Tiger Hills - A Review

Sarita Mandanna’s debut effort in the literary world spawned interest that was unheard of in the Indian literary world of late. Her effort has invoked the highest price for a debut novel by the very reputed London based Penguin book house. The wait is well worth it as Sarita Mandanna has spun a tale like no other. The novel is teemed with post Victorian influences in the exposé of the complexities of characters and the turbulences of human emotion.

A native of Coorg Mrs. Mandanna has delved into the intricacies of the land and actualized the land as the main character itself. It makes me yearn for the undefiled salutary land that Coorg once was home to. The picturesque means in which Mrs. Mandanna has painted Coorg makes me homesick staying hardly a 100kms away. An outsider reading this book would probably feel like a tourist lured and never wanting to leave this land. An aspect of this book that brought me great pleasure while reading the same was the means through which the bio- fauna and the attributes & lore of the martial race of the Coorg’s have been bought forth.

It is a story that spreads itself across three generations from 1860’s to 1950’s. It is an expose of the cultural connotations of the land in the ages of colonial power and provides an insight into the generation of my forefathers and their way of life. As I moved through the 400 odd pages it made my chest swell of the pagan culture that we harbored. My pride was basically caused as a result of the intrinsic means through which the Coorgs connected to their environs.

I do not want to paint a picture of the story so as to spoil the thrills of it as most reviews would. I believe, not conceitedly, that it is a good read and would give a valuable insight into how an agrarian society evolves into an accommodating one with it not being a standalone society but an influenced one!