Anecdotal Evidence

Milan Kundera's passing took me back to the time I discovered - by sheer chance - his novel 'Life Is Elsewhere '.  The impact it had on my twenty year old self was nothing like anything felt from any other novel before - or since. It is easy to say 'before'.  But admitting to 'since' is an admission to inadequacies in tastes and maturity. Surely his Unbearable Lightness...  is a better novel. Surely there are greater litterateurs. But this is the novel 'spoke to me' the most. A feeling I sought in the other works I came to read later and was unable to connect with as well. But did you read 'Life is Elsewhere' again to see if your impression has changed over time? Or did you not do that, precisely because you worried it may not hold up? This may be fair gotcha questions to be ask about many other novels. But not about this one. For this novel is about maturity itself.  There are many works of art whose appeal to the reader's exaggerated s...

முத்துபவழபொன் நீலவெண்ணிறத் தைமுகச் சிறப்பும்                              ரத்தினமகுடம் மீதொளிர்ந்திடு கூன்பிறை வனப்பும் குத்திடங்குசமும் மண்டையோடொடு சங்குசக் கிரமும்  மத்தையொத்தகதை   வார்கசையர விந்தமீ ரிணையும்  பத்தருக்களியும் அச்சநீக்கமும் என்றறு கரமும்  மொத்தமானதொரு தேவிமந்திரம் ஓதிடும் பொறுப்பும் நித்தமெதையுமே செய்திடாதொரு  நாளிலீ டுசெய்யும் பித்தினும்பெரிது காண்பதற்கிலை நகைஇசோ தரியே #காயத்ரீஜபம் #எண்சீர்விருத்தம் #என்னைச்சொன்னேன் pic.twitter.com/dS0b0g0iSB — dagalti (@dagalti) August 2, 2023 வகை: எண் சீர் விருத்தம் சந்தம்: ஒவ்வொரு அரையடியிலும் : கூவிளநறும்பூ கூவிளங்கனி கூவிளம் புளிமா விளக்க்கம் முத்து பவழ பொன் நீல வெண் நிறத்து ஐமுகச் சிறப்பும்  - The greatness of the five faces of the hues Pearl, coral, golden, sapphire blue and white ரத்தின மகுடம் மீது ஒளிர்ந்திடு கூன் பிறை வனப்பும் - the beauty o...

Background For long, KamalHaasan’s classic Thevar Magan has been subjected to criticism that it was insufficiently aware of how the film - despite its patronising and pontifical tone - would be received with a warm glow of pride by the Thevars. Indeed, there is no contesting that ‘potri paadadi ponne’ - a Thevar paen - has come to become a peerless anthem of sorts.  While the extent of ‘out-of-context’ celebration may have been surprising, one cannot lose sight of the fact that song itself realised a specific purpose within and for the film first: within the film’s narrative and for, one reasonably assumes, the film's commercial prospects then. To imbue the makers in the business of mainstream films with virtues of thorough naivete is unnecessary. That said, over the years, the criticism has gradually escalated to the absurd heights of accusing him of gross social irresponsibility for not anticipating everything that the song has come to stand for. This type of reductive engagemen...