IT took the death of Prabhakaran and the end of a 26- year-long civil war for Arvind Appadourai to express his creativity. Having written a book about the Sri Lankan Tamils and their situation during their territorial struggle, he waited several months to release his book which delved into the life and times of Sri Lankan Tamils. “I had to almost rewrite the whole book after the war,” says Arvind who authored the book Thiru-Neela- Sathir in Tamil, and its French translation Traversée. Based out of Paris, the book, according to Arvind, is a dedication to those who are interested in the conflict. He hopes that the book will bring the issue to the literary arena for debate.
“I worked with Tamil refugees in Paris and heard a lot of stories,” says Arvind who insists that the book is entirely a piece of fiction and that there is nothing political about it.
The story revolves around two journalists who venture into Sri Lanka and meet LTTE cadres.
Arvind, who has never been to the subcontinent himself hopes that the book will bring about genuine discussion and debate which will lead to peace and space for the Tamil community to live in. The book was translated into English by Ananthalakshmi Hemalatha and the book is titled Crossing Blue.
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