-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#1
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
An interview with writer Indira Parthasarathy
Topic started by Hub Group on Mon Aug 16 03:45:33 .
This thread is for the discussion of the interview given by writer Indira Parthasarathy to the Hub. The interview can be found Here! . Comments, more questions to Mr.Parthasarathy and feedback are welcome. Thanks to Mrs.Kanchana Damodharan for conducting this interview on behalf of the hub.
-
12th December 2004 08:33 AM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#2
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
Ramji (@ 205.*) on: Mon Aug 16 07:24:19
This is a rare interview. It is classy, intellectually stimulating and yet unpretentious. The obvious credit goes to Indra Parthasarathy and the less obvious credit goes to Kanchana.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#3
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
ravi SUNdaram (@ 192.*) on: Mon Aug 16 09:30:39
Read the interview. Can provide sparks for many discussion topics, "communism and Tamilnadu/India", "women's liberation", "award process", "sad state of thamizh theatre" etc.
Good job Kanchana, forumhub. Thanks to IP too.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#4
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
maruthavANan (@ gup-*) on: Mon Aug 16 10:01:34
äÀÆî îÖ º¦ ×ÌÆÃÅ
èã Ï þµÑ«Ö.
Á µòê .
.º, ×ãѹ³×ÏÅ ¹° "°Ó´ ÒÆÅ "ºíê òñÅ ¤Å
ÖÓÇÏÒþÀ òì þ°òêƳ.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#5
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
Sathiya (@ prox*) on: Mon Aug 16 12:18:20
Very Interesting Interview. I recently got chance
to read two of his novels, thanks to kanchana. I had some questions and not surprisingly, he gave
answers to them in this interview. Thanks to Forum hub and Kanchana
for providing us opportunities to know authors
like Indhira paarhtasarathy and their thoughts thru these interviews.
Wonderful Work!!!!
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#6
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
pae (@ glob*) on: Mon Aug 16 13:01:12
Kanchana and Hub Team, good job. Looking forward to more such interviews.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#7
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
bb (@ dial*) on: Mon Aug 16 23:12:39
an interesting point that he mentions is that we have become immune to everything as a society.. in this scenario, what is the use of writing, other than for a literary pursuit?
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#8
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
pg (@ hqin*) on: Tue Aug 17 10:08:15
Thanks to Kanchana and indirA pArthasArathy for a great stimulating interview.
I have read only 3 books of i.pA - only two as an adult but I think I can say i.pA is one of my favourite writers.
The first book I read was nandhan kadhai - his drama. I read this as a school-going kid : I was probably 13-14 years old at that time. I remember that the drama made a great impact on me at that time. I did not know the story of nandhan at that time so I probably did not understand the 'revisionist' version of i.pA and I probably was too young to understand all the nuances. But I think this is a hallmark of a great work : it can affect many different people at many different levels.
The second book I read was thandhira bhoomi : a novel set in the pretentious upper class social mileau of New Delhi. Before I read this book I had the opinion (I had forgotten nandhan kadhai by this time) that i.pA was high-brow and I probably wouldn't like it. Once I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down. Great book.
The third book I read was vErppatRu : a novel set in kumbakONam (i.pA's hometown) between the periods 1946-51 - just before and after independence. It is the story of a college student named kEsavan. He is a brahmin by birth but is progressive, does not believe in caste and gets involved with the communist party. The book chronicles the effect of Congress and Communist and nascent Dravidar Kazhagam on students. In between this he manages to weave a romantic story too. (In his preface, he discounts that this is an autobiographical novel but admits that any work had shades of the author).
One thing I noticed about i.pA's work is that for a writer this old, his language is very fresh. Quite contemporary. Unlike jayakAndhan or ka.nA.su's works (IMO opinion the language is quite dated). Of course I am not sure how much this is valid since jayakAndhan and ka.nA.su (who is dead) have not written anything new in quite some time. Also I have read only three of his works and I cannot say whether his language has evolved with the times. (The other thing is that the language in vErppatRu is quite comtemporary and I am not sure whether this is accurate for the period in which the story is set).
All in all, I think i.pA has not quite got the recognition he deserves. Very well travelled he brings his broader perspective to his novels. (I remember reading his experiences in Warsaw - a polish woman a ploitical activist - asking him for US dollars in secrecy and i.pA explaining to her that he is quite broke being on a exchange type program. I do not remember the details - where and when I read these. I have a very poor memory !)
The interview :
i.pA mentions a few of my favourite writers : the forgotten b.s.rAmaiah (a maNikkodi writer), Adhavan, sivakAmi. b.s.rAmaiah if I remember right was the editor of maNikkodi for a long time. A great short story writer has been unfairly forgotten. I was lucky to find a collection of his short stories in my college library (BITS, Pilani). I still remember a story of his (about the psychology of beauty). Adhavan is another excellent writer who can write a 20 page story on a couple coming back from a late-night movie. No events - just psychological explorations. I think it is no coincidence that Adhavan is i.pA's student.
I fully agree with i.pA on anglo-indian writing. It is like Ravi Shankar composing for Woodstock : it just ain't the real thing. We have loudmouths such as Khushwant Singh and Salman Rushdie shooting their mouths off about regional writing. A catch-all language like English can never express the nuances of specific cultures.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#9
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
GokulaKannan (@ bhxr*) on: Tue Aug 17 11:03:15
IP's interview is pretty decent.
<u>For those interested in reading Adhavan</u>:
National Book Trust has published a collection of short stories by Adhavan
compiled by IP. It has the famed "mudalil iravu varum", "nizalgaL" ,
"oru pazaya kizavarum, pudhiya ulagamum" among various others. It is a
very interesting collection of shortstories and showcases Adhavan's
skill of blending psychological explorations with storytelling.
-
12th December 2004, 08:33 AM
#10
Senior Member
Platinum Hubber
Gokul (@ bhxr*) on: Tue Aug 17 11:19:58
PG: Can you give a brief intro about sivakAmi?
Bookmarks