CAME THOMAS
A Novel in
Thamizh by
KA.NAA.SU
Translated into English by Latha
Ramakrishnan
CHAPTER [1]
1. Thiruvalluvar (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர், Tiruvaḷḷuvar ?)was a celebrated Tamil poet
and philosopher [1] whose
contribution to Tamil literature is
the Thirukkural, a
work on ethics. Thiruvalluvar is thought to have lived sometime between
the 2nd century BC and the 8th century AD.This estimate is based on linguistic
analysis of his writings, as there is no archaeological evidence for when he
lived.He is sometimes also called Theiva Pulavar ("Divine
Poet"), Valluvar, Poyya mozhi
Pulavar, Senna Pothar, or Gnana Vettiyan.
2. Thomas
the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus (meaning
"Twin,"
as does "Thomas" inAramaic")
was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is
best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then
proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in John 20:28. He
was perhaps the only Apostle who went out side the Roman Empireto
preach the Gospel. He is also belie ved to have crossed the largest area, which
includes the Parthian Empire and India.
3. Ka.
Naa. Subramanyam (b. 31 January 1912 - d. 18 Dec ember 1988)[1] was a Tamil writer
and critic from Tamil
Nadu, India. He is
also popularly known by his Tamil initials as Ka..Naa.Su. Subramaniam
was born in Valangaiman
in Thanjavur District.
His first noted published work was the novel Poithevu (1946).
He also wrote poems using the pseu donym Mayan. He published many
literary journals like Ilakkiya vattam, Sooravali and Chandraodayam.
He became a literary critic in the 1950s. His reviews first appeared in the
magazines Swadesamitran and Saraswathi. In 1965,
he moved to New
Delhi and started writing articles for English language newspapers.
For the next twenty years he lived in Delhi and moved back to Chennai
only in 1985. In 1986, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for
his literary criticism Ilakkiyathukku oru Iyakkam (lit. A
Movement for Literature). Pondicherry
University made him an honorary professor. He died in 1988. The Government of Tamil Nadu nationalised
his works in 2006.
[*courtesy:
wikipedia]
______________________________________________________
I]
down memory lane….
ON
TRANSLATING KA.NAA.SU’S NOVEL THOMAS VANDHAAR INTO
ENGLISH, UNDER THE TITLE
_‘CAME
THOMAS’
latha
ramakrishnan
I am
never good at undertaking ‘down memory lane’ journeys. And, twenty years is a
long time. Still, a few reminiscences about this book seem inevitable…
Two or
three years before his demise, in December 1988, veteran writer Ka.Naa.Subramaniam
had come to Chennai and was living in Mylapore, with a failing eye-sight.
Learning this I wrote a card to him saying that I would consider it an honour
to be of some help to his literary activities. Shortly afterwards I met him and
started going to his place almost everyday. I was one of the few who could read
his handwriting (it would be too small but so neatly aligned with no
corrections, addition, deletion etc.) and so was able to be of some help to
him. I could feel a sense of peace in his presence.
When he
asked me to translate into Tamil his novel ‘Avadhuthar’, originally written in
English by him I thought he was kind of evaluating my literary capabilities and
nothing more than that. But, he did get my translation published. So, when he
asked me to translate his poignant novel ‘Thomas Vandhaar’ into English I set
out to do it in right earnest.
Sad
indeed that when I was half way through the translation assignment, Ka.Naa.Su
breathed his last. Nevertheless, I finished translating Thomas Vandhaar, giving
it the title ‘Came Thomas’, in the next six months. And, when his wife left
for Delhi I gave my typed manuscript to her, thinking that
in Delhi the prospects for its publication would be far better.
Nothing
happened in the next twenty years for which no use blaming any body, including
my own self. Recently, when I came to know that writer Ka.Naa.Su’s books and
works were handed over to Kalachuvadu for preser vation, I contacted the
son-in-law of Ka.Naa.Su, Mr.A.R.Venkatachalapathy and the head office of
Kalachuvadu in Nagarcoil asking for my manuscript. They made arrangements for
the manuscript to reach me within a month for which I genuinely thank them.
Seeing
my manuscript, the white-sheets having turned grey and brown, after almost two
decades, with the covering letter written by me, in fact, I experie nced an
eerie feeling, to say the least.
We can
perceive a general trend around us, the ‘in-thing’ so to say, whereby if one
echoes our views he/she is hailed and approved of, and, if not, abused and
subjected to class-based and caste-based castigation. But, Ka.Naa.Su belonged
to that clan of writers who write what they feel right no matter whether they get
accolades or brickbats and who would never be the mouth-piece of any particular
individual or group.
When
this novel was serialized in a small magazine for several months it gave
considerable food for thought. I sincerely hope that this English version of it
would also prove that poignant. Whatever be the merits of this translation of
mine, they truly belong to Ka.Naa.Su and the lapses are entirely mine. Hope
they are few.
There
are a round 25 chapters in this novel, comprising some 230 pages. I would be
uploading my English rendering of this novel chapterwise in this blogspot of
mine once in every week. I sincerely wish to have my English rendering of this
very thought-provoking novel published in a book form. I sincerely hope that
there won't be any need for me to remind anyone that though writer Ka.Na.Su's
works are nationalized my English translation of his Thamizh novel 'Thomas
Vandhaar[Came Thomas] is not!
Regards,
Latha ramakrishnan
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