The Eighteenth Parallel (Second edition)

Ashokamitran (19312017), A Towering Figure In Modern Tamil Literature, Was Born In NizamRuled Secunderabad. In His Writing He Often Draws On His Experiences Of Growing Up There After The Fall Of The Nizam In The Wake Of Independence, As He Does In His AwardWinning Novel Padinettavadu Atchakodu (1977), The Eighteenth Parallel. One Of AshokamitranS Finest Works, The Story Revolves Around Chandru, Adolescent, Vulnerable And Guileless, Growing Up Through The Turbulence Before And After 1947, When Hyderabad Was The State Of Nizam. This Forms The Charged Political Backdrop, Closely Interwoven With ChandruS Life At Home, At College, And His Coming Of Age In The Streets Of Hyderabad. Chandru, Whose Father Works For The NizamS Railway, Is Crazy About Cricket And Cinema, Perplexed By His Budding Interest In Girls, Loves His Buffalo, And Can Sing. His Disarmingly Unaffected Yet Riveting FirstPerson NarrativeAs He Negotiates Friendships With Tamils Like Himself, Muslims, AngloIndians And Girls, And Struggles To Make Sense Of Peaceful HyderabadS Violent Accession To The Indian Union, The Horrors Wreaked By The NizamS Razakars, The Communal Riots, And World War IiReveals How Acutely Ashokamitran Observed People, Events And Life. Cycling About Hyderabad And Secunderabad With Chandru, These Historic Cities Come Alive Through Landmarks Like Lancer Barracks, Tank Bund, Regimental Bazaar, Nizam College, Tivoli Cinema And More. For Many Readers, Chandru, Laconic, Funny And Uncynical, Is Unmistakably Young Ashokamitran Himself. Padinettavadu Atchakoduwon The Prestigious Ilakkia Chintanai Award. Impeccably Translated By Gomathi Narayanan, This Timeless Modern Classic, First Published In English In 1993, Now Appears In A Beautiful New Edition.