The book is titled ‘வாய்மையே சில சமயம் வெல்லும்’ meaning Truth (or good/good people) win(s) sometimes. But the question is ‘what is good’ and ‘which is triumph’? As Nithya says, everyone is good sometimes and bad sometimes. In the book, all characters including Chitra, her parents, Vinod, Vijayakumar, Nithya fall somewhere in between good and bad.
Vinod who violates a woman is obviously the villain but his ‘badness’ is shown as a reflection of his ‘sadness’. He is frustrated with his life that he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, whether his actions are moral or immoral. But he does not refrain from speaking the truth.
Vijayakumar is a 34 year old man who has a crush on a 17 year old Chitra. He goes out of his way to help her in her crisis partly because it was his idea to send her to the trip. When Chitra attempts suicide, he uses that opportunity and ‘offers’ to marry the girl whom he likes and who wouldn’t be attainable in normal circumstances. But now, as he tells his parents and sister, he sees the proposal as a gesture to help Chitra who is now ‘unmarriageable’.
Chitra is an innocent young girl who is shocked by the whole incident and wants Vinod to be punished in some way. However, she ends up being shunned by her friends, school and her own mother that she is led to suicide and agrees to the marriage proposal by Vijayakumar (much older than her) as a way out of her situation. But she is finally convinced that marrying Vinod is the only solution as it would help her family financially and would ‘purify’ her.
Chitra’s parents who are worried about how the society will perceive them if the incident comes to light are only more than happy to get her married to Vinod who comes with a boatload of money. In fact, Chitra’s mother who kept blaming Vijayakumar for sending her to the trip tells that the trip and the incident was a blessing in disguise for them to land this rich groom.
And finally, Nithya the ‘feminist’ who is fighting (or thinks so) for Chitra’s justice arranges to get her married to Vinod. She is a hero now, never mind if poor Chitra is happy or not. The idea of feminism is explained well in the words of Doctor Saratha. Feminism is not so simple as a man oppressing a woman, but in the society’s attitude in making the woman take the blame or pain willingly or unwillingly. For example, the woman with four children who pops in pills after pills to avoid pregnancy even if it might be harmful for her body because she ‘has to do it’ for the sake of her husband’s happiness. And Chitra who is made to believe by everyone including the feminist that marrying her violator is the solution to her problem.
So, ‘who is good and did good triumph?’ is for the reader to decide. The message apart, there are typical cliches (poor girl, rich brat) and the prose was not very compelling and hence the three stars.