"Tukayachi Awli (तुकयाची आवली)" a Marathi novel by Manjushree Gokhle.
Jijabai, better known as Awli, was Sant Tukaram's (संत तुकाराम) second wife. Very little information is available about her and what kind of a person she was. She is considered as a women opposed to Tukaram, always insulting him without appreciation and a loud mouth. This fictional novel tries to dispel the notion and tries to portray her in a different light.
The book starts from the childhood of Awli, passes through her engagement, marriage, wifehood and motherhood, Tukaram's sadeh waikuntha gaman (सदेह वैकुंठ गमन) and till the end of her life.
Her relationship with Vithoba is presented beautifully. Rather than being that of bhakt / god it is sometime that of a child who has right to complain about the behavior of his parents or that of an outright enemy or envy. Manjushree tries to convey, rather successfully, that general public could not understand the hardships Awli had to go through due to Tukaram's Vitthal bhakti and his general ignorance of wife / children & how a mother can threaten even 'The God' when it comes to the matter of life and death of her children.
Awli loves Tukaram but is livid about his inaction and not carrying out his responsibilities towards his family. Actually Awli makes Vithoba a medium to convey her anger and feelings to Tukaram who has gone beyond earthly pleasures. The world branded her as anti Vithoba, mannerless and a loud mouth but no one tried to understand her feelings, the hardships she went through to make the ends meet.
Vitthal-Rakhumai, the Gods, are important characters in this story, mostly silent observers. Vithoba is shown repenting for taking Tukaram away from her.
Author had spent a third of the book until Awli and Tukaram's marriage. But it was worth it. Awli's outbursts against Vithoba and the words used by author have become repetative and thus become a sour note.
Manjushree has captured all the minute things and behaviors of the rural life of those times in great details, as if she was there during the period.
It's a good book, but at the end I had a feeling that it could have been better.
Read for the novelty.
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