Our Listing of Indian Eyes
The United States was certainly not the only country to have a pulp fiction explosion. In the forties, the libraries of the Indian province of Tamil were exploding with thuppariyum kathaiga (detective stories) which were eagerly read by thousands of readers. Their adventures were serialized in such popular magazines as Anar Da Vikatan and Kalkandu, and developed huge followings.
- Byomkesh Bakshy by Saradindu Bandopaddhyay (Calcutta)
- Feluda by Satyajit Ray (Calcutta)
- Inspector Chopra & Baby Ganesh by Vaseem Khan
- Narendran and Vaijayanthi by Subha
- Shankarlal by Tamilvanan
- Vish Puri by Tarquin Hall
- Sambu by Devan
- Sai Srinivasa Athreya (Nellore; Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya)
- Digambara Swamiyar by Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar
- Bharat & “Susi” Susheela by Pattukkottai Prabakar
- Santosh Wagh by James Patterson & Ashwin Sanghi
- “Private Detective” by Rajat Kapoor (Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One)
- Perveeen Mistry by Sujata Massey (Bombay)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- The Case of the Poetic Detective
A column by V. Gangadhar that includes some fond childhood memories of Shankerlal, and the current Indian crime fiction scene. - Of Detectives and Square Tomatoes
More nostalgia from Gangdadhar, looking back fondly on the Indian pulp scene of the 1940’s.
Preliminary list compiled by Kevin Burton Smith. Additions and comments welcome.
