Galaxy of story-tellers

JAYAKANTHAN ORU PAARVAI (Tamil): Dr. K. S. Subramanian.

LAA. SA. RAMAMIRTHAM PADAIPPULAGAM (Tamil): Abi.

KI. RAJANARAYANAN EZHUTHULAGAM (Tamil): Prem- Ramesh.

ASHOKAMITRAN PADAIPPULAGAM (Tamil): Gnani.

SUNDARARAMASAMY PADAIPPULAGAM (Tamil): Rajamarthandan. All published by Kalaignan Pathippagam, 10, Kannadasan Salai, T.Nagar, Chennai- 600017. Rs. 100 each.

LIKE THE ``Reader'' in English, which brings the select, collected writings of famous authors to the reading public, the Kalaignan Pathippagam has launched a new venture and come out with books containing selected writings of five great writers of yester-years. These writers, some of them popular and others not so popular - this does not mean any belittling of their literary output - had almost stopped writing now, except for Ashokamitran whose occasional writings, including book reviews, are appearing off and on. Of the five writers whose writings have been published now, only Jayakanthan's stories and novels regularly appeared in the so-called popular journals.

While the Tamil short stories and novels appearing now can be branded as writings of not long lasting value, the output by these five writers deserves to be read and re-read even now and can be preserved for the posterity. Of them, the first book contains 11 short stories, one novelette, selected portions from seven novels, 16 articles, two film scripts, and one drama by Jayakanthan. Who can forget his ``Brahmopadesam'' (though not included in this book) or ``Cinemavukku Poena Sithalu'', or ``Sila Naerangalil Sila Manithargal'' or ``Unnaippoel Oruvan''?

Laa. Sa. Ramamirtham had in his heydays an exclusive circle of readers who used to wait for a long time to munch his literary output which was not quite frequent. In a career spanning over 65 years he has written only less than 200 short stories, compiled into 17 collections, a handful of novels, some articles, interviews etc. The compiler of the second book says that Laa. Sa. Raa's writings, viewed then and now, are quite different, though the material is the same. The book contains two magazine interviews, nine short stories, portions of two novelettes, and other pieces which reveal to the present generation what a great writer he is.

Ki. Rajanarayanan is another wizard with words who believed that one must write as he speaks to his family members. He laid more stress on presenting the plight of people living in ``Karisal Kaadu'' (blacksoil tract) in the deep south and he succeeded to a great extent in this regard. Who can forget his ``Gomathi'', ``Kidai'', ``Gopalla Gramam'' and ``Vaetti'', to mention only a few of which the first three have been included in the book under review. Besides it contains eight short-stories, two novelettes, three novels and five essays by him. He introduced new form of literary genre ``Karisalkattu Kadudhasi'' and ``Solkathai'' (word- story?), the first in the form of letters and the latter in the form of story told by elders. While Ki. Raa's writings are well known for their simple style, the compilers have digressed much and have also used some newly coined words which are difficult to digest.

Ashokamitran's writings have mostly appeared in the Kanaiyazhi, a quality journal published from New Delhi. Many discerning readers used to wait long for the magazine to read his as well as others' stories and articles. His real name being Thiagarajan, he chose this pseudonym as he greatly admired the character with the same name in a drama staged in those days by the ``Seva Stage'' of S. V. Sahasranamam. Some of his writings, looking like autobiography and included in this volume, reveal his personality. It also contains six short stories, one novelette, essays, his reviews of others' works and four of his novels, including ``Thanneer''. His writings which could be termed as rather serious, would live for ever.

The last book contains the writings of Sundara Ramaswamy, who had Pudumaipithan as his model. Though his initial written output was marked for its leftist leanings, he also wrote many stories of human interest which showed to the literary world that he is a writer with a difference. Who can forget his ``Prasadam'' and ``Puliyamarathin Kathai''? The former is a word picture which has only two characters - a constable and a temple priest. Though the book contains some of his essays and other forms of writings, his best short story, ``Prasadam'' which won him encomiums, has not been included. It was a remarkable story then and will remain so for a long time. The publishers deserve all praise for breaking new ground by publishing these selected writings of five great writers. They must not stop with this, but bring the works of other living legends like Neela Padmanabhan and also writers who have disappeared from our midst.

T. A. SRINIVASAN

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