CHENNAI: Veteran writer, political commentator and journalist N V Sankaran, popularly known as Gnani Sankaran, passed away in the early hours on Monday at his KK Nagar residence after battling kidney ailments. He was 64.
A multifaceted personality, Gnani was respected for his no-nonsense comments on political affairs.
Said Kavitha Muralidharan, an independent journalist, whose relationship with Gnani spans several years, “He was always open to criticism. He may have had differences of opinion with a few people but I believe he was incapable of hatred.”
“I once remember him telling me that if there was a common cause, he could work even with an enemy,” she added.
Born in Chengalpattu, Gnani passed out of Madras Christian College and was later, trained in theatre by Badal Sircar. He went on to produce in Tamil over 50 plays in various languages like Bengali, German and English. According to those close to him, he had even staged a performance last Friday in Madurai as part of Pareeksha, an experimental theatre group he founded.
Gnani’s hugely popular serial O Pakkangal in a Tamil weekly magazine, which cemented his image of a contemporary political analyst, has been converted into a Youtube channel since Jan 2, discussing issues such as Rajinikanth’s political foray and the transport workers’ strike.
While O Pakkangal had already made him popular among the older sections of the population, he shot to fame in social media after a video of him participating in a debate in a private national channel, went viral. The video, that was shared among numerous youngsters, showed Gnani taking on a Hindi-speaking panellist by the horns, telling her that he would speak in Tamil, a language that the fellow panellist did not understand, in the English channel, if she continued to speak in Hindi, a language that he did not understand.
Said historian AR Venkatachalapathy, “Gnani was very self-critical. He realised the privileges he enjoyed as a member of the privileged caste and he criticised them.” Gnani was born into a Tamil Brahmin family.
In his last Facebook post, he had commented on Thuglak Editor S Gurumurthy’s speech in support of actor Rajinikanth joining hands with the BJP. Those close to him refer to him as someone who did not compromise on his values.
On his days as a journalist in Indian Express, Kalyan Arun, Professor, Asian College of Journalism and former journalist, recalled his father’s tale of Gnani being assigned to the Madras High Court beat where a few honourable’ judges were not amused by his trade mark attire of a kurta, pyjama and jhola. However, Gnani was not the one to ‘mend his ways.’
Gnani wrote numerous articles on social and political events in various journals and newspapers for over 40 years in Tamil and English. He was a student campaigner in early seventies for socialism and fought Emergency as a journalist with Indian Express. In mid-eighties, he worked for the National Front and translated for VP Singh on stage at over 70 public rallies.
In 2014, Gnani unsuccessfully contested the byelection to Alandur on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party. He quit the party later that year. In stall 211 at the Chennai book fair, reserved for his ‘Gnanabanu Publications’, fans of the senior journalist, writer and theatre personality Gnani Sankaran had been hoping to catch a glimpse of him even on Sunday.
The fact that he was ageing did not escape his attention. It was only over a week ago, on January 3, that he had posted on his Facebook page, ‘64 years completed, tomorrow 65 begins.’
Said Kavitha, “He always spoke of his illness in a very matter-of-fact way. He showed no visible fear of the ailment but also read a lot in this regard. I heard that he was supposed to have a kidney transplant in March.” His body has been to Madras Medical College and would be used to teach medical students.
CM, Stlain offer condolences
Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami expressed his condolences and said, “I’m grieved over the news of senior journalist and writer Gnani’s demise on Monday.”
M K Stalin, DMK working president, said, “Gnani, who was on very friendly terms with Kalaignar and former Union Minister Murasoli Maran, co-wrote a special column Pudhayal in the Murasoli publication.”
Lauding his contribution to the field of journalism, S Ramadoss, PMK founder-leader said, “Being the son of a journalist, he not only became a journalist himself but also created several journalists like him.”
Multifaceted personality with a social conscience
Gnani began his career as N V Sankaran, a reporter, in Indian Express, Chennai
He has produced in Tamil over 50 plays from various languages like Bengali, Marathi and German
In 2014, Gnani unsuccessfully contested the bypoll to Alandur on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party. He quit AAP later that year
Gnani’s hugely popular serial
O Pakkangal in a Tamil weekly magazine, which cemented his image of a contemporary political analyst, was converted into a Youtube channel since Jan 2