In the late 80s, everyone was reading Magadh, first published in Hindi in 1984. We little realized it was the last collection of Shrikant Verma, one of the most brilliant Hindi poets. Barely two years later Shrikant passed away at the age of 54.
The ancient Tamil poetry of the Sangam Era is a significant contribution of the Tamils to world literature. More or less two millennia later, the contributions of the Tamil novelists and short story writers to these youngest literary genres are equally remarkable.
Dattapaharam is a coming of age novel, a search for the self of five young college students who confront themselves and their inner demons.
Andaleeb Wajid, a young Bangalore-based, hijab-wearing young woman, who has written over 40 novels in genres ranging from young adult and romance to horror, often raises eyebrows because her overtly Muslim identity is seen to be in contradiction with her choice of the genre derisively termed as ‘chick lit’. Is a hijab-clad Muslim woman reading and writing romances an anomaly? Actually, not!
The initiative of the Hyderabad Book Trust in publishing alternative literature in translation is commendable. By publishing K Purushotham’s translation of Yendluri Sudhakar’s Speaking Sandals: Narratives from the Madigawadas of Ongole, it has ensured the text pan-Indian visibility.
It is only now that the State has earned the description of a land of sand, sea and fun, an outcome of Goa being promoted as a tourist destination.