Come back every Tuesday for a new set of five! This week's selection includes Cho Dharman, Poomani, Chellappa, Ashokamitran and Thoppil Mohamed Meeran.
Sool by Cho Dharman
Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, the novel depicts the life of the ordinary people, traditional knowledge, agricultural practices and water management. The story takes place in Urulaikkudi, the native village of Mr. Dharman, and he has captured the destruction of the waterbody (kanmaai) in the language of the Karisal bhoomi (rain-fed areas) of Kovilpatti (from The Hindu).
Agnaadi by Poomani
Beginning in the 19th century, Agnaadi is a fictional novel about the lives of the people from the Kalingal, Kazhugumalai, Chatrapatti, Veppankadu, Chinnaiahpuram, and Sivakasi region over a span of 170 years. It foregrounds the caste discrimination and conflicts among the different castes such as Devendrakula Velalars, Vannaars, Panaiyeri Nadars, Naickers, and Thevars.
Suthanthira Thagam by C. S. Chellappa
This book won its author, who belonged to the "Manikodi" literary movement, the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Appavin Snehidar by Ashokamitran
Translated as My Father’s Friend and Other Stories by Lakshmi Holmstrom
Ashokamitran was the pen name of Jagadisa Thyagarajan, who wrote over two hundred short stories, eight novels, some fifteen novellas besides other prose writings. This is a collection of short stories that traces the lives of ordinary people. It has been translated into Hindi as well.
Chaivu Narkali by Thoppil Mohamed Meeran
Translated as The Reclining Chair: Chaivu Narkali by M. Vijayalakshmi
This novel relates a generational history of a family settled in the imaginary village of Tenpattan in the Southern coastline of India with a predominant Muslim population. The story centers around Musatafakannu Pillai, proud claimant to a heritage rich.
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