மிஸ்டர் வேதாந்தம்:

It is funny to see how most of the characters in this novel are brahmins. Their appointing their own kith and kins in government jobs nonchalantly is beyond belief. There were no selection process which was open to all it seems...If this is true, there is no wonder there is so much anti-brahmin sentiment in the society, especially in those days!!

With more twists and turns than one can expect from a dance floor on prom night even, the second and final installment of Mr. Vedantham is a tribute to one of the most perceptive and talented writers in Tamil. The late R. Mahadevan or ‘Devan’ in short, manages a complex topic revolving around opposing spectrums of human pettiness and altruism, with an ease that is frighteningly exemplary! The ephemerality of fleeting life is brought to bear with a spare precision that is informed by reflection and realisation. Devan also blends in exquisite doses of humour that offer readers respite from otherwise being buffeted by some intense passages. The gullible Vedantham is divested of a significant amount of his savings by the fly-by-night operator duo of Venkat & Ram. Just when the fact of being swindled hits home like a hammer, the unfortunate Vedantham is forced to rush back home to Thoothukudi from Chennai, to tend to his ailing aunt. Her daughter, and Vendan ham’s potential consort in future, Chellam us rendered helpless and hapless without Vedantham’ s able support. With his last remaining funds dangerously getting dried up, Vedantham receives a welcome support from a most unlikely source. Reporter V.N. Singham, an acquaintance of barely a few days, offers Vedantham an opportunity to accompany a famous persona, Mr. Shastry to Calcutta. Shastry is in the process of authoring a book and he is in dire need of an assistant who can also double up as an able secretary. However, much to the horror and chagrin of Vedantham, Shastry turns out to be the devil incarnate. An obnoxious eccentric, the geriatric expects Vedantham to pay heed to his calls at every possible odd hour irrespective of whether its day or night. Exacerbating this unusual behaviour is a revolting way with words. Humiliating Vedantham by resorting to degradations and scorn, Shastry succeeds in driving Vedantham out of Calcutta itself back to Chennai. A confused and bedraggled Vedantham is left to rue the very purpose of life when what is the biggest disaster, befalls him. When in Calcutta, Vedantham’ s primary pre-occupation lies in getting over every single hour, let alone every single day unscathed from the fury of Shastry. This leads to Vedantham failing to intimate the details of his new dwelling to Chellam and her aunt. Racked by fear and doubt and facing a peculiar obstacle of their own in Thoothukudi, the mother and daughter duo are forced to temporarily relocate to a small village called Keevalur. Now both Vedantham and Chellam have no perceivable clue about each other’s whereabouts. To complete the vicious circle of fate, Vedantham’ s altruistic angel and repeated benefactor, Shri Swamy is out of Chennai with no trace of his whereabouts. Singham again comes to Vedantham’ s aid and finds him a job with an independent and modest print media proprietor named Rathnaswamy. However, when, at the unrelenting goading of Singham, Vedantham submits a short story – as part of a writing competition – organised by a more reputable publication called “Kunjalam,” and wins the first prize and a cash award of Rs.1000, an enraged Rathnaswamy fires Vedantham from the job without even batting an eyelid! Poor Vedantham now stops counting the whammies that are whacking him as if apocalypse is just a few days away! Can Vedantham succeed in tracing the whereabouts of his aunt and his fiancé? How does he manage to live in the teeming metropolis of Chennai with a meagre bit of his entire life’s savings remaining? What perceivable motive does Mr. V.N. Singham have in lending unsolicited assistance to Vedantham as the latter tries to negotiate the remorseless and unforgiving obstacles that life takes unbridled joy in repeatedly hurling at him? Will the egregious and philanthropic Swamy return once again as the ultimate saviour to lend a new lease of life to Vedantham? While Volume 1 tended to veer towards blight and bane, Volume 2, even though beginning on a pessimistic footing race through with unexpected twists and extraordinary turns. The pace is consistent and the plot flawless. The final four to five Chapters make for an absolute exercise in excelsis! The coalescing of disparate events, characters, and locations to hurtle towards a crescendoing climax leaves reader gasping for breath! The triumphs, trials, travails and tribulations of Vedantham are in an alternating fashion inspiring as well incredulous. More than anything they make for an object lesson in leading life the way in which it needs to be lead. Mr, Vedantham – Volume 2 – a roaring achievement!

