Subject: Myvisit to India - Part IV (c) From: SANKARAN@Meena.CC.URegina.CA (Sankaran, Sam)

This is a further continuation of my posting on thamizh books and book stores following my visit to India in July 1995. I had earlier mentioned the problem I had moving arounfd madhurai on kumbAbishEkam day. I could not go to the temple area at all. Otherwise, I would not have missed "minAkshi puththaka nilaiyam" (MBN) very near the temple. They were among the first to publish jeyakAn^than. For thamizh afficianados visiting madhurai, MBN is a must.

In Madras, I first went to kalaiNYan pathippakam on Hensman Road in T. Nagar. It originally belonged to kaviNYar kaNNadhAsan or one of his relatives. I couldn't find any of the books I wanted there. I also looked for vAsakar vattam which used to be near there, but could not find it. Does anybody know what happened to "vAsakar vattam" also known as Book Venture?

Next, I went to vAnathi pathippakam on dhInadhayALu theru, opposite to the T. Nagar post office. It was full of books. The outside, covered verandah also displays books on shelves along the wall. But, quality of service has deteriorated somewhat. The service people are not as friendly as they used to be in answering queries or in locating books for you. The usual kalki books are all there; and many "sthOththiram" books also. they also publish books under another label now. It is called gaNGgai. They publish some of pirapaNychan's works. vAnathi also publishes/stocks nIla. padhman^Aban's works, M.V. veNGkatrAm's and rAjam krishNan's. A relatively new publishing house called pUNYchOlai housed in 58 thulAsiNGgapperumAl theru in thiruvallikkEni, is one of their sister publishing houses, I suspect. They have published several of pirapaNYchan's works. In fact, thamizhp puththakAlayam, pUNYchOlai and vAnathi are all closely held. I was able to buy several works of the above mentioned authors from vAnathi. But I couldn't find the "thiruvAchaka isaiyamudham" by dhEsikar and vasun^dharA dhevi.

From there, I moved to narmadhA on rAjabAthar theru, on the other side of pANdy bazaar. In 1993 it was an excellent, new publishing house bringing out vittal rAo, nANYchil nAdan and pirapaNYchan. But this time, I was shocked by what I found there. Most of the books were maNipravALA sanskrit sthOthrAs and thamizhth thuthip padalkaL, recipe books, maruththuva, "viNYNYAna nUlkaL etcetera. I was almost in shock. When I finally located a store helper, I asked him in disbelief: "enna, nINGka kUda ippadich cheNYchittINGka? n^alla puththakaNGkaLellAm vechchirippINgkalE?" The man responded with a sheepish laugh and said, 'ippa idhellAm thAn sAr vikkithu." And as he saw me turning to leave in disappointment, he (probably) took pity on me, came close and whispered: "nArth usmAn rOdilE, A.R.R. cAmplexikku edhiththAppilE bEsmenttuk kadai oNNu irukku. "Booklands"nnu pEru. aNGkE nINgka ethir pAkkiRa mAdhiri books ellAm kidaikkum." I thanked him and rushed out to BOOKLANDS at the basement of 58 North UsmAn Road.

BOOKLANDS is an excellent bookstore. The employees are knowledgible and eager to help. I bought the third volume of "in^tha nURRANduch chiRukadhaikaL," edited by vittal rAv, several books by nANYChil nAdan, pirapaNYchan, thirukkuRRAlak kuRavaNYchi, mukkUdaRp paLLu, The Penguin New Writing in India edited by Aditya Behl and David Nicholls, and the Penguin English edition of the arthaSAsthrA (translation by L.N. rangarajan.) BOOKLANDS is a very satisfying experience. what LANDMARK on NungambAkkam High Road is to the "chic" English book buyers in Madras, BOOKLANDS is to the thamizh book lovers. I also crossed over to vardhdhamAn publishers, but they did not have in stock, the books I wanted.

Next I went to the saiva sidhdhAn^tha n^URpathippuk kazhakam (kazhakam hereafter) book store at 154 T.T.K. sAlai, Madras 18 (thEnAmpEttai? - Edward Elliots Road?) It was dingy, dirty and dusty. There were 5 or 6 store employees, 4 of them women. They were all uniformly tired and morose looking, unenthusiatic  and seemingly uninterested. The books were all gathering dust. If you so much as brushed against any book your clothes and/or fingers were dripping with dirt and dust. I wonder if they even bothered to dust their books or to keep sufficient stock of their lists. If there were 3parts of their puRan^AnURu edition they had only one part, and that too part 2 only. No part 1 or 3 in stock! They had re-issues of 5 or 6 books by dhEvan^Eyap pAvANar including his "oppiyan nUl," but not his thamizh ilakkiya varalARu (which I already have), nor his thirukkuRaL marapurai (which I don't.) I got 3 books from there, one of them was thiruvAchakam - mUlamum uraiyum, edited by A. thiruvAchakan. Actually it is not a kazhakam publication at all. Another interesting book I got there is the 1945 work "thamizh in^dhiyA," by na. si. kan^dhaiyA pillai, which, in true kazhakam style, claims that everything in India and the entire world, can be traced back to thamizh and thamizhar! |  (More to follow).

 NOT opinionated, but just having and expressing opinions for which I am solely responsible. Swaminathan SANKARAN Telephone: (306) 585-4988 FAX: (306) 585-4805