Aras, short for Thirunavukkarasu, was obsessed with the photograph that his father, who was president of the Rangoon Tamil Sangam had on his table. The turbaned man in the photograph, with his expressive eyes and luxuriant moustache caught the imagination of five-year old Aras, who drew his picture. His father would display the drawing to his friends and say, “Look at the picture of Bharatiar that my son has drawn.” That's when Aras knew that the person in the picture was Bharatiar.
When the family moved to Chennai, Aras became a fan of Muthu Comics. He would write and illustrate his own comics, which he called Aras Comics! They would be circulated among classmates, and were popular even among teachers. “In order to give the cover a laminated look, I would cut the base of a candle and rub it over the cover, and then iron it. That would make it glossy!”
Aras is a freelance artist, who has contributed to many magazines. He did the animation for the titles in K. Balachander's film ‘Poikkaaal Kudhirai.' He wants to do political satires with animation for Tamil television channels.
K. Radhakrishnan writes under the pseudonym Ranimaindhan. Noticed by writer Savi, Ranimaindhan began to write for Dinamani Kadir , and later for Kungumam . When Savi began the magazine Savi , Ranimaindhan began to write for it.
Wrote travelogues
Savi took him abroad, and Ranimaindhan wrote many travelogues. His interest lies in translations and writing biographies. One of his translations titled ‘Nair San,' is the biography of A.M. Nair, one of the earliest Indian immigrants to Japan. Nair was foremost among expatriates who participated in India's freedom movement. Ranimaindhan was a part of BBC Radio's Tamil service for eight years. He is now a news reader for an Australian Tamil FM channel. He has been awarded Kalaimamani.
Their credentials apart, it is ironical that neither of this year's awardees has even a nodding acquaintance with Devan's works. In an aside, Aras said, “I've heard of one of his books - Thuppariyum something or other.”
Ranimaindhan said he did not read fiction.
Awards function
The Devan Awards function at Sivakami Pethachi Auditorium began with some delightful choir singing by children belonging to Sudha Raja's Sargam group. Some children from the SOS village joined in for a couple of songs.
Writer and journalist Gnani who presided over the function said that he was glad two men associated with the world of journalism were being honoured, because, often, journalists get more brickbats than bouquets. He said Devan, in whose memory the awards were being given, had straddled the worlds of journalism and fiction writing with ease. The programme ended with Gnani's new play ‘Oorukku nooru per.'
Usually a hitherto unpublished book of Devan's is released on Devan memorial day. This year there was no new release.
A further disappointment was the absence of stalls usually set up by the publishers of Devan books. For an ardent fan of the Devan, the author seemed to be missing on his memorial day.
