Novel Intro : Appam Vadai Thayirsatham - Balakumaran

Appam Vadai Thayirsaatham - Balakumaran

This Story by Balakumaran left a lot of impact on me. This was published in AnandaVikatan from jan 2001 to sep 2001.

The story opens with a lad getting his job in the big apple. [no, this post is not a spoiler]. Before his starting, their family goes on a different kind of pilgrimage to their ancestral village.

They go to the railway station in a town and sell Appam, Vadai and Thayirsatham, and the story goes in flash back. A Brahmin family and 7 generations back.

The head of the family is making a tough living on vaidheeham. [For that matter all the Brahmin families were living on vaideeham till at least a known forefather generation, which makes the plot easily identifiable with most people]. They take the tough decision to part ways from vaideeham and they never look back.

Now, after creating a successful generation, they chart out what is it that made the difference? What are the ingredients for success? What is the essence of their lives and what are the qualities that need to identified and passed on to future generations?

If tomorrow, our children are to start their lives from scratch, what are the primary tools that we need to equip them with?

All the answers are in there.

For having a sense of time, the whole story is woven with the independence struggle, starting with the First war of Indian independence and touching every milestone of the movement.

Buy it in India, Borrow it in London