N.Vinoth
Kumar
To
begin with, I got introduced to Sujatha’s writing for the first time at the age
of 17. During the annual vacations, I used to go to my grandparents house.
There was no cable connection at that time. Cell phones were out of
reach, from our thinking. No cinema theatres nearby. FM stations were not
been intruded deeply in remote areas. For a teen, it was very hard to while away the
time. Books, were the only solace.
My
uncle, from young age, has developed an interest in reading Tamil weeklies. He
used to buy Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalkandu, etc. It was 90s. The price of those magazines was
very much a pittance (Vikatan costed Rs.3, then!). He still has those
collections, safely in his wooden box, where he used to keep brands like
Kingfisher!
He
allowed me to read those books. My reading gradually promoted from comics to
start reading weeklies. I don’t know it was Vikatan or Kumudam, in which I
found a story of writer Sujatha. I don’t remember the title of the story. But,
the writer started the story with a caution, which goes like this: I warn you.
The story is going to end in a dream!
Apparently,
the story ends in a dream, but with a slight twist. It was a one page story.
Within that constrained space, he managed to add copious amounts of details.
For next two days, I read the story again and again, every time wearing a
smile, in the end of the story.
Then,
I read a story titled ‘….’ (ah.. I forgot that too!), in which, hero plays as an
electronic gadgets mechanic. After
reading the story, I, for a fleeting period, found an interest in electronics.
Such was his narration!
When
I took reading weeklies seriously, particularly Vikatan, my eyes searched for
the pages containing Sujatha’s column, ‘Katradhum
Petradhum’, every time I bought the magazine. His writing dealt with
smorgasbord of subjects, starting from Aandal paasuram’s to nano science.
*******
Born
in Chennai and brought up in Srirangam, Trichy, Rangarajan was basically an
electronic engineer, worked at BHEL, Bengaluru. During this time, he
contributed in developing Electronic Voting Machine, for which he won ‘Vasvik’
award. Its important to mention, that,
our former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Rangarajan were friends from the days
of St.Joseph’s College, Trichy to MIT, Chennai.
He
started to write from his young age. His first writing, a short story titled ‘Ezhuthil Himsai’ was published in the
magazine ‘Sivaji’, in the year 1953, in his birth name, S.Rangarajan. Only
after 12 years, he again started to pen the stories in popular magazines, under
the pseudonym ‘Sujatha’, his wife’s name. His writings on science, won him NCSTC’s award
for popularising science through magazines.
Apart
from writing stories and columns for magazines, he also penned dialogues for more
than 20 films including Ninaithale
Inikkum, Vikram, Roja, Indian, Enthiran, etc.
He
died in Chennai, on 27 February, 2008. During his life time, he has written 64
novels, 39 novellas, 25 plays and numerous short stories. Attracted by his
writing, many youngsters started to write in social media, often, imitating his
word plays.
He
possessed a sleight of hands, through which he given a new look to the
language. His prose built a wonderland. One of my poet friends Shankar Rama
Subramanian always says, ‘Sujatha groomed the dreams of a new generation,
through his writings’.
His
writings contained many nuances, word plays and tongue in cheek narrations. For
example, in a short story titled ‘Manaivi Kidaithuvittaal’, he narrates the
first night as follows:
“What’s the book you like most?” (Veni,
the heroine asks his husband)
“Veni…!”
“Read..”
First he looked the cover, opened it,
searched for the contents, started in the first chapter, appreciated the
paintings, touched the poems, words, spaces, intrusions…
While,
reading the translation, the above part will looks like an ordinary
text. If you read the translation, after reading the original, then you will
realise, the text has been translated flatly.
Because
of these qualities, until now no one attempted to translate his stories into
English. But, recently, Vimala Balakrishnan translated six short stories and
two novellas of Sujatha. The translated collection titled as ‘Reliving Sujatha’ has been published by
Vitasta. Instead of saying the collection as 'His best stories', it should have been more appropriate to say 'His selected stories'.
Though,
the translator maintains the pace of the stories, she at times misses the
nuances of the original. But when looking at the whole attempt, we can
pooh-pooh the shortcomings. Above all, it is to remembered, that this is a
first translation of Sujatha’s work. However, this kind of attempts should be
welcomed and appreciated. Because, something is better than nothing, always!
