POETS AND PANCAKES

By Gagandeep Kaur
About the author

Ashokamitran:
-Is the pen name of Jagadisa Thyagarajan.
-was an Indian writer of Tamil literature.
-has written over two hundred short stories, nine novels, fifteen novellas
besides other novels, plays, non-fiction essays and translations.
-Won Sahitya Academy Award.
Poets and Pancakes

An excerpt from Asokamitran's book ‘My Years with Boss’ wherein he talks
about many notions about film industry; about his days at the Gemini
Studios, which was the most influential film-producing organisation of
India; its founder, the brilliant multi-faceted entrepreneur S.S. Vasan;
Subbu, the second to him at the Gemini and about a trendy makeup brand
named ‘Pancake’ that was used there in abundance in those days. He
also talks about Communism and the disillusionment of the people who
initially followed it.
Themes

The narrative gives an insight into how different people work together
despite their casual differences and how different is reel life from real life.
It remembers the glorious Gemini Studios, which was the hub of activity
for all the people associated with films. The story also focuses on the
many aspects of contemporary life and on human situations and
tendencies.
Literary Style

The prose is written in a chatty and rambling style with underlying tones of
humour. The style has a flow and the reader glides smoothly with the flow
of the narrative. Asokamitran highlights human foibles and unusual
behaviour with the help of subtle humour, which is neither superimposed
nor superfluous. All the characters are so lifelike that the reader seems to
come across them in real life.