(by G Waugh)
“Kadaisi Tamizhanin Raththam Ezhum Vezhaadhe!!!”
(The last drop of a Tamil’s blood will not fall, but rise!!)
“Oh how?Do the blood of Tamils have a different set of genetic instructions that make it rise against the pull of gravity?”
I know my question to my fellow ‘Tamilanda’ office team-mate was absurd and silly. It is a poem/song that is meant to rouse the passions of Tamils and it doesn’t need to follow the boring restrictions of scientific logic. But my question shall I know, hold good for even any sober argument my fellow Tamils bring up to defend the hallowed culture and race of their motherland.
***
“Can you list the greatest literary achievement ever made in Tamil?”
“Yes, there are eighteen in all. We call it Pathinenkeezhkanakku”
“Can you please quote me a few lines from any one of the eighteen?”
This will be the end of any conversation I have with my ‘Tamilanda’ friend.
By the time I begin asking him, “For a race whose pride is strongly built upon nothing but its language, shouldn’t you guys know at least something about your language? Or am I asking too much?” he would have vacated the seat in front of me and walking across the aisle with his shoulder facing me.
***
I am sure most of the Tamils today just like me would have learnt a few nuggets from Pathinenkeezhkanakku in school just like how they repeated mantras narrated by the priest during their marriages. But close to fifteen years from that age where we loathed pretty much everything about our language, we have come to a time when we have at last woken up to the faint murmurs of Mother Tamil calling out for us from somewhere for help. Right from the days of the Jallikattu protest in 2017, a sizable portion of my friends became converts to the Tamil cause. I know the reason, it is all political and that has to do with the attitude of the ruling dispensation at the Centre towards us and as a practical man with common sense, I choose to side with anything that is anti-Hindutva and anti-Fascist when it comes to politics.
But as a Tamil, right from my childhood I wasn’t strangely, taught to love my language enough. My father was the first man in his family who could read and write English really well. He was a seasoned writer of political pamphlets for his Trade Union and he worked on his English to suit the demands at his Union Office. And my father’s generation was the one that bore a strong affinity to the foreign language which sometimes curiously morphed into a mild antipathy towards their mother tongue. My dad had the habit of instantly drawing close to a few of my friends who could speak good English on account of their ‘better’ family upbringing and he wanted me just like every other father, to better him in terms of English vocabulary and grammatical correctness. And even if I had a strong attraction to Tamil short stories that came as part of my non-detail in the school syllabus, I wasn’t encouraged to develop and nurture it. As a result, I inherited his antipathy towards the language to a considerable extent and when Kamal corrects the interviewer who asks about his mother tongue with a solid retort ‘I am a Taymil-speaking Indian’ in Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, I used to cheer.
Whenever I had the opportunity to listen to Karunanidhi’s dialogue in his MGR-Sivaji movies and get mesmerized at how well he handles his alliteration and rhyme with an extraordinary command over the language, one part of me badly wanted to learn more about Tamil literary classics but most people in my circle used to discourage me that it was a useless exercise.
“Most scientific literature and technological ideas have originated only in English. So try to learn and master that. Reading Tamil is of no use!”
***
During train journeys to my Office at Mahindra City I always took pride in holding either a Dostevysky novel or a PG Wodehouse classic whenever I had the chance to get seated against a good-looking girl. This was one reason why my initiation into Tamil literature came pretty late. My exposure to the greatest international literary classics ranging from Tolstoy to Camus to Marquez to Dickens not only changed my ideas about perceiving languages but also stunned my understanding of human psychology, societal behaviour and transformed it into something else. There was a time when I used to recommend some of these Western classics to a lot of my friends who were bent on expanding their knowledge horizons. But strangely none of them managed to finish these books complaining of either difficult language or cultural alienation or both. When they used to ask me are there any Tamil writers whom I know, I never had any answers.
Soon I had the chance to read my first Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki which was interesting but overlong and rambling to my taste. I then started a novel about farmers by Vairamuthu which was another big disappointment. Even when I was ready to forgo my antipathy towards it, my mother tongue I felt, was not ready to welcome me into its fold.
