Against the Current: Sita and Her Foils in - Bad Request

the holy man’s ten heads is especially clever. His name is “the swami with 10 heads,” a
name he earned as a playback singer because he had the ability to imitate the singing
style of ten famous vocalists.
35 “Sabaavimosanam” first appeared in the May issue of Kalaimakal. This translation is
based on the version in C. Virdhachalam, Pudumaippithan Kathaikal, ed. A.R.
Venkatachalapathy (Nagercoil: Kalachuvadu Pathippagam, 2000), vol. 1, pp. 527-540.
The translation by Lakshmi Holmstrom appeared in Pudumaippittan (New Delhi: Katha,
2002), pp. 128-145. Pudumaippittan first wrote a brief story about her titled “Ahalayai,”
then rethought her character more deeply in “Deliverance from the Curse.”
36 The story continues onto to relate the final days of Gotama, but that topic is beyond the
scope of this paper.
37 Because most of Kumudini’s writings were published in magazines and other
periodicals, and because she did not write much after the 1940s, unfortunately her work
has been largely overlooked. More recently, attention has been paid to her deft use of
humor and her ability to break out of stereotypical portrayals of women and family life.
38 I am grateful to Sreenivas Paruchuri for sharing with me his copy of the story and the
editorials about this story.
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