அபலையின் கண்ணீர்

by Kalki Krishnamurthy

அமரர் கல்கி எழுதிய பிரபலமான குருநாவல்களுள் ஒன்று 'அபலையின் கண்ணீர்.' நீண்ட இடைவெளிக்குப் பிறகு இப்போது வேறு சில சிறுகதைகளோடு சேர்த்து ஒரே தொகுதியாக வானதி பதிப்பகம் வெளியிடுகிறது.

140 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2014

About the author

Tamil language Novel Writer, Journalist, Poet & Critic late Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy also known as ‘Kalki’. He derived his pen name from the suffixes of his wife name Kalyani and his name Krishnamurthy in Tamil form கல்யாணி and கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி as Kalki (கல்கி). His name also represents “Kalki avatar”, the tenth and last avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu.

His writings includes over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews. Krishnamurthy’s witty, incisive comments on politics, literature, music and other forms of art were looked forward to with unceasing interest by readers. He wrote under the pen names of ‘Kalki’, ‘Ra. Ki’, ‘Tamil Theni’, ‘Karnatakam’ and so on.

The success that Krishnamurthy attained in the realm of historical fiction is phenomenal. Sixty years ago, at a time when the literacy level was low and when the English-educated Tamils looked down on writings in Tamil, Kalki’s circulation touched 71,000 copies – the largest for any weekly in the county then – when it serialised his historical novels. Kalki had also the genius to classify the historical and non-historical events, historical and non-historical characters and how much the novel owes to history.

Reviews

[Raja Subramanian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, roughly translated as “Tears of a Damsel in Distress” was published in 1955-56 by Bharathi Publications. I got a copy of this book recently. Kalki, of course, was a master storyteller, and it is always a pleasure to read them in the original Tamil.

This novella centers around Sivaraj, considered to be a social activist since the Independence struggle. He teams up with Dhanaraj, an upright policeman and tries to expose the black marketing activities of the powerfully connected Durairaja. A damsel in distress arrives at the home of Sivaraj, and the story takes on an entirely new life. The twist in the end makes it a great read!

[Sanjay Rajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's like one of those books where there is a story within story within story.... This book has kalkis's short novel "Abalaiyin Kanneer" and Alon with that 8 short stories. The short stories like "Barathan - or ottagam" and "Aakirathu yaar"are thought provoking where as remaining stories are humorous which do make you think for a minute. Overall a good book