The first Independence Day celebration I remember is the 25th Anniversary of Independence celebrated in 1972. I was nine years old and the Government Primary School where I was studying, arranged an elocution competition. The topic was 'Village or City Life - which is better.' I still remember the teacher who wrote the essay for... Continue Reading →
Naga, dear friend, promptly posted his comments on my last blog, Khrushchev, Gagarin & Kraftwerk. and asked, "What is the connection here?" Nothing except that I read/watched /listened about all the three in one week in April, which, I have mentioned in the blog. Also it was a bit of revenge on him. I have... Continue Reading →
Vinay, my nephew thinks that the competition in India is scary today for getting a job. Of course, being a millennial, he would not know about the India with its noble(?) socialistic ideas which was making the country progress with two to three percent growth. Forget competition, there were no jobs except for the ones... Continue Reading →
To me, Sujatha still remains the most popular writer in Tamil Language. As I have mentioned before, some of his short stories are really good. He is a master storyteller. He constructs his stories concisely and the conversations are always precise. Even a two line description would provide the background and the characters of the... Continue Reading →
Writer Jeyamohan ranks this story of Tamil Novelist Sujatha as one of the best humorous short stories in Tamil. Uncle visit மாமா விஜயம் is my favourite. You can read it here. Horse - குதிரை Some people win lottery. Some people are selected by movie directors while waiting in bus stops and are called for shooting from... Continue Reading →
The stories where children are the main charecters always have a special place in my heart. The great writers bring them to life and long after you have read their stories, you keep wondering what would they be doing now. Pappathi in Sujatha's Nagaram – City – Sujatha does not speak a word. But Rachna, my... Continue Reading →
I think writing humorous stories is more difficult than writing a heart-wrenching hundred pages tome. Only few writers could do that successfully. Wodehouse could write hundreds of novels which could keep you laughing for hours but he was one of his kind. In Tamil, Devan was very successful and his Thuppariyum Sambu (deductive Sambu was... Continue Reading →
I have translated few of Sujatha's short stories here including his best short story Nagaram – City – Sujatha. I selected this story for only one reason. I grew up near Ayodya Mandapam in West Mambalm. We used to go there for religious discourses when we were students. Also during the music sesaon in winter (if... Continue Reading →
Sujatha, probably the most famous Tamil Story writer in the seventies and eighties, wrote this first as an article about his father's illness and his visits to see him. He later compiled this into one long essay. So this is not a short story but his recollection of his father's final days. Some of us... Continue Reading →
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 →
Biking. Adventure. Nostalgia. 