We could have seen many women responding with an embarrassing smile to our question,
"children...?". Only they can feel the pain behind that smile. Aside from the individual longing for
a child, the stigmas imposed on masculinity/femininity in the family and society over infertility
can multiply this pain. The unspeakable agony of physical and mental trauma caused by the
treatments for child birth is a separate story. Lavanya Sundarrajan's Kayampoo gives the reader
the experiences of many dimensions of the pain of infertility that the general society is not
aware of. The story narrates Nandini's tragic journeys in both inner and outer worlds. Lavanya
tells the story with sensitive and mature approach. The narrative does not heap complaints on
anyone. One of the elements of solid fictional work is to make the readers feel the experiences
expressed in the work as their own. 'Kayambu' is one such work.