The Tamarind Tree

Sundara Ramaswamy's The Tamarind Tree is a modern classic that explores shared histories, loss, affinity for nature, and a near-mythic center of life in a village in India. The tamarind tree, a benevolent observer, witnessed the transformation of the village from old ways to a bustling community. Damodara Asan, an enigmatic philosopher, memory keeper, and master storyteller, inspired generations with his tales. The book is a beautiful and universal story about transition, progress, and a symbol of indestructible dignity, culture, and life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 15 November 2022
Publisher: Amazon Publishing

Sundara Ramaswamys modern classic, translated from Tamil, is a truly stunning reflection on shared histories, loss, an affinity for nature, and a near-mythic center of life in a village in India.

While it lived, the tamarind tree stood at the crossroads of a small village in Southern India. For more than fifty years, it was a benevolent observer, offering shade without discrimination. It bore witness to laughter and tears, to tragedy and simple pleasures, and to the history of the village itself as it transformed from the old ways of bullock-led carts to a bustling community of social, political, economic, and ecological change. And for Damodara Asan, an enigmatic philosopher, memory keeper, and master storyteller, the tamarind tree—and everything it inspired—was an endless source of tales that enthralled generations.

Unfolding through the bittersweet remembrances of an unnamed narrator who was once beguiled by Asan, The Tamarind Tree is a beautiful and universal story about transition, the compromises of progress, and a long-gone though undying symbol of indestructible dignity, culture, and life.

Weight: 214g
Dimension: 209 x 138 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781542020657