SONGS OF THE CAUVERY

The time: The transition years
between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. The space: The fertile
delta of the Cauvery. The backdrop: The early stirrings of a freedom struggle
against British colonialism in South India. Nothing can disturb the serenity
of Tiruvaiyaru, South India, until Panju, a brilliant boy from an orthodox
family, decides to join the revolutionary freedom movement. His actions
affect not only him, but those he holds close—his sister Janaki who, breaking
age-old tradition, aims to become the first local woman with a college
education; his father Sambu who finds himself getting waylaid from his
spiritual quest and the beauteous temple dancer Ranjitham, who covets Panju.
As Panju’s decisions come with ripple effects, Sambu, Ranjitham and Janaki
are compelled to make compromises they had never bargained for. Like the
Cauvery—who exhausts herself to a mere trickle to enrich those around her—the
characters in the novel must learn the true meaning of sacrifice. With a cast
of unforgettable personalities, Songs of the Cauvery is a poignant meditation
on grace, virtue and renunciation.