A Drive from Darkness to Light | A Visual Masterclass | Today ❤️

Just Look Up! | What the Clouds Taught Me Today

#incampustoday #intothewoods

8th May 2026

Driving down the State Highway towards Campus today, I found myself captivated by a silent companion who was tailgating me all along! - a stunning cloud formation that followed me all the way to Campus! 😊

This lovely sight impulsively brought to my mind two things –

Firstly, it took me back to 2018 - to our blog discussions HERE on our blog, on The Cloud Appreciation Society and their vibrant Manifesto!

I couldn’t help but think of Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s lovely categorisation of the sky’s inhabitants. Even as I was driving, I kept watching out for his three distinct tiers 😊

The Low Clouds: Those “cotton wool tufts” that bloom on a sunny day.

The Middle Clouds: Looking like endless “layers of bread rolls” across the horizon.

The High Clouds: Those “delicate streaks of falling ice crystals” brushing against the edge of space.

Secondly, what struck me the most, was the dramatic transition! In no time, the heavy, brooding dark clouds transitioned so quickly to a vast, graceful and luminous sky blue!

In fact, it was a stunning visual masterclass on the “Philosophy of the Passing Clouds”.

This quick transitioning from darkness to light made me ponder about this profound philosophy behind the “passing clouds”.

Like the clouds over Tambaram, our emotions – be it happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise, etc., - are also transient by nature!

They are visitors, not inhabitants! True peace happens only when we treat them as passing clouds rather trying to “fix” them!

Mindfulness helps us cultivate this art of detachment! We don’t have to engage with them or be controlled by them!

By recognising the transitory nature of our emotions, we can stop trying to hold onto the mist! 😊

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that while the weather keeps changing every hour of the day, the sky remains - vast, blue, calm, cool, and unaffected.

Your essence is the sky, not the fleeting clouds passing through it! 😊

So whenever negative thoughts or emotions arise – which is quite natural - you don’t have to invite them over for a cup of coffee! 😊

Instead, just place those anxieties onto a cloud and simply watch the wind carry them away. You don’t have to engage with them; you can just let them pass!

Cos, as the renowned Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron says -

“You are the sky. Everything else - it’s just the weather.”

Would love to end this post with the immortal lines of Tagore –

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sky.”

Cool! Ain’t it? 😊

“Open my heart and you will see / Graved inside of it, ‘Italy’” ❤️

Born to Wander: The Transnational Journeys of Tagore, Browning, and Jhabvala

This morning, we had a rewarding time discussing collaborations and global engagement with senior officials from Deakin University, Australia.

What’s quite interesting about today’s interactions is that, Deakin made history by becoming the very first foreign university in the world to establish an international teaching campus in India – in Gujarat - followed by University of Wollongong (Australia).

I was quite surprised and wonder-amazed at this fascinating shift! From students migrating to better pastures abroad for their higher studies, to those very same global universities coming all the way to India, to set up physical campuses - it’s indeed been a paradigm shift of sorts!

Bespeaks to the importance of transnational education made available to our students at just 1/3rd of the costs.

The initiative is a bold and welcome move, as it solves the problem of academic access, and makes available transnational education at our doorsteps.

At the same time, however, I personally feel that, in a way, it dilutes the profound cultural and geographical immersion that comes from physically crossing borders - that transnational travel seeks to endow our students with!

It could be navigating our way through a foreign grocery store, decode local slang, or connecting with new people - this geographic displacement that accompanies such travels are quite essential to shaping one’s perspectives and ‘world’views, ain’t it?

Again, today I had calls and messages from our students who are currently in Japan and in Korea, describing their adventurous experiences in navigating their way to the local grocery, the weather, the food, the people, and yes, the little earthquakes that gave them that little lubtub moments, etc. 😊

Indeed, I personally feel that, such transnational travels help in discovering ourselves!

In this regard, let’s do a quick take on how these transnational travels have helped three great writers – who are celebrating their birthdays today – Tagore, Browning, and Jhabvala – who were able to experience their authentic voices by stepping outside their familiar boundaries, and thereby were able to uncover hidden facets of their own identities when they stepped outside of their comfort zone!

#onhisbirthdaytoday #onherbirthdaytoday

7th May 2026

Yes, today happens to be the birthday of three literary giants - Robert Browning, Rabindranath Tagore, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

And although all three writers come from different literary traditions, one particular aspect that unites them all is the fact that, all three of them were great travellers whose travel experiences have inspired and impacted their writing much-o-much!

First and foremost, let’s take up Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore!

Although Tagore was deeply rooted in the Bengal landscape, he was a frequent global traveller as well!

In fact, his visits to over 30 countries across five continents between 1878 and 1932 have deeply influenced his writing and worldview. His trips - that were sometimes months-long or even years-long, were more than mere vacations. They were experiences that shaped his thought-processes, his world-views and his personality for the better!

England in particular was Tagore’s most frequent destination, where he was exposed to English literature, Western classical music, and British society.

During his long stays here, he made use of the opportunity to interact with the English literary giants of the time - including W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound - leading to the publication of Gitanjali and his subsequent Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

In fact it was Yeats who wrote the Introduction to his Gitanjali.

He also travelled five times to the US, staying there for many months to lecture, meet intellectuals, and raise funds for his school in Santiniketan.

He spent several months living in Urbana, Illinois, where his son Rathindranath was studying agriculture at the University of Illinois. This was one of the most productive periods of his writing!

He also undertook a lot of lecture tours in the US!

Then, he travelled to Argentina, which was one of his most romanticised staycations! 😊

The famous Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo, who was also a devoted admirer of Tagore’s work, hosted him for two months at the Villa Ocampo! And this sylvan residency, literally rejuvenated him. Under this spell, he started writing a host of poems dedicated to Ocampo!

He then visited Japan where he lived for a month, during which time he developed a deep admiration for Japanese aesthetics, traditional arts, and the Shinto reverence for nature.

After his Japanese travels, he embarked on a high-profile tour of China, lecturing in Beijing and interacting with leading Chinese intellectuals like Liang Qichao, attempting to bridge Indian and Chinese philosophical traditions.

After this, throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Tagore toured Europe continuously, meeting with luminaries like Albert Einstein in Germany and Romain Rolland in Switzerland. In 1930, he also made a trip to the Soviet Union, staying in Moscow. He was deeply fascinated by their massive educational campaigns and agricultural cooperatives!

To Tagore, travelling was never about tourism! it was an educative experience, philosophical experience and a therapeutic experience as well. On this account, he viewed himself as a global citizen - a Visva-Kabi (World Poet) – aimed at breaking down the narrow walls of hatred and prejudice and create a “world where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.”

Before he set out on his extensive travels, much of his work was deeply embedded in the specific cultural and political milieu of Bengal. However, as he moved across Europe, America(s), and Asia, his writing began to reflect a universalist perspective.

He then started envisioning literature not as a national product, but as a global dialogue!

You may want to read our past post where Tagore talks about Visva Sahitya HERE on our blog.