***
Some five years back my friend lent me a copy of Pallikondapuram by Neela Padmanabhan. The cover had a hand-drawn illustration of a charming woman typical of many drawings we see in Kumudham, Vikatan and Kalki. It lay in my shelf for close to a year and I had no interest of opening it.
My friend one day asked me to return the book if I was not reading it. I thought about it and asked him for a month’s extension and started the book the same night.
I returned the book to him within just a week. He was surprised,
“Dei, you asked for one month time. Why are you returning it so soon? You didn’t read?”
I replied,
“We were going to Moscow and Paris and London for great literature all these days. How come did we miss someone who was at Nagercoil?”
“So you liked it?”
“Dei it simply blew me away!”
***
Aadhavan’s Kakidha Malargal came up next. The hero Chellappa was nothing but me who was born in a well-to-do family located somewhere in Delhi.
La Sa Ramamirtham’s Sindhanadhi was the finest memoir I had ever read in my life.
Jayakanthan’s Parisuku Po put Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy to shame. His Oru Nadigai Nadagam Parkiral and Rishimoolam easily beat the standards set by the existentialist writers of the twentieth century Europe.
S Ramakrishnan’s Ubapandavam reinterpreted Mahabharata to me in a whole new way that I had to read four more books on the epic to understanding some of its really ‘epic’ dimensions.
Jeyamohan’s Vishnupuram handled questions deftly that arose in me whenever I was neck-deep in Western philosophy written by Nietzsche or Kant or Marx.
***
A lot of streets and bridges and towns in Europe are named after Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Dickens and whenever Japan’s Haruki Murakami returns to his homeland for launching his new book, hordes and hordes of people gather to see him in the airport. The first ten thousand copies or so of his books are usually pre-booked and some writers in Europe regardless of their capacity and achievement have financially enough to support at least their one generation from now.
In Tamil on the other hand, whenever a new book is released the total number of copies that come out in the first edition even if it is written by the number-one writer in the language, does not exceed a paltry thousand. Recently the only mainstream magazine that focused on serious Tamil literature was shutdown owing to a complete lack of demand and resources even if it was run by a decade-old popular publishing company.
***
When JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye released, it was received like a Steven Spielberg-blockbuster all over the world. This led the author to flee his home and take refuge in a lesser-known village where he wouldn’t be troubled much. You see similar stories of famous authors all over Europe finding it difficult to handle issues related to sudden ‘stardom’ and fame that their literary works win for them instantly.
S Ramakrishnan in his blog reserves a ton of gratitude for his wife who has been taking care of the family’s financial needs all these years that allowed him the peace and concentration needed to take care of his literary duties.
Jeyamohan in his blog says that he usually refrains from commenting on his cinema work since he feels strongly that cinema is not certainly his domain and that he likes to be judged based only on his literary accomplishments. When asked why he was writing for movies if he does not like the medium much, he told he was paid in millions for just a few months’ work there which helps him cover all his survival expenses for years together. Remember Jeyamohan has sold the highest number of books ever in Tamil in the last two decades or so but he has no qualms in admitting that his remuneration for a single star-vehicle in Tamil cinema sometimes exceeds the entire lifetime earnings that he has hitherto derived from his literary career.
What one must understand from the words of Jeyamohan and S Ramakrishnan is only one thing- the Tamil writer is simply a hapless creature. His intelligence and depth in knowledge is underappreciated only because of one reason – his language. But ironically the place of birth of his language has historically proven to be a hotbed of linguistic nationalism populated by thousands of self-appointed custodians who have owed to shed every drop of their blood towards safeguarding their language.
***
“You guys say that your language is older than all the seas and mountains in the world. But if you read a few lines from the verses composed during that time, you don’t understand even one word of it. So how can you call ‘that’ language ‘your’ language?”
“Our language has evolved according to time and human needs. If I don’t understand that, it is not my fault”, My Tamizhanda friend answered.
“Ok you guys cannot understand the language of Ilangovadigal and SeethalaiSaathanar, I get it. Do you know any modern classics in Tamil? Written by Jayakanthan or Asokamitran or Pudhumaipithan?”
