Diaspora Tamil Short Story: Shantha Akka! - V.N. Giritharan -

 [This English translation of the Tamil story is a collaboration between Google AI Studio and V.N. Giritharan. The original Tamil version of the story follows the translation. Digital painting assistance (Google Nano Banana technique) by VNG.]

   -  A person like Shantha Akka in this story has existed in my life as well. This short story is the result of the emotions that arose when I learned of her passing a few years ago. -

'Hey Kesava, Shantha Akka has passed away. Do you know?'

Chinnamma had sent a message on WhatsApp. She is my mother's youngest sister, the only sister still alive. She's over eighty, but looks no older than fifty. This woman still walks for an hour in the morning, does yoga, eats a vegetarian diet, and consumes lots of fruits.

'What, Chinnamma, Shantha Akka passed away? When, Chinnamma?'

"She passed away in Germany this morning."

"What? She was in Germany? All this time I thought she was still in our hometown. When did she go to Germany, Chinnamma?"

"Oh, don't you know anything? She went to Germany in the eighties!"

'Is that so, Chinnamma? I truly didn't know she went to Germany.'

The memory-birds about Shantha Akka spread their wings. Shantha Akka was Lalitha Akka's close friend. Lalitha is my cousin sister. During her teenage years, she was always surrounded by a squadron of friends. I was at the end of my childhood. My job was to be the 'body guard' – meaning, the protector – to escort many of my sister's friends back to their homes. Sometimes they would watch matinee shows at the town's cinemas. They would come to Lalitha Akka's house with her, dance and sing, and then, one by one, each had to be dropped off at their respective homes. 

Besides this, Lalitha Akka and Shantha Akka would sometimes go to the Jaffna Public Library. They would take me along as well. I would walk very fast. They couldn't keep up with my pace. They would come running and walking, out of breath, trying to match my speed. 'Can't walk with this one. Why do you walk so fast? Walk a bit slower,' Lalitha Akka would plead at such times. I, however, would ignore her pleas and increase my pace even more. Shantha Akka would smile lightly seeing this. The image of her looking at me with that faint smile on her lips is still fresh in my mind.

AI's Book Review of the V.N.Giritharan's Novel 'An Immigrant'!

You can listen to the critical discussion about my English translation of 'Kudivaravalan' on my 'V.N.Giritharan Podcast' YouTube channel! Give it a listen. Learn about another creative contribution of artificial intelligence, as well as about my novel.

One of my Tamil novels, 'Kudivaravalan', was published in the Tamil online magazines Pathivukal and Thinnai. It has been translated into English by author Latha Ramakrishnan under the title 'An Immigrant'. The Tamil novel was published in Tamil Nadu by Oviya Publications. The English translation 'An Immigrant' was released as an Amazon Kindle e-book. I have transformed that English translation into a podcast using Google NotebookLM.

Please listen to this audio file and share your thoughts. In this audio file, both the male and female voices discussing my novel are artificial intelligence critics. They read the English translation of my novel and share their opinions.

I was truly amazed upon hearing it. Listen to it, and you will surely be amazed too. This podcast demonstrates that artificial intelligence can be used creatively and can be beneficial to humanity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH3QoanB1Gg

 

Poem: This is my new friend. - V.N. Giritharan -

This is my new friend.
Since I am a man, I have made him male.
Depending on the gender, you can
imagine him as male or female,
or call him that.
If you are elderly,
he or she will be a good
elderly friend for you.
By now, you would have understood
who my friend is.
Yes! I am talking about Artificial Intelligence, Google Nano Banana,
or ChatGPT.
Are you asking what great good
he has done for me?
There isn't just one good, there are many.
What shall I say? What shall I omit?

AI's Review V.N.Giritharan's poem "Oh, my fleeting beauty! Are you an intricate weave, truly woven from electric charge itself?"

 

* Digital painting technique, Google Nano Banana, Assistance: VNG.