Secondly, let’s take up Browning - Robert Browning!

Although Browning was English, his greatest creative period occurred during his travels abroad, especially during his fifteen years’ stay in Italy. Here, he learnt a lot of Italian history, Renaissance art, and local culture, and from this vantage ‘foreign’ space, he was able to look at Victorian society from an insider-outsider’s perspective!

At the same time, it’s quite important to note that, while Tagore travelled across five continents and visited over thirty countries, Browning’s travels were almost exclusively confined to the European continent. Instead of globe-trotting or globe-hopping, Browning preferred deep, prolonged immersion in specific cultures, which had a profound influence on his poetry.

In short, Italy may be said to be the centre of Browning’s creative and personal life. Following his famous secret marriage and elopement with Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1846 (fleeing her tyrannical father), the couple moved to Italy and stayed there for fifteen years.

They frequently spent summers escaping the Florentine heat in Siena or the Apennine mountains, and spent significant time in Rome and Venice. Browning’s love for Italy was so profound that upon his death, he was living in his son’s home in Venice in 1889. He famously wrote, “Open my heart and you will see / Graved inside of it, ‘Italy’.”

France was Browning’s second most visited foreign country. After their secret wedding, Robert and Elizabeth initially fled to Paris before making their way south to Italy. After Elizabeth died in 1861, Browning returned to London. However, he frequently spent his summers in France, particularly in the coastal regions of Brittany and Normandy, enjoying the rugged landscapes which inspired several of his later poems.

Before he became a famous poet, a 21-year-old Browning undertook an adventurous trip to the Russian Empire. He travelled there as secretary to the Russian consul-general, journeying by ship to Rotterdam, then traveling overland by coach through vast stretches of snow to St. Petersburg. Although he only stayed about three months, the vast, wintry landscapes and the political atmosphere left a lasting impression, heavily influencing his early long poems like Sordello and later works like Ivàn Ivànovitch.

Browning also spent time in the Swiss Alps. He and Elizabeth sometimes traveled through Switzerland en route between England and Italy, and he returned there occasionally in his later, post-Italy years for summer holidays.

Now let’s look at Jhabvala - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala! 

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s relationship with international travel was quite different. She lived and travelled across four entirely different countries - Germany, England, India, and the United States - and these were more of geographical displacements than travels, and these displacements impacted and influenced her writing style to a great extent.

Jhabvala was born in Germany to a Jewish family and was forced to flee to England in 1939 as a refugee from the Nazi regime. This early, traumatic uprooting instilled in her a lifelong sense of exile, that could be evidenced in the theme of perpetual rootlessness, that’s part and parcel of almost all her writings, including her poignant 1966 autobiographical essay titled, “Myself in India”.

As a result of this perpetual rootlessness, she described herself as a person with “no roots.” Consequently, almost all of her fiction centres on characters who are spiritually or physically displaced. Whether they are European refugees, Western spiritual seekers in the East, or Indians navigating post-colonial shifts, her protagonists are typically outsiders searching for a sense of belonging that forever eludes them.

In the year 1951, she married an Indian architect and moved to Delhi, where she lived for 24 years. This relocation produced her most famous body of work, including her Booker Prize-winning novel Heat and Dust.

Her final major migration was to New York in 1975, a city where she finally felt comfortable!

Well, all three writers - then - describe the human condition and the human psyche when it is caught between colliding cultures, and all three of them were able to describe the transnational experience in their own unique ways through their oeuvre.

That’s hence, on careful analysis of their writing, one can see in all three writers – a rejection of a singular, omniscient, and reliable authorial voice, thereby disrupting the concept of a monolithic, mono-cultural literary identity, and embraced polyphony, instead, allowing their characters to reveal their own psychological landscapes!

In short, the most significant writings of all these three literary giants – born on this day – 7th May - exemplify the transnational human condition - living at the intersection of differing cultures, and thereby acting as literary bridges while navigating the complexities of displacement!

Literary bridges! 😊 Sounds lovely, isn’t it?

You may want to read more on the concept of literary bridges, in our past blogpost HERE.

If you are a travel buff, you may also want to read our Six-Part Travel Writing Series that we did HERE on our blog way back in the year 2018.

From Piggy Chops to Golden Siggie | The Screenstor and the Surgeon ❤️

The Danger of Believing That You Know Enough!

On Sigmund Freud | The Father of Psychoanalysis

#onhisbirthdaytoday

6th May 2026

& Applying Sigmund Freud to Priyanka Chopra!

Or in other words…

Applying Siggie to Piggy!

This morning, in Campus, the Deans, VPs and Officials of the College had a very long and rewarding meeting with our Principal. In the meeting our Principal was highlighting on UGC’s emphasis on the importance of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) - which encompasses all the learning activities that professionals engage in - over and beyond their initial academic qualifications to ensure that their practice remains relevant and effective!

It was such a delightful coincidence because just this morning, I was listening to a lovely speech by Piggy Chops – aka Priyanka Chopra on a similar topic!

And this – ladies and gentlemen - takes us to the theme of today’s blogpost, and... here we go! 😊

Well, I’ve always admired screenstors (my little portmanteau of silver screen and actor) 😊who double up as readers and writers!

Call it a quaint little idiosyncrasy of mine – but I’ve had this crazy weird admiration for actors who take time to read a lot and write a lot, not as part of their profession, but out of sheer passion!

Art for heart’s sake! 😊

The list is eclectic! But these are a few of my favourite actors-cum-authors - 😊

Here goes –

Girish Karnad, Twinkle Khanna, Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Tom Hanks, Priyanka Chopra, to name just a few.

And yes, I’ve admired Piggy Chops a lot not only for her best-selling memoir – Unfinished, but also for her speeches as well! Yess! There’s something about Priyanka’s speeches that have a telling effect on the viewer/listener! – maybe that’s because she is able to have the commanding presence of a seasoned orator, while at the same time, she gives you the expressions and the body language of a girl next door, telling you a story! Do please take time to watch a few of her speeches.

There was one such speech by Piggy Chops on YouTube that Prof. Dinesh had shared with me yesterday, and the first thing I listened to - early this morning! That’s when I decided that I should do a little post on it today.

And hence this post. 😊

On an aside, yesterday, I remember having discussed HERE on our blog - some of the core concepts of Kierkegaard and Karl Marx, the Father of Existentialism and the Father of Communism, respectively – on their birthdays yesterday!

We saw that, they both were “philosophical surgeons” who diagnosed the modern human condition – especially its weaknesses and sicknesses!

In like fashion, Sigmund Freud is a “psychological surgeon” who in like manner, diagnosed the modern human condition – and also provided an entirely new vocabulary for making sense of that human condition! 

In other words, if Society was the Text for Marx, and the Individual was the Text for Kierkegaard, the Mind was the Text for Freud! 😊

So the purpose of this post then, is two-fold!

Firstly, to give some excerpts from Priyanka Chopra’s inspiring speech, and then to apply Freud’s concepts to four of the important points that I found so engrossing and worth analysing – the Freudian way – in Priyanka’s speech.

