Generations

Paper Type: Book print paper | Size: 216 mm x 140 mm
Black and white; 244 pages; Flexiback
ISBN-13: 978-93-91125-04-2

 399
 

Generations is an intricate tale, simply told by a master of fiction about a community of Tamil speakers who live on the borders of modern-day Kerala. Set in the 1940s, it is a novel of generational change and conflict, and how the boy Diravi grows up to take charge of his family, which embodies a distinct culture.

Diravi’s sister, Nagu’s marriage to Perumal is wrecked when the latter, enraged at his own failings rejects his young wife. Unacceptable in her own family, Nagu continues to endure Perumal’s cruelty till her brother, Diravi decides on an alternative course of action slashing through outdated social customs that discourage any constructive solutions.

Amidst the background of language, myth, and ethnic consciousness, we are offered a sensitively drawn profile of the passing of a traditional way of life into modernity and the nostalgia that comes with change.


 



Neela Padmanabhan
Neela Padmanabhan
Author

Neela Padmanabhan was born in Kanyakumari district. He has written 20 novels, 10 short story collections, 4 volumes of poetry and 7 essay collections in Tamil. In Malayalam, he has published a novel, 4 short story collections and a single essay collection. Besides Tamil and Malayalam, he also has a few English works to his credit. During 1985–89 he was the Tamil editor at Sahitya Akademi.

In 2007, he was awarded with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for his novel Ilai uthir kaalam (Autumn). He had earlier won the Sahitya Akademi Translation award in 2003 for his translation of  Ayyappa Paniker’s works into Tamil. In 2010, his debut work, Talaimuraikal, was made into a Tamil film, titled Magizhchi (Happiness).

 

Ka. Naa. Subramanyam
Ka. Naa. Subramanyam
Translator

Ka. Naa. Subramanyam (31 January 1912–18 December 1988) was a Tamil writer and critic from Tamil Nadu, India. He is also popularly known by his Tamil initials as Ka. Naa. Su. He also wrote poems using the pseudonym Mayan. He published many literary journals like Ilakkiyavattam, Sooravali, and Chandraodayam. In 1986, he was awarded with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for his literary criticism Ilakkiyathukku oru Iyakkam (A Movement for Literature).