First time in literature, novel named after antagonist, says Kabilan Vairamuthu

CHENNAI: Kabilan Vairamuthu is usually known for his calm demeanour but he turns into an enthusiastic little kid when he gets going about his recently-launched novel, Machiavelli Kaapiyam. “This is a sequel to Aagol that has been in the making for two years now. We had the release of Aagol’s English version as well in the interim. Time just flew between the first and the second instalment,” he begins.

Kabilan’s quest for his novels-- Aagol and Machiavelli Kaapiyam (both published by Discovery Publications) was far and wide. His research took him to places that were hardly explored or spoken about before. “Both these books are put together as a five-year project. When I did an extensive research for Aagol, it gave me several leads to Machiavelli Kaapiyam as well, which is an interesting thing. The novel also deals with the criminal tribe act. For that I had to travel to a few parts of Tamil Nadu to understand why, how and where it all started, “ adds the multifaceted writer.

Readers and his followers had commonly asked if Machiavelli Kaapiyam, despite being a sequel, would work as a standalone book. “In my video message, I had said that in order to immerse yourself in the experience and to understand the emotions of each character, it would be a good idea to skim through Aagol once. However, Machiavelli Kaapiyam would also work well as a standalone novel and also I have provided the synopsis of Aagol in the front page of this book. Though it wouldn’t be convoluted, understanding the universe would be better if they know Aagol,” Kabilan clarifies.

Not the one to rest on the laurels with the success of Aagol, Kabilan’s vision of cyber security has taken a bigger dimension in Machiavelli Kaapiyam. “Cybersecurity was the core of Aagol. In Machiavelli Kaapiyam it will be an advanced version. One part of the story takes place in 2057 and another in 1801 while also touching upon a few more timelines in between these years. To write about the future, I had to study and research on Elon Musk’s technologies, Israel’s internet technologies and based on these I have created my fictional computer technology to the storyline called Mool,” he tells us.

When asked if Italian philosopher Machiavelli plays the protagonist in the story, he stuns us by saying, “Though this is a political novel, it has nothing to do with the Italian philosopher. In fact, Machiavelli is the villain of the story. Nowhere before, a book has been named after its antagonist. In Tamil, Kaapiyam is always named after the hero- Raavana Kaaviyam, Yesu Kaapivam and Seevaga Chintamani, all glorifies the titular characters. But I have taken the unusual path,” he smiles.

The book was launched by the legendary Bharathiraja, who also released Aagol. “Madurai has eight different regions. They call it ‘ettu naadugal’. They are affected by the British’s criminal tribe acts. And Bharathiraja sir is from one of those regions. Who else could be best suited than him to release it for me,” he concludes.