Well, Priyanka’s speech opens with an impactful premise!

The most dangerous person is one who stops learning, she says, and adds, “The moment you decide you know enough, you stop growing and become replaceable. The world changes every second, and holding onto outdated knowledge that you gained during your school days or UG days or PG days, leaves you behind even while the rest of the world adapts to newer knowledge systems, she adds.

Priyanka then gives real-life examples from the most successful people in the world - such as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Warren Buffett! They all share one common trait - they never stop learning!

Education isn’t just about reading books; it is found in conversations, experiences, and the lessons hidden within personal failures. And for this, she uses the analogy of a baby learning to walk. Babies fall repeatedly but never quit because they don’t understand the concept of failure.

Even we can adopt this same mindset by adding the word “yet” to our vocabulary. Instead of saying, “I am not good at this,” we should say, “I am not good at this yet,” which acknowledges that growth is possible.

She then exhorts people to investing in the mind instead of investing a lot in material possessions. People readily spend thousands on designer clothes, luxury bags, and the latest sneakers to look successful, but the same people very often hesitate to invest in a book or in learning a new course.

Priyanka reminds us that fashion fades and money can be lost, but knowledge is a permanent luxury that continuously appreciates in value and opens doors that a designer outfit never could.

I particularly liked the way in which she ‘reframes’ the concept of failure.

Failure is not the opposite of success! Instead, it is a necessary ingredient of success, she says.

She highlights the example of Thomas Edison, who didn’t see his attempts at creating the lightbulb as thousands of failures, but as finding thousands of ways that didn’t work.

Failure, hence, is simply life’s way of refining you and building your resilience to become a better version of yourself, she adds.

The icing on the cake is the part where she says that, the fastest way to master anything is to teach it! Sharing your knowledge with others literally forces you to organise your thoughts, simplifies your understanding, and multiplies the impact of what you have learned,

she signs off!

Now for the literary takeaways, as usual - 😊

Well, today happens to be Sigmund Freud’s birthday. He was called Golden Siggie by his mother.

So after Piggy, let’s focus on Siggie! 😊

Analysing Piggy’s speech through a psychoanalytic lens offers some fabulous learning for us!

I would just like to take four of the core points in Piggy’s speech –

resisting stagnation,

delaying gratification,

investing in the mind, and

sharing you knowledge with others

and try and connect them with a few of Freud’s foundational concepts.

Freud foregrounded the fact that, human behaviour is driven by two opposing forces - Eros (the life instinct, encompassing survival, propagation, and creative growth) and Thanatos (the death drive, a return to a state of stasis, rest, and zero tension).

Alluding to Piggy’s first point then - the moment a person decides they “know enough” and stops learning, they are surrendering to Thanatos – the death drive, a state of stagnation, leading to cognitive decline - 

Lifelong learning, therefore, is the ultimate expression of Eros – the life instinct - the active, continuous generation of new mental pathways!

Alluding next to Piggy’s second point - according to Freud, the Id operates strictly on the basis of the Pleasure Principle, demanding immediate gratification and throwing a tantrum (a theatrish behaviour) 😊 when frustrated! To Freud, then, one should journey away from the Pleasure Principle (that requires instant gratification), to the Reality Principle, which allows a person to delay gratification, endure discomfort, and thereby understand the long-term demands of the external world!

Now, alluding to Priyanka’s third point, where she notes that people spend thousands of rupees on expensive, luxury items to look successful, but they hesitate much-o-much when it comes to investing in a book or learning a new course that builds actual wealth and knowledge - 

In this scenario, a kinda Freudian displacement occurs – where the deep-seated desire for self-worth, is displaced onto superficial luxury goods. Rather than doing the rigorous internal work of intellectual development, the individual seeks a shortcut, using expensive material items as a psychic defence mechanism to project an illusion of success. True education dismantles this displacement by forcing the individual to build internal, permanent value rather than relying on external, fading commodities.

Finally, alluding to Piggy’s exhortation of mastery through teaching, where she says that, teaching and the sharing of knowledge literally forces us to organise our thoughts coherently and thereby accelerates our own learning - 

In the same vein, applying Freud here - the act of mentoring or teaching or sharing one’s knowledge with others could be called sublimation - a mature defence mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses or internal anxieties are transformed into socially acceptable, productive actions!

True intellectual rigour then, lies in –

resisting stagnation,

delaying gratification,

investing in the mind, and

sharing you knowledge with others!

Say Piggy and Siggie! 😊

"Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too!" ❤️

Kierkegaard (1813) – the Father of Existentialism

&

Karl Marx (1818) – the Father of Communism

#onhisbirthdaytoday

5th May 2026

Well, these two legends were born on this very same day – 5th May!

Although both were born just five years apart, they don’t seem to have met with each other any point of time in their lives.

Both thinkers were philosophical surgeons who diagnosed the modern human condition – especially its weaknesses and sicknesses!

While Marx focused on material and social alienation, Kierkegaard focused on spiritual and psychological alienation.

To Kierkegaard, modern individuals were alienated from their true, authentic selves due to the effect of mass society, the crowd mentality, and the avoidance of personal responsibility.

Both Kierkegaard and Marx were sceptical of the ‘crowd mentality’. That’s hence Kierkegaard famously stated that, ‘Crowd is Untruth’.

Both felt that, truth is found in action - revolutionary action that alters the individual and the society for the better!

Both were very critical of Hegel. However, Marx moved towards atheism and materialist politics, while Kierkegaard moved towards personal religious faith!

In other words, Marx focused solely on economic, sociological, and political revolution. In his first major political pamphlet titled, The Communist Manifesto in 1848, he famously declared that, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”, in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production.

Kierkegaard on the other hand, focused on individual existence, theology, and philosophy. In his first published work titled, Either/Or in 1843, he famously remarked –

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both... This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”

This line beautifully encapsulates the deep existential crisis that Kierkegaard foregrounds as his core philosophy. The character “A” in his Either/Or is literally trapped in a state of aesthetic paralysis!

Aesthetic Paralysis!

Well, this particular phrase intrigued me lotsss!

Aesthetic paralysis - a state of stagnation disguised as enjoyment, where the individual is trapped in a loop of boredom and desire, unable to make genuine commitments or choices in their life.

Which means to say that, the aesthete is not merely looking for pleasure - but they are always on the chase for pleasure - chasing the “interesting” to avoid the authentic life, thereby leading to a “trapped” life.

As a result, the Aesthete avoids making choices in their lives. The aesthetic life is a “spectator view” of the world, rather than an engaged, active participative view of the world!

That’s hence Kierkegaard argues that the only way to cure aesthetic paralysis is to make a definitive leap into the Ethical Stage. This requires taking a “leap of faith” (a term that he had coined) to make a firm commitment (like a vocation, a career or a moral duty) and taking absolute responsibility for that choice.

Now for the literary takeaways – as usual 😊

And for our readers - this post is just an overview to a very tiny bit of takeaways gleaned from the two legends, with special emphasis on Kierkegaard!

