Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Pesum Bommaigal(Talking Dolls)


Consider this possibility-we are able to download information from the internet and upload information vice versa. What will happen if the process of downloading is done on human brain? What if we can upload the contents of the human brain-thoughts, memories to a machine and then feed it to another and make the person behave like the source (the person from whose brain the information i.e thoughts, memories are taken)? This revolutionary idea is the crux for writer Sujatha's novel Pesum Bommaigal, literally meaning Talking Dolls, published by Uyirmai Publications.

I have always been an ardent fan of Sujatha's novels and stories, that too the famous Ganesh-Vasanth from my childhood. Perhaps the different line and thinking of the author appealed to me, or the twist in the story, or identification with the characters. I always have a special place for Sujatha's works.

It has been Sujatha's novel way to take up an idea, mostly scientific in nature, and deal it out in his stories in an interesting and captivating manner. My favorites among his science-fiction works are En Iniya Iyandhira(My Dear Machine), Meendum Jeeno(Again Jeeno)- a sequel to the former, Sorga Theevu(Heaven's Island), Pesum Bommaigal, the subject of this post.

The story goes like this. Maya, a young lady gets an offer as a Research Assistant in a scientific research center called CMR Labs. She finds the activities in her new work place weird, especially in the way she is tested in the interview and the subsequent medical tests she is asked to take - her voice is recorded, strange readings are taken with no explanations, and she finds to her surprise that she got the job because of her sister Menaka, who was a former research associate in the lab.

Naturally curious and eager to keep up the reputation of being Menaka's sister, Maya does the bidding of her bosses-Dr.Narendranath and Dr.Sarangapani. She finds them contrasting in character-one aggressive and the other pleasing towards her and initially jealous of each others' works(interesting characters, they are). More than all, she finds out to her horror that all the staff in the lab have their right hand shorter than their left hand. Her inquiries lead her to dead ends and makes her doubt about continuing there, but the pay packet and the assurance of her lover Sunil who works there makes her continue in the job.

The story takes a turn when Maya discovers that the lab secretly conducts trials on the staff with or without their consent, but shuts them up from speaking out by paying them handsomely. Even more is her fear on finding out that the tests are related to mind control and her sister had been one of the victims who never made it out of the lab. She is trapped when her bosses learn about her knowledge, and she becomes a pawn in an unwitting game of horror.

Maya's father and Sunil take the matter to Ganesh and Vasanth(I would need another post to write about them!) who are perturbed by the strange nature of the case and decide to investigate. The chase leads them from Chennai to Vijayawada to back to Chennai as they learn about the complex and devious plans of the doctor duo-advanced research on the human mind by way of downloading the memories and information from the brain to a system and vice versa. A stunning finale(the 'poetic justice' Ganesh delivers is not to be missed) makes the reader sit up and wonder at the ingenuity of the writer in skillfully taking the story through the pages.

Sujatha's forte is that he set the trend for these kind of stories, explaining complex scientific things in a simple layman's term to the reader, perking up his curiosity. A must read for all, especially those who love different kind of stories with a intelligent twist.

--Harish Ragunathan


இந்தக் கதையின் ஆதாரக் கருத்தான (Downloading) 'டவுன் லோடிங்' என்பதின் சாத்தியத்தைப் பற்றிப் பலர் என்னிடம் சந்தேகம் கேட்டார்கள். ஒரு மனித மனத்தின் அத்தனை எண்ணங்களையும் ஓர் இயந்திரத்துக்கு மாற்றிப் புகட்ட முடியுமா என்று பலர் வியந்து இதுசாத்தியமே இல்லை என்றார்கள். இன்றைய விஞ்ஞான ஆராய்ச்சி நிலையில் இது சாத்தியமில்லைதான். ஆனால் இன்று அமெரிக்கா போன்ற முன்னேற்ற நாடுகளின் முற்போக்கு ஆராய்ச்சி நிலையங்களில் 'செயற்கை அறிவு' என்ற இயலின் ஒரு பிரிவாக இத்தகைய மூளைச் செய்தி மாற்றும் ஆராய்ச்சிகள் செய்து சிறிதளவு வெற்றி கண்டும் இருக்கிறார்கள். இந்த வெற்றியின் ஒரு கற்பனை விரிவாக்கம்தான் 'பேசும் பொம்மைகள்'.

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