A dear
friend is no more. A person who
re--opened a whole new world of Tamil literary world to me, post my retirement
, has left this world. Creating a big void in not only in my life but in the
world of Literature. The dreaded crab
disease snatched away
S.Viswanathan (Charukesi) from us
this morning ( 30th january,2019) leaving behind a
legion of his readers, friends and admirers mourning.
Though I had
known about Charukesi for more than three decades as a popular writer and
columnist, I got to know him closely
only in the last decade. It was he who introduced me to Ravi Tamilvanan of
Manimekali Prasuram on a book project
which brought the three of us closer. It was at the launch meeting of the book
titled `Alamaram` by Mrs Vijayalakshmi Sunderrajan at Tag Centre that the idea
for the Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal(TPN) was conceived by another great friend and
philanthropist R.T Chari. The four of us
formed the core group with Charukesi
taking on the major responsibility of identifying an author, his book and a reviewer for the
monthly meetings held on the last Tuesday of every month at the Tag Centre for
the last five years. We had our 52nd
meeting yesterday where Charukesi`s absence was felt deeply by members present.
Charukesi who had turned 80 last year was a multi
dimensional writer who had completed 62
years in writing . He had his first article published in the then
popular children`s magazine `Kannan` in their issue dated 15th April,1955, when he was just
17 years old . He later regularly contributed
articles to Kalkandu, a popular weekly among the youth.
A writer who was known for his humorous essays in Tamil,
Charukesi got his first short story published in `Kalki` weekly in March, 1960.
Kalki, particularly its editor K.Rajendran encouraged Charukesi to write on a
variety of subjects covering medicine, literature, painting, politics, theatre,
administration, industry, etc. Looking
at his penchant for humour Rajendran also encouraged him to write political
satires. While contributing articles for Kalki, he continued to write short stories
which were published by Ananda Vikatan, Kalki, Dinamani Kadir, Amudhasurabi,
Kalaimagal, and Kumudham .
During his stint in
Pfizer, a company where he worked for 37years, he had contributed a few articles in English for
the company’s house magazine ‘Crucible’ which were well appreciated. That gave him the confidence to
write in English. Encouraged by the
popular English dailies he began to be noticed as a writer in English even
while he was continuing to write stories
and essays in Tamil.
Charukesi`s reputation as an excellent translator of books
started with an assignment to translate
Sudha Murty`s three books from English to Tamil. Since then he has translated books of many
others from English to Tamil & vice versa.
The last book he translated was the autobiography ( 1st part)
of Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukerjee, the illustrious Past President of India.
Charukesi`s published
books include -Three collections of
short stories for children – `Kakitha Padagu, Natpu Valarga and Oru Kilai
Paravaigal. Two collections of
humorous short stories – Thummalukku Kai
Koduppom -Irumalukku Kural Koduppom & Oru Nayamaana Kadhal; a serious
short story collection titled ‘Nagai’. His
recent book of collection of articles in different Deepavali Malars and other
special issues was titled Mammootty Mudhal Manmohan Singh Varai . His book on Kanchi
Mahaswami based on actual experiences by his devotees is in its
sixth edition. His travelogue ‘Cheena Anubhavangal’ was serialized in
Kalki and then was brought out as a book.
Apart from the prizes he won for his stories in Kalki,
Kumudam and Kanaiazhi he highly valued
the ` Best Translator Award` he got from Kalaimagal magazine- instituted
by Ka Sri Sri family. Ka Sri Sri himself was an outstanding translator who had
translated into Tamil all the works of the famous Marathi writer
V.S.Khandekar.
Charukesi was the
second son in a big family. After his schooling in Salem he got a
D.Com from the Indian Merchants Chamber. He joined Pfizer Ltd, the
multinational pharmaceutical company as a general assistant in 1960 in Chennai
and retired as the Officer-in- charge of the Chennai Depot of the same company
in 1998. All through his working career he continued to write as a hobby. He
became a full time writer after his retirement.
A prolific writer he continued to pound away on his PC, both in English
& Tamil, for at least 4 to 6 hours every day churning out interesting
articles/stories until a few months ago when the dreaded disease attacked him.
He was contributing a
weekly column in Dinamani, apart from writing for Hindu, Kalki, Mangayar Malar,
Amudhasurabi and Madras Musings. He was
also well known as a music and dance critic. An active committee member of the
Natyarangam of Narada Gana Sabha for several years he was also elected to the
executive committee of the Narada Gana Sabha.
Charukesi`s looks were
deceptive. A humble and a serious
man in person his sense of humour in his writings was palpable. He also
packed a lot of energy in his thin, lean
frame. A prolific writer, he has written over 8000 articles and a couple of
hundred short stories in the last six decades.
Charukesi was a
gentleman to the core who was humility personified. A loveable human being, he endeared himself
to anyone he came in contact with. A bachelor all his life he was a great
support not only to his siblings but also extended his helping hand to anyone
in need.
I was one of the beneficiaries of his generosity. He
translated my autobiography `Courage My
Companion` into Tamil. He took me to all the literary meetings which he
attended. Since I used to pick him up in
my car and drop him back home, he would jovially remark that he was getting
Rajan`s `Car Seva`. We had become
inseparable twins at literary meetings. I am going to miss him a lot.
May his soul rest in peace!
( Edited version of this article has appeared in the Times of India (
Chennai) issue dated 31st January,2019)
No comments:
Post a Comment