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Book Reviews
Timeri N Murari
My Temporary Son
Review by G. Swaminathan
 Believe
me, I don’t feel ashamed to accept that I cried when I was reading the
last paragraphs of the chapter ‘The Final Goodbye’ in Timeri N Murari’s
non fiction ‘My Temporary Son’. The fact is that it is long since I was
absolutely moved by a book; the books have been interesting,
irresistible and engaging. But this was one book, which does not belong
to any of the above category but still made me read.
‘My Temporary Son’ is a real life narration of an aged couple Tim and
Maureen whose life suddenly takes a change with the temporary entry of
an abnormally sick, fragile orphan kid who had to undergo series of
serious surgeries for surviving. Anachronously, the boy is named Bhima.
The baby boy was born with his bladder outside the abdomen and abandoned
by its natural parents in an orphanage.
Tim’s wife Maureen is a social worker who helps foreigners in adoption
and its systems. So it was not uncommon for the couple to provide
transit accommodation for the kids in their ancestral palatial home at
Chennai. Bhima’s entry is no different but a little longer because of
these medical interferences. Tim who is generally indifferent to such
short diversions was totally drawn into the vortex of love and affection
towards Bhima by a chain of incidents. The childless ageing couple
suddenly realizes that their love for this boy was overwhelming because
of this baby’s pranks and quiet resilience to live notwithstanding the
oddities of fate during his stay in their home for the period of eleven
months. When the time comes for them to part with Bhima, there was a
cauldron of emotions. How Tim and Maureen overcome because of their
intense love for the kid forms the end of this non fiction.
‘My Temporary Son’ is in one way a linear narrative with tangential
paths. The book is not something, which one could complete just in one
sitting. Murari’s writing is just reliving of his whole period of life
from the birth of Bhima, the discard, entry, enjoyment of his growth and
exit. He takes us with him in his journey with episodes strewn in
between both relevant and irrelevant. They include Murari’s childhood,
growing, preferences, love affairs, likes and dislikes, opinions, his
family members, feuds, friendship, happiness, frustrations and what not.
The book also describes the most convoluted procedure of adoption and
the exasperating rules and regulations prevailing in India. It projects
the shocking state of the orphaned children in our country, apathy of
the officials, indifference of the public, concern on the ever enlarging
population, above all the deplorable conditions of living in India
irrespective of one’s financial background. The book may be a useful
guide for those who want to adopt a kid from India (will anyone after
reading this book?) with the model legal documents and procedures as
Appendices.
Timeri Murari’s language alternates between simple and complex. This is
probably because of its spontaneity. The emotions are brutally honest
and painfully straightforward. The characters Tim, Maureen, Bhima,
Sarala, Shaila, the lovable adopting couple Bettina and Karl and their
family communicate and interact with the reader in flesh and blood
through the pages of the book. One cannot but empathize them very
honestly.
Tim writes ‘… that love had more substance and sustenance than food and
drink; it was the buoy that had kept them afloat in the freezing waters
of old age’.
I am sure after reading the book one will agree that this statement
holds good at any age of a true human.
January 29, 2006
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Book Reviews
The Week of January 29, 2006
India's Second Freedom by Rajinder Puri
Hamas' Victory : Impact on Peace Process by
Sujata Ashwarya Cheema
In Search of Self by Naira Yaqoob
My Childhood and Kamla Nehru by Arya Bhushan
Isomers, Prions, Homonyms,
Necker Cubes, Us and the Universe Part 3 by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
The Kalika of Patan by Prema Nandakumar
The Land of the "Kiwi" by Neha Girotra
My Temporary Son a Book Review by G.
Swaminathan
From the Ground Up by Rajgopal Nidamboor
Stardust Memories by Michael Levy
Indian Youth in Search of Icons by Prema
Nandakumar
Oblivion by Ramendra Kumar
A Pan of Musk by NS Murty
What are We Scared Of? by Anitha Abraham
A Boat Ride Back in Time by Elayne Clift
Rice Tales by Aparna Pallavi
Nepal: Looking for 'People Made to Disappear'
by Sudeshna Sarkar
Two Babies: World Apart by Kwamboka Oyaro
India's Congress
Government
Virtually Indicted in Supreme Court Judgement
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
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