The time: The transition years between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. The space: The fertile delta of the Cauvery. The backdrop: The early stirrings of a freedom struggle against British colonialism in South India. Nothing can disturb the serenity of Tiruvaiyaru, South India, until Panju, a brilliant boy from an orthodox family, decides to join the revolutionary freedom movement. His actions affect not only him, but those he holds close-his sister Janaki who, breaking age-old tradit