Writer Sujatha has been a man I have admired all my life though I knew nothing about any of his works for a long time. It is incredible how my parents’ heroes were always embraced by me in blind faith! A week or two before the Endhiran release, I read “En Iniya Iyanthira”. I was fascinated by his imagination, Juno,the brevity of his language and the ease with which he wrote Sci-fi in Tamil. While I enjoyed “..Enthitra”, Srirangathu Devathaigal is really something else. It was a book that tugged heartstrings, triggered memories and made me crave for an era that was all about the moment and simple pleasures. I am sure I romanticize the period in my head too much, but 1960s Madras/India is certainly my “Midnight in Paris”.
Srirangathu Devathaigal, the title itself has a ring of nostalgia and home to it. Through a collection of short stories, Sujatha presents a wonderful slice of life in small town TN from a bygone era of innocence. The stories are filled with very memorable characters; people I can relate to, eccentricities I have heard of and seen in family and neighbours growing up, a certain sense of abandon and carefree-ness that I crave for and an idyllic setting that I am sure is everybody’s idea of the “good-old times”!
Sujatha is wickedly funny (self-deprecating humor in an endearing way), extremely insightful, reflective , sensitive,poignant and empathetic in the right measures. He flawlessly seams in english and vernacular in the narrative, which gives the setting a certain “thinnai-discussion” feel that is incredibly appealing. My favorite in the collection is “ஏறக்குறைய genius”, a story where Sujatha brings out the humor and sadness in the story wonderfully, and the ending is beautifully poetic! “கடவுளுக்கு கடிதம்” is an extremely poignant tale of the exasperating hopelessness and incredible strength of faith, and “பெண் வேஷம்” and “பாம்பு” are howlarious! “சின்ன ர ” while it seemed a little out-of-place in this collection, was extremely clever and had an O.Henry feel to it.
With my reading in Tamil going very well, I have a Jeymohan collection and then hopefully an Ambai one lined up to read. Very exciting times!
Sujatha is a phenomenon in Tamil literature, he has probably inspired more writers in Tamil than anyone else! Simplicity in style, elegance in prose, he can be an Issac Asimov or an R.K Narayanan or an O’Henry, many times all in the same story! “Srirangathu Devathaigal”.is classic.
D has a whole bunch of books by Sujatha. You should touch base with him. In fact he brought one back on his last trip to India last month
@arianbelt – “he can be an Issac Asimov or an R.K Narayanan or an O’Henry, many times all in the same story” – Love that line. Spot on!
@Maga – Oh awesome! For some reason I thought he was not so fond of him..or is it just the movie dialogues?