“No. We don’t need them to feel proud about. See this Whatsapp forward. It tells how advanced Tamils were in methods of child-birth, in treating diseases, in inventing new tools”
Suddenly I was confused whether I was talking to a Tamil patriot or a Hindutva nationalist. I did not want to continue my conversation with him and waste my time. So I decided to flee the place.
“Jai Shree Ram, Oh Sorry, Tamizhanda!!!”
Baradwaj Rangan 
brangan
September 12, 2020
I had a similar “overlong and rambling” experience with KADAL PURA. And it made me think how I am able to read and enjoy “overlong and rambling” Tolstoy novels, for instance — probably because my eyes fly across the page faster.
Even with comedy, I love Wodehouse, but am not that big a fan of the THUPPARIYUM SAMBU books (not an exact comparison, I know).
The Tamil novels I gravitate to are the ones by the more modern/serious writers you mention, like Jeyakanthan, who I adore and who I am SURE has shaped a lot of my thinking/writing today.
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Prakash
September 12, 2020
Excellent article. I remember my school days when I used to get into trouble for arguing there is nothing great just because our language is old. Can you please suggest good novels in Tamil? I want to read them. But I don’t know where to start.
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stratpolitik
September 12, 2020
Excellent article. I first felt it was an unnecessary political rambling but finally the point you have made is so relevant. Moved to read Tamil books – any place to start with?
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Macaulay Perapulla
September 12, 2020
This is a topic very close to my heart. Few years back, my friend and I started a nonprofit organisation called Mandram, primarily for this reason. And last year, I quit my job to do this work full-time. At Mandram, we provide a forum for scientists, technologists, artists, farmers and experts to present their work in tamizh, kannada and hindi. We’ve had biologists talk about tulsi genome in tamizh, inventing new scientific words in due course, we’ve had zoho CTO, explain history of AI, coining new words for neural networks. We’ve had evolutionary biologists talk about their work in chaste hindi. We have been doing niche curated events with a small audience regularly for the past three years.
Today, most of us, are grandsons of Macaulay, whether we like it or not. When I decided to build Mandram, the question that was gnawing inside was this: Why am I not able to articulate my deepest thoughts in Tamil? Although I had studied Tamil for many years, like most other Indo Anglians, English became my lingua franca, my only vehicle to think my thoughts.
“Indo Anglians” is the best phrase that sums up our current state. https://scroll.in/magazine/867130/indo-anglians-the-newest-and-fastest-growing-caste-in-india
Today, most Indo anglians have been wired to think in English. Few of us, I suppose I can include you in that list, are scrambling to re-cognize our lost connection to our roots.
Coming to the main point,
““Most scientific literature and technological ideas have originated only in English. So try to learn and master that. Reading Tamil is of no use!”
When I became a parent few years ago, one of the fascinating things I discovered is how pregnancy is a process of imitating human evolution. Since my wife and I decided to have pregnancy through a mid-wife, not preferring hospitals where pregnant women are treated as patients, I started researching pregnancy and figuring out how do we consciously participate in this. And the most fascinating insight was this: In every birth process, we are replaying human evolution in a fast-forward way.. And this fast-forward loop process of human evolution happens even in education. Now, today in schools, we first learn “Two in the hand, Two in the head”, and learn abacus related processes before we learn calculus and so on.
And so we carry the confusion europeans must have felt when arabic numerals came to europe. Can you imagine the confusion early Europeans must have had, who are trained in roman numeral system, when they first encountered zero, place value system which came from arabic numerals? No wonder most of us approach mathematics today with fear and confusion.
Today, most of us think that mathematics came from Greece, and science and technology which was derived from those fundamental systems, are an outcome of a vast complex process of history that was largely sponsored by colonialism. Unless we understand where we come from, and investigate our roots, we will continue to go to Moscow and London for great literature and creativity, ignoring our own nagercoil and coimbatore.
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krishikari
September 12, 2020
Yet another wonderful article from you Jeeva, and that it comes with so many authors to seek out and read is a bonus. … in translation, unfortunately for me 😦
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Anu Warrier
September 12, 2020
*an you imagine the confusion early Europeans must have had, who are trained in roman numeral system, when they first encountered zero, place value system which came from arabic numerals? *
The Zero came from India, and travelled to Europe through Arabia. What the world knows as ‘Arabic numerals’ was the original Indic numeric system. There’s a fascinating book on the History of Mathematics (3 volumes – or 4, I forget) that traces the origins of not only numbers but also the great discoveries in the subject.
