Perumal Murugan’s intimate look into the lives of his college students from small-town Tamil Nadu

We use gifts and donations to express our affection or to reciprocate a good turn. These gifts have the ability to always move us when we see them or recall the moment they were given. At a time when the teacher was a traditional guru and the place of learning a gurukula, the practices of making offerings to and honouring the guru were prevalent. Today, even though that system of learning is extinct, the customs of paying one’s respects and making offerings to a teacher have not yet died out. After all, no traditional practice disappears overnight; its half-life continues for a long time.

The respect my students show me is limitless. There are a few who get up even when they talk to me over the phone, not to mention those who refuse to sit in my presence. Although I disapprove of such behaviour, I have been unable to put an end to it. Similarly, despite all my strictures, I have been unable to stop my students from buying or bringing me gifts whenever they call on me. One of my students, Kathirvel, lives with his widowed mother, who sells vegetables. Whenever I pass by his house, I take a…

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