CHENNAI: Writers, students and readers gathered to celebrate and honour the ‘Hundred years of Tamil short story’ at the Connemara Public Library Hall, Egmore, recently.
Organised by Sahitya Akademi, popular writer Nanjil Nadan chaired the third session on Short Story masters-II that covered the works of three great writers — Ku Pa Ra, Jayakanthan and Sundara Ramaswami.
During the seminar, Nanjil Nadan said, “Nowadays, we enjoy the freedom of using words, but it was not possible during the Ku Pa Ra period. He also mentioned few potential short stories in the verses of Thirukkural, Purananooru and Natrinai.
Writer Vedasahaya Kumar gave a presentation on Ku Pa Ra. He divided Kumbakonam Pattabiramayyer Rajagopalan’s works into Manikodi (a Tamil magazine) period.
“Ku Pa Ra’s writings are close to reality. He has written around 100 short stories spanning 10 years,” said Vedasahaya Kumar and added that three volumes of Ku Pa Ra — Kanakambaram , Punarjenmam and Kanmalae Kadhal — have been released in his period.
“Kanakambaram was released in the 1940s, Punarjenmam in 1943 and the same year his third volume, Kanamalae Kadhal was released. But most of the short stories that he had written for magazines have not appeared in these volumes. He was very selective about his stories.” Vedasahaya also added that Ku Pa Ra’s work lacked sense of humour and he never mentioned ‘nature’ in any of his works.”
Talking about Jayakanthan and his works, KS Subramaniam, a writer and translator, said that his short stories were a tonic to readers.
“He had an ability to connect with the readers and he will transport himself to the depth of another body.”
“The plot of his stories, characters, shape and substance would surprise anyone.
His usage of dialects was very powerful. He created a new world of possibilities to the writers,” Subramaniam pointed out.
Another well-known writer in the Tamil short story circle is Sundara Ramaswami.
Writer Pavannan remarked the incredible works of the great writer.
Few of Sundara Ramaswami’s short stories and the characterisation of every character in Irandu Mugangal, Kakangal and Nadar sir were mentioned at the seminar.