POONACHI-the story of goat by Perumal Murugan
I picked up this book with an expectation that it would be a story just about the goat but I was awestruck to witness the ideas of feminism, struggles of women, oppression, politics, love etc. beautifully conveyed by the author Perumal murgan.
I loved reading his book “AMMA” before and had the experience of me being transported to the typical village atmosphere and culture which I never got an opportunity to experience and I was so sure that I would get the same experience even in this book and I wasn’t disappointed!
The story was about Poonachi (the black goat) which was gifted by a giant like figure to the old man by saying “she is a miracle kid who was born as seventh kid in her mother’s litter”. The story mainly revolves around the goat and describe her every life event since birth
The author never named any human characters and they were all mentioned as Old man, old women, old women’s daughter and he named every goat along with their colour in the story which make us to look the entire story from goat’s perspective.
Even though the story was about the goat, the author tries to convey that how doe’s emotions are no different than an women like how she expects to be sexually safe, expecting her consent in the matters involved about her, the struggles of giving birth and taking care of child, the pain of being away from her love of her life etc.
He mainly tries to convey the emotions dwelled inside the animals like how does spend the entire life giving births and bucks fear of dying for meat or being castrated due to greediness of human
The hardship faced by Poonachi was heart breaking yet she was strong in every situation, felt content and lived her beautiful moments happily
One of the best reads ever!
VRITTI 