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Sundara Ramaswamy (1931–2005), fondly known as "Su.Ra" in literary circles, was one of the exponents of Tamil modern literature. He edited and published a literary magazine called ''Kalachuvadu''. He wrote poetry under the penname "Pasuvayya". His novels are ''Oru Puliya Marathin Kathai'' (''Tamarind History''), tr, Blake Wentworth, Penguin 2013, ''J.J Silakuripukal'' (''J.J: Some Jottings'', tr, A.R Venkatachalapathy, Katha, 2004) and ''Kuzhanthaigal, Pengal, Aangal'' (''Children, Women, Men''), tr, Lakshmi Holmstrom, Penguin 2013. Ramaswamy was born on 30 May 1931, in Thazhuviya MahadevarKovil,() a village in Nagercoil). At 20, he began his literary career, translating Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's Malayalam novel, ''Thottiyude Makan'' into Tamil and writing his first short story, "Muthalum Mudivum", which he published in ''Pudimaipithan Ninaivu Malar''. He died on 15 October 2005 (IST) aged 74. ==Life History== Sundara Ramaswamy was born in 1931 in a village called Thazhuviya Mahadevar Kovil, 20 km north of Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. He spent his childhood years in Kottayam, Travancore, where his father worked as a Burma Oil agent. Though Tamil was his native tongue, since he lived in Travancore, he only learned Malayalam in his childhood. His father decided to wind up his business and move to Nagercoil, Kanyakumari in 1939. He continued his school there, but was generally considered to be a poor student. Kanyakumari then was still a part of Kerala, and not Tamil Nadu. Hence his education continued in Malayalam. When he was ten years old, he was attacked by rheumatism, and was sick for the next five or six years. This caused him to be bedridden often, and made him irregular at school. Finally, he discontinued school on the advice of his physician. He first taught himself the Tamil alphabet at the age of 18. Through his mother, he was exposed to the vernacular magazine Manikodi, and famous Tamil writers such as Pudumaipithan, Na.Pitchamurthy, C.S.Chellappa, etc. He was particularly influenced by Pudumaipithan. Sundara Ramaswamy’s first attempt at writing was to publish a commemorative volume for Pudumaipithan in 1951, in which his short story ''Mudhalum Mudivum'' was also included. His second attempt was his short story ''Thanneer'' in the year 1952. He was deeply affected by his father’s seeming dictatorship (something he later attributed to his own youth and immaturity), as well as his maternal aunt’s poverty-stricken life. These two perceptions greatly influenced his writings, at least in their early stages. Around this time, his reading increased to include political, cultural and literary ideas of personalities such as Gandhi, E.V.Ramaswamy, Sir Aurobindo, etc. One of these personalities was M. Govindan, who later became a close friend. In the early fifties, Sundara Ramaswamy was drawn to leftist politics, and supported the United Communist Party ardently. He later referred to it as an emotional decision, and one against the authority of his father. He steeped himself in Marxist literature and discussions with his friends. He also organized the progressive writer’s meeting in Nagercoil, and participated in the peace committee organized by the Soviet Union. His early stories appeared in the magazine ''Shanthi'' and ''Saraswathi'' – the editors T.M.C. Raghunathan and Vijayabhaskaran (respectively) were his friends, and also had communist leanings. Though he agreed with some of the ideologies of the Marxist movement, he had doubts and suspicions about the soviet system and Stalin’s political outlook. His affiliation with the communist movement did not last for long however, as he left the movement after reading Khruschev’s address to the CPSU’s XXth congress and the suppression of the Hungarian writer’s revolution. Following this, he began to identify himself with the modern movement, and began to contribute poems to a magazine called Ezhuthu. In the late fifties, Sundara Ramaswamy began working on his first novel, ''Oru Puliyamarathin Kathai'' (''Tamarind History''). The novel was published in 1966, and established him in Tamil literary circles. He then began to write literary criticism and articles, all of them addressing various issues in Tamil Nadu. In the late seventies, he wrote another novel ''J.J:Silakurrippukal'' (''J.J:Some Jottings''), which was considered to be a departure from tradition in its criticism, and was published in 1981. This was followed by a book of poetry, ''Nadunisi Naigal'' (Midnight Dogs) which was released in 1975. In 1987, he published a second book of poetry, titled ''Yaaro Oruvanukkaga'' (''For Some Man''). Sundara Ramaswamy wrote his final novel ''Kuzhanthaigal, Pengal, Angal''(''Children, Women, Men'') in 1995, which is autobiographical and centers on his early life in Kottayam. Many of his characters were based on childhood memories, and he was able to reassess his father in particular. In his own words, “I am glad that I was able to discover his essence, to an extent, through this novel.” He received numerous awards, with the Kumaran Asan Prize (1988), the Iyal prize (2001) for lifetime achievement awarded by Toronto University, and the Katha Chaudamani prize (2003) being the most prominent ones. He died in the United States following fibrosis of the lungs in 2005. He is survived by a son and two daughters. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sundara Ramaswamy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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