In Memoriam

Though Tamil Nadu has a rich legacy of literary personalities, the name Sujatha brings memories of the man who explained the nuances of the language, the story and science to the common man. Today morning while sitting on my POT, I read the news that Sujatha passed away with multiple organ failure in a hospital. Indeed, a sad day for all his fans.

In an era when his contemporaries were tagging along the lines of classic literature, Sujatha perhaps looked beyond and started to express himself to the common man, a trait that served him well into his years reflected through his writing, screen plays and poems.

It was also a classic example for all writers on how to market themselves, keeping ahead of time, changing with the tunes and so on. Be it his works of science fiction or his short stories based on the urban life style, he brought his own charm and wit into his writing that will never go away.

As I go through my list of tamil blogs, I see it as the ultimate tribute to the man who not only helped amateurs like me enjoy the joy of writing, but also worked on the technology aspect of it ensuring we still enjoyed reading and writing in Tamil. Who can forget his writings in tamil weeklys on the improvement of technology and how it is useful for the common man.

While googling about Sujatha, a news article had started with the premise on how Sujatha would have written his own obituary. Well without thinking twice, I would have loved to see the simplicity and wit that were ever hallmarks of his writings.

Though not a fan of his film works, it did bring some sense to the illogical movies that he worked on lately. I am hoping Dasavatharam should be his crowning glory. This I think will be the ultimate obituary to the man from Srirangam, who taught us to write.

It is difficult to compress his body of work in a few thousand words. As a old proverb goes, an elephant is worth its price even after death. May his soul rest in peace