Coming back -

In a way, Kierkegaard’s 1843 Either/Or may be said to foreground for us our modern digital crisis, and how the “Ethical Leap” offers a way out from the digital trap!

So yes! how do we come out of this aesthetic paralysis especially in today’s highly wired, digital world? 😊

Before proceeding further, let me first define who is Aesthete A!

In Soren Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, Aesthete A is the pseudonymous author of the first volume of his monumental 1843 work, Either/Or. Aesthete A in essence, is the ultimate embodiment of the aesthetic stage of life.

To Kierkegaard, the “aesthetic” life is one lived for the moment, focused on sensory experience, pleasure, and the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of the “interesting.”

In this respect, for Aesthete A, the ultimate evil in the world is not sin; it is boredom. He views life as inherently meaningless and empty, and his entire existence is a frantic effort to distract himself from this underlying emptiness of life.

In a famous essay within Either/Or titled “The Rotation of Crops,” Aesthete A argues that just as a farmer must scroll oops rotate crops to keep the soil fertile, a person must constantly rotate their experiences to avoid boredom!

Because Aesthete A wants to remain free to pursue whatever catches his fancy at any given moment, he is terrified of commitment. He refuses to make any permanent choices - no job, no career, no marriage, no deep moral obligations, etc. To “A,” committing to something means losing touch with the pleasurable and the interesting! This makes him brilliant but ultimately aesthetically paralysed.

In short, Aesthete A is characterised as a detached intellectual who lives entirely for pleasure, novelty, and excitement to avoid boredom!

That’s hence, for Kierkegaard’s Aesthete A the greatest fear is committing to one path and losing all others.

In fact, Social media algorithms capitalise and work on this exact fear. Every time the Aesthete A indulges in swiping or doomscrolling, they are presented with infinite number of new possibilities! It could be a political meme, a funny incident, a political outrage, a new travel destination, a new lifestyle aesthetic, or a new subculture.

In the process, Aesthete A is subtly being exposed to a million different ways of living, but because “A” is just scrolling, he is not actually living any of them. Aesthete ‘A’ is immobilised and paralysed on the sofa, suffocated skyhigh by the infinite digital possibilities while his actual, physical life remains entirely stagnant!

To Kierkegaard, the Aesthete treats life as a passive theatrical performance to be watched rather than an active and authentic life to actively participate in.

It is so heart-warming to note that, Kierkegaard had predicted - way back in 1843 itself - that, this endless chasing of the pleasurable and the interesting, ultimately results in despair of the aesthetic life. It is the realisation that Aesthete A has been consuming mindless content for hours, but has gained no actual meaning in the process.

So what is the solution that Kierkegaard offers?

Well, in order to cure this aesthetic paralysis, Kierkegaard argues that, one must make a “leap” into the Ethical stage.

The Ethical stage is fundamentally about duty, consistency, and grounding oneself in reality. When we step away from the unending digital trap, we choose to anchor ourselves in the physical world.

This way, we tend to reclaim a cohesive, holistic identity where our identity is carved – not by fragmented and fleeting videos, likes, and memes, but is built slowly, steadily and consistently through real-world action - that can help in forming a genuine, unfragmented self - an authentic existence, says Kierkegaard.

“I heard it. It was to be expected. They will gradually remove you from your position.” ❤️

The Genius of Sujatha

Father of Tamil Science Fiction | Co-founder of the Electronic Voting Machine

Creator of the immortal Jeeno, Ganesh & Vasanth among other memorable characters!

#onhisbirthdaytoday

Sujatha (1935–2008) is the pseudonym of the renowned Tamil author S. Rangarajan. He was a pioneering Tamil science fiction writer, often referred to as the “Isaac Asimov of Tamil Literature”. He has written thrilling narratives that discuss advanced concepts like holography, nanotechnology, and robotics - years before they could enter mainstream public consciousness.

On his 91st birthday today – 3rd May 2026 - me thought of paying a small literary tribute to this technological prophet and a true visionary par excellence.

(On an aside, you may want to read about Isaac Asimov on our past blogpost HERE)

Well, if we look back at the Tamil fiction-scape up until the 1960s and 70s, we find that Tamil fiction has been heavily dominated by more of historical romances, family dramas, and social realism. And science fiction - if at all it existed - was mostly related to works in translation!

However, with the advent of Sujatha on the writing scene, things began to change.

Much before Artificial Intelligence became a part and parcel of our everyday lives, Sujatha had explored the ethical and emotional boundaries between humans and machines.

The creation of Jeeno, a robotic dog in En Iniya Iyanthira is a case in point. Jeeno was programmed with high intelligence, logic, and a synthesised voice, but as the story progresses, the machine begins to display traits that looked remarkably like the robot was exhibiting human empathy and loyalty. Jeeno became so beloved by readers that Sujatha was literally compelled to bring him back in the sequel, Meendum Jeeno.

He had also immortalised the lawyer-detective duo Ganesh and his witty assistant Vasanth, who made their debut in his 1968 very first novel titled, Nylon Kayiru. Both Ganesh and Vasanth soon became a great sensation and eventually massive cultural icons in Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, Nylon Kayiru is one of the few novels by Sujatha that has been translated into English. 

On a personal note, my only sadness is that, a majority of his oeuvre has not been translated into English and in other languages – which would have made him an instant world-wide celebrity.

In his lifetime, Sujatha wrote over 100 novels, 250 short stories, stage plays, and accessible commentaries on classical Sangam literature. Later in his career, he also made a mark for himself in cinema. He was considered a blockbuster screenwriter and dialogue writer who shaped massive Tamil films like Roja, Sivaji, Enthiran, and Dasavathaaram.

Apart from his writing commitments, which was his profound passion, he also had a regular 9 – 6 job with Bharat Electronics Limited. In fact, he was an electronics engineer by profession. (Interestingly, he was also the college classmate of former Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam).

It was under his supervision, during his tenure at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) that the design and production of the Indian Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was achieved.

Be it his En Iniya Iyanthira (My Dear Machine), which is set in a dystopian future where society is ruled by a mechanical dictator,

or

Sorga Theevu (Paradise Island), a gripping sci-fi novel about a mysterious island and futuristic scientific experiments, dealing with advanced human evolution, genetics, and societal control,

or

24 Rubai Theevu (24 Rupee Island), a thrilling adventure that blends science fiction with mystery, following a plot set in motion around a secretive, technologically advanced island,

or

Aah! - a fascinating novella that deals with extraterrestrial life and human encounters with aliens,

or

his short story collections like Computare Oru Kathai Sollu (Computer, Tell Me A Story), which is a brilliant collection of short stories that explore artificial intelligence and how technology interacts with everyday human emotions and morality,

or

Vignana Sirukathaigal (Science Fiction Short Stories), that contain Sujatha’s numerous sci-fi short stories, ranging from space travel to genetic engineering,

Sujatha’s sci-fi stories were unique in the sense that, unlike writers who used science merely as a magical backdrop, Sujatha wrote “hard” sci-fi, authenticated by his rich experience as an electronics engineer who stayed updated on global technological advancements.

