Canadian Tamil Literature
MY STORIES !
MY STORIES !
- V.N.Giritharan -
Translation By: Latha Ramakrishnan
Based on my own experiences as a migrant and at the same time having the plight and problems of my country as the focal points my writings have taken shape. As regards my Tamil writings of today that has left its soil and survive in an alien land, it leads a life in a world that hangs suspended, struggling to come to terms with life in between the strange climate of the land that has given them shelter and the memories of their motherland.
As I too belong to this hanging suspended generation I can not help but depict the living conditions of the land of refuge' and also the plight and perils of my motherland. The problem of color is a very important issue that one has to face in an immigrant existence. It is something that every immigrant is bound to face. Our generations of tomorrow are also to undergo this situation. So, my writings while depicting this problem should also deal with the other issues and problems that the new situation has in store for us. The problems of the native Indians, problems that are born out of the economic conditions of this country, their impacts on the day-to-day life, the condition of women, the influence that the new surroundings has over the lives and thought-processes of our brethren, its impact on them, the experiences that they get out of them - all these and more should be dealt with in my stories. At the same time we are people who have come running here forced by the ethnic problems of our land. So, we can not help speaking on this issue again and again. There is nothing wrong in it and it is unavoidable. Of late some of our fellow men are expressing such views as 'the works of immigrant writers speak of nothing else save the sorrows and problems of their motherland. But, this should not be and that their works should also concentrate on the issues of the land in which they've sought shelter.' The way they keep saying it, it sounds as though stories focussing on the living conditions of the immigrant soil alone can turn out to be works of high literary quality. These lot should understand one thing. Qualitative writing can be on any issue. The best works born of the Jewish writers who had borne the brunt of the Second World War have their motherland's problems and perils as their central theme. For instance, we can mention the famous work 'Painted Birds' written by Jersey Kosinsky, a Polish writer of Jewish origin. The works of Kosinsky who committed suicide in the year 1991 are controversial. In his novel 'Painted Birds' Kosinsky describes his own experiences as a Jewish boy wandering from place to place for four years in east European countries in the atmosphere of war. Today this work stands out as one of the important works of English literature. We should realize this very clearly. Kosinsky couldn't forget the impact that the political conditions of his land had on him. And, he couldn't refrain himself from bringing it all into his writings. My stories are also no exception to this. I can not forget the travails and traumas of my motherland. My stories can never escape from their grip. At the same time I can not free myself from the clutches of my new surroundings. My stories are bound to reflect it in its various aspects. But, even when I reflect this new surrounding the complexion of the ethnic problem that is eating out my motherland would surely reveal itself through all my depictions.
Translation By: Latha Ramakrishnan
Based on my own experiences as a migrant and at the same time having the plight and problems of my country as the focal points my writings have taken shape. As regards my Tamil writings of today that has left its soil and survive in an alien land, it leads a life in a world that hangs suspended, struggling to come to terms with life in between the strange climate of the land that has given them shelter and the memories of their motherland.
As I too belong to this hanging suspended generation I can not help but depict the living conditions of the land of refuge' and also the plight and perils of my motherland. The problem of color is a very important issue that one has to face in an immigrant existence. It is something that every immigrant is bound to face. Our generations of tomorrow are also to undergo this situation. So, my writings while depicting this problem should also deal with the other issues and problems that the new situation has in store for us. The problems of the native Indians, problems that are born out of the economic conditions of this country, their impacts on the day-to-day life, the condition of women, the influence that the new surroundings has over the lives and thought-processes of our brethren, its impact on them, the experiences that they get out of them - all these and more should be dealt with in my stories. At the same time we are people who have come running here forced by the ethnic problems of our land. So, we can not help speaking on this issue again and again. There is nothing wrong in it and it is unavoidable. Of late some of our fellow men are expressing such views as 'the works of immigrant writers speak of nothing else save the sorrows and problems of their motherland. But, this should not be and that their works should also concentrate on the issues of the land in which they've sought shelter.' The way they keep saying it, it sounds as though stories focussing on the living conditions of the immigrant soil alone can turn out to be works of high literary quality. These lot should understand one thing. Qualitative writing can be on any issue. The best works born of the Jewish writers who had borne the brunt of the Second World War have their motherland's problems and perils as their central theme. For instance, we can mention the famous work 'Painted Birds' written by Jersey Kosinsky, a Polish writer of Jewish origin. The works of Kosinsky who committed suicide in the year 1991 are controversial. In his novel 'Painted Birds' Kosinsky describes his own experiences as a Jewish boy wandering from place to place for four years in east European countries in the atmosphere of war. Today this work stands out as one of the important works of English literature. We should realize this very clearly. Kosinsky couldn't forget the impact that the political conditions of his land had on him. And, he couldn't refrain himself from bringing it all into his writings. My stories are also no exception to this. I can not forget the travails and traumas of my motherland. My stories can never escape from their grip. At the same time I can not free myself from the clutches of my new surroundings. My stories are bound to reflect it in its various aspects. But, even when I reflect this new surrounding the complexion of the ethnic problem that is eating out my motherland would surely reveal itself through all my depictions.
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