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Trans. Vasantha Surya
Vasantha Surya is a poet, journalist, and translator whose prose translations from Tamil include six novels, and an anthology of contemporary short fiction (A Place to Live). The Stalk of Time and A Word Between Us are her two poetry collections in English, while among her translations of poetry are To Plunge Within, a selection of verses from the Tamil classic, Nammaaazhwaar’s Thiruvaimozhi, and several poems in Tamil Dalit Writing. The Ballad of Budhni is her translation of a narrative folk poem from Bundeli Hindi. Her works for children include Mridu in Madras, translated into Tamil by Prema Srinivasan and herself, and Ramayana for Children. Her articles and reviews have appeared in major Indian publications.
Her book An Order from the Sky and Other Stories, published by HarperCollins, is a collection of short stories set for the most part in the small towns and villages of present-day Tamil Nadu. Read More about it here.
Praise for books by Vasantha Surya:
“Grounded in reality, mostly set in and around Vriddhachalam, Tamil Nadu, Imayam’s stories are neither polemic nor preachy in tone.” – Amazon Reader
Excerpt From the Book An Order from the Sky and Other Stories:
Upon a cement dais was a god, who sat on a horse and faced east. Judging by the looks of him, it was Muniyasaami.
A man came and stood before this idol, brought his hands together in a kumbidu and unhurriedly set about preparing for worship. He was dark-skinned, streaming with sweat from his walk to the spot. Not bothering to wipe it off, he set his bag down on the ground, took out a sheet of newspaper and spread it
out. Next, he brought out a paper cone of roasted gram and a bunch of bananas, into one of which he
poked an incense stick. Then, two quarter bottles of brandy, a tin of cigarettes, some limes, camphor, a coconut, flowers, betel leaf and area nut – he set out all these items for a ceremonial offering. He placed the camphor at the feet of the god’s horse, set it alight and waved it three times around the deity. Lighting the incense stick that he had pushed into a banana, he stuck a lime into the trident standing near the god. Breaking four bananas, skin and all, into two pieces each, he smeared them all with vermillion and turmeric, and set them out.
