Bama

Karukku - Translated from the Tamil

Lucy Ladybug is ready to take five-year-old twins Karsten and Trevor on an unforgettable backyard adventure! Lucy is gifted with a voice and is also magical, for she is able to see the beauty in everything. Karsten and Trevor can hardly wait as they follow Lucy into the grass and the trees and many places in between. The twins close their eyes so they can see the same things Lucy does with her magical eyes, and they soon find themselves looking at the underside of a toadstool, a spiderweb on a rose bush, and the inside of a dandelion. As they move through the backyard with Lucy Ladybug, they are filled with wonder as they learn why bees are covered in pollen, why Scotty the squirrel worries where he buries his acorns, and why it takes so long to make a birds nest. Karsten and Trevor never knew a backyard adventure could be so exciting! Lucy Ladybugs Backyard Adventure is an enchanting story woven around a magical ladybug and beautiful macro photography that will teach children everywhere to enjoy all the beautiful aspects of nature and the creatures that call it home.

Lucy Ladybug’S Backyard Adventure

What are the stages in the life of a butterfly? If you trap a caterpillar in a box, will it blossom into a butterfly? When discrimination and violence are hidden lessons in our schools, can we hope to make a better world? In Just One Word, Bama takes us into the spaces that appear innocent and artless, but where, in truth, hate and prejudice bubble. Bama’s writings embody Dalit feminism and celebrate the inner strength of the subaltern woman, in the throes of caste domination and social discrimination. Painting portraits of unforgettable characters, detailing innocent pleasures and everyday deceits, the stories in this collection are a mirror to her compelling insight into human nature.

Short Stories by Bama

Just One Word

செவ்வியல் பண்புகளைக் கொண்ட ‘கருக்கு’ செவ்வியல் பதிப்பாக ஒவ்வொரு தசாப்தத்திலும் வெளிவர வேண்டும் என்றே நான் கருதுகிறேன். காரணம் நாம் சரித்திரத்தை வெகு வேகமாக மறப்பவர்கள். குறிப்பிட்டுச் சொன்னால் தலித்துகளின் வாழ்க்கைச் சரித்திரங்களையும், பெண்கள் வாழ்க்கைப் போராட்டங்களையும் மறப்பது நமக்கு எளிதாக இருக்கிறது. அப்படி எளிதாக்கிக்கொள்வது நமக்கு வசதியாக இருக்கிறது. மனத்தைக் குத்துபவைகளை அவை இல்லாதவை போல பாவனை செய்துகொண்டு இருப்பவர்களின் நிம்மதியான தூக்கத்தைக் கெடுக்க, அவர்களை முட்டி முட்டித் தொல்லை தர, அவர்களின் தடித்துப்போன தோல்களைக் கீறிவிட ‘கருக்கு’ தேவைப்படுகிறது. உருவகமாகவும் புத்தகமாகவும். When it first came out in 1992, Bama’s first novel ‘Karukku’ caused ripples in literary circles and the general public. Karukku, with its inherent attributes of a classic, deserves to be republished every decade as a special classic edition, for we forget history easily. It has been easy for us to forget the lives of dalits and struggles of women. To disturb the sleep of those who act like disturbing things do not exist, to knock them with troubles and to tear open their thick skins, ‘Karukku’ is needed, as a metaphor and as a book.

Karukku

Sangati is a startling insight into the lives of Dalit women who face the double disadvantage of caste and gender discrimination. Written in a colloquial style, the original Tamil version overturns the decorum and aesthetics of upper-caste, upper-class Tamil literature and culture and, in turn, projects a positive cultural identity for Dalits in general and for Dalit women in particular. Sangati flouts received notions about what a novel should be and has no plot in the normal sense. Itrelates the mindscape of a Dalit woman who steps out of her small town community, only to enter a caste-ridden and hierarchical society, which constantly questions her caste status. Realizing that leaving her community is no escape, she has to come to terms with her identity as an educated, economically independent woman who chooses to live alone. In relating this tale, Bama turns Sangati into the story not just of one individual, but of a pariah community. Marked by rich ethnographic detail, Sangati is a significant political and ideological contribution to Dalit writing in Tamil. With a critical introduction by Lakshmi Holmstrom, this book will appeal to readers interested in Indian writing in translation and to students and teachers of translation studies, the political and social history of modern India, and cultural studies.

Bama

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