CHENNAI : “Inga veyyil kodumaiya adikuthu (Here the sun hits you harshly) Nizhala thaedi marathadiyila olinja (Searching for a shade, we hide under a tree) Anga karumbu chaarum inji morum kedaikuthu (There we get sugarcane juice and buttermilk) Bore adichu beachu poyi nadandhaa (If we are bored, we walk on the beach) Anga maangaiyum milaga thoolum vikkuthu (There they sell spiced raw mango)” hese verses from musician Kaber Vasuki’s Chennai Paadal describe the vibrant scenes of the city in the backdrop of the blazing sun. Similarly, through words, summer becomes a kaleidoscope of sensations. From the shaded alleys of RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days to breezy beaches of Chitra Viraraghavan and Krishna Shastri Devulapalli’s Madras on My Mind: A City in Stories, Chennai’s summer heat permeates the pages of literature.
In the words of Kamala Das, the city becomes a living, breathing entity, pulsating with the rhythm of life under the scorching sun. CE delves into the literary landscape of Chennai, where the essence of summer is captured in the pages of books and poems, offering glimpses into the soul of this dynamic city. And so on that particular hot summer afternoon, Marundeeshwaran, wannabe author, sat on the sands of the Thiruvalluvar Nagar beach, attempting to squeeze some prose out of his misbehaving ink pen.
He had set out as soon as Thirupu’s snores reached his ears...
He opened his tiny pink notebook and wrote in it: In Madras, the weather is lovely, So, too, the .