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Literary Review
TRIBUTE
Profound and provocative
PREMA SRINIVASAN
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Sujatha had a new take on everything in the Tamil world of letters.
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PHOTO: V.GANESAN
Eminently readable: Sujatha.
Sujatha, a well-known writer in the Tamil language, had an impact on the 21st century readers which went well beyond the bounds of his immediate circle of readership. His success as a short story writer and a novelist has been phenomenal and he was appreciated for his attention grabbing style and versatility, which delighted a whole generation of readers. People have been known to subscribe to the Tamil weeklies mainly to read his serials. He was a prolific writer of fiction for decades in famous Tamil magazines like Kalki, Ananda Vikatan and Kumudam. He was capable of attracting the highbrow serious reader as well as the casual page-turner of the periodicals.
He had a flair for science fiction, perhaps because of his engineering background and an avid interest in science and technology. Possessing a keen, astute mind, coupled with an in-depth knowledge of science, Sujatha wrote a number of stories belonging to the “sci fi” genre and articles which intrigued the run of the mill reader. His style, which was very often very casual and conversational, his attention to detail and casual handling of plot sequence won him enormous popularity.
Hugely popular
His detective fiction, featuring Ganesh and Vasanth, was hugely popular with young readers and some of the stories were televised. He was a past master of the mystery genre. His Karaiyellam Shenbagapoo was an early novel which remains in the memory of many readers for possessing all the ingredients of a suspense thriller. This was later made into a film but it did not have the appeal of the written word. Sujatha wrote the script for a number of successful Tamil films rather late in the day but he is remembered primarily as a story teller par excellence in prose. His Kanavu Thozirsalai gave a realistic overview of the various hierarchies in the film industry and the truth that lay hidden behind the glitter of the “dream peddlers”. He has also written a story for children called “Pookutti” and several plays which have been staged successfully
His short stories, picturising the life and problems of the middle class in Kalki were unforgettable. The essence of middle class lives, their little joys and fleeting regrets as well as serious issues were delineated in Sujatha’s engaging style with honesty and insight. Born S. Rangarajan, he adopted his wife’s name Sujatha as his pen name which eventually won him accolades, name and fame. All the leading Tamil magazines have paid moving tributes to him as he was non-controversial and extremely readable. Perhaps the greatest tribute amongst them was when Sujatha was called the greatest story teller after Kalki Krishnamurthy whose place in the gallery of Tamil novelists still remains sacrosanct. Seetha Ravi (Editor, Kalki), who paid this tribute so generously, also mentioned that Sujatha’s “Varam Oru Pasuram” was something he wrote for personal fulfilment. He had deeply researched Bhakti poetry, and studied diligently his favourite Nalayira Divya Prabhandam even during the last days, while battling for life.
He was an excellent “science communicator” and it is not surprising to learn that he was instrumental in designing and producing the Electronic Voting machine during his tenure at Bharath Electronics. A classmate of former president Abdul Kalam, Sujatha’s keen and inquiring mind enabled him to reach complex information to his readers with ease and felicity as in Computere, Oru Kathai Sollu. In his narratives, there was no room for exaggeration; in his sardonic survey of mankind’s foibles, nothing prescriptive. Maybe this element of indulgent tolerance coupled with occasional audacious observations, endeared him to thousands of readers, who are going to miss their favourite writer in the times to come as it will be a vacuum hard to fill by any other. In short, Sujatha contributed to raising the profile of popular fiction in Tamil, by giving pleasure to readers and writers alike.
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