Remembering a friend

On his second death Anniversary  I would like to remember Charukesi , a friend who re-introduced me to the Tamil literary world, post my retirement ,  

 Though I had known about Charukesi for more than three decades as a popular writer and columnist,  I got to know him well 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) ( Friends of Tamil Books) 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  a living  author, his book and a reviewer for the monthly meetings held on the last Tuesday of every month at the Tag Centre. It was TPN which brought us very close.

 Charukesi who passed away on 30^th January,2019 after turning 80  was a prolific writer who was also multi dimensional. He had written over 8000 articles, a couple of hundred short stories and a few books in the six decades since he started writing..

 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.

 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. It was a honour because Charukesi was also an award winning translator of books – both from English to Tamil and vice versa. He was also responsible for motivating me to write a novel and approved the draft of the first few chapters I had shared with him. He was keen to see the completed novel. It was not to be as he passed away before I completed it. As an expression of my gratitude to a wonderful friend I have dedicated the novel to him. He would have been genuinely happy to see that my novel `Durga Nivas- Biography of a building` is doing well. I am sure I have his blessings for my next book project- an  attempt to translate a Tamil book into English.

 Charukesi used to take 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  miss him a lot.