Seeing in the Dark
Short Stories by R. Chudamani

'Her smile a saga of womanhood.' Abhirami ... a courageous village girl seeks vengeance for being raped. Devaki ... weakened and afraid, a mother of six cringes at her seventh pregnancy. Sankari ... a free-spirited woman who finds liberation in death. The underlying theme in each of the stories is the woman as she sees herself, not how others believe her to be. Painted with earthy colours and lyrical language, R. Chudamani's women speak gently yet firmly of the battles fought daily within the home and outside it. They face the currents of life, fighting, resisting, and, at times, succumbing.

R. Chudamani (1931-2010), though not formally educated, was a prolific writer in Tamil and English. She has to her credit over 500 short stories and 32 volumes of fiction. She began publishing in Tamil in 1954 and in English in 1962. She wrote on a variety of topics with a deep understanding of human nature. Prabha Sridevan is a former judge of the Madras High Court and the former chairman regularly in English and Tamil on issues of law and life. Seeing in of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board. She writes the Dark is her first translation.