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Eswar
September 13, 2020
This is fantastic Jeeva. See, we have found a common ground 😀. Not just in Tamil books. But also in Mahindra City. I grew up on the other side of Mahindra City, in Chengalpattu. And I have done that train journey quite a few times if not regularly.
Have you read Raj Gauthaman’s Pattum Thogaiyum Tholkappiyamum Thamizh Samooga Uruvakkamum? Your mentioning about Pathinenkeezh Kanakku reminded me of this book. I found it heavy and not exactly an easy read. But you may enjoy the book because of your interest in history.
For many years Ponniyin Selvan was the only Tamil book I had read, and only in the last few years I have started reading regularly based on the recommendations from Jeyamohan and S.Ramakrishnan. So I am looking forward for your recommendations for Prakash and Stratpolitik. I will nick a few from that list.
I have rarely seen Indian books discussed this blog, both in the articles and in comments, and here you have started on Tamil books. Earlier Sujatha and now this one. Thank you.
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Enna koduka sir pera
September 13, 2020
Very nice article! What a frequency of publishing articles – you are on a literary jet engine 🙂
I think why an average Tamil person is not familiar with Tamil literature is probably because spoken Tamil is so different from written Tamil. You need good Tamil teachers to get you into reading and understanding Tami literature. Having said this, I am certainly with you on how I feel about the Tamzhan da patriots..
I love reading Tamil literature and I haven’t read as much as I would like. Thanks for the recommendations. In my opinion, nothing else that I have read can come close to conveying the emotion/feeling in a grandiose manner like thooya Tamil. For example, phrases like these
‘இடி இடி என்று சிரித்தார் ‘
‘எள்ளி நகையாடினர் ‘
‘அண்ட கடாகங்கள் வெடித்தன ‘
Kettale pullarikkium. Pesave avlo azhaga irukum.
I had an excellent Tamil teacher in school and it was one of my favorite subjects. I loved reading excerpts from Silappathikaaram and other classic Tamil literature. The mozhi nayam and how classical Tamil sounds when you read those lines aloud made me go “Paahhh”.
A favorite memory from my 8th std is one where we learnt a lesson on Kattabomman. It was in a play format, and had the historic lines :”மஞ்சள் அரைப்பாயா, நாத்து நடுவாயா..” and I used to role play with my friends outside of school and take turns to speak those lines. The other person would play Jackson durai and speak the ‘Enna man nee’ style of British Tamil (popularized in movies of course).
Even now, when I hear good Tamil in movie songs, I enjoy them so much. Unfortunately I feel there aren’t many who can excellent lyrics in thooya Tamil these days (like Magarandham thedi nugarum munne in Nallai Allai – Enna oru mozhi nayam!!) I am not at all a fan of colloquial or even average Tamil lyrics (like Ovvoru pookalume )
Of modern Tamil literature, I have only read Kalki and a couple of others. Kalki’s writing was excellent. Excited to try some of the books suggested here.
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Guru
September 13, 2020
Last 50 years of TN politics is the reason for the decline in Tamizh language among people especially youth. It’s used for invoking people emotionally, and nothing else.
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Eswar
September 13, 2020
The Zero came from India, and travelled to Europe through Arabia..
According to The Sceptical Patriot zero has two usages. As a placeholder in a number like 2601. Second one is the number itself and the mathematical operations on it. According to Sidin Vadukut a.k.a the sceptical patriot, it is the second usage that evolved in India. The former usage dates back even before that. And of course these are only historical facts and they carry the potential to become less accurate with newer information.
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AdhithyaKR
September 13, 2020
Great article! Got a lot of recommendations from the text as well. Could you suggest some books to gain an ‘epic’ perspective of Mahabharata?
