It was Wednesday, 8th April. At the Mylapore Sanskrit College hall, I met K.S. Subramanian at a memorial lecture by Prof. Prema Nandakumar. K.S. Subramanian had translated many of the novels and short stories of Jayakanthan and was very close to the writer. The first question I asked KSS was, “How is your friend Jayakanthan?”

“I am sorry, he is not too well. He is bed-ridden. He is almost immobile,” said Subramanian.

The next morning I got the sad news that Jayakanthan (JK) was no more.

Jayakanthan

I recall my first meeting with him in a lodge in Tiruvallikeni, where my friend, Ananda Vikatan’s sub-editor Ambur Kesavan, was staying. I stayed in room No.12 in the same lodge and Kesavan sent word for me to join him. Jayakanthan was young and roaring then. Vikatan carried his short stories week after week with a special stamp. The second meeting was when he addressed a gathering in the Max Muller Bhavan auditorium, where he spoke about his writings, under the title Naanum En Ezhuthum. He spoke about his earlier days, his influence of Pudumaipithan, and then mentioned his earlier writings in magazines like Shanthi and Saraswathi. He said he began writing in Vikatan at the request of its owner-editor S.S. Vasan. In the course of his forthright speech, he denounced the Dravidian ideologies and expressed his opposition to Periyar, in particular. I vividly remember Dr. Tiruppur Krishnan, currently Editor of Amudhasurabi, reading out JK’s short story, Love Pannungo Sir, on that occasion.

In a room in Alwarpet, he used to meet his friends for a discussion almost every evening. When Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Kalki’s editor asked me to get an article from Jayakanthan. I was rather hesitant. I was not sure how JK would react to the idea. I met him and told him that the Editor wished to have the article specially written by him. “I will take down whatever you say, sir!” I told him. JK was silent for a while. Then he said, “Come tomorrow the same time. I will give you the written article!” I heaved a sigh of relief and left immediately. The next day at 6 in the evening, he handed over the script written in his own handwriting. I said ’Thank you, sir!’ and tried to get up and leave the room.

“Wait!” said Jayakanthan. “Please read the script in my presence. If you do not understand my writing, you may clear it now!”

It was a beautiful piece of writing and I had no difficulty in reading it, except in a couple of places where I had to get the sentences corrected. He did not ask me when it would be published but asked, “Are you satisfied? You got the article right?” I thanked him profusely and left the place with joy. It was the weekly’s cover story.

After many years, I met Jayakanthan at the wedding reception of my good friend and photographer Yoga’s daughter. JK was not in the dining hall but we could locate him in a corner speaking to someone.

My friend and I asked JK whether we could bring the dinner in a plate so that he could sit and comfortably eat without the usual din and bustle of the dining hall. He agreed and we took a small quantity of the dinner for him to take. I now recall that he was not well, then too. He was reconstructing his house and when we expressed our desire to come and meet him, he said, “Come home, sometime. Let me complete the reconstruction of the house!”

On one occasion, he was invited as a special guest for a function in Tiruppur Tamizh Sangam festival. He was supposed to have spoken on the opening day, but he postponed his speech to the next day, when a scene from Bharathiyar’s Panchali Sabadam was to be presented in a Bharata Natyam performance by dancer Vidhya Subramanian. On our arrival, we went to his room in the hotel and greeted him while inviting him informally for the programme. He sat through the entire programme enjoying each depiction by the dancer. He did not even allow the photographer to block his view! He chided him. When the programme was over, he commented highly on the performance.

The last occasion he was seen by the public was when the collection of his short stories, as published in Ananda Vikatan with illustrations by Gopulu, was released at a gala function in the Music Academy. The hall was packed, both in the main auditorium and the balcony. A few readers and admirers were standing on the sides. His old friend, Balasubramanian of Ananda Vikatan, who never comes out or participates in a public function, in a rare gesture, was there to greet him. JK spoke a few words of thanks but they indeed touched everyone in the audience.

My friend Sa. Kandasamy produced a documentary on Jayakanthan some time back and I saw it at a Sahitya Academy screening. However, the best documentary on JK was the one produced by the poet Ravi Subramanian, sponsored by music director Ilayaraja. When this documentary was screened in Mylapore at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, the hall was jam packed. To every question raised by Ravi Subramanian, Jayakanthan answered with clarity and conviction. He enjoyed Carnatic music and was seen listening to a few popular compositions.

That Jayakanthan was a prolific writer in the late 1950s, 60s and 70s is a well-known fact. He etched characters from real life. His novel Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal not only fetched him the Sahitya Akademi award, but also the best feature film award when it was made into a successful film. Oru Nadigai Natakam Parkiral, Yarukkaka Azhuthan?, Oru Manithan, Oru Veedu, Oru Ulagam, Rishimoolam and Parisukku Po were some of the outstanding novels that JK wrote during his heydays. What amazed the reader was his clarity in thought and a style that captivated his fans. His poem Thennangeetru Oonjaliley (tuned by M.B. Srinivas and sung by P.B. Srinivas) was a poignant piece.

According to Suganthy Krishnamachari, “Through his stories, we hear the voices of the usually voiceless. His heroes and heroines are ordinary people, who are, however, remarkable in some way. For sheer variety of characters, Jayakanthan remains unmatched.”

Jayakanthan was honoured with a Padma Bhushan in 2009. He received both the Sahitya Akademi Award and the prestigious Jnanpith Award for his Tamil writing, besides the Soviet Land Nehru Award, as well as the Russian Government’s Order of Friendship. For all this, Jayakanthan was a school dropout from 5th Class! He considered Subramania Bharati as his guru and admired P. Jeevanandam and Prof. S. Ramakrishnan for their scholarship and oratory.

Once a member of the Communist Party of India in his younger days, he joined Tamil  Desiya Katchi and then moved to Congress, when Kamaraj was fighting a lone battle to uphold party principles in Tamil Nadu. He also edited the party organ.

Two remarkable collections of essays of JK were Ore Ilakkiyavadiyin Arasiyal Anubhavangal and Ore Arasiyalvadiyin Ilakkiya Anubhavangal.

This much-admired Tamil writer was author of forty novels and over 200 short stories. Of his work he once said, “You may begin your work dwelling upon the problems of an individual, but then, as a writer, you should be able to view it as part of a larger social reality.”