3 Review(s)

Official Flipkart Review A loving couple. Kali and Ponnas have it all. Almost, have it all. Except for a child, which they want so badly. The society taunts them. Their families have been waiting in anticipation. All of their hopes are then on the one chariot festival in the temple of the half-female god Ardhanareeswara, where all rules are relaxed and consensual union between any man and woman is permitted. Will the couple want to do something like this? That remains to be seen. This is the crux of the story. Murugan’s writing is stark and clear. His imagery of marriage, sex, companionship and the hypocrisy of the society we live in cannot get better than this work. He speaks of a world where both spectrums ironically try to survive together – the traditional and the modern and amidst all this, he makes sense of his characters and their dilemmas. Just for the uniqueness of the plot, this already is my favourite work of the year.   One Part Woman is a story of a relationship caught between the expectations and dictates of the society and personal fears and anxieties. It showcases the intimate and unnerving portrait of love, sex and marriage.  Summary The book starts with the all of Kali and Ponna’s efforts to conceive a child going in vain. They tried everything from prayers to penance, pilgrimages, potions but with no result. Despite being in a loving, blissful and satisfying relationship, they constantly found themselves to be the target of a lot of taunts and insinuations from their folks and family. All their hopes and desires ultimately come to converge on the chariot festival in the temple of the Ardhanareeswara, the half-female god and the festivity surrounding it. That one night all the rules are relaxed and there can be a consensual union between any man and woman. Will their marriage be able to survive the test? About Perumal Murugan Perumal Murugan is a prolific contemporary Tamil poet and writer. He mostly writes in Tamil of which two of his novels have been translated into English, Seasons of the Palm was nominated for the prestigious Kiriyama Award in 2005. He has received several awards from the Tamil Nadu government.