Those who grew up on his writings remember him for his attention to detail and the laughter that he evoked through his cartoons.
On Sunday, at a felicitation function organised by Krishna Gana Sabha for T.S. Sridhar also known as ‘Marina', speakers recalled his contributions to the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan as a writer and cartoonist.
Filmmaker S.P. Muthuraman said Mr. Sridhar, who wrote travelogues, articles on a variety of subjects and penned cartoons for over 50 years, has created memorable characters in his stage plays as Marina.
Mr. Muthuraman presented the ‘Nataka Choodamani' title instituted by the Sabha, to Mr. Sridhar. The award included a citation, gold medal and a purse of Rs. 50,000.
He said Mr. Sridhar, who excelled as a journalist, playwright and cartoonist, engaged his audience by creating life-like characters.
Film and theatre artist A.R. Srinivasan recalled that in the 1940s, the entire community in his hamlet in Thanjavur would eagerly await the postman. “It was the postman who brought our copy of Ananda Vikatan . Sridhar provided an amazing variety through his articles, essays, cartoons and dramas. His cartoons are recalled even after 60 years as vividly as are his articles on Kanchi Mahaperiyava's visit to Chennai. ,” Mr. Srinivasan said.
In his acceptance speech Mr. Sridhar credited S.S. Vasan of Ananda Vikatan , for having mentored him. “His son Balasubramanian and grandson have followed in his footsteps. I am grateful to them for it,” he said.
Dramatist Sri Hari of Srilalithalaya Stage was presented the ‘Poornam New Theatres' rolling trophy.
Sabha President Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty praised Mr. Sridhar for serving an organisation with loyalty for decades in various editorial capacities and writing under pseudonyms such as ‘Marina' and ‘Baranidharan'. Sabha secretary Y. Prabhu spoke.
