Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Photo: K. Ananthan

Conscious effort needed To promote Tamil literature

Those were the days. Waiting expectantly for appa’s arrival. All for that one book: Poonthalir. Be it the foolish ways of Suppandi, the ever-petrified Thuppariyum Sambu or the smart Kaakai Kaali, we could hardly wait to know what these fun characters had in store for us. Never mind that one of the bloggers calls it an ‘unauthorised reproduction of Tinkle’. That Tamil book was our gateway to fantasy. As were a few others such as Paapaa Manjari.

Mu. Velayutham, proprietor of the 30-year-old Vijaya Publications, says: “In our time (1950s) there were plenty of magazines: M ittaai, Karumbu, T ingTong, J il Jil, Mathaappu, etc.” Retired Government official Nanda says she grew up reading Ambulimama and Kannan. “I still remember those wonderful and extremely decent stories,” she says.

Sadly, the current scenario has undergone a drastic change. For instance, take the case of 10-year-old T. Haritha. She has a few issues of the fortnightly Chutti Vikatan, from the Vikatan group of publications, and reads Siruvar Malar, a weekly supplement of the Tamil daily Dinamalar. These books come with plenty of stories, puzzles and quiz. But she hardly knows of any other Tamil magazines. The current crop has grown up amidst Enid Blytons and Roald Dahls, and a conscious search for children’s magazines in Tamil throws up few results.

And, one of the few is Gokulam, a monthly Tamil magazine. Comfortingly, the magazine is celebrating its silver jubilee this year. Seetha Ravi, the editor of the magazine says that one of the reasons for the few numbers of children’s magazine could be the change in the parents’ view. “Parents are the ones that buy the books for children, and everyone is moving towards books in English.”

Also, such magazines are, invariably, one of the products of a publishing group. The returns from them is often negligible, and the magazine is supported by other products. “With plenty of other books and bookstores having cropped up, giving visibility to such magazines is a challenge.” There has been no drastic change in circulation figures over the years, she adds.

Thankfully, that has not been the case with its close rival, Chutti Vikatan. Started in November 1999, the magazine, aimed at children in the age group ten to 17 years, has witnessed a gradual increase, says K. Ganesan, senior sub-editor of the magazine.

However, it’s not all rosy for children’s books in Tamil. Velayutham says that the number of such books that sells in a day is less than three per cent of the total sales. P. Thiagarajan, the proprietor of Thiagu Book Store, a lending library established 28 years ago, says that over the years the number of those borrowing children’s book in Tamil has dwindled, and today the ratio of takers for Tamil books is, perhaps, one against 200 in English.

Interestingly, sales at Readers’ Park, a bookstore, offers some solace. Its managing director S.S. Manian says that close to 20 per cent of the sales in the shop are children’s Tamil books. These books include stories on Akbar and Birbal; Mulla Naseerudin; Tenaliraman; Paramaarthaguru; Panchathantra, those on proverbs, and fables, etc.

Worried as he is about the future of the younger generation that may not have an opportunity to read, Velayutham says: “we are what we are today, because of what we read those days.” There are not adequate Tamil books in the market today, and addressing the issue is an urgent need of the hour, he says. “Parents are reluctant to let children read anything other than textbooks. This attitude should change.” He states that it is the responsibility of every individual to work towards that. “The onus rests on huge publishing firms too to bring out educative Tamil magazines and books for children,” he says. We are only hoping!

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail