Friday, February 29, 2008

Remembering "Sujatha"

Writer Sujatha has passed away. The news was a shock to me, because for me he was immortal. But then, nature plays its part waiting for no tide or turn. Being an ardent fan of Sujatha from the school days, its with great difficulty that I accepted that he is no more and only his writings will live on.

Sujatha for me was more than a genius. He has been writing on almost all topics - be it fiction or non fiction. He was one of the pioneers in the field of computers and internet and his writings to a large extent made it easier for the laymen to understand them. Apart from writing about computers and other fiction, he was also instrumental in popularising the "Pudukavidhai" - and Haiku. Not only that, he was also an authority on literary and Tamil Hindu cutlture. He has written extensively on them and often quotes from "Periypuranam, Devaram, Tiruvasagam, Upanishads" etc.

Characters from his stories - Ganesh, Vasanth, Madhumitha, Geno - have all been immortalised in the hearts of Tamil speaking people. In fact lots of people name their daughters "Madhumitha" inspired by the character. And one wishes that one is as brilliant, sharp witted with a whacky sense of humor like his famous lawyer characters - Ganesh and his junior Vasanth.

Sujatha brought a sea change in the Tamil literary world with his style of writing. Some may not accept it, but the fact is he induced more people to read books with his style of writing. In fact, Mr.Balakumaran, another writer with a huge following in Tamilnadu, has said that it was Sujatha's advice and guiding that helped him in such a mesmerising way.

What I have written here may sound banal to some. But its from my heart and I pray to the almighty to help the grieving family.