Transverse

Tamil Thought. English Voice.

The Path of the Jains: Chandragiri, Dharmasthala, Ratnagiri

This is a translation of the second chapter of Jeyamohan’s அருகர்களின் பாதை. We woke up in the early hours of the 15th. Having written my travel notes and posted them online the previous night, I had only gone to bed at eleven. Krishnan came and woke me up at four in the morning. It was the…
The Path of the Jains: Kanakagiri, Shravanabelagola

This is a translation of the first chapter of Jeyamohan’s அருகர்களின் பாதை. I arrived in Erode around midnight on the 12th. Krishnan had come to the railway station to receive me. From there, we went straight to Vijayaraghavan’s house, where Prakash Sankaran had already arrived. He is a native of Chozhavandan, currently doing research in biology…
The Path of the Jains: On the Path of Dharma

This is a translation of the preface to Jeyamohan’s அருகர்களின் பாதை, titled அறத்தின் தடத்தில். Over the coming weeks and months, I will continue to publish translations of chapters from this book in installments. These translations are published with the author’s consent. In 2007, when I became acquainted with friends from Erode – among them Krishnan –…
Aadhavan’s ‘An Old Man and a New World’ (ஒரு பழைய கிழவரும், ஒரு புதிய உலகமும்) – Short Story Review

https://azhiyasudargal.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post_08.html வெளியே போக்கிரிகள் உலகைச் சின்னபின்னமாக்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறாரகள். In ஒரு பழைய கிழவரும், ஒரு புதிய உலகமும், Aadhavan offers us a protagonist who appears familiar: Nagarajan, a retired, upper-middle-class man nearing sixty, deeply convinced that the world around him is slipping into vulgarity and moral decay. Young people are irresponsible, public behavior has worsened, taste has eroded, and sincerity…
Brief Thoughts on G.Nagarajan’s ‘The Man Who Wore a Terylene Shirt and a 8-feet Veshti’ (டெர்லின் ஷர்ட்டும் எட்டு முழ வேட்டியும் அணிந்த மனிதர்)

Spoilers ahead for the story. ”உங்களுக்கு ஆசை இல்லையா?” என்றாள் அவள். ”நிறைய இருக்கு.” ”அப்ப?” ”அதனாலேதான் ஒன்னைப் பார்த்துகிட்டே இருக்கேன்.” Devayani, the lone prostitute in a brothel, is getting ready to hang herself. We don’t quite know the circumstances that led her to this decision, but we know that she’s reached the end of her rope, so to…
Aadhavan’s ‘Night Comes First’ (முதலில் இரவு வரும்) – Short Story Review

“முதலில் இரவு வரும்” is an examination of what remains when explanations arrive too late. Rajaraman, now in his thirties, looks back on his adolescence, when his father was alive and violent, an alcoholic whose beatings cast a permanent shadow over the household. At eighteen, Rajaraman’s moral universe was very clear: the father is the root…
Interviewing SiliconShelf RV

In my first interview for EnglishTamil, I chat with R.Vaidyanathan, famously RV of SiliconShelf who has been blogging consistently at siliconshelf.wordpress.com for the last 15 years. In this conversation, RV shares his views on Pattukottai Prabhakar, Sujatha, Bharathiyar, appreciating poetry, being intellectually honest and much more.
Balaji Raju’s ‘Long Paths’ (நெடும்பாதைகள்) – Short Story Review

https://balajirajuwrites.blogspot.com/2025/12/blog-post.html In her village, Annammal marks time by the buses passing her front door: the morning Senthilvelan, the noon Krishna, the evening town bus. It is a rhythm that has defined her decades in this home. But in Balaji Raju’s short story நெடும்பாதைகள் this timeline is about to snap. Annammal is not merely moving house;…
Pramil’s “Blue” (நீலம்) – Thoughts on Short Story

“நீலோத்பலம், அதுவும் ராவானதும், நீருக்கடியில்தான் பூக்கும். அதன் அழகை யார் கண்டது?” Quite short for a short story, poetic in its tone, Pramil’s Neelam aspires to evoke a sense of wonder when pontificating the point of man; rather, what _is_ a man? The protagonist, a painter who considers himself an artist, is jostling for a respectable seat in…
Short Story as a Mirror: Reflections on Abuse and Sympathy in “I’ll Catch a Fat Goat”

Guest post by Sharada Narasimhan on A.Muttulingam’s short story கொழுத்தாடு பிடிப்பேன் . My review can be found at https://englishtamil.net/2025/11/03/a-muttulingams-ill-catch-a-fat-goat-கொழுத்தாடு-பிடிப்ப/ I’ve been thinking more about our split reading of கொழுத்தாடு பிடிப்பேன், and wanted to share some thoughts on why I read the narrator as guilty, despite the ambiguity. I think those who believe Shanmugalingam’s innocence are…