One of the novels that ever touched my mind is Benyamin's Aadujeevitham. It's English transalated version is Goat Days. The novel is based on a real life incident and it is potrayed through the protagonist Najib. The novel potrays the hard core realities of migrant workers who works hard in a strange land for their family.
Najib is a young man hailing from Kerala who dreams to work in Gulf states and earn for his family consisting of his aged mother and pregnant wife. Finally, he got the visa and moved to Riyad, Saudi Arabia as an Indian emigrant worker along with a teenage boy who is also an Indian emigrant worker named Hakim. But they were dragged to labour in the hot desert for the job of caretaking herd of goats and camels by an aggressive person who later became their 'arbab' (owner). He became the slave of someone whom he doesn't know before and in a place which is completely strange to him. All the roads were miles away from them and this was the time they lost their connection with the outside world. His life was totally under control of the Arbab, he severely punished Najib for even minute mistakes. Arbab tortured Najib to the extreme which a normal human being couldn't bear. He was not given proper food or water and was made to stay with goats. He worked hard under the hot sun. As the days passed Najib's physical appearance got transformed into something that of a strange creature and he lost most of the signs as a human. To him, presence of a human other than his arbab became a rarest of rare incidence. This is clearly evident when he tried to touch a human who came near to him after a long time. The loneliness sadness, atrocities and miseries underwent by Najib were beyond endurance, with nobody to share his pains and emotions. Although he knew that the connectivity to outside world is totally missing, the feelings and emotions within him made write an imaginary letter to his wife explaining the 'extravagant ' life in Riyad which was heartbreaking. In order, to overcome his solitude, he named the goats the names of his dear ones and spent time with them. There were his wife, friends, a rowdy in his area, schoollife girlfriend and even Mohanlal, among the goats. Out of the burning agony to see his dear ones especially his mother and wife, he made his own attempts to escape from this 'hell' but all in vain. But, he never lost his hope and never stopped believing in God. He believed that one day God will come and save him. He never blamed God, he waited for that moment when God offers his hand to him. And finally, it came but was not an easy one. It was a person named Ibrahim Khadri who rescued and brought back him to regular life(he disappears from Najib's life as soon as Najib reaches outside the desert). After long days of barefoot journey, after overcoming several lifetaking obstructions in the path he reached the main road.
The novel points to the hard life of the emigrant workers, who work hard in strange worlds for the well being of their family whose problems are yet to be addressed. Their deep feelings when they were meant to live and work far away from their loved ones is also depicted. This novel is an eye opener to all and it touches all the realities of man in his struggle for life.
The author has the power to drive the minds of the readers. Whoever reads the novel gets transformed into Najib and can experience the feelings through which Najib has passed through. No-one can complete reading the novel without a heavy heart. God's touch in Najib's life entered through a person named Ibrahim Khadiri whom we can call as an incarnation of God. It appears impossible for us to believe that these incidents had really occured in the life of this particular person. But the realities of the life are to be accepted. It is a must read novel for everyone.
ABHIRAMI.S
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