We identify ourselves some of the struggles especially the middle class ones when we read about them in a story or a novel. We recall similar sacrifices made by our parents/brothers/sisters and the story strikes a chord. 'Prize' by Sujatha (Eldorado – Sujatha and Nagaram – City – Sujatha) is one such short story. You desperately wish the... Continue Reading →
Father by My Side – பக்கத்தில் வந்த அப்பா – Sundara Ramasamy
We always see the young generation have better grasp on advancement in technology. We caught up with computing (how to use a PC and Laptop) better than our parents did and see our children use social media and smart phone so effortlessly when we are baffled by it. I call myself very tech savvy, but... Continue Reading →
Stamp Album – Sundara Ramasamy
I have already introduced Sundara Ramasamy, a great Tamil short story writer to readers through the short story - Prasadam. Su Ra's Stamp Album is another story which will appear in my 100 best short stories. The writers brings out the emotions of young children brilliantly in this story. Read on....... Stamp Album ஸ்டாம்பு ஆல்பம்... Continue Reading →
Romancing the RX-100 – A Southern Odyssey -1993. Part -1.
“Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive” - Robert M Pirsig. Every man, according to me, makes one life defining travel unless of course he or she is Ibn Battuta where travel itself becomes life. If we leave out the early homo sapiens migration who travelled to populate the earth, the earliest travelers... Continue Reading →
Prasadam – Prasad – Sundara Ramasamy
In the early nineties, when I was selling speciality chemical to Paper Mills, I used to travel in a 100 CC Motorcycle across Maharashtra, clocking thousands of kilometres every month. One afternoon, after riding 250 KMs, I presented myself before the General Manager of a Paper Mill. He was a Bengali and my dis-shelved looks... Continue Reading →
The Destructive Duo: Part 2
After reading The Destructive Duo: Part-1, a friend commented that my narration reminded him of Richmal Crompton stories - "William and his outlaws' Adventures." Since we grew up without reading Hardy Boys and Enid Blyton or Compton for that matter, I could not recollect William stories. But I was happy to note that readers could... Continue Reading →
The Destructive Duo: Part-1
The famous Murphy law states, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." JK (my brother, first appeared in A Sunday, A Yezdi and An Adventure (To all those Yezdi lovers)) and I read this idiom much later in life. By that time, we had made attempts to repair everything from torchlights to transistor radios... Continue Reading →
The God and Kandasamy Pillai – Pudumaipithan
Pudumaipithan was one of the most influential writer in Tamil and major contributor to Manikkodi Litrerary Movement. His stories are characterized by social thinking and satire and progressive for the era. My personal favorite is 'The God and Kandasamy Pillai - கடவுளும் கந்தசாமி பிள்ளையும்." The equanimity of the struggling doctor is just amazing. The satire and the... Continue Reading →
Life is an Illusion – Vaazhve Maayam
"There is no pious like the new convert" says an old adage. The dictionary defines 'pious' as religious, devoted, dedicated etc. The original saying must have meant the religious converts but later the saying was used to identify people who have found faith in new ways of life. For example you can use it to... Continue Reading →