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Nai segar
September 13, 2020
Good literature exists in all languages (as human feelings are universal). The pertinent question is why tamil literature is under-appreciated by tamilians. We do know how great our culture, language etc. is but we exactly don’t know why/ are not able to substantiate it primarily because we ourselves haven’t experienced its greatness. Once we study it for ourselves and truly understand how rich and vast it is can we be in a position to properly explain it to others. Otherwise, it’s just vain pride oozing out of an identity wound.
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Nai segar
September 13, 2020
Ideal place to start off in your journey to tamil literature which you can actually understand, enjoy and appreciate would be songs (poetry).
Vaali, Vairamuthu and Kannadasan’s poetry is just as good and in a way essence of the whole canon of tamil literature.
Also another authoritative beginning would be with the State Tamil textbooks that are available online and give a very good introduction and details on how to learn tamil effectively.
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Anu Warrier
September 13, 2020
My written Tamil has fallen off due to lack of usage. 😦 And it wasn’t as if I was very fluent in it in the first place. The only Tamil literature I have read is in translation. And they are not easy to come by. Any books that any of you could recommend that is available in translation would be welcome.
@ Easwar – Yes, that’s exactly how the History of Mathematics described it.
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
September 13, 2020
Thanks Prakash, StratPolitik, Krishikari, Eswar, Enna koduka Sir Pera and KR Adhitya for your kind words.
I think I have mentioned my recommendations in the article itself. For starters, it is always better to start with Sujatha. Slowly you can move to Asokamitran, Pudhumaipithan (short stories). By the time you are familiar with these guys, you would find new windows opened and you might be receptive to different and even difficult ideas. Jayakanthan is according to me the uncrowned king of modern Tamil literature. He is easily Tamilnadu’s answer to European literary giants.
La Sa Ramamirtham makes you fall in love with the prose that you would be hooked to the page even when he is describing something as ordinary as paint drying on the wall. Aadhavan’s short stories are also great to read.
Jeyamohan’s Vishnupuram is Tamilnadu’s answer to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. And I have read his Pin Thodarum Nizhalin Kural which is something every communist in the town has to read. His other novels, I haven’t read are Rubber and Kottravai. If you are able to finish Jeyamohan’s works, you will be at least ten times more intelligent than you are now, you shall be more proficient in the language and most importantly your political and historical consciousness shall be sharpened to a great degree. But Jeyamohan can depress even the most light-hearted reader and his prose is often heavy duty. So it is better to take him in light doses whose intervals the reader has to adjust based on his convenience. But he is easily one of the greatest writers in Tamil. He has completed serialising the Mahabharata recently as a novel which is available in his website(Jeyamohan.in) for free. It is called Venmurasu and is the longest novel in the world I suppose.
I haven’t read Thi Janakiraman, Ki Rajnarayan yet. After all my exposure to Tamil literature is very less compared to that in English. May be others can give more recommendations.
KR Adhitya: The Mahabharata is the greatest story ever told in the world. I started it with as I said Ubapandavam by S Ramakrishnan. It is one of the best novels on Mahabharata I have read. The prose is mesmerising.
MT Vasudevan Nair’s Irandam Idam (Randamoozham) narrates the epic from Bhima’s perspective.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Palace of Illusions is a fun take on Mahabharata from Draupadi’s angle.
VS Khandekar’s Marathi novel Yayati is a small sub-story of the Mahabharata but beautifully narrated. Try to find a good translation.
If you want to know the story as written by Vyas, it is better you take Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya. It is something like a Wikipedia version of the epic. But it is extremely accurate and doesn’t have the deficiencies of someone’s versioning.
If you want to consume the whole of the epic in its mammoth proportions, it is better to read Venmurasu by Jeyamohan. I have read only his first instalment in the 25-book series.It was terrific.
Irawati Karve’s Yuganta gives a scholarly analysis on the characters in the epic.
I wish to read more versions of the epic from other languages as well. I think SL Bhyrappa from Kannada has also written a book on the epic. Yet to read. But still there are many more to go.
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Eswar
September 14, 2020
@Anu Warrier: As I can read in Tamil, I haven’t read much in translation. I have read only a couple of short stories in this list in English. I hope you get a chance to read a few and hopefully they are as good as the original works.
