Angol
Chudamani Raghavan (1931-2010) was a major, reclusive writer in Tamil. She was never influenced by politics or trends. In the stories of this collection, the subterranean grottos of human emotions that format the stage call for conversations that are not heard in the physical. Sensitive to womenas moods and feelings, to their predicament in Tamil society, but having no ideological axe to grind, she usually focuses on womenas strengths. Women and children predominate in these stories. Chudamani uses three approaches to get at the truth that determines responses and behaviour: Woman seen by herself as in aNeelayathakshi Ammal: Arupathu Vayadhua (aNeelayathakshi at Sixtya); Woman scrutinized by other women discovered in short stories like aIruttil Irundhavala (aWoman in the Darka); and Woman analysed by men found in aSobhanavin Vazhvua (aSeeing in the Darka). Though each story is independent, together they form a vast tapestry that leaves no ambiguous endings.
