Chennai | Tamil writer R Choodamani’s short stories come alive on stage

A scene from the rehearsal. Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

In the 1960s, Tamil writer R Choodamani brought out the many facets of a woman’s life experiences in a brilliant manner. Every short story or novel was a testimony to her unflinching courage, which she beautifully presented in her profound prose style, which has long been adapted into many forms. Her first story, Cauverywas written in 1957 while his first novel, Manathukku Iniyaval (Dear Lady) was published in 1960. One such adaptation happened in Chennai in 2016, as an anthology of plays by the Madras Players, which played to packed audiences.

Now, eight years later, the sequel to that anthology is going to be staged in the city this weekend. This time, at the request of the R Choodamani Memorial Trust, the project has taken off under the direction of PC Ramakrishna.

Ramakrishna says, “For the last year I have been searching, reading and selecting stories. This time I selected seven stories that had the spirit of ‘choodamani’ – I mean they are stories of women who have given a message.”

Each of the seven stories translated by CT Indra, Prabha Sridevan, PC Ramakrishna, the late KS Subramanyam and others, features a common woman and her dilemmas: from an unmarried woman in her late 30s, a young girl struggling to make a name for herself, a woman in financial crisis, and a woman searching for the divinity within herself. The stories touch upon many aspects of the human mind through a gender-based lens.

A scene from the rehearsal. Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

“These are all short stories of life, each about 18 to 19 minutes long, strung together seamlessly,” says Ramakrishna. “The best thing about Choodamani is that she is never judgmental in any of her stories. She tells her readers, this is what happened, take it and do whatever you want with it,” he says about the author who has written about 800 short stories in Tamil.

Ramakrishna says that most of his readers have read Choodamani, and their interest is already evident. His own interest in his work stems from how he expressed his thoughts and truth in a subtle way.

“Most of these stories she wrote between 1960 and 1980, in fact, made bold statements that you can’t even imagine in today’s times. Choodamani’s women are very strong, but in a quiet way.”

Choodamani 2 It will be held at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, on September 14 at 6.30 pm. Donor passes can be purchased from mdnd.in for ₹600, ₹360, ₹240 and ₹120.