Beyond fiction, his biggest societal contribution was popularising science and making it accessible to the layperson especially in Tamil. Through acclaimed Q&A columns like Yen, Yedharku, Eppadi (Why, What For, How), he broke down complex technological and scientific phenomena into simple, everyday language for the layperson.

As computers slowly began making their presence felt in the public sphere, Sujatha recognised the need and the importance of providing Tamil equivalents to a lot of these terms which were in English. In this regard, Sujatha gets the credit for pioneering a new techno-lexicon for Tamil, words which are now considered foundational for Tamil computing and software localisation.

Sample a few of the most prominent words he is credited with coining or standardising in the Tamil lexicon -

Software - Menporul (மென்பொருள்)

Hardware - Vanporul (வன்பொருள்)

File - Koppu (கோப்பு)

Directory / Folder - Adaivu (அடைவு)

Password - Kadavuchol (கடவுச்சொல்)

Keyboard - Visaipalagai (விசைப்பலகை)

Mouse - Sutti (சுட்டி)

Computer - Kanini (கணினி)

Also, me thought of reproducing a few lovely lines from off his book titled, Katrathum Petrathum, for our dear readers, to relish and to enjoy his engaging style of writing –

Here goes –

I was born on 3rd May 1935. However, my SSLC book states it as 13 April 1935. The reason is that when my father enrolled me in school, he couldn’t recall the exact date offhand and just gave it as 13 April. He told me this himself once. Because of this, I had to retire from Bharat Electronics at the age of 58 - an entire month early. There were no other consequences.

Alliance N. Srinivasan has published an interesting book titled Indha Naalil Andru (On This Day, Back Then). I looked through it to see what other earth-shattering events took place on 3rd May, aside from my birth. There wasn’t anything particularly special.

An illustration from the book...

Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian motion picture, was apparently screened at the Coronation Cinematograph in Bombay on 3rd May, 1913. (If an astrologer claims that this is why I developed a connection with cinema, that’s just pure nonsense). Nargis, a Malayalam film actor, and a Telugu literary figure - they all passed away on 3rd May. I am in no way responsible for that.

The Madras State was officially renamed ‘Tamil Nadu’ for the first time on 3rd May, 1969. Nobody asked for my permission for that, either. The first evening daily newspaper, The Star, was published on 3rd May 1788. The first train ran on 3rd May, 1830. Otherwise, there was no news of any giant stars, extra brightness, or at least a medium-sized meteor appearing in the sky.

Nowadays, if someone forgets to remember and celebrate a birthday, people drag them to court. Husbands, wives, and why... even infants get stressed out. Slightly older kids get upset and sit sulking in a corner like sworn enemies until an Archies greeting card arrives. In those days, none of that mattered. A birthday was just another day.

Just like an astrologer prophesied when Buddha was born, an astrologer from Coimbatore had written down on a piece of paper what all I would become in the future, which my mother showed me. It was all wrong. He had written, ‘In the future, this boy will become a great lawyer and a judge.’

Nothing of the sort happened. I only ended up writing stories about lawyers. He had also written that I would be sturdy, plump, and about five-and-a-half feet tall. That was wrong, too…

Sujatha goes on!

And now for a few lines about Meendum Jeeno, his sequel to My Dear Robot!

While the first book in the series - En Iniya Iyanthira laid the groundwork by introducing the much-acclaimed and beloved robotic dog, its sequel, Meendum Jeeno (The Return of Jeeno), written way back in 1987, stands out for its astonishingly prophetic tone, exploring concepts that the real world is only just beginning to experience today.

In this regard, Meendum Jeeno is so unique in the landscape of Indian science fiction!

Decades before the world began worrying about AI-generated deepfakes, voice cloning, and fake news, Sujatha made these the central plot devices of Meendum Jeeno. After the fall of the dictator Jeeva in the first book, two cunning human antagonists (Ravi and Mano) seize control of the nation. And instead of ruling by force, they cunningly rule from the shadows by using advanced technology, fake audio, and holograms to create a false reality, manipulating the masses through a puppet queen named Nila. Sujatha chillingly predicted how technology could be weaponised to distort truth and control society.

While Western sci-fi almost always portrays AI usually as a villain, Sujatha brilliantly flips this trope. In Meendum Jeeno, the humans are the corrupt, power-hungry villains misusing technology, while the AI - Jeeno the robotic dog - becomes the hero. Jeeno fights to protect the innocent characters from human greed, acting as their saviour.

What’s more? Jeeno - constantly upgrades and adapts himself by reading a lot of Tamil and English literature. Ironically, he also uses these quotes from the great writers to mock at the human villains.

Some of the famous books that Jeeno reads and upgrades himself are as follows –

The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, which Jeeno takes with him to the sofa to read.

The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, which Jeeno is depicted as opening this book and setting up a desk lamp to study it.

The Prince by Machiavelli, a book that Jeeno advises Nila to read in order to understand how to plunge her enemies into total confusion.

James Thurber’s Romances - Jeeno takes this book to read while keeping an eye on Cibi and Nila.

Now coming back to the novel, Meendum Jeeno –

While the first book in the series was about taking down a dictator, through Meendum Jeeno, Sujatha asks a much intriguing political question: What happens after the revolution?

The novel has a lot of exciting, cliff-hanger-ish thrilling sequences akin to the “cat-and-mouse” game, where technology and the human villains try to outsmart each other.

There’s this interesting place where, the human villains manage to capture Jeeno and subject him to a sort of electronic acupuncture to dismantle his circuits and lock him away. However, Jeeno self-repairs himself, hacks systems, and counters their moves – something that is far ahead of its time for the late 1980s.

Sample this from the book –

“ஜீனோ, அவர்கள் சொன்னதைக் கேட்டாயா?”

“கேட்டேன். எதிர்பார்த்ததுதான். உன்னைப் படிப்படியாகப் பதவி நீக்கம் செய்வார்கள்.”

“எப்படியோ பதவியிலிருந்து விடுதலை பெற்றால் நல்லது.”

“அதோடு நிற்காது.”

“?”

ஜீனோ அவளை ஒருமுறை பார்த்துக் கண்ணடித்தது.

“இப்படிக் கண்ணடிப்பது ஒரு கெட்ட பழக்கம்.”

“அப்படியா? மன்னித்துக் கொள். புதுசாகக் கற்றுக் கொண்டேன். சரி, எப்போதெல்லாம் கண்ணடிக்கலாம்?”

“காதலின்போது, விஷமத்தின்போது குழந்தைகளுக்குக் கண் சிமிட்டலாம். இரண்டு கண்கள்!”

“இரண்டு கண்களுக்கும் ஒரு கண்ணுக்கும் வித்தியாசமா?”

“ஆம், இரண்டு கண்களில் களங்கம் இல்லை.”

ஜீனோ இரண்டு கண்களையும் சிமிட்டியது.

“அன்புள்ள நிலா, நீ ஆபத்தில் இருக்கிறாய்” என்றது.

