The Kuvikam Twins

Creating Waves in the world of Tamil Literature

What to do post-retirement from a job is a question that starts haunting many people when they are nearing their retirement age.  Many start pursuing their passions for which they had no time while employed. Two ex-bankers, well known as Kuvikam Twins in the Tamil literary world decided to not only follow their passion for writing but decided to provide a forum for other writers – both budding and established, to express their creative talents in Tamil.

Sundarrajan & Kirubanandan, both ex-employees of Bank of Baroda and old friends, are the twins who are creating waves in the world of Tamil literature with a series of activities they have implemented in the last ten years to engage and reward Tamil writers. Both were pursuing writing as a hobby while employed and were interacting with each other sharing many ideas on Tamil literature.

It was In 2013, Sundararajan, who had actively participated in the computerization of branches of his Bank and was tech savvy, initiated an e-magazine called "KU VI KA M," inspired by popular Tamil magazines like KUmudam, VIkatan, KAlki, and kungumaM. KUVIKAM is a newly coined Tamil word that means "FOCUS" (குவி) and "GATHERING TOGETHER" (குவிவோம்). Initially, the entire issue contained articles written by him but with the growing popularity of his idea and a few issues later he started publishing articles/stories from other writers.

In 2015, Kirubanandan joined hands with Sundararajan to establish a new literary platform called "KUVIKAM ILAKKIYAVAASAL" aimed at fostering literary interest among like-minded individuals by organising physical meetings every month with renowned speakers as speakers followed by group discussions.

Sundararajan says, ”Inspiration for this venture came from similar meetings of  Ilakkiya Sinthanai a pioneering Tamil literary forum headed by Shri Paa. Lashmanan and Ilakkiyaveedhi founded by the well-known and dedicated literary stalwart Iniyavan who passed away a few months ago. The third organisation which kindled the idea was Virutcham.

Azhakiyasingar of Virutcham, the Kuvikam twin`smentor, has been involved in the Tamil literary field for over 30 years. He is well known as the editor of Quarterly Magazine Navina Virtcham and  as a  publisher, he has  published over 100 books under his banner, Virutcham Veliyeedu  covering modern poetry and short stories”

 The first Kuvikam Ilakkiyavaasal meeting took place in April 2015 at Srinivasa Gandhi Nilaiyam in Alwarpet featuring speakers Tirupur Krishnan, editor of Amudhasurabhi monthly, Va Ve Subramanian, former Principal of Vivekananda College and the poet  Jayabaskaran. It was attended by 50 people. Subsequent Kuvikam Ilakkiyavaasal meetings were held at various locations across the city until Srinivasa Gandhi Nilaiyam offered a regular slot on the 3rd Saturday of every month where the meetings are held now in association with Ilakkia Siinthanai.

In 2017, a talk by Mr. Sreekumar on ‘Print on demand’ in one of the monthly meetings sowed the idea of publishing books for friends. The publication wing of Kuvikam known as KUVIKAM PATHIPPAKAM came into existence in July 2017. With equally tech-savvy Kirubanandan helming the initiative, Kuvikam Pathipakam offers writers to realize their dreams of seeing their writings in book form at an incredibly low cost.

Once the text matter is sent to him, Kirubanandan converts the text into book format (DTP) and also provides the cover designs required for the book. This service is provided pro bono( Free) by Kirubanandan.  The writer pays only for paper and printing costs. The use of the Print on demand facility makes the cost of publishing affordable to many aspiring authors who have taken to self-publishing their books using this facility offered by Kuvikam Pathippakam. So far around 170 books of over 70 writers/authors have been published. Though Kuvikam does not have a distribution network nor does it offer marketing services, quite a good number of books are sold at book release functions organized by the authors or Kuvikam. The books published by Kuvikam are also sold at the Virtucham Stall in Chennai Book Fair  under a tie-up between the Kuvikam twins and Azhagiasinger

In Feb 2018 when Kirubanandan’s flat at T Nagar fell vacant, it was converted into an Air-Conditioned KUVIKAM ILLAM. It hosted a library, audio-visual room for short films /documentaries, and a meeting room to conduct weekly meetings called KUVIKAM ALAVALAAVAL. This small venue can accommodate only around 25 people. The Sunday literary meetings held here feature group discussions, book reviews, screening of documentaries, etc. A few Drama rehearsals were also held at the  Illam.

The same year another idea- a book Exchange program was also started with the  catchy slogan “ படித்ததைப் போட்டுவிட்டு பிடித்ததை எடுத்துச் செல்லுங்கள்”. (Leave behind read books and take books you have not read). So far more than 500 books have been collected under this scheme. This is being done at the Illam. The scheme is also implemented at Virtucham Stall at Chennai Book Fair, thanks to Azhagiyasingar.

