In the landscape of contemporary Sri Lankan literature, Ayathurai Santhan occupies a space defined by “quiet realism.” He is a writer who eschews the bombast of political rhetoric, choosing instead to document the tectonic shifts of history through the lens of a domestic kitchen or a silent street. With his fourth novel, Twice Over a Lifetime, Santhan solidifies his reputation as the premier chronicler of the Tamil experience, moving beyond the immediate terror of conflict into the complex, fractured geography of the global aftermath.
To appreciate the weight of this work, one must view it as the final movement in a four-part literary symphony: the domestic journey in Rails Run Parallel, the war-time stagnation of The Whirlwind, the international expansion of Every Journey Ends, and finally, the spiritual and physical quest for closure in Twice Over a Lifetime.
________________________________________
The Evolution of a Voyage: Santhan’s Previous Works
Santhan’s career has been a study in movement—and its various costs. In his debut, Rails Run Parallel, the physical journey from Colombo to Jaffna via the Yarl Devi express mirrored the internal struggle for identity. The rails symbolized the inescapable duality of the Tamil experience: the parallel tracks of love and hate, past and present.
His second novel, The Whirlwind (Suzhal), represented the violent halt of that journey. Here, the movement was chaotic and internal, focusing on the “whirlwind” of displacement within the Jaffna Peninsula. The camera lens narrowed to the domestic sphere, capturing the agony of survival under the shadow of bunkers and checkpoints.
However, it was his third novel, Every Journey Ends, that first broke the island’s borders. By taking the narrative to Russia and India, Santhan began to explore the Tamil identity not just as a local concern, but as a global condition. It set the stage for a world where “home” is no longer a single coordinate on a map.
Twice Over a Lifetime takes these elements—the journey, the stagnation, and the global reach—and weaves them into a narrative about the ultimate challenge: rebuilding a soul after it has been fractured by history.
________________________________________
Plot and Structure: The Search for Closure
Structured with the deceptive simplicity of a travel narrative, Twice Over a Lifetime unfolds like a “treasure hunt” across time and space. Set against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s fuel crisis, the protagonist embarks on a journey to find closure for a relationship abruptly severed years prior.
Unlike the frantic pacing of typical war narratives, this story moves with deliberate, contemplative grace. It shifts fluidly between the streets of Colombo, the cold expanses of Toronto, and an unexpected African safari. By connecting these disparate locations, Santhan illustrates that for the survivor, the “battlefield” is no longer a physical place; it is a psychological state that follows you across oceans.
________________________________________
The African Safari: Juxtaposition and Perspective
A significant highlight of this fourth novel is Santhan’s focus on landscape as a character. His minute descriptions of the African safari provide a masterclass in vicarious pleasure. This segment serves as a brilliant counterpoint to his earlier works:
• While The Whirlwind was defined by the claustrophobia of war, the safari represents a raw, untamed freedom.
• The “hunted” feeling of the protagonist’s past in Jaffna is juxtaposed with the natural hierarchy of the wild, where danger is primal rather than political.
Santhan’s “economy of language” ensures these descriptions are never merely decorative. They serve to ground the protagonist (and the reader) in the physical world, offering a “quiet touch of optimism” even amidst the debris of memory.
________________________________________
Themes: The Difficulty of the “Second Life”
The central theme—captured perfectly in the title—is the economy of loss. Santhan suggests that while one only dies once, the displaced are often forced to learn how to live twice.
• Humanity over Villainy: A hallmark of Santhan’s writing is his empathy. His characters are fallible and tired, but they are never caricatures of evil. He understands that systemic violence turns everyone into a survivor of sorts.
• Resilience: There is a zest for life in this novel that mirrors the author’s own. Santhan proves that “peace” is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of the will to continue.
• The Impossibility of Return: Building on the themes of Every Journey Ends, Santhan argues that for the diaspora, “return” is a myth. You can visit the streets of your youth, but you cannot inhabit the life you once had.
________________________________________
Voice and Language
Santhan’s prose remains spare and loaded. Even in English, the Tamil sensibility—its proverbs, its specific silences, and its reverence for the landscape—comes through clearly. He is a writer of restraint; a single sentence about a mother’s silent prayer or a burnt library often carries more grief than a hundred pages of melodrama.
________________________________________
Twice Over a Lifetime is a haunting, necessary conclusion to the themes Santhan has been exploring for decades. It is more than a novel; it is a witness statement. It demands that we acknowledge the “aftershocks” of war that continue to vibrate in kitchens and classrooms long after the guns have fallen silent.
For readers of Michael Ondaatje or Shyam Selvadurai, this is essential reading. It is a story for anyone who has ever lost their way and had to find a second path home. As Santhan poignantly illustrates, some must learn to live twice, and through his eyes, we finally understand the cost of that survival.
Verdict: A quiet masterpiece. Santhan doesn’t shout to be heard; his words resonate because they are true.
