''En Iniya Iyanthira'' ( en, My Dear Machine) is a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
novel written by Indian writer
Sujatha. In the late 1980s Sujatha wrote this novel as a series in the popular Tamil magazine ''
Dinamani Kathir''. Following the success of ''En Iniya Enthira'', Sujatha wrote a follow-up/sequel to this novel, ''
Meendum Jeano
''Meendum Jeano'' ( en, The Return of Jeano) is a Tamil science fiction novel written by Indian writer Sujatha in 1987 as a sequel to '' En Iniya Iyanthira''. Prior to release, it was believed that Rajini's film ''Enthiran'' was based on these ...
''. The novel was made into a
serial and released on
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...
in 1991. The main antagonist Jeeva was played by veteran actor
Charu Haasan
S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best ActorSubha J Rao,Entertainment for a cause, The Hin ...
, Nila by Sivaranjini, Sibi by
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...
and Ravi by
Anand.
The story of the ''En iniya Enthira'' revolves around a dictator who rules India and 3 rebels organising a coup against him including a girl named Nila and a robot dog named Jeeno. The film ''
Enthiran
''Enthiran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first instalment in the ''Enthiran'' franchise. The film stars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with Danny De ...
'' starring
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
is slightly based on this novel.
Plot
The plot opens up in the year 2021 where
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
is ruled by a
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...
called Jeeva. In his rule, the population is kept under control by killing elderly people when they cross the prescribed age limit. Everyone is allotted a unique name with two letters by
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...
. Every citizen of the country must strictly adhere to the rules of Jeeva and admire, adore him. The country is in total control of Jeeva's
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...
s. People are identified only with their
social security numbers and all the details are fed and controlled by Master Computer at Capital City.
On a New Year's Eve, Nila, a homemaker is very delighted for having the Government's permission letter to have a boy baby from Population Control Board. She intimates the news to her husband Sibi. While Government, allots a home space of Nila's residence for a man named Ravi and his pet Jeano. Jeano is a Robotic pet which can speak. As per the government's rule, home space should not be allotted to more than three people. So Nila's husband leaves to verify about Ravi's allotment but does not return home. Nila, tries to find him but in vain, she uses his social security number but finds that such a person does not exist.
What happened to Sibi? What is the role of Ravi in Sibi's disappearance? How Nila finds her husband and a shocking truth about Jeeva and his dictatorship with the help of Jeano?
The rest of story moves with the answers to these questions.
Characters
Themes
Very
high tech
High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest tec ...
computer technology terms are used in the story. Jeano, a pet robot plays an important role throughout the story. As the story proceeds, it
behaves and starts to think on its own like a human and instructs Nila, a human being to proceed further. The writer's perspective of a
future India interests readers and paves a new way to science fiction.
See also
*
Indian science-fiction films
The genre of science fiction has been prevalent in the Indian film industry since the second half of the 20th century. Beginning in 1952, the Tamil film '' Kaadu'' was made, which was an Indian-American co-production. The 1963 Tamil film ''Kalai ...
References
External links
*
En Iniya Iyanthira' at
Goodreads
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
.
{{Sujatha
1980s science fiction novels
Tamil novels
20th-century Indian novels
Indian science fiction novels
Indian novels adapted into television shows
Novels set in the 21st century
Fiction set in 2021
Science fiction novels adapted into films
1980 Indian novels