Literature-Tamil
By Nirmala Lakshman
Justice and fairness are ideals that are core to the life and generational memory of the Tamil people. Powerful historical incidents of rulers who have strongly dispensed justice, or even those who have failed to do so, are ingrained in the minds of Tamil people. There is King Manuneedhi Konda Cholan (250 BCE), who punishes his son upon realizing that his chariot wheel had killed a calf.
By N Govindarajan. Translated and edited by CT. Indra and Prema Jagannathan
Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (1763-1831), employed by the East Indian Company’s civil service at Madras, promoted to be the collector of South Arcot later, made a small but significant contribution to Tamil studies by translating certain sections of Thirukkural, presenting it as secular literature, and the story of Nalan with explanatory notes;
Selected and compiled by R. Prema
In their Foreword, Thamizhacchi Thangapandian states there is no fullness in the writings by men because they don’t have subtlety in showing the pain, agony and mental stress of women while Jayanthi Shankar calls for a similar record in all languages to show how feminism has evolved as a philosophy.