He has now come out with his new book in Tamil "Kozhaiyin Padalgal" ("Songs of a Coward"), which was written during his 'exile'.
These poems speak of the silence, that period when he was fighting the battle internally as well with the external forces. Some are melancholic while others are angry. Most of them have a very stark imagery of nature and use nature emphatically as a metaphor for the poet's anguish.
"There is a piece titled 'Song of a Coward' in this collection. Viewed together, each poem by itself, in a way, appears to be a song of a coward," he says.
On why he used the word coward, he says, "Whether we accept it or not, there comes a moment in everyone's life when they feel that they are a coward or circumstances brand them so."
"Songs of a Coward", published by Penguin Books, is translated from the original by Aniruddhan Vasudevan and has 210 poems of Murugan.
"Because I have a wide range of likes and interests, nothing tortures me. I am always ready to shift from one thing to another."
He feels that there can be neither a writer nor writing without freedom of expression.
Asked if the 'literary exile' motivated him to write more vigorously, he says, "It is not so. I have planned to read a lot of books that I wanted to read. My reading is faster than my writing."
"That novel receiving such recognition has boosted my confidence in writing. Personally speaking, this is what made it significant for me," he says.
Awards and recognitions have increased his sense of responsibility, he says, adding "I find it difficult to shape myself to match this sense of responsibility."
Murugan does not have any immediate plans on his next project.
"It has been nearly three years since I submitted myself to fate without a plan in mind," he says.
But one topic which he has not written about as of yet and wants to deal with is about his ancestors.
An author who writes in Tamil, Murugan says the best works of each Indian language must be translated and this will highlight the fact that amid the linguistic diversity, India is one single entity.
The Tamil author faced protests from Hindutva and caste outfits in 2015 for his novel "Madhorubaga" and later announced in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
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