Sujatha

I am coming back here today to mourn one of my childhood heroes. Sujatha died today. It sounds crazy because I never felt him to be a old person. He was something like a demi-god to me right from the day I started reading 'En Iniya Iyanthira' till today and probably will remain so for the time to come as well. I dont remember whether 'En Iniya Iyanthira' was the first Sujatha story I read. But I remember the days, when I was in 8th standard then, when we (me and Anantharaman, another childhood friend disappeared without a trace) would wait for the next episode of 'En Iniya Iyanthira' in AV (it was serialized). We used to discuss a lot on the science behind such a story and terms like 'teleport' or 'hologram' introduced me into a science I never heard of till that date. It astonishes me that such a novel like that was written by Sujatha in 1986-87 for a bunch of readers who dont even have TVs in their houses(we had none). It also shows the reach of his intelligence and the gift of simplifying things for the lay man. Even today, both 'En iniya Iyanthira' and 'Meedum Zeno' remain my favorite sci-fi novels. Who can forget that little presumptive robo-dog giving lecture on Zeno's paradox?
If 'En iniya iyanthira' introduced a new world, his essays in the, now stopped, 'Dinamani Sudar' explained in simple terms the workings of a computer and pushed me to start taking seriously the primer computer classes happening in my school(1988, I think). I still have those note books with my first basic program and the base-2 calculations along with flowcharts. If not for Sujatha, I dont think I would have sit through those saturday afternoon classes (while the other kids went home and having fun).
In those days, I had a crush on this neighbourhood girl. She is slightly older than me and was good friends with me. When she presented a book of short stories by Sujatha, the first story in it was 'Thanimai Kondu'. This has been analyzed, ripped apart, praised in various forums. But it is a story that is seductive and triggered a lot of thoughts about Love and Death. It is probably the most powerful story written in Tamil after Pudhumaipithan and would rate probably 'Nagaram' (another Sujatha gem) on par with it. It had a profound influence on my thought process in those days.
It was a period in my life that shaped me as I am today. There was lot of exciting things happening (although I never realized at that time). I had computer classes, buying old issues of magazines like 'Computer world', 'Semiconducters' etc in the bylanes around Meenakshi temple, trying to discuss literature with neighbourhood girls, writing,literally, hundreds of poems in my journal, trying out my hand in story writing, I remember writing a porno story even (1988-92). Much of my interest in literature and world literature had its origins in three important influences.
1. Sujatha, who introduced various technological innovations, and the nuances of writing short stories or Haikus etc.
2. NCBH, which was selling the works of Dostoevsky, Pushkin and other Russian masters in throw away prices. I remember buying 'Idiot' for 28Rs.
I read 'Nylon Kayiru' and other Ganesh-Vasanth thrillers along with what Rajeshkumar, PK Prabhakar, Subha were churning out. I believe Sujatha started the trend of the 'detective with a sidekick' concept. Apart from 'Naren-Vyj' I dont think I liked anyone better.When I learned that Sujatha is not held at a high esteem by the literature crowd, my world crashed down. This is some time in the 1993-95 timeframe when I got introduced to the masters of the modern Tamil writings.He was accused of compromising with the commercial world (meaning he is writing in Kumudam/AV etc). I never understand how writing in a junk magazine will make your writings also junk. Guilty by association?
But I never got tired of Sujatha. His 'Srirangathu Devathaigal' or 'Anithavin Kathalgal' or 'Aah!', he was the master who just hooked me into his writings. Everytime I read a novel or a short story, I was never tired of wondering how this is possible for him to think through such a plot. His computer essays 'Silicon sillu puratchi' or '1000 kanipori vaarthaigal' are all shaped my thoughts and he was a pioneer in thinking about the necessity of coining tamil words for various computer terms. Ofcourse, nothing beats the 'Kanaiyazhiyin kadaisi pakkangal'.
When I read Carl Sagan for the first time, I was wondering the similarities with Sujatha's writing. Sujatha introduced Jay gould and others and discussed the existence of God and it is difficult to find a topic on which he hasn't written.
Today I am saddened that the man who was talking to me through his writings, his wit is no more. I can go on write about 'Nila Nizhal', 'Irul varum neram', 'Pookkutty', 'Vannathu poochi vettai' and may other short stories/dramas he has written. But I stop here.
Rest in Peace!

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Updates

Wanted to write about a few things. Got busy with work in the past few days and couldn't write much. Here is an update on the books read.

1. En Sarithram - U.Ve.Swamynathaiyer

Fantastic piece of work. Traces his life from 1855-1896. You get to read about his initial efforts in publishing Sivaga Sinthamani, Silapathikkaran, Purananuru, Manimekalai and a few other books. It may be just a rhetorical question, but without this one person, we may not have had most of our literary heritage we take so much of pride about. We may have still known the names but there may not have been an edition (what they call a 'sempathippu') which we can bank upon. Its kind of mind boggling to imagine the amount of travel he undertook and work he has to do to make sure he is publishing 'THE' edition (for ex., he compares 5/6 versions of suvadis for Sivaga Sinthamani to get the right version to print). On the other hand, we have a generation who do not want theur kids to learn Tamil.

2. 'Sanangalin samigalin kathai' and 'Karppamai iruntha kannigal' - A.K. Perumal

I was always on the look out for stories of the numerous ayyannar temples and amman temples doting the landscape of south Tamilnadu. So when I saw these books in the book fair, I bought it without hesitation and they document the stories of some of these temples and a few essays on how these temples came into existense. So apart from the stories, you get a long essay on the worship of mother-God. Perumal is a professor in Aralvaimozhi and is a field reseacher on the Gods of south Tamilnadu. These are excellent books if you are in the least interested in the culture and history of Tamils.

