Talkie Experiences In Tamil

TALKIE EXPERIENCES IN TAMIL

Second Supplementary Catalogue of Tamil Books in the British Library, Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books

The Middlemen of Vedapura: Indira Parthsarathy's Tamil Novel

This work originally written in Tamil as a novel has now been translated into English. It is a political satire. It parodies, lampoons and caricatures political figures of Indian politicians past and equally relating to the present. A vivacious young lady, Apurva, an immigrant-American, arrives in a fictional country, Vedapura, in search of her ancestral and cultural roots. Travelling around trying to gather authentic content for a novel she intends to write, she encounters Nanjundan -- a high-powered, influential political "middleman" -- who promises to provide her with rich material for her work. Her relationship with him plunges her however into a near-Kafkaesque la la land where she must confront a dangerous vortex of political intrigue, corruption, manipulation… and consequent disillusionment… The well-known “Sahitya Akademi” and “Padma Shri Awards” winner for Literature, Indira Parthasarathy wrote this 1995 novel in Tamil. Employing biting wit, humour, irony, absurdity and exaggeration to critique the State's socio-political… and socio-pathological … landscape, he depicted starkly the complex interplay of power, corruption and caste dynamics shaping regional politics in India, peopled as it is with eccentric politicians and powerless citizens. His novel was awarded the Bharathiya Bhasha Parishad Award (an All-India award).