The Hindu Literary Review « Meena Kandasamy

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The Hindu Literary Review

January 6, 2008 by Meena Kandasamy

“For a man, the woman is the Dalit in the house.”

“As a writer, I can have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of oppression. It gives you the freedom to be a one-woman army. Moreover, in Tamil literature, we have this strong tradition of writers who very powerfully articulate what is happening in the society. Bharathi, for example, wrote that if one man goes without food, we’ll destroy the whole world. Perhaps he’ll be called a terrorist today.”

Read the whole text of my interview with Subash Jeyan in The Hindu Literary Review.

For the first time in my life, I feel like something I have said makes sense.

And if you like this, do read my article about poetry, translation and the politics
of the publishing industry also in the Hindu Literary Review.

Posted in Dr.Ambedkar, PhD, Poetry with Prakriti, caste, domestic violence, feminist writing, poetry, politics, translation, untouchability, violence, women, writing | 6 Comments

6 Responses to “The Hindu Literary Review”

on January 6, 2008 at 8:14 am1 hardik bhatt

For a man, the woman is the Dalit in the house nice i like this sentence and i become ur frnd nice meena can u send ur some poet from my e-mail titaniclove_11622@yahoo.com
on January 7, 2008 at 7:52 pm2 4Dvertigo

For a man, the woman is the Dalit in the house.” …so true.
on January 8, 2008 at 6:46 am3 Alexis

Hi,
I just read you article in the Hindu and would like to congratulate you for your work. I am a French living in Chennai and very interested in Dalit problems. I would be happy to attend your next reading and to meet you. Do not hesitate to contact me.
on January 9, 2008 at 11:01 pm4 Swar Thounaojam

“I think you have to be very conscious of your background, of where your roots lie.”

- After a period of being conscious of my background and roots, I have almost become rootless and anonymous. Its been a conscious decision. Why? It just happened - I got tired of people prefixing my name. Rootlessness has become my new form of freedom. People still peg me for their own understanding but me, myself - its a different story.
on February 4, 2008 at 3:50 pm5 Pal

Hi Meena,
A friend of mine sent me this link to your blog, and I was stunned to read your poems…it is so much beyond your age !! Wonderful. While I admire you for your insight and excellent command over language, I also feel that, while you say that the world has abused you due to your origin, you also seem to be using your very origin as a positioning tool for yourself. I do admire your writing very much,and I’d be honoured if I can meet you when I am Chennai next.
Best regards,
Pal
on March 19, 2008 at 4:01 am6 Calling Into Question at Blogbharti

[...] It is in connection with a comment that I have left on a blog post on identity. I am assuming it is the one by Meena Kandasamy to which I have left this [...]