3. Vijayamarthandam - A. Mathavaiah

This is a novel that documents to some extent the life and times of a Thevar zamin in south Tamilnadu. It is full of ethanographic details of the people in the area and the lifestyle. For a book that got published in 1903, Mathavaiah puts forth some very progressive ideas. For ex, he laments the fact that if a women comes alone to a public place or seen outside during ungodly hours, the immediate reaction of the community is to brand her a 'loose' female. We dont rush to help these poor women and rather we take pleasure in making sure her reputation is sullied. I dont see any difference after 104 years of this comment and we are still very jittery to let our wives talk to other men or stay late in office. Probably the tamil male has a complete lack of self-confident and respect irrespective of what our politicians want us to believe.

Sibi - Update

One of the things that I am constantly fascinated by is the way Sibi learns things. He has started reading and is showing signs of becoming a voracious reader. But what interests me more the way he is reading. It all started with the teaching of words in his school and he was looking for 2-letter and 3-letter words everywhere. Then he gradually changed this and started reading and asking about things he know. Like, phone or toys of truck etc. Then he moved on to construct words with words he knows. Like, he knows the words 'car' & 'pen' and he reads a bigger word like 'Carpenter' using these words. Now, I suspect he understand the phonics of the letters and is reading them with the sound. Like, he read 'Hamam' a couple of days back although there are no known words built in it. I think once he understands the phonics of the letters there is nothing that stops him from reading anything. Knowing the meaning and understanding the context are going to be the next big thing. But then, he just started learning.

Anyway, planning to go to the big and better Chennai book fair this weekend and grab a few books. Let me see.

Its been a mixed bag of year for me. We had a new baby in the family and moved into our own house. Itwas a tough year professionally but somehow I am able to tide overthings and move forward. Biggest joy of the year was Vanathy. She hasbeen too goood and Sibi has taken a very strong liking to her. Sibi hasgot a few prizes this year in fancy dresses and treasure hunts. That wasfun as well as something to be happy about. Hope he continues to do thatin his studies as well. All in all, a good year.
And hoping everyone has a very Happy new yearahead!!

Sibi, trains and stories

One of the things I do on a regular basis is to narrate a story to Sibi before going to sleep. The stories are normally about 4-5 minutes of narration and usually I make up stories as I go about saying it. There are only two types of stories he is interested in. One is any story of Krishna and the other is a story involving one of 'Thomas and friends' characters. Krishna's stories are the easier ones as I know them already. For Thomas stories, I usually make it up with some situations which Sibi faces in school or at home. Like his fights with his friends. Sibi usually sleeps once the story is over. Its kind of a cue to him that its time to sleep. And of course, I let him guess what happens next and some times you get some amazing things from him. Like this one time, when I was narrating a story about Krishna taking butter from a pot with great difficulty and eating it, Sibi asked 'did he eat with the paper?'. All Sibi knows about butter is the Aavin pack of butter sticks (which he usually takes it from the refrigerator and eats) and the sticks are wrapped in a thin sheet of paper. It was kind of sad that he probably may not even know that the real butter (churned from buttermilk) but think it’s the price for living in a jungle like Chennai.

Another regular father-son thing that we do is to go to the Guindy railway station (or sometimes the Alandur railway gate) to watch the trains. Sibi gets excited so much about trains and in fact, has drawn hundreds of pictures of trains in the notebooks, terrace and wherever he can. It is a great experience to let him watch the trains. He knows the electric trains, the 'blue' trains (passengers, super-fast trains etc). I usually end up talking to the others who are there a catch a train and look at me like a moron for wasting time at a station at the whims of the kid. But then what do they know, anyway? I even had a guy telling me the ways of bringing up children and he was drunk up to his brain. So its a mixed experience for me and a great feeling for my son anyway.

There are other things that we do together regularly (like going to the Fish market at Saidapet or to Food world for some vegetable shopping etc) and am waiting for the time when Vanathy will be able to join the fun...

Children's day and updates

It was Children’s day last week. And celebrations were on in Sibi’s school. There was a fancy dress competition and Jeysri took the easy route of dressing Sibi as a farmer and teaching him a few lines. Being the smarty he is, Sibi caught it easily and we were there in Mylapore to see my son don his new avatar and getting on stage. It was fun to see so many people sweating it out with their kids, dressing them as Muruga, Amman, Shiva, Krishna etc. It was tough for the kids with all the make-up and wigs etc. Sibi was dressed in a simple dhoti/banian with a Kutralam towel around the neck. A cardboard axe (made by Jeysri) completes the attire. No make-ups etc. So we waited and waited and the memorable time came around 6.30PM. Sibi came to the microphone and uttered “I am a farmer. Plant more trees and help us get more rainfall. Thank you”. Actually he forgot a line in between but the fact that he was able to speak up itself is a great moment for me. We came home after that as it was cloudy and Vanathy was restless. When Sibi brought the third prize he got, the next day from school, Jeysri was in tears and I felt like an idiot for leaving so soon. But anyway, there it is the first prize Sibi got in a competition. It was a small toy, but who cares?

 

Vanathy is doing well and is growing fast. She is able to identify Jeysri, me and Sibi. Sibi is head over tails about her and I was wondering what is this ‘Sibling rivalry’ people are talking about. I hope they continue like this even after they grow up.

 

Then has been reading a lot of stuff but am not finding time to write about them. “18vathu Atchakodu”(Asoka Mitran), “Pulinagakkondrai” (P.A.Krishnan), ‘Vasanthamallika” (Vaduvur Duraisamy Iyengar, “Subramaniya Rajuvin Kathaigal”  are some of them. All are good in their own way and will deserve an entry each.