Published: 13th June 2013
Many in Tiruvannamalai couldn’t have
imagined that their region would earn a significant place in the literary map
of the State.
It was Bava Chelladurai’s works which
brought laurels to his native and drew the attention of Tamil literature
circles towards Tiruvannamalai. His essay collection, Ella Naalum Kaarthigai, recently received the State government’s
award for the best book of the year 2011-12.
The book is a collection of 24
essays, each portraying his encounters with popular celebrities like film
director Balu Mahendra, actor Mammooty, Canadian photographer Girish Falen
among others. Earlier, this book was featured in a Tamil weekly. The author
records some of his conversations with his close friends in the book.
“The kind of openness and integrity
of the people whom I met, inspired me to write about them. For instance,
Malayalam writer Paul Zachariah once made some remarks against Kerala when he
was in Tamil Nadu. I recorded it in one of the essays. When the Mullaiperiyar
issue was at its peak, the essay got translated into Malayalam and it created
problems for Zachariah. Even then he made some remarks against Kerala,” said
Bava Chelladurai.
It was only through Bava’s effort
that literary and cultural nights were organised some 30 years ago, which was
later followed by like-minded litterateurs in their own region.
“Since the events were followed by
many in different parts of the State, we were pushed to bring in some new forms
of literary events and hence we started Mutram.
Creativity is not only about writing but also about organising events,” said
Bava, as he is fondly addressed by readers.
Until then, no one had dreamt that
famous literateurs like K N Panikker, Paul Zachariah, Jayakanthan and novelist
Arundhati Roy would visit Tiruvannamalai just for the sake of literature. Till
date Mutram has organised more than
50 programs.
Being a government employee, Bava
Chelladurai is also making waves in literature circles frequently through his
short stories. 19 D M Saronilirundhu
and Natchathirangal Olindhu Kollum
Karuvarai are two of his notable works.
“I was in class 10 when I brought out
my debut novel Uravugal Pesukindrana.
It brought me into public light. Though I published my poetry collection titled
Estharum Esthar Teacherum a little
later, I felt that those were not actually poems and since then I focused only
on prose,” he said.
He started his writing career with
short stories. His debut short story Mugam
published in Kalki, bagged the Ilakkiya Chinthanai Award. Another short story Ezhumalai Jamaa that was made into a
documentary with an eponymous title, fetched 10 awards in various film
festivals.
Veteran koothu performer Sambandha Thampiran acted as protagonist Ezhumalai
in the documentary. “During the Tamil month of Aadi, artistes in our village
perform koothu. Every Jamaa (group)
has a name. Ezhumalai Jamaa is one such group. The life and struggle of
Ezhumalai, a koothu performer, is what the whole story is about. The lead
character Ezhumalai in the story is a real one, who once lived in our region,”
he said.
He added, “A tribal group here is
famous for burglary without wounding any person. I decided to record that and
wrote three short stories Chatru, Onaan
Kodi Sutriya Raajaambaal Ninaivugal and Pachai
Irulan. Many say these are the best of my works.”
“Many intellectuals, artistes and
writers from Western countries now stay in Tiruvannamalai. In the past, we once
had a nomadic group which travelled from various parts to Tiruvannamalai during
the harvest of mallaattai (the
regional Tamil name for groundnuts). Bringing these two parallels as a central
theme I am now writing a novel. I believe this will be my masterpiece,” he
concluded.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