“எப்படி? மக்கள் என் பக்கம் இருக்கும்வரை நான் பத்திரமே”

“மக்கள் வெறுப்பு அதிகமாகி விட்டால்?”

“அதற்குள் நீ ஏதாவது செய்ய வேண்டும் ஜீனோ.”

“அதற்குள், என் தொண்டையில் கொஞ்சம் நைலான் ரோமங்கள் மாட்டிக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றன, எடுப்பாயா?”

ஜீனோவை நிலா மடியில் கிடத்தி, வாயைத் திறந்து விரலை விட்டுப் பார்த்து, “ஒன்றுமே இல்லையே” என்றாள்.

“சும்மா உன் மடியில் படுக்கத்தான் இந்தத் தந்திரம் செய்தேன்.”

“ஜீனோ. ஓ! ரொம்பக் குறும்பு அதிகமாகி விட்டது உனக்கு.”

The same passage, in English, for our non-Tamil readers –

“Jeeno, did you hear what they said?”

“I heard it. It was to be expected. They will gradually remove you from your position.”

“Somehow, it would be good to be freed from this post.”

“It won’t stop with that.”

“?”

Jeeno looked at her once and winked.

“Winking like this is a bad habit.”

“Is that so? Forgive me. I just learned it. Alright, when is it okay to wink?”

“During romance, or mischievously at children, you can blink. Both eyes!”

“Is there a difference between two eyes and one eye?”

“Yes, there is no malice in both eyes.”

Jeeno blinked both its eyes.

“Dear Nila, you are in danger,” it said.

“How? As long as the people are on my side, I am safe.”

“What if the people’s hatred grows?”

“You must do something before that happens, Jeeno.”

“Before that... some nylon hairs are stuck in my throat, will you take them out?”

Nila laid Jeeno on her lap, opened its mouth, put her finger inside to check, and said, “There is nothing here.”

“I just played this trick so I could lie on your lap.”

“Jeeno. Oh! You’ve become way too mischievous.”

And sample this - from the same novel - 

அவர்கள் அந்த நிலையத்தை விட்டுப் புறப்பட்ட அதே தருணம் நிலா தூங்காமல் விழித்துக் கொண்டுதான் இருந்தாள்.

“ஜீனோ, என்ன செய்து கொண்டிருக்கிறாய்?” என்று மேலே பார்த்தாள். ஜீனோ சுவரில் பல்லிபோலப் பக்கவாட்டில் ஏறி, உத்தரத்தை ஆராய்ந்து கொண்டிருந்தது.

“உன் அறை முழுவதும் சென்ஸார்கள்... நாம் பேசுவது நடப்பது எல்லாமே எங்கேயோ வேவு பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.”

அங்கங்கே முகர்ந்து பார்த்தது. புதுசாக ஃபிரிமோன் அனலைசர். பரவாயில்லை. “ரவியும் மனோவும் உன் ஒவ்வொரு செயல்பாட்டையும் கண்காணிக்க விரும்புகிறார்கள்.”

இறங்கி வந்தது.

“நீ என்ன செய்து கொண்டிருந்தாய்? எல்லாவற்றையும் பிடுங்கிவிட்டால் சந்தேகப்பட மாட்டார்களா?”

“அதற்குத்தான் யோசித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தேன். நீ உபத்திரவமில்லாத புத்தகம் வாசிப்பது போல ஒரு காட்சியை வீடியோ டேப் எடுத்து காமிராக் கண்களுடன் இணைத்து விட்டேன். பார்க்கும்போதெல்லாம் அந்தக் காட்சிதான் வரும். நான் வேறு அவ்வப்போது வவ் வவ்! கொஞ்ச நாளைக்குத் தாங்கும்.”

“ஜீனோ நீ ஒரு மேதை.”

“என் பாட்டரி என்ன ஆச்சு. வரவழைத்தாயா?”

“ஸாரி ஜீனோ, மறந்து போய்விட்டேன்.”

“உனக்காகத்தான் இத்தனை செய்கிறேன்... எனக்காக ஒரு பாட்டரி?”

“ஸாரி! மறந்துவிட்டேன் என்று சொன்னேன் இல்லையா?”

“சாப்பாட்டை மறப்பாயா... எனக்கு சாப்பாடு போல பாட்டரி.”

“இந்த அரசாங்கக் காகிதங்களையெல்லாம் பார்க்கிறாயா ஜீனோ?”

“பார்த்துவிட்டேன். அனைத்திலும் கையெழுத்துப் போடு... ஒன்றே ஒன்றைத் தவிர. ஜி-இ ஆராய்ச்சிக்காக அறுநூறு கோடி கேட்டு ஒரு கோப்பு வந்திருக்கிறது.”

“ஜி-இ என்றால்?”

“ஜென்ட்டிக் இன்ஜினீயரிங் என்று எண்ணுகிறேன். விசாரிக்க வேண்டும். விசாரிக்காமல் கையெழுத்துப் போடாதே என்ன?”

“சரி, நீ சொன்னபடியே செய்கிறேன் ஜீனோ.”

“பாட்டரி.”

“இதோ” – “யாரங்கே?” என்று நிலா கைதட்ட, ஒரு பெண் வந்து நிற்க.

“அரசி?” என்றாள்.

“பெண்ணா, மெஷினா?”

“பெண் அரசி.”

“அரண்மனை எலெக்ட்ரீஷியனை உடனே வர சொல்.”

அவள் ஓடிப்போய் ஒன்றரை செகண்டுக்குள் எலெக்ட்ரீஷயன் வர, “எனக்கு ஒரு பாட்டரி வேண்டும். உன் பேர் என்ன?”

என்று கேட்டாள் நிலா.

“அரசி, எனக்குப் பெயர் கிடையாது... எண் தான்.”

“சரி. உன் எண் என்ன?”

“323435.”

“அன்புள்ள 323435. இந்த சைஸ் பாட்டரி எங்கிருந்தாலும் கொண்டு வந்தால் உனக்கு ஒரு நாள் சம்பளம் தருவேன்.”

“ஆணை அரசி.”

“323435! என்ன பேர் இது?”

“இவன் ஹ்யூமனாய்டு என்று சொல்கிறார்கள். மனிதனுக்கும் ரோபாட்டுக்கும் இடையில் இவனுக்கெல்லாம் மாச சம்பளம் இல்லை. அவ்வப்போது கழற்றி எண்ணெய் போட வேண்டும் அவ்வளவுதான்.... அவ்வப்போது ஒரு சோற்று மாத்திரை!” என்றது ஜீனோ.

பாட்டரி வந்ததும் அந்த எண் மனிதன் விலக, அதை ஜீனோவிடம் கொடுக்க. ஜீனோ “நிலா, நீ எனக்கு ஒரு காரியம் செய்ய வேண்டும்” என்றது.

“என் கழுத்தைத் திருகி அதனுள் இருக்கும் பாட்டரிகளை எடுத்துகிட்டுப் புதுசாக பாட்டரி போடு. ஏதாவது தப்பாகச் செய்துவிடாதே.”

