Encounter a robot who can murder, and vengeful goddesses in Tamil pulp fiction that was once printed on sani paper and sold at 50p. The GUIDE flipped through the pages of a collection of Tamil stories translated to English for the first time
Encounter a robot who can murder, and vengeful goddesses in Tamil pulp fiction that was once printed on sani paper and sold at 50p. The GUIDE flipped through the pages of a collection of Tamil stories translated to English for the first time
When you think Tamil pop culture, what do you see? Colourful images of Rajnikanth beating up goons while deftlyu00a0 flicking his ciggie, maybe. But the Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction changes that perception, and how! 
A collection of stories by India's best-selling Tamil authors translated to English for the first time, it opens up a whole new world. Here's a taste:
"How can a computer train a human mind? Especially here, in some tiny hidden laboratory?" asked Narendran. His hand was slowly creeping into Vaijayanthi's cleavage when two sharp fingernails pinched him in the back.
"Ow!" Narendran yelled.
"Why are you shouting?" asked Vanilarasu.
"I didn't mean to. The hundred billion cells made me do it."
"You are mocking me, and my experiment. Long ago, the world mocked Socrates and Newton. Your mockery does not hurt me."
This extract from Hurricane Vaij by Subha, which is the nom de plume of two authors Suresh and Balakrishnan, has spicy ingredients a hero and heroine who act like love-struck teens even in times of danger, and a maniacal villain who plans to brainwash young Indians. But that's exactly what makes the story wild.
The couple sets out to rescue the son of a politician, from goons who are trying to brainwash him into becoming Gandhi!
All of it isn't about mad scientists and nymphomaniacs, though. Some stories raise issues of justice and women upliftment.
Matchstick Number One by Rajesh Kumar, who was bad-mouthed by other serious Tamil writers for the liberal use of slang, takes a sarcastic dig at our judicial system, hinting that judges can be bought to deliver judgments that protect rapists. But the judge in Matchstick takes matters into his own hands, and hangs the offenders in a private court.
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Then there are short stories by Vidya Subramaniam, which are an ode to the modern woman,
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daring and outspoken. In Me, Vidya tells the tale of a woman who is held prisoner by her mother and has been forced to bear the responsibility of getting her sisters married. Her mother is upset that she's dating a man, and Vidya blows up. She says:
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"A thousand years ago, a woman was able to select her mate from thousands during her swayamwaram. I don't care what this society thinks of me. If you want to stay with me, stop interfering in my sex life. Bless me, as you should, that I have finally found some pleasure."
The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction edited by Rakesh Khanna is available at all leading bookstores for Rs 395
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