A good soft drama in novel form that I am reading after quite some time. Though the initial phases felt a bit slow and it took time for me to adjust to the pace of the book, it was gripping and engaging. Getting to know about people some 3 - 4 generation back, general environment, problems faced and tendency of people in city and village during that arena brought in more interest to the novel. Of-course the novel will have some amount of slang to it, will require liking over the same to appreciate the novel at certain parts. A soft novel that could throw lot of optimism about human race. Novel is dealing on daily happening and hence does not require too much of imagination. If you are bored of too many out of the world novels dealing heavy things then this could be your next read since it will be light, not boring, well phased in good pace and as well have optimism surrounding the plot. I liked it ... You can give a try too

The late R. Mahadevan or ‘Devan’ in short, belongs to that select and gifted breed of writers capable of capturing the entire gamut of human vicissitudes in a manner that lends itself to reflection and reasoning. In what arguably is his tour de force, spread across two alluring volumes, Mr. Vedantham is Devan at the apex of his story telling prowess. A topsy-turvy depiction of life at its unpredictable best, and worst, Mr. Vedantham is a bouquet of curve balls, crossroads, cul-de-sacs, cruelty and compassion. Vedantham is a happy-go-lucky youth, brimming with the exuberance of youth and blinded to the wares of deceit. Leading a carefree life as a student pursuing his Bachelor of Arts course in a college in Kumbakonam, Vedantham is for his friends, a fount that never stops giving. Spending money with frightening abandon, Vedantham is the one-stop entertainment shop for a cluster of students. This allergy to frugality is a direct outcome of Vedantham’ s upbringing. After losing his mother at an early age, Vedantham is doted upon by his father, Desikachariyar. An orphan adopted under fortuitous circumstances as the scion of a wealthy man, Desikachariyar has only one rule when it comes to spending – recklessness is uncompromising. Parasitical relatives prosper through means devious and diabolical at the cost of Desikachariyar’ s naivete. However, when an ailment grips Desikachariyar and wrings the life out of him, Vedantham is forced to come face to face with a remorseless reality. A castle of debts leads to the loss of all physical property and monetarily, Vedantham is reduced to utter penury. To add insult to agonizing injury, a pernicious Uncle, Gopala Swamy Iyengar forces Vedantham to come to his house and randomly sign on myriad legal documents when Vedantham has just one day left to prepare for one of his B.A. Final Examination papers. The connivance of relatives and the contrivance of fate ensures that Vedantham is not merely left in the state of a pauper, but also flunks his B.A. examinations. His only rock in terms of support, succour and salvation is the divinely balanced, Chellam, his late Uncle’s daughter and his probable consort in future. Chellam herself is forced to experience the full might of a merciless fate when she and her mother are cheated out of their last remaining property by her own Uncle. The only hope for Vedantham to escape the vicious cycle of poverty is to scout for a job of any kind. Luck, from an unseen quarter materializes when Vedantham is appointed as a private tutor by Santhanam Iyengar, a man of plentiful means and influence. However, Vedantham realises that the cruelty of destiny has played its invisible hand in this fortuitous opportunity as well. Santhanam Iyengar takes full toll of the helplessness of Vedantham’ s situation by demanding that he teach 7 children at a measly wage of Rs. 30 per month. Two of the students, Raghavan and Seeni turn out to be utter rogues and go out of their way to humiliate Vedantham. When all seems lost, Vedantham meets a veritable saviour in circumstances that can be mildly termed, extraordinary. Losing his wallet to a pickpocket the moment he steps out of the train in Madras (now Chennai), an incredulous Vedantham is lost for words when a burlesque gentleman races past Vedantham, thrashes who to all eyes seems to be an innocuous passenger, before wringing out from his trousers a wallet which belongs to Vedantham. Vedantham later on learns that the name of this astonishing messiah is Mr. Swamy. Swamy meets Vedantham on many other occasions, both planned and spontaneous, lending the latter speechless every single time. Vedantham’ s life reaches its nadir of desperateness when he is forced to leave Santhanam Iyengar’s house in the direst of situations. As luck would have it, the intrepid duo of Ram & Venkat, the proprietors of a company going by the same name offer Vedantham a role as an Editor for their upcoming publication, “Kanmani.” This after reading two stories of Vedantham published by the magazines, “Kunchalam” and “Choodamani.” However, when Ram & Venkat turn out to be absolute imposters, interested only in divesting Vedantham of his last remaining penny, Vedantham’ s world turns upside down…. Mr. Vedantham is a literal exercise in excelsis. The plot is unwaveringly tight, and the narration is just captivating. Devan marvelously juxtaposes word play with judiciously incorporated pearls of wit and wisdom. Fortitude shares space with forlornness as determination gamely tries to keep pace with desperation. Vedantham at once is an epitome of naivete as well as equanimity. Inducing pity and anger in equal measure, Vedantham is his reader’s delight as well as disappointment. He is as innocent as he is gullible and susceptible. As the covers come down on Volume 1 of the arresting tribulations and triumphs of Vedantham, one cannot wait to lap up Volume – 2! Mr. Vedantham – R.K.Lakshman’s common man!