“பயமா இருக்கு.”

“பயப்படாதே தொந்தரவுதான். இருந்தாலும் செய்ய வேண்டியது கட்டாயம்.”

“முடியாதே! முடிந்தால் ஏன் உன்னைத் தொந்தரவு செய்கிறேன்? பாட்டரி போட்டுக் கொள்ள மோட்டார் இயங்க வேண்டும். மோட்டார் இயங்க பாட்டரி வேண்டும் சிக்கல்.”

நிலா கைநடுங்க எப்படியோ போட்டுவிட்டாள். சற்று நேரம்.. பாட்டரி உயிர் பெற்றதும்தான் அவளுக்கும் உயிர் வந்தது. அதுவரை ஜீனோ உயிரில்லாது ஒரே திசையில் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தது அவளுக்குப் பயமாக இருந்தது.

ஜீனோ ஒருமுறை காதுகளைக் குடுகுடுப்பை பண்ணிவிட்டு,

“இது ஒன்றுதான் என் டிஸைனில் வீக் பாயிண்ட்... சார்ஜர் வைத்திருக்கிறார்கள். சார்ஜிங் ரேட் போதவில்லை மோட்டார் கரண்ட் ரொம்ப சாப்பிடுகிறது. ஸோலார் பானல் அன்றாட வேலைகளுக்குப் பயன்படுகிறது. ராத்திரி வந்தால் எப்போதுமே எனக்குக் கண்டம்தான்.”

“இதை மாற்றச் சொல்லிவிடலாமே.”

“இரு இரு. அவசரப்படாதே... என் மாதிரி ஒரு ரோபாட் இருப்பதே யாருக்கும் தெரியக்கூடாது. அவர்களை பொறுத்தவரையில் ஜீனோ இறந்து போன சமாசாரம். ஜீனோ மாதிரி ரோபாட் நாய்கள் பண்ணுவதையே தடை செய்தாகி விட்டது.”

“யாரோ வருகிறார்கள்.”

ஜீனோ தன் நாற்காலிக்கு அருகே இருந்த சின்ன விவி திரையில் கவனித்து, “மனோ வருகிறான்” என்றது. நிலா புத்தகத்தை எடுத்துப் படிக்க, ஜீனோ மேஜை மேல் தாவி ஏறிக்கொண்டது. மனோ உள்ளே வந்தான்: “சௌக்கியமா நிலா?”

“சௌக்கியம்தான்.”

“எல்லா கோப்புகளிலும் கையெழுத்திட்டாகி விட்டதா?” “ஒன்றே ஒன்று தவிர, ஜிஇ என்றால் என்ன?”

மனோ அவளருகில் வந்து, “புத்திசாலித்தனமாக கேள்வியெல்லாம் கேட்டு விட்டுத்தான் கையெழுத்துப் போடுவாயோ?” என்றான்.

“ஆம், தெரியாத விஷயம் எதிலும் கையெழுத்திட வேண்டாம்...”

“வேண்டாமென்று யார் சொன்னது?”

“நானே தீர்மானித்துவிட்டேன்.”

மனோ அவளை ஆழமாகப் பார்த்தான். “நிலா! எல்லை மீறுகிறாய்!”

“இல்லை மனோ. நாட்டின் தலைவி நானல்லவா?”

என்று அவனை நோக்கிக் கண் சிமிட்டினாள்.

“உனக்கு யாரோ சொல்லிக் கொடுக்கிறார்கள்.”

“யாருமில்லை.”

மனோ ஜீனோவை எடுத்துக் கீழே எறிந்து, மேஜை மேல் உட்கார்ந்து, “சொல்லு, சிபியா?”

“சிபி எங்கே இருக்கிறான்?”

“பின் ஏன் கையெழுத்திட மறுக்கிறாய்?”

“நான் அரசி, நான்தான் அரசி.”

மனோ எதிர்பாராமல் அவள் கையைப் பிடித்தான்.

“விடு! வலிக்கிறது.”

“வலிக்கட்டும். காவலனைக் கொன்றாய். கையெழுத்திட மறுக்கிறாய். என்ன இது துளிர்ப்பு நிலா? சொன்னபடி கேட்டால் வலி குறையும். சொன்னபடி கேட்காவிட்டால் வலி அதிகரிக்கும். கையெழுத்துப் போடுகிறாயா?”

“மாட்டேன்.”

கையை அப்படியே இழுத்துப் பின்பக்கம் செலுத்தி முறுக்கினான்.

‘வவ்’ என்றது ஜீனோ. அது அந்தப் பக்கம் பார்க்கக்கூட இல்லை. ஏதோ ஒரு திக்கில் பார்த்து – ‘வவ் வவ்’ “கடைசியாகச் சொல்லு.”

“மாட்டேன். என்னை அரசி என்று போட்டால் கேள்வி கேட்காமல் கையெழுத்துப் போட மாட்டேன்.”

மனோ அவளை மூர்க்கத்தனமாகப் படுக்கையில் தள்ளினான். அவள் உடைகளைப் பற்றிக் கிழிக்க, அவள் மார்பகங்கள் விடுபட்டன. தன் இடுப்பிலிருந்த பெல்ட்டை அவிழ்த்தான்.

“வலின்னா என்னன்னு தெரியணும் அரசி... நிலவரசி!”

ஜீனோ அப்போது சைடுவாகாக டேக்கிக் கொண்டே அவன் பார்க்காதபோதெல்லாம் இன்ச் இன்ச்சாக நழுவி கொண்டது. ஜீனோ நாற்காலிக்கடியில் கிடந்த லேசர் ஆயுதத்தைச் சப்தமில்லாமல் நகர்த்தியது. அங்கிருந்து மனோவின் பின்பகுதிதான் தெரிந்தது. நிதானமாகக் குறி பார்த்தது. மனோவின் கை விரல்கள் அவள் தொண்டையை, “ஐயோ!” என்று அலறியது.

நிலா அல்ல, லேசர் பட்டுத் துடித்தான் மனோ. அதற்குள் தன் பழைய இடத்துக்கு வந்து ‘வவ் வவ்’ என்றது ஜீனோ. மனோ நொண்டினான். அவன், “யாரு யாரு சுட்டது யாரு?” என்று நொண்டிக் கொண்டே அறை வாயிற் பக்கம் சென்று தேடினான். யாருமில்லை. அதற்குள் ஜீனோ அவளருகில் வந்து, “லேசர் லேசர்” என்றது. திரும்ப மனோ வந்தபோது, நிலா தன் கையில் லேசர் வைத்திருந்தாள். “கிட்ட வராதே, கொன்னுடுவேன்” என்றாள். மனோ அவளை அதீத ஆத்திரத்துடன் ஒருகணம் முறைத்துவிட்டு, “இதுக்கு நீ தண்டனை வாங்காம போயிடுவியா? பார்க்கத்தான் போறேன்” என்றான்.

நிலா திரும்பி “உன்னைக் கைது பண்ண எத்தனை நாளாகும்... எத்தனை மணி ஆகும்?”

