Yesterday an image of yours was taken out of a bush and displayed… Sister! Out of those hands that had disrobed and destroyed You our Time extends. For the miserable Mothers whose hands beat their own heads with pain and anguish indescribable, born of the apprehension of what might have happened to the corpses that [...]
Once upon a time this day was with us
Deepachelvan is a young poet from Eelam who was witness to the recent civil war. “Poems from the bunker” that’s how Deepachelvan calls his poems, which lament on the sufferings war has wrought upon the day to day lives of the people. We are proud to welcome the young and promising poet as contributor to [...]
Legacy of Guru Ravidas
on Gurpurb (Birthday), 30th January, 2010 Chaudan saai tetees ki magh sudi pandras Dukhion ke kalyan hit pargte Guru Ravidas. As per this couplet Guru Ravidas was born on 15th of Magh Saudi, full-moon day of 1433 at Seer Govardhan-pur (Kanshi-Banaras). His father’s name was Santokh Das and mother’s name was Kalsa Devi. Mata Loona [...]
A book release and some thoughts
The English translation of bestselling Tamil autobiography of Muthumeenal – Mul – was released with much fanfare in Chennai on Friday evening. The translation – Thorn – done by Shubashree (known to truthdive readers through her article on Carnatic music season in Chennai) was well received. Actor Kamal Haasan who released the translation praised Mr [...]
Book Review of “A Forgotten Liberator : The Life and Struggle of Savitribai Phule”
“A Forgotten Liberator : The Life and Struggle of Savitribai Phule”, is the first endeavour in English to spotlight upon one of the supreme names who fought against the totalitarianism of caste and other social evils in India. The book brought out by “Mountain Peak Publishers” on the life of Savitribai Phule (1831-1897) is a [...]
Lakshmikutty – A Short Story
I can’t call this a short story, as it would not do justice to Lakshmikutty . I first saw Lakshmikutty when I was riding my bike(bicycle) between Division and Chicago Avenue. I had just had a lazy late Saturday breakfast at “Milk and Honey”. I must have been a little lazy that day, as I [...]
The struggle to annihilate caste – Meena Kandasamy’s Interview
I was thinking, isn’t Thirumavalavan’s voice something that the English-reading elite should hear? It’s a voice that is capable of disturbing them. The points that he puts forth, whether in his literary essays or in his rousing speeches, have the power to shake up the system. I honestly feel that India recognizes only “upper” caste Cambridge/Harvard educated political analysts as “intellectuals”; and I was putting forward Thirumavalavan as an alternative.
Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna
The unveiling of Thiruvalluvar Statue in Bangalore Karnataka and the Sarvajna Statue in Chennai Tamil Nadu in the month of August 2009 has created considerable interest among the people about these poets who propagated the best human values of their times. Thirukkural, a moral book of values was written in Tamil by Thiruvalluvar. Saravjna padagalu, a collection of poems on various topics was written in Kannada by Sarvanja.
Caves and Cavemen
Story: This poem was penned on the way to work. I originally envisioned it as a blog comment to share the pain of a poet who was censured and asked to apologize in writing by other Indian writers. It can be taken as a jibe on inertia to imagination, insecurities sometimes termed as culture or [...]
Luckylook, the Star Entertainer of Tamil blogs
[If you don't like Luckylook and want to skip all the sugar-coating, please go to the last few paragraphs] If you are a reader of Tamil blogs, you don’t need an introduction to Luckylook. His blog has recently touched the 1,000,000 hits mark. I felt it more appropriate to write a post appreciating his efforts, [...]