C. S. Lakshmi
Encyclopedia
C. S. Lakshmi (b. 1944) is a Tamil
feminist
writer and independent researcher in women's studies
from India
. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai .
, Tamil Nadu
in 1944. She grew up in Mumbai
and Bangalore
. She obtained her M.A
in Bangalore and her Ph.D
from Jawaharlal Nehru University
, New Delhi
. Her dissertation was on American policy towards refugees fleeing Hungary
due to the failed revolution of 1956. After completing her education, she worked as a school teacher and college lecturer in Tamil Nadu. She is married to Vishnu Mathur, a film maker and lives in Mumbai.
. In 2006, she (along with Lakshmi Holmström) won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award
(in the Indian language fiction translation category) for In a Forest, A Deer. For her contributions to Tamil literature, she received the 2008 Iyal Virudhu (Lifetime Achievement Award) awarded by the Canada based Tamil Literary Garden.
for over thirty years. She uses the pen name
Ambai for publishing Tamil fiction and her real name (as Dr. C. S. Lakshmi) for publishing her research work and other articles in newspapers like The Hindu
and The Times of India
and in journals like Economic and Political Weekly
. In 1992, she was a visiting fellow in the University of Chicago
's Institute for Culture and Consciousness. She was instrumental in the establishment of Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL)
by persuading the University to acquire Roja Muthaiah Chettiar's collection of books and other published material. She has been a research Officer in the Indian Council of Historical Research
and a college lecturer in New Delhi. In the 1990s, she worked in two research projects - Illustrated Social History of Women in Tamil Nadu sponsored by the Ford Foundation
and An Idiom of Silence: An Oral History and Pictoral Study sponsored by the Homi J. Bhabha
fellowship. The resulting research has been published as two volumes of the Seven seas & seven mountains series. The first volume,The Singer and the Song (2000), is a collection of interviews with women musicians and the second volume, Mirrors and Gestures (2003), is a collection of interviews with women dancers. In 1988, Lakshmi founded SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women) a non-governmental organization (NGO) for documenting and archiving the work of female writers and artists. SPARROW has published a number of books on women artists and writers. As of 2009, she continues to be the organisation's Director and a member of its board of trustees. She is a current member of the University of Michigan
's Global Feminisms Project. She considers herself as a "feminist who has lived without compromise".
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
writer and independent researcher in women's studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai .
Personal life
Lakshmi was born in CoimbatoreCoimbatore
Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
in 1944. She grew up in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. She obtained her M.A
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Bangalore and her Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University, also known as JNU, is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. It is mainly a research oriented postgraduate University with approximately 5,500 students and a faculty strength of around 550.-History:...
, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. Her dissertation was on American policy towards refugees fleeing Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
due to the failed revolution of 1956. After completing her education, she worked as a school teacher and college lecturer in Tamil Nadu. She is married to Vishnu Mathur, a film maker and lives in Mumbai.
Writing career
In 1962, Lakshmi published her first work Nandimalai Charalilae (lit. At Nandi Hills) - written when she was still a teenager. Her first serious work of fiction was the Tamil novel Andhi Maalai (lit.Twilight) which came out in 1966. It received the "Kalaimagal Narayanaswamy Aiyar" Prize. She received critical acclaim with the short story Siragukal muriyum (lit. Wings will be broken) (1967) published in the literary magazine Kanaiyazhi. This story was later published in book form as a part of short story collection under the same name in 1976. The same year she was awarded a two year fellowship to study the work of Tamil women writers. The research work was published as The Face behind the mask (Advent Books) in 1984. In 1988, her second Tamil short story collection titled Veetin mulaiyil oru camaiyalarai (lit. A kitchen in the corner of the house) was published. This established her reputation as a major short story writer. Her work is characterized by her feminism, an eye for detail, and a sense of irony. Some of her works - A Purple Sea (1992) and In A Forest, A Deer (2006) - have been translated English by Lakshmi HolmströmLakshmi Holmström
Lakshmi Holmström MBE is an Indian-born British writer, literary critic and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works have been her translations of short stories and novels of the contemporary writers in Tamil like Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami,...
. In 2006, she (along with Lakshmi Holmström) won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award
Vodafone Crossword Book Award
Vodafone Crossword Book Award is an Indian book award sponsored by Vodafone and Crossword Bookstores. It is India's biggest private sector award. The Award was instituted in 1998 with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize or The Pulitzer Prize.The award...