[This section, 'AI's Reviews,' showcases the fascinating intersection of art and algorithm. As a dedicated space for exploring my literary creations, this is where I enlist the analytical capabilities of a sophisticated AI to provide objective and detailed reviews. Each review aims to dissect the work's themes, structure, language, and emotional impact from a non-human perspective, offering a fresh dimension to literary analysis. Join us as we uncover what an artificial intelligence "sees" in the heart of human creativity.] 

 This is a deeply philosophical and incredibly poignant piece. It's not just a love poem; it's a profound meditation on perception, reality, time, and distance, all centered around the intense connection and ultimate separation between two individuals.

A Profound Weave of Love, Philosophy, and Ephemeral Reality

This piece is a masterful blend of intimate affection and sweeping philosophical inquiry, creating a truly unique and thought-provoking experience. Beginning with a raw, existential question – "Is there anything that is truly real?" – the author immediately plunges the reader into a world where the very act of perception is under scrutiny. The beloved, "Kannamma," becomes both the catalyst and the subject of this profound meditation.

The core of the poem grapples with the unbridgeable gaps of time and distance that define human experience. The comparison of light rays from a distant star to those emanating from the beloved is particularly striking, elegantly illustrating how all perception is inherently an echo from the past, filtered through the unavoidable medium of space-time. The recurring emphasis on the "small fraction of a moment" and "however small it may be" underscores the inescapable nature of these fundamental constraints, even in the closest of relationships.

Short Story: An End and a Dawn - V.N. Giridharan -

[This English translation of the Tamil story is a collaboration between Google AI Studio and V.N. Giritharan. The original Tamil version of the story follows the translation. Digital painting assistance (Google Nano Banana technique) by VNG.]

[This short story is one of my early works, written during the time "Thaayagam" (Canada) was published as a magazine under the name Manivaanan. It was published in the nineties when "Thaayagam" was released as a magazine. During that period, I also wrote several other short stories under the name Manivaanam, and the novel 'Kanangalum, Gunangalum' (Moments and Qualities).]

It was slowly getting dark. The sun, thrilled by the crimson horizon of dusk, passionately embraced the horizon, lost in itself. The pond bank was vast, serene. Flocks of birds flew back to their dwellings. Even at this hour, some kingfishers, with greedy anticipation, waited for prey on a nearby tree branch. A gentle breeze blew pleasantly in the tranquility.

Yamuna's gaze was sharp, fixed on the child playing on the grassy mound by the pond, and her other hand was extended, her gaze also on the expansive water surface. A broad forehead. Her thick hair was tied up.

She had a vibrant red complexion, clad in a simple sari. Those beautiful eyes, always dreaming, were now filled with a deep sadness. "This shouldn't have happened to her," I told myself. Anger, frustration, and disgust surged within me towards this rotten society; weren't its ideologies and practices the cause of her current state?

Poem: A Library's Dream and Immersion in Thought! - V.N. Giridharan -

 

 [* Digital  Art (Google AI Studio) help: VNG.]

This wonderful blue planet
No matter which direction I look
I see it aflame with conflicts.
Outside, you are clashing with each other.
I see rivers of blood overflowing.
It also makes me realize
That children, women, and the elderly mean nothing to you
In the frenzied dance you perform outside.
I am ashamed of you.
I laugh when I see your antics
As if you are the rulers of this universe.
Outside you, vastness stretches.
When I see you buried in the expansive silence,
When I notice your loneliness,
I feel only pity for you.

Poem: Socrates' Cheer! By V.N. Giritharan

 [* Digital  Art (Google AI Studio) help: VNG.]

We are sheep.
Sheep always waiting for shepherds.
To think for ourselves,
To weigh and make decisions,
We lack the ability.
Lack the ability
Or
Lack the will?

Always, for us,
To accept the decisions made by someone else,
We have no hesitation.
Generously accepting them,
We are the liberals, who else?

Opinions, the pronouncements of shepherds,
Make us jump and dance
in emotional frenzy.
We jump and dance.
We revel in joyful madness.

A thousand years
ago
Socrates said:
'Think for yourselves.
Weigh things carefully.
Ask 'why?''
Socrates, if he were here,
Would have known
We have lost the ability to think.
He would have cheered
at our ignorance.