Sons of the Sun

This is the English translation of Sa Kandasamy's Tamil novel 'Surya Vamsam' which was first published in 1983.

Chelliah is a proud young lad who overcames a troubled childhood amidst rural deprivation through self-belief. Bullied at school and at home, surviving his mother's anxiety and lack of confidence in him, he finds a role model in auto mechanic Ramu. His work takes him to the big city, where he finds friendship and betrayal, love and loss, challenges and triumph.

Sa Kandasamy's tender story climaxes in Chelliah's election as an office bearer in a worker's union.

About the Author

Santhappa Devar Kandasamy, popularly known as Sa Kandasamy, was born in Myladuthurai, in semi-rural Tamil Nadu. He began to write at an early age, publishing his first novel Sayavanam when he was twenty-five. To date he has published seven novels and around 200 short stories. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award, India’s highest literary honour, in 1998 for his novel Visaranai Commission.

Kandasamy is also a reputed documentary film maker, director and producer, whose documentary Kaval Deivam won the prestigious International Award for Best Documentary in Cyprus in 1989. He lives in Chennai with his family.

About the translator

This book has been translated from Tamil into English by Ka Na Subramanian.

Ka Na Subramanian (1912–1988) was born in Thanjavur and educated at Annamalai University, both in Tamil Nadu. He was a full-time writer based in New Delhi—poet, novelist, short story writer and literary critic. His English translation of the Tamil epic Silappadhikaram in verse form was acclaimed. He received India’s highest literary honour—the Sahitya Akademi Award—for his work of literary criticism Ilakkiyathukku Oru Iyakkam in 1986.