(in the Indian language fiction translation category) for In a Forest, A Deer. For her contributions to Tamil literature, she received the 2008 Iyal Virudhu (Lifetime Achievement Award) awarded by the Canada based Tamil Literary Garden.
Academic career
Lakshmi has been an independent researcher in the field of women's studiesWomen's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
for over thirty years. She uses the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Ambai for publishing Tamil fiction and her real name (as Dr. C. S. Lakshmi) for publishing her research work and other articles in newspapers like The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
and The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
and in journals like Economic and Political Weekly
Economic and Political Weekly
The Economic and Political Weekly is a left-leaning Indian magazine published from Mumbai by the Sameeksha Trust, a charitable trust. The magazine was first published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 was re-christened the Economic and Political Weekly. It was edited by Krishna Raj...
. In 1992, she was a visiting fellow in the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
's Institute for Culture and Consciousness. She was instrumental in the establishment of Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL)
Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL)
The Roja Muthiah Research Library , in Chennai, South India, was founded in 1994, and opened to researchers in 1996; it provides research materials for Tamil studies in a variety of fields of the humanities, social sciences, and sciences...
by persuading the University to acquire Roja Muthaiah Chettiar's collection of books and other published material. She has been a research Officer in the Indian Council of Historical Research
Indian Council of Historical Research
The Indian Council of Historical Research is a Society . The ICHR is registered under Societies registration Act 1860 with the Department of Industries of Delhi Government, Delhi.Role...
and a college lecturer in New Delhi. In the 1990s, she worked in two research projects - Illustrated Social History of Women in Tamil Nadu sponsored by the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and An Idiom of Silence: An Oral History and Pictoral Study sponsored by the Homi J. Bhabha
Homi J. Bhabha
Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FRS was an Indian nuclear physicist and the chief architect of the Indian atomic energy program...
fellowship. The resulting research has been published as two volumes of the Seven seas & seven mountains series. The first volume,The Singer and the Song (2000), is a collection of interviews with women musicians and the second volume, Mirrors and Gestures (2003), is a collection of interviews with women dancers. In 1988, Lakshmi founded SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women) a non-governmental organization (NGO) for documenting and archiving the work of female writers and artists. SPARROW has published a number of books on women artists and writers. As of 2009, she continues to be the organisation's Director and a member of its board of trustees. She is a current member of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
's Global Feminisms Project. She considers herself as a "feminist who has lived without compromise".
Books in English
- The Face behind the mask : Women in Tamil literature, Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division (1984)
- A Purple Sea (Translated by Lakshmi Holmstorm), Affiliated East-West Press (1992)
- Body blows: women, violence, and survival : three plays, Seagull Books (2000)
- Seven seas & seven mountains : Volume 1 : The Singer and the Song - Conversations with Women Musicians , Kali for WomenKali for WomenKali for Women was an important start-up feminist publisher in India. Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon set up Kali for Women in 1984, arguably the first Indian publishing house dedicated to publishing on and for women. When they decided to take this step, Butalia had worked with Oxford University...
(2000) - Seven seas & seven mountains : Volume 2 : Mirrors and Gestures - Conversations with Women Dancers, Kali for Women (2003)
- (ed.) The Unhurried City - Writings on Chennai, Kali for Women (2003)
- In A Forest, A Deer: Stories By Ambai (Translated by Lakshmi Holmstorm) , Katha (2006)
Books in Tamil
- Nandimalai Charalilae (lit. At Nandi Hills) (1962)
- Andhi Malai (lit. Twilight) (1967)
- Sirakukal muriyum (lit. Wings will be broken), Kalachuvadu (1976)
- Veetin mulaiyil oru camaiyalarai (lit. A kitchen in the corner of the house), cre-A (1988)
- Ambai : Kalacchuvadu Nerkanalgal (lit. Kalachuvadu Interviews with Ambai), Kalachuvadu (1998)
- Kaatil Oru Maan (lit. A Deer in the Forest), Kalachuvadu (2000)
- Varrum eriyin meengal (lit. Fish in a drying pond), Kalachuvadu (2007)
External links
- Venkat Swaminathan on Ambai (from Tamil Wikisource)