“நீ இல்லை தலைவி. நான்தான் தலைவன். நீ ஒரு பொம்மை ராணி! எல்லை மீர்றே இல்லை? பார்த்துக்கிட்டே இரு கொளுத்திர்றேன்! உன்மேல் மக்கள் வெறுப்புங்கற அமிலத்தைப் பரவ வெச்சு...”

“போடா” என்றாள். ‘வவ் வவ்’ என்றது ஜீனோ... வாலைக்கூட ஒருமுறை ஆட்டியது.

Giving herewith the same chapter in English, for our non-Tamil readers –

At the exact moment they left the station, Nila was awake, not sleeping.

“Jeeno, what are you doing?” she asked, looking up. Jeeno was climbing sideways on the wall like a lizard, examining the ceiling beam.

“Your entire room is full of sensors... Everything we say and do is being spied on from somewhere.”

It sniffed around here and there. “A new pheromone analyzer. Not bad. Ravi and Mano want to monitor your every move.” It climbed down.

“What were you doing? Won’t they get suspicious if you pull everything out?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking about. I videotaped a harmless scene of you reading a book and hooked it up to the camera’s eyes. Whenever they look, only that scene will play. And I’ll occasionally go bow-wow! It will hold up for a few days.”

“Jeeno, you are a genius.”

“What happened to my battery? Did you order it?”

“Sorry, Jeeno, I forgot.”

“I am doing all this for you... and you couldn’t get a battery for me?”

“Sorry! I told you I forgot, didn’t I?”

“Would you ever forget to eat? A battery is like food to me.”

“Are you looking at all these government papers, Jeeno?”

“I’ve looked at them. Sign all of them... except for one. A file has come in requesting six hundred crores for G-E research.”

“What does G-E mean?”

“I think it stands for Genetic Engineering. We need to investigate it. Don’t sign it without looking into it, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll do exactly as you say, Jeeno.”

“Battery.”

“Here - ” Nila clapped her hands and called out, “Who is there?” A woman came and stood before her.

“Queen?” she asked.

“Are you a woman or a machine?”

“Woman, Queen.”

“Tell the palace electrician to come immediately.”

She ran off, and within a second and a half, the electrician arrived. “I need a battery. What is your name?” Nila asked.

“Queen, I don’t have a name... only a number.”

“Alright. What is your number?”

“323435.”

“Dear 323435. If you can bring me a battery of this size from wherever it is, I will give you a day’s salary.”

“As you command, Queen.”

“323435! What kind of name is that?”

“They say he is a humanoid,” Jeeno explained. “Somewhere between a human and a robot. They don’t get a monthly salary. They just need to be taken apart and oiled every now and then... and given a food pill occasionally!”

When the battery arrived, the number-man stepped back, and Nila handed it to Jeeno.

“Nila, you have to do something for me,” Jeeno said. “Twist my neck, take out the batteries inside, and put the new ones in. Don’t mess it up.”

“I’m scared.”

“Don’t be afraid. It’s a hassle, but it absolutely must be done.”

“I can’t! If I could do it myself, why would I bother you? To put the battery in, my motor needs to run. To run the motor, I need a battery. That’s the problem.”

With trembling hands, Nila somehow managed to swap them. A moment passed... Only when the battery came to life did she feel alive again. Until then, seeing Jeeno completely lifeless and staring blankly in one direction had frightened her.

Jeeno shook its ears once like a rattle and said, “This is the only weak point in my design... They have chargers, but the charging rate isn’t enough. The motor eats up too much current. The solar panel is only useful for daytime chores. Whenever night falls, it is always a critical danger for me.”

“We could just ask them to change it.”

“Wait, wait. Don’t rush... Nobody should even know that a robot like me exists. As far as they are concerned, Jeeno is dead. Producing robot dogs like Jeeno has been banned entirely.”

“Someone is coming.”

Jeeno looked at the small TV screen near its chair and said, “Mano is coming.”

As Nila picked up a book to pretend to read, Jeeno leaped onto the table. Mano walked in: “Are you well, Nila?”

“I’m fine.”

“Have all the files been signed?”

“Except for one. What does G-E mean?”

Mano stepped closer to her and said, “Will you only sign after asking clever questions?”

“Yes, I don’t want to sign anything I don’t understand...”

“Who told you not to?”

“I decided it myself.”

Mano looked at her deeply. “Nila! You are crossing the line!”

“No, Mano. I am the leader of this country, aren’t I?” she said, winking at him.

“Someone is coaching you.”

“Nobody is.”

Mano grabbed Jeeno, threw it onto the floor, sat on the edge of the table, and demanded, “Tell me, is it Sibi?”

“Where is Sibi?”

“Then why are you refusing to sign?”

“I am the Queen; I am the one who is Queen.”

Mano unexpectedly grabbed her hand.

“Let go! It hurts.”

“Let it hurt. You killed the guard. You refuse to sign. What is this audacity, Nila? If you listen to what you’re told, the pain will lessen. If you don’t, the pain will only increase. Are you going to sign?”

“I won’t.”

He yanked her arm backward and twisted it.

“Bow,” barked Jeeno. It didn’t even look in their direction. Staring off somewhere else, it just went, “Bow bow.”

“Tell me one last time.”

“I won’t. Just because you’ve made me Queen doesn’t mean I will sign without asking questions.”

Mano violently shoved her onto the bed. He grabbed and tore at her clothes, exposing her breasts. He unfastened the belt around his waist.

“You need to learn what pain is, Queen... Queen Nila!”

Right then, Jeeno subtly side-walked, slipping closer inch by inch whenever Mano wasn’t looking. Silently, Jeeno nudged the laser weapon that had been lying under the chair. From its vantage point, only Mano’s back was visible. It took careful aim. Just as Mano’s fingers reached for her throat, a scream echoed: “Aiyo!”

It wasn’t Nila; Mano writhed in agony, struck by the laser.

In a flash, Jeeno scrambled back to its original spot and innocently barked, “Bow bow.”

Mano stumbled. Limping toward the doorway, he frantically searched, screaming, “Who? Who shot me?”

Nobody was there. Meanwhile, Jeeno crept up to Nila and whispered, “Laser, laser.”

When Mano turned back around, Nila was holding the laser weapon in her hand. “Don’t come near me, or I’ll kill you,” she warned.

Mano glared at her with intense rage for a split second. “Do you think you’ll get away unpunished for this? I’m going to see to it.”

Nila shot back, “How many days will it take to arrest you... how many hours?”

“You are not the leader. I am the leader. You are just a puppet queen! You’re crossing the line, aren’t you? Just watch, I’ll burn you down! I’ll spread the acid of the people’s hatred all over you...”

“Get lost,” she said.

“Bow bow,” barked Jeeno... and even gave its tail a little wag.

Isaac Asimov once famously said that –

Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not!

In that respect, Sujatha not only foresaw the inevitable, but also prepared us for it!

Therein lies the success of Sujatha as a revolutionary sci-fi writer who was much much ahead of his times!