Fictions: Pudumaipithan (Katha Classics) – Translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom. https://www.amazon.com/Pudumaippitan-Lakshmi-Holmstrom/dp/8187649534
I have read only one story from this collection The Great Cremation Ground the translation of Mahamasaanam which was published in an anthology: The unhurried city – Writings on Chennai.
Cat in the Agraharam and Other Stories
In that same anthology was also Dilip Kumar’s Theervu translated as The Solution which I really enjoyed. The Solution is part of Dilip Kumar’s new book Cat in the Agraharam and Other Stories which I have marked to read.
p.s. This is also available as Kadavau in Tamil.
There is also Dilip Kumar edited The Tamil Story: Through The Times, Through The Tides on my reading list.
Dilip Kumar himself has an interesting background for a Tamil writer.
https://scroll.in/magazine/875927/how-a-gujarati-speaker-in-chennai-became-an-acclaimed-tamil-writer-and-anthologist
—
Lakshmi Holmstrom who translated Puthumaipithan (mentioned above) has also translated few other works. I have read the below books in Tamil and I have enjoyed them.
Beasts of Burden is the translation of Imayam’s Koveru Kazhuthaigal
A Kitchen in the Corner of the House – The titular story is part of Ambai’s Amma Oru Kolai Seithal a book I very much enjoyed. This book appears to include many short stories from that collection.
Mauni: Mauni’s contribution to Tamil literature is just one book, a collection of short stories. Depending upon the reader his work can be either stunning or utterly unreadable. Because, he grabs that single fleeting emotion that appears in our stream of consciousness and gives words to it.
Water: Translation of Ashokamitran’s Thanneer by Lakshmi Holmstrom.
Heat: Translation of Poomani’s Vekkai which was made as Asuran recently. I enjoy Poomani’s writing but he is also another writer I think is challenging to translate.
The Eighteenth Parallel: Translation of Ashokamitran’s 18 Vathu Atchakodu.
One Part Woman: Translation of Perumal Murugan’s controversialized Mathorupagan. I have mixed feelings about the book mainly because I read during the peak of the controversy. Here is Nilanjana Roy writing about it: https://nilanjanaroy.com/2015/01/21/please-leave-him-alone-reading-perumal-murugan/
—
The below books I have neither read in Tamil nor in English, but are in my perpetual reading list for ages. But I am sure one day I will finish reading A.K.Ramanujan’s work.
Where Are You Going, You Monkeys? – Folktales from Tamil Nadu – Ki.Rajanarayanan
The Blaft Anthology of Tamip Pulp Fiction: It is a translation of Tamil pulp fiction including the works of Rajesh Kumar, Indra Soundar Rajan (Vidathu Karuppu fame). I have read some good words about it when it was first published.
Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil : Translation of Etthu Thogai and Patthu Pattu from the Sangam Literature. Translated by A.K.Ramanujan, I have huge expectations for this book.
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krishikari
September 14, 2020
Thanks for this great list! I have been looking for Tamil Stories for ages. I love Perumal Murugan, that whole One part Woman trilogy is beautifully translated.
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Anu Warrier
September 14, 2020
@Easwar, wow! Thanks a tonne! Now I know what books to buy the next time I’m in India.
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Ravi K
September 14, 2020
Are there any Tamil writers that write in a more colloquial form?
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hari
September 14, 2020
Eswar, The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction is a good one, some friend’s friends were involved in the work.
Thanks for the other suggestions.
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Varsha Ganesh
September 15, 2020
Gosh, your article and the recommendations in the comments have given me serious FOMO. I used to love reading Tamil novels back when I was in school and it all but stopped after college. Every few years, I re-read one of Kalki’s books and swear to myself that I’ll pick Tamil books again and never follow through. I got my hands on Maathorubaagan and started reading it only to find that I had become excruciatingly slow and had to switch over to One Part Woman to finish the novel.
Jeeva- were you rusty too when you started again after a while? Does sliding in slowly with easy reads like Sujatha make it easier? I’m really curious about your comment on the Mahabharata too. What made you read all those different interpretations on it? Why wasn’t one version enough for a story that you’d know by heart by now?
