Böcker av Bama

When it first came out in 1992 Bama's first novel 'Karukku' shook many who were writing fiction. Karukku with its inherent attributes of a Classic deserves to be republished every decade as a classic edition. For we forget history easily. It has been easy for us to forget the lives of dalits and struggles of women. To disturb the sleep of those who act like heart disturbing things do not exist, to knock them with troubles and to tear open their thick skins, 'Karukku' is needed, as a metaphor and as a book.

Description''[Bama has] painted the Tamil-Indian village from the perspective of the cheri(Dalit colony), thus turning the socio-cultural geography upside down.'' -TheHinduFrom the author of the widely acclaimed novels Karukku and Sangati, this isa fiery, feisty collection, comprising all the stories from her acclaimed bookKusumbukaran and new ones written for this volume. Set among the Dalits ofrural Tamil Nadu, these stories display the full potential of the ''weapons ofthe weak''-small, everyday acts of rebellion, sharp, irreverent humour and adetermination not to be crushed and extinguished.Pachayamma in ''Chilli Powder'' taunts the rich landlady Gangamma bycollecting fodder only from her fields, despite dire threats, and laughs in theface of blustering policemen. The handsome and audacious young Ammasileaves a landlord fuming in impotent rage by calling him his brother. A pig anda monkey debate which of them deserves a higher status. A ghost demandswhisky and insists he has no caste.Bama''s prose bristles with the raw energy and vitality that comes from livingclose to the ground, and Ravi Shanker''s translations retain all the power, witand brilliance of the originals.