There have been references to Brahmins even in the earliest period of Tamil literature. A sage named Gautama who served in the court of Senguttuvan's predecessor is praised in the Tamil work Silappatikaram. The Tolkāppiyam, which belongs to an earlier era, speaks of "the victorious Brahmin". One of the poems in the Puṟanāṉūṟu written by one Mulam Kilar of Avur praises the learning and character of a Brahmin Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan of Cholanadu. The poem praises his efforts and those of his ancestors in combating the penetration of Buddhism in the Tamil land. Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan is also praised for the faithful performance of sacrifices.
The Tamil novel had its beginnings in Mayuram Vedanayakam Pillai's [[Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram[[ which appeared in 1879. The second Tamil novel was Kamalambal Charitram written by B. R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and the third was Padmavathi Charitram written by A. Madhaviah in 1898. Both these novels portray the lives of Brahmins in rural parts of Madras Presidency.
In R. K. Narayan's famous book Swami and Friends he depicts the vagaries in the school-life of a young Iyer boy, Swaminathan, and how he and his family, especially his father, W. S. Srinivasan, deal with them. The book provides an interesting insight into father-son relations in traditional Iyer households in the early twentieth century, besides providing details of day-to-day life. Along with the text of the tale, the sketches to accompany it, by R. K. Laxman, in early editions, provide a wealth of information about the latter.
Famous quotes containing the words portrayal of, portrayal, brahmins, popular and/or media:
“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“The Brahmins say that in their books there are many predictions of times in which it will rain. But press those books as strongly as you can, you can not get out of them a drop of water. So you can not get out of all the books that contain the best precepts the smallest good deed.”
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)
“Party action should follow, not precede the creation of a dominant popular sentiment.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)