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Eswar
September 15, 2020
Ravi K: Are there any Tamil writers that write in a more colloquial form?
Ravi K, by colloquial, I am assuming you mean pechu vazhakku. There are writers who use this form. In Tamil Nadu, probably true for other regions as well, the pechu vazhakku is different in different parts of the state. So these writers use what is called as vattara vazhakku, local dialect, in their writing. Ki.Rajanarayanan is supposed to be a pioneer of this trend and leads the other writers of the karisal bhoomi, Poomani and Cho.Dharman. Similarly Perumal Murugan in the Kongu area and Nanjil Naadan in Nanjil Nadu. This is not to say they do not write any other way. For example Poomani who wrote the colossal Agnaadi documenting the life and livelihood of the people in the karisal area, has also written Naivethyam recounting the collapse of an Agraharam.
While these writers do employ colloquial Tamil, reading their work requires some familiarity with the local dialect. For readers who belong to these areas or have native roots, these books may not pose any challenge on the language front. But for someone like me, who does not have a native and grew up mostly in suburbs of Madras, these writings can be challenging to start with. But after a couple of books, with the help of internet, it will start making sense. If you are looking to start with something more familiar, then the writers that immediately come to my mind are Sujatha and Ashokamitran. Jeyakanthan and Ambai may be but I have read only one of their works. There is no introduction required for Sujatha. For Ashokamitran 18 vathu Atcha Kodu can be a good start. Thanner is also quite good. For anyone who has experienced the Madras water problem of eighties and nineties this book will strike a chord. But Ashokamitran’s speciality is not in the milieu but in his characters.
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AdhithyaKR
September 16, 2020
Thanks for the detailed answer @Jeeva! I’ll check out the books mentioned in the reply.
Funnily enough, S.L. Bhyrappa’s Parva is the only version of the Mahabharata I’ve read (a translation). It’s a very gritty take on the epic narrated in a Game of Thrones style, with each chapter from the POV of a different character, and it’s supposed to be true to historical fact. It portrays war not in a glorious way but for the real mess it is… And the lifestyle of those times is also captured well. The language gets a bit repetitive at times though – maybe the Kannada original reads differently.
I’m just starting out with Tamil literature. Vaadivaasal is another book you might like.
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
September 16, 2020
@varsha yes, it gets difficult when you take a break from Tamil and return to it. And most Tamil writers are too serious as far as I know. Sujatha is the only one who talks right to you. You can have a lot of fun with him and also develop a liking for the language. But if you are a Tamil it is a sin if you die before reading Tamil classic authors.
To your question about the Mahabharata, I have written a special essay on that since it is a question many people have asked me repeatedly and I have always wanted to answer that elaborately. It might be up on this blog soon.
@KR Adhitya I saw your essays on the FC. You are doing great. Are you there on any social media platform? I wanted to talk with you for long.
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hari
September 17, 2020
A political statement that lot may not like – Tamizhans who have suddenly started revering a man who called Tamizh oru kaattu mirandi mozhi ironically are proud to call themselves as Tamizhanda.
Tamizhans who fashionably call their appanum aathalayum as mummy daddy are proud to call themselves as Tamizhanda
Tamizhans who don’t know the difference between ழ ல ள are proud to call themselves as Tamizhanda
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brangan
September 19, 2020
Very relevant to this thread 🙂
“வாசிக்கும் பழக்கம் உள்ள ஒரு இருபது வயதுப் பெண் சொன்னார், எனக்கு சுஜாதாதான் பிடிக்கிறது. ஜெயகாந்தனைப் படித்தால் பயமும் அருவருப்பும் உண்டாகிறது. சமூகம்தான் ஏற்கனவே பயமுறுத்துகிறதே, எழுத்துமா என்றார். அவருக்கு தி. ஜானகிராமனைத் தெரியாது. தி.ஜா. சுஜாதாவை விட மகிழ்ச்சியும் சந்தோஷமும் தரக் கூடிய எழுத்தாளர் என்றால் அந்தப் பெண்ணுக்குப் புரியாது. எனவே சும்மா இருந்து விட்டேன். ”
http://charuonline.com/blog/?p=9367
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