# Kadivalam

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2015/07/09/kadivalam/
- Published: 2015-07-09T19:25:15+00:00
- Author: admin

5/5 - (1 vote)

**Description: **
 [](http://www.writersworkshopindia.com/modules/booklists/visit.php?cid=33&lid=558)

**Author:** K. S. Gowri Ammal (Translated by K. S. Muthukrishnan)
 **Pages:** 231**
Price:** HB Rs 300, FB Rs 200 **Year of Publication:** 2008 **ISBN:** HB 978-81-
8157-656-9 (9788181576569) FB 978-81-8157-657-6 (9788181576576)

_**About the Author:**_
 Gowri Ammal (1909-1987) was born in Bangalore and was the
sixth child in a family of ten children. Hailing from the Tamil Iyer lineage, her
father, Professor Sambasiva Iyer, was a state geologist of Mysore and a professor
of geology. She was married to K Sankaranarayana Iyer, the only son of a district
judge, when she was thirteen. She found the move to Thiruvidiamarudur oppressive
in many ways. Her son, Muthukrishnan, was born in 1927 and daughter, Vijayalakshhmi,
in 1929. The four of them moved to Madras in 1936. After Gori Ammal met a number
of her husband’s colleagues, she developed an interest and understanding of the 
day’s political issues and at the same time began her spiritual quest. _Kadivalam_,
meaning the bit in the horse’s mouth which holds the reins in place, was published
in 1949. She had submitted it for the Narayanswami Iyer Memorial novel competition
organized by Kalaimagal. It came close but did not win the award. An early first-
person narrative, it depicts the maturing of a young man as he moves away from home
to the outside world. An important concern of the novel is the key role that the
mother plays in the family.

_**Teaser:**_

_From the Preface_

‘“Had Amma been alive…”
 If we wish to know what could happen when the lady of the
house is no more, reading Mrs. Gowri Ammal’s work will suffice the purpose. The 
writer beautifully portrays the plight of a family where the mother passes away 
leaving behind several children who are in different stages of life, and a husband
taking up heavy responsibility. He has no peace of mind, and with no independent
mind, he becomes a puppet, acting to the whims of the wishes of those who could 
control him. This novel reveals how the situation of the family declines steadily.”

_**Contents:**_
 24 Chapters