Sorna Regai (Golden Palmlines) - my favorite novel

In the present era of computer, internet and smartphones, novel reading has been reduced to a considerable extent. People read novels as ebooks in their smartphones nowadays. I myself do not read much nowadays, as I spend more and more time in front of laptop. But whenever I read any book, it still gives immense, unmatched and ultimate pleasure which I don't find in internet and computers. If it’s a book of favorite genre or written by a favorite author, it’d be more interesting and exciting. I always get this excitement whenever I read the novel Sorna Regai (Golden Palmlines) written by Tamil writer Indira Soundararajan. I read it for the first time 12 years before, and I have read it many times after that. But it still looks fresh to me, may be because it was the first mystery thriller novel I have ever read.

The plot is about the events surrounding a death sentenced prisoner, a crime branch police officer, a young palmist, a theatre projectionist and his wife in a time span of less than 2 days. Most of the author’s works are based on supernatural elements, traditional beliefs and mythological aspects. Sorna regai falls under similar category with Palmistry as the base for the plot, thus given the title. There is a small note about different aspects of palmistry, its meaning and benefits, at the beginning of every chapter, making it interesting to read.

Apart from being published as a novel in the year 1999, it was also aired as a tele-serial in Raj TV channel as Marma Desam – Sorna Regai, as the third installment of Marma Desam series. It was quite famous those days. I have heard many people saying that some of the author’s works are kind of crap. I agree with that partly. But I can say surely that this one is an exception.  Sorna regai is not a great novel, not the best written book, but comparing to bulky, hundreds of pages of current bestselling thrillers, I feel that this is a fairly good thriller, not long and not too short. Those who like to read mystical thriller genre stories, this is for you.

About the Author

Indira Soundarajan is the pen name of P. Soundararajan, a well-known Tamil author of novels, short stories, and and screenplays. He is an expert on South Indian Hindu traditions and mythological lore. His stories typically deal with cases of south Indian Hindu traditions and mythology, supernatural occurrence, divine intervention, reincarnation, and ghosts, and are often based on or inspired by true stories reported from various locales around the state of Tamil Nadu. He lives in Madurai. 

(This review is an english version of already published review of the same book in Tamil)