The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Writer Sujatha dead

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Thursday, Feb 28, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Writer Sujatha dead

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: Sujatha, one of the most prolific writers of contemporary Tamil literature, passed away in a private hospital here late Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 72.

S. Rangarajan, who wrote under the pen name, Sujatha, was known for his versatility in writing. He had a way with words, whether it meant writing short stories, science fiction, plays, pieces on history or screenplay for films.

He played a significant role in taking information on trends in science and technology to the common man through his simple articles.

An engineer, Sujatha was instrumental in designing and producing the Electronic Voting Machine when he was working with Bharat Electronics.

His columns for Tamil weeklies such as Ananda Vikadan, Kumudam and Kalki were widely read and fetched him numerous fans in all age groups. He had drawn thousands of youngsters to Tamil literature with his lucid and engaging style.

Exciting childhood

Born at Triplicane, Chennai, Sujatha had an exciting childhood at Srirangam, near Tiruchi, where he grew up under the care of his paternal grandmother.

After his schooling at the Boys High School, Srirangam, he pursued his bachelor’s degree in physics at St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchi, where he and former president Abdul Kalam were classmates. He then did his engineering in electronics at the Madras Institute of Technology.

Many of his pieces reflected his academic background, especially those of the science fiction genre. All the same, his writing was very accessible to all kinds of readers.

Playwright Crazy Mohan, who visited the writer recently, said: “He is one of the most multi-faceted writers in Tamil. His writing was terrific, consistent and extremely informative. He could write just about anything with amazing ease. Sujatha was certainly a genius.”

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