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(ARCHIVE) Vol. XXI No. 15, November 16-30, 2011
A writer ahead of his time
(An occasional series on Tamil writing from Madras in the 1930s by K.R.A. Narasiah)

Among the outstanding contributors to Manikkodi, the one who has been most discussed is C. Viruththachalam, who wrote under the name ‘Pudumaippithan’. One of the most famous of the Manikkodi writers (his first short story, Aathankarai Pillaiyar, appeared in Manikkodi), he developed his own style, which even today is considered the forerunner of modern Tamil writing.

In those days, the dialect used in Tamil short stories was based either on Madras or on Tanjore Tamil. It was Pudumaippithan who changed this and introduced Tirunelveli Tamil in writing.


Pudumaippithan

Sundara Ramaswami, a well-known writer, says in his introduction to Pudumaippithan Kathaigal (published by Kalachuvadu), “In Pudumaippithan’s stories his language, as spoken in his native Tirunelveli district, attracts the reader, breaking the tradition of writing in either Thanjavur Tamil or Chennai Tamil. One reason for this may be that most of his characters are Tirunelveli-based.” In fact, Dr. V. Arasu, Department of Contemporary Tamil Literature in the University of Madras, talks about Pudumaippithan’s progressive development in the use of the language, from his first story, Aathankarai Pillaiyar, to the last one, Kayittaravu. According to Arasu, the style reaches its peak in Thunbakkeni, a work of total realism on the life of estate workers in Sri Lanka.

Born on April 25, 1906, Pudumaippithan died in May 1948. Like his contemporary, K.P. Rajagopalan, his life span too was just 42 years! As a revolutionary writer, he was determined to express his thoughts freely in Manikkodi as its editor V. Raa was also a radical. Pudumaippithan was highly critical of the accepted conventions and many writers of popular magazines at the time found it difficult to accept him. But he was in the company of such great writers as N. Pichamurthi, Chitti Sundararajan, K.P. Rajagopalan and B.S. Ramaiah who recognised his work as out of the ordinary.

A graduate from Tirunelveli Hindu College (1931), he was a well-read man, and translated some Western writing into Tamil. He was fond of the stories of Guy de Maupassant. Having followed his style in some stories, he has even been accused of being a plagiarist by some early critics. Chitti Sundararajan and Sivapadasundaram in their magnum opus A Hundred Years of Tamil Short Stories point out certain passages in his short stories and say that they are actually based on certain Western writings, but point out that, in spite of that, he was one of the best known writers of modern Tamil.

In his biography of Pudumaippithan, T.M.C. Ragunathan, a staunch defender of Pudumaippithan, has identified some stories such as Samadhi and Nondi as adaptations from Western writing, but concludes that this cannot be termed as plagiarism. In fact, Pudumaippithan in his foreword to his short story Tamil Paditha Pondaati (the wife who studied Tamil) says that the story is based on a Maupassant work. He wrote under some other pseudonyms, especially while using some adaptations.

In the biography, Pudumaippithan kathaigal: sila vimarsanangalum vishamangalum, Ragunathan says that all the works published under the name of Nandhan are adaptive works rather than original ones.

Some of Pudumaippithan’s short stories reveal a fine sense of humour. In Kadavulum Kandasami Pillayum, God has an encounter with one Kandasami Pillai of Madras and discusses earthly matters. In one sequence they both enter a coffee club (as the coffee pubs were once called) and God tasting the coffee is extremely taken up with the aroma and taste. He says after sipping it that he felt as though he had tasted Soma Bana itself, and declares, “This is my leelai”. Pillai retorts, “No, it is not your leelai but that of the coffeemaker here, who has used chicory!” God reacts, “What is chicory?” Pillai replies, “It is something like coffee but not coffee! It is actually cheating, like some cheat does in the name of God!” A subtle jab!

Basically a radical thinker, he wrote long articles on political ideas. These works include Fascist Jatamuni (based on Mussolini), Kapchip Durbar (based on Hitler), Stalinikku theriyum (based on Stalin) and Athikaram Yarukku (power for whom, based on Communism). In Fascist Jatamuni, Pudumaippithan points out that fascism is really nothing but the true and ugly face of capitalism. The same view is expressed in the book on Hitler. Pudumaippithan argues effectively that fascism from the very beginning was opposed to socialism and that Mussolini and Hitler either wiped out communists or imprisoned them.

His short stories appeared not in popular magazines but in some leading literary magazines then, like Kalaimagal, Jothi, Sudanthira Chanku, and Grama Oozhiyan. Oozhiyan supported modern writing and he worked for it, like K.P. Rajagopalan, for a brief period as a sub-editor. Invited by T.S. Chockalingam, the Editor, he also worked for a while in Dinamani. In his reviews which he wrote for Dinamani, he was critical of Kalki (R. Krishnamurthy) and other popular writers.

He ventured into cinema world as a scriptwriter and, in 1945, tried a film production under the banner Parvatikumari Productions. His efforts to make a film, Vasanthavalli, failed. He went to Poona to work on another movie, Rajamukthi. While there, he contracted tuberculosis which cost him his life when he returned to Trivandrum.

Writing about Pudumaippithan in his cenetenary year, S