Next to Sujatha, Indira soundarraajan is my favorite tamil author. His books revolve around religious symbolism and mystery, with many of them turned into tv series. I stumbled on this book when searching for something else. Interestingly not a single review was detailed about this book, with everyone recommending it as a must read alone. The book has two parts and both of them had five star rating. I wanted to buy the book and wasn’t sure if it would worth it as it was quite costly. I decided to buy the first part alone to give it a try and now kicking myself for not buying both of them. That is the one line review for the book. It has been amazing and awesome from page 1. Primary reason being, as the title suggests, it is the story of Vikaramadithya maharaja and his escapades with the vedhaalam. Vedhalam sollum kathaigal has been my favorite since childhood and had long been wanting to read the full set of stories. The kids version that comes in Amar Chitra katha and other illustrated works weren’t so satisfying. Those with similar search can stop their quest with this book. The best part being, the story is happening on two timelines, one as in the original vikaramadithan series and other as present day. The way the language has been tweaked to represent both eras and the effort behind linking each of those situations with relatable present day event is nothing but a master class. This book demands to be made into a webseries on the scale of GoT. It has both the mystery and enigma of the raja rani stories accompanied by the thrill aspect of present day. I had long been planning to translate some of the Vedhalam sollum kadhaigal at least as short posts. Hope it materializes at least now. There are 32 gaandams , one each for each padhumai on the rathina simhaasanam. The first part of the book is just 8 gaandams big while the major chunk of the action happens in the second half. Very excited to read this book and its rushing to closure in another 100 pages. Will post a consolidated review once I buy and finish the second part as well.
This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl's every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style. This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they...
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By the way, one more male author to adopt a female pen name ?? Indira ? Why ?
If you can translate his short stories or Sujatha's short stories into English and share on your blog will be really helpful.
My regards to Amma, your wife, and Junior VSR.
Regards,
Mahesh