Adhavan Deetchanya
(India, 1964)   
 
 
 
Adhavan Deetchanya

Adhavan Deetchanya (born 1964) is a Tamil writer of poetry and short fiction. Since his first book, Purathirunthu (1996), he has published three collections of poetry: Poojjiyatthilirunthu Thuvanum Aattam (2003), Thanthugi (2005) and Adhavan Deetchanya Kavithaigal (2011). He is also editor of the magazine Pudhuvisai. Born and raised in Utthamachozhapuram, near Salem, he works currently as a cashier in Hosur in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The poem (translated by K. Srilata and Subashree Krishnaswamy) featured in the ‘City’-themed 15 November 2011 edition of PIW India is a delicate construct that works on more than one level. On the one hand, it is an affectionate portrait of a father, a man who has clearly known hardship and appreciates the value of thrift and economy. This is a familiar figure in any culture of the world, and yet the poem’s skill lies in the subtle way in which it also evokes a specific context. For around this protagonist the backdrop of a world in transition gradually heaves into view. One senses a largely rural or semi-rural landscape in southern India yielding to a familiar brand of urban dream – one of standardised building complexes and housing colonies.

And yet, even if there is an apparent change in ethos – as tamarind seasons and harvests give way to the new urban township – some social realities aren’t levelled out so easily. What makes Ambedkar colony any different from its counterparts? Why does it sell for a pittance, despite its convenient location just a stone’s throw away from the bus stop? The difference is slyly evoked through a litany of names of major political leaders (in which entire political histories and caste backgrounds are encoded): Gandhi, Anna, Kamaraj.

Thus there is no overt statement about Dalit politics in the poem until it reaches the last line of biting irony: “Even land has a caste”.

© Arundhathi Subramaniam

Bibliography

Adhavan Deetchanya Kavithaigal, Sandhya Publications, Chennai, 2011
Thanthugi, Sandhya Publications, Chennai, 2005
Poojjiyatthilirunthu thuvangum Aattam, Sandhya Publications, Chennai, 2003
Puratthirunthu, Tamilnadu Progressive Writers Association, Hosur, 1996

 

 





Subscribe to the newsletter

follow us on facebook follow us on twitter Follow us (international)  

follow us on facebook follow us on twitter Follow us (Dutch)