Tamil Kavithai - Nice One

This is one of the very few poems which attracted my attention in my junky daily forward mails (Of course official mails apart :)). This one, tells the agony and some basic expectation of a child orphan living with their so called parents working in the IT industry.

Shame on the IT Pro's who are & will be building their careers on crypts of their family! Shame on the society which creates such victims - victims of money driven IT hooligans!

Applauses for the poet who punched this poem straight away on the face of IT Pros!

Book Fair @ Chennai

At Chennai, it is the annual Book fair that the people of chennai eagerly awaits before Pongal every year. The intellectual and vociferous crowd in Chennai can be seen to flock at book fair, this time at chetpet at St George Anglo Indian Higher sec school, opposite Pachaiappa's college. I went to fair on 11th of this month by taking off from the work after 4 in the evening.

First of all I should tell about the traffic before reaching there. The traffic was really heavy as it was on eve of pongal holidays and people where fleeing to catch up with trains & buses and the roads where jam packed with all kinds of vehicles that mankind has ever invented. And finally managed to reach the venue by 6.20 sharp and started to waggle inside the venue.

“Kaneerai pinthodardhal” by JeyaMohan, “Thedadhe”, “Atho antha parai pola” by Dr.Rudhran were some among the titles which I bought as I came out of the venue. It was already 8.50 as they started closing the stalls by 8.30p.m. But, please keep in mind that you should have a good amount of stamina to roam around in the fair since to waggling around could make you feel tired as time passes unless you have a strong affinity for books. But all I felt while came to the exit was “Should have come bit earlier…” - the mesmerizing effect of the books.

It’s needless to say the plethora of book titles in the exhibition. Truly speaking, one can find any kind of Tamil books under the sun in this book fair starting right from children books to e-books & Tamil software.

Yes then by the way, I need to say something regarding the authors of the purchased books. JeyaMohan is one of my favorite authors in Tamil and one among the prominent writers in modern Tamil literature. He was known in the literary circles for his pensive writings and criticisms. His knowledge and way of writing is surely mind blowing especially in a novel like “Vishnupuram” which talks about some mystic town in the banks of river Sona.

Dr.Rudhran is a famous psychiatrist and is known for his other works such as “Thevaigal Asaigal”, “Uravugal” and the books which I bought where one among in this series. I like this author as can bring forth the nuances of the psychology in very intricate fashion, which even a lay man can understand. Though published in late nineties it serves the purpose of the today’s IT driven world.

Coming back to book fair, this time the book fair is organized in a better manner. Believe me! There is a stall for children to play simple science games (which I never visited as I think I am grown up), speeches by literary big shots during evenings and light music to cool off after 7 so that the whole family can visit the place get some good books of their choice at 10% discount, let the children play and then cool off with some good music. Can be a family entertainer all together!

The high light of the book fair is, a dedicated stall for the chief minister of TN, exhibiting his rare works of literature, especially his early works dating back to 1940’s. The other remarkable feature is ample circulation space for crowd and the mind blowing volume of books exhibited. There are about 400-450 stalls with almost all publishers in the Tamil publication arena exhibiting. But, if one ventures the venue with only English books in mind there can be some disappointment as there is only 10% of the stalls having English books. After all, this is book fair happening in the capital city of Tamilnadu.

In conclusion, 30th Annual Chennai Book Fair - 2007 will be a real treat to all connoisseurs of books and one will not be surely disappointed if in case there is quest for Tamil literature in them.

p.s: I’ll back on my reading experiences as soon as finish on the books I purchased.

R.K.Laxman's The Hotel Riviera

Literature is something which reflects the society. There is a Hindi saying "Sahitya samug ka dharpan he" meaning Literature is society's mirror reflection. One such reflection which I happened to c sometime back is "The Hotel Riviera" by R.K.Laxman, the well known cartoonist and brother of R.K.Narayan author of immortal - Malgudi days. Like to pen my views so that I cud share my happiness with all u ppl.

I finished the book some 2 weeks back, but still have the repercussions in me. What a pensive writing style this man has got! I never expected this from an acclaimed cartoonist, was absolutely astounded by his ingenious writing style and the way he narrates each and every character and blending them with straight and simple story line.

Story line is - "A mid aged man is in love with a woman but doesn't know how to express it"

The story revolves in & around the Hotel Riviera where the author stays while working on deputation at Bombay for a rubber company operating @ Chennai. The story spans some 5-10 years after independence i.e. in mid 1950's so the building and its surroundings has rustic feel and reader too can feel the same thru the letters of the author.

The main characters of the story are the author himself, The Manager of the Hotel Riviera - a gentleman in his mid 30's, Sabitha a destitute but a seductive beauty trying to enter tinsel dome ironically working in the laundry found near the hotel reception, Rao-a Clerk, the swamiyar from south India, Francis - lift operator, Lal - the all in all shabby looking but witty peon working some company who loves Sabitha and even successful in his attempts.

Every character let it be the Manager or Sabitha or Panditji or Military Major or Lal has their own problems and their own ways to get out of the same, which is being brilliantly elucidated by Laxman's vivid narration as an officer on deputation from a rubber company. U can find that author cleverly makes the Manager's crush on Sabitha and his self talk on the same itself as a character with its own twists & turns. When u follow the story keenly you can c the author has chosen the role of officer on deputation as brilliant choice since he can make his apperance on and off at his will and can throw the some decisions to the reader himself rather him narrating.

What happens to Managers love, did sabitha enters into tinsel dome, how the panditji changed the life of manager, did chaos at Hotel Riviera end, did the author accomplishes his mission? U can find answers to all this questions while u finish reading Hotel Riviera.

I find the entire narration enthralling where u can find this kind of characters in our everyday life but miss out in our banal life. The author is witty & satirical in his work and eloquent as well.

Felt very impressed and liked to share my experience with u all ppl so that if there is opportunity to read this book u would never miss that.