Chennai | Tamil author R Chudamani’s short stories come alive on stage

Chennai stages plays adapted from Tamil author R Chudamani's short stories

In the 1960s, Tamil writer R Chudamani captured the many shades of a woman’s lived experiences like no other. Each short story or novel was a testament to an unabashed boldness captured beautifully through her probing prose, that has for long been adapted in many forms. Her first story, Kaveri, was written in 1957 while her first novel, Manathukku Iniyaval (Beloved woman) was published in 1960. One such adaptation was in 2016 in Chennai, in the form of an anthology of plays by The Madras Players that ran to a full house.  

Now, eight years later, a sequel to that anthology takes the stage this weekend in the city. This time, a request from R Chudamani Memorial Trust, kick-started the project under PC Ramakrishna’s directorial.

“Over the last year, I have been looking, reading and picking out stories. I picked seven stories this time that had a ‘Chudamani’ feel about it — by that I mean, they are stories of women who made a statement,” says Ramakrishna. 

Each of the seven stories, translated by CT Indra, Prabha Sridevan, PC Ramakrishna, the late KS Subramaniam and others, showcase the everyday woman and her conundrums: from an unmarried woman in her late 30s, a young girl who struggles with her own name, a woman who is in financial distress, and one searching for divinity within herself. The stories touch upon the many facets of the human mind, through a gendered lens. 

“These are all small vignettes of life, each about 18 to 19 minutes-long which have been strung together seamlessly,” says Ramakrishna. “The wonderful thing about Chudamani is that in none of her stories is she ever judgemental . She tells her readers, this is what happened, take it and do what you like with it,” he adds, of the writer, who wrote almost 800 short stories in Tamil. 

Ramakrishna says a majority of their audience has read Chudamani, and the interest is already palpable. His own interest in her work stemmed from how she spoke her mind and truth, in a subtle way.

“Most of these stories were written by her between 1960 and 1980, in fact, she made such bold statements that you can’t imagine being made today. Chudamani’s women are very strong, in a quiet way.”