's novel”

Writer Nanjil Nadan, who was also a recipient of Sahitya Akademy Award and a well-read scholar in Sangam literature, pointed out in his presidential address:

“ The word Parathavar takes its root from the term Paravai which means 'Sea' in Tamil”

Nanjil Nadan noted that Parathavar is the appropriate word to mean the fishing tribe in common and the term finds its usage in various ancient Tamil literatures including Sangam poetry.

“Joe lists out the names of around one hundred varieties of fish even in his previous novel Aazhi Sool Ulagu. The names, which are inextricably linked with the dialect of Parathavars can be hardly found in Tamil lexicons “ averred Nanjil Nadan commending the author's marine lore.

Poet Puviarasu, writers Su. Venugopal, C.R. Ravindran and Ka. Vai. Palainsamy were among those present in the meeting. 

Link to my report in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2420788