During the pandemic when physical meetings were not possible, Kuvikam switched over its weekly meetings to the Zoom platform calling it Inaiyavazhi Alavalaaval (Internet conversations) every Sunday evening. Kuvikam became a pioneer in conducting literary meetings in Tamil  over ZOOM. The number of this program has crossed 170 and counting. The hallmark of this program is the variety.

This was followed by another informative and interesting program “MAHAKVIYIN MANDHIRA CHORKAL every Wednesday. Prof Va Ve Su enlightens the audience on the literary, spiritual, and nationalistic nuances of the works of Bharathiar. The hundredth episode of this very popular programme was held in the first week of April and it is surely marching towards the 150 mark.

In 2021, Kuvikam started a monthly print magazine namely KUVIKAM KURUM PUDHINAM (Kuvikam Novellas) Each issue has three novellas of which two are selected through a competition process while the third one is chosen by the editors from classic writers, translations, abridged versions of novels, etc. Currently, 150 friends have subscribed to this edition. The money collected (Rs. 1200 per annum) is being spent entirely in the form of Prizes for the top 3 stories and for all other stories published.

In May 2022, Kuvikam started a Podcast of 15 minutes to be released every week along with Sunday Alavalaaval. Chathurbujan, a popular writer with a golden voice was roped in as its anchor and 60 podcasts have been released so far.

All Kuvikam events including ZOOM meetings are properly recorded and the videos are uploaded on YouTube. A huge collection of over 400 videos is available under Kuvikam’s ILAKKIYAVAASAL channel. The information available in these videos can be a single source of literary information in Tamil for researchers and knowledge seekers.

 From July 2022 onwards Kuvikam started identifying the best story of the month among stories published in leading print/web magazines. Kuvikam borrowed this Ilakkia Chinthanai idea and started selecting stories every month. Sponsored by Mrs. Sivasankari, the eminent writer this project has been aptly named ‘SIVASANKARI – KUVIKAM SIRUKATAITH THERVU’

Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation (PRTF) provided an opportunity to conduct a Short Story Competition in 2022. The funding was by the Foundation and the execution was by Kuvikam. Over 300 entries were received for the competition. The prize distribution and the release of a book titled “SOLAKKAATU BOMMAI” containing 30 selected stories was held at the Tenth Anniversary of PRTF on 15th January 2023.

Starting the meetings through Zoom during the pandemic  has helped Kuvikam to have three meetings per week, which is almost impossible if held as physical meetings. Besides zoom meetings offered opportunities for Tamil writers in other parts of the world to participate in Kuvikam activities thereby widening the reach of Kuvikam programmes. These days, physical meetings are held as hybrid meetings (Direct as well as Zoom) for the benefit of people living in various parts of the country and the world. Besides all these activities there is a whats app group called `Kuvikam Ilakkia thahaval` which offers opportunities for the Kuvikam family of 200 writers to exchange their views and also share news of their literary activities and achievements instantly.

Kirubanandan says, “Out of the 200, there is a core group of 30-50 dedicated Kuvikam friends who are very active and others in the outer circle who silently watch programs and videos. Except for Kurumpudhinam, there are no subscriptions for anything else!” I was surprised to learn that Kirubanandan and Sundararajan find joy in meeting the expenses of running Kuvikam from their  personal contributions.

To a question about the division of responsibilities between the two Sundarrajan said, ”There is no watertight compartment. I look after the web Magazine, Zoom Meetings, podcasts, new ideas, and planning.  Krubanandan looks after the Padhippakam, physical meetings, posters, and YouTube Channel”.

Raya Chellappa, an ex-banker and popular writer himself who has been closely associated with the Kuvikam group has this to say about the Kuvikam twins;  “If Kuvikam is a Clock, then it has two hands: one is called Sundararajan and the other,  Kirubanandan. The big hand sometimes acts as a small hand and the small hand becomes the big one.  They always act in unison with military discipline. A really marvelous combo of literary acumen and technical execution!”

People are attracted to Kuvikam through word-of-mouth publicity. The initial programs like கதை கேளு /கதை படித்தல் and programs organized by Kuvikam have attracted a good number of people. Kirubanandan's presence in book exhibitions and Pathippakam (publications) also brings people closer to Kuvikam.

What the Kuvikam Twins have done in the last ten years to bring together Tamil writers and offer them not only a forum to express their views in person but also in writing, is commendable. Considering the fact that many popular Tamil magazines have drastically cut down on the number of short stories they publish creating a big void that  Kuvikam is trying to fill up. Kudos to the Kuvikam twins for their total devotion to promoting Tamil literature through their multifarious activities.

Readers of MM who are interested in joining the Kuvikam group can write to ssrajan_bob.yahoo.com or magazinekuvikam@gmail.com