Sujatha: RIP

Via Shencottah, I understand that one of my favourite Tamil writers, Sujata, is no more. I still remember a line of his சிலிகான் சில்லுப் புரட்சி (The silicon chip revolution) in which he mentions that pure, defect free silicon crystals are available in வாழைத்தண்டு size. Sujata is one of those rare Tamil writers of the modern era who tried to experiment with the language itself and stretch it to its limits, the best example being his அவன் இட்லித்து, சாம்பாரித்து, ஆஃபிசினான். He was also a keen observer of south Indian middle class and its habits — I remember his memorable sentence about the rearrangements of the drawing room in preparation for the பெண் பார்த்தல் of arranged marriages: அவர் ஹரொல்ட் ரொபின்சொந்களை எடுத்து விட்டு, ஜே கே-க்களை அடுக்கினார், and a four page cartoon of how Indian middle class parents bring up their kids — especially the panel in which, to the consternation of his obviously angry and upset parents, the boy, unshaven and in his pyjamas, wearing a jolna on his shoulders, announces that he is going to study cinematography at the film institute.

He was sarcastic; he was ironic; he was at times sexist and more often than not explicit–as can only be described best in Tamil, his stories are meant to bring you கிளுகிளுப்பு, and, Man! did they bring it! He never took himself too seriously–or, at least, that is the impression he gave: I remember one of his pieces (probably in Kumudam) about the anatomy of an actress (to be specific, thighs of Sridevi), while complaining tongue in cheek, about the Tamil writers who are only interested in the anatomies of actresses in another piece in the same week in Dinamani. In short, he was always entertaining, informative and educational.

He wrote science fiction of distinctly Indian variety (like his short story திமலா, for example); his autobiographical pieces were great fun to read; in addition, he wrote really “popular” popular science pieces. He also dabbled into Tamil cinema and wrote some really crazy-ly entertaining dialogues (Vikram, Roja, Priya, Iruvar… see the wiki page for a more complete listing). More recently, I understand that he was also writing about sangam literature, and about the Bhakthi movement and its poetry (both of which, unfortunately, I have read, only sporadically).

A good writer and great populariser of science who will be missed!

Tags: Sujatha