Solaimalai Ilavarasi is an excellent novel by Kalki with two timelines - social and historical, a combination of fantasy and reality. The structure of Solaimalai Illavarasi is very interesting albeit the most complex. Kalki combines two stories, one that happened in the early nineteenth century and the other in the year 1942 and narrates them side by side skilfully. The characters of the two stories are the same but with different names, the incidents are not the same but similar. Kalki, using an unique literary structure, compares India of 1842 and of 1942 side by side and explains how the Britishers were able to establish and expand their rule and the epic struggle for freedom. With these two stories in one novel, Kalki manages to capture two periods. This type of structure exhibits Kalki's power in combining two stories of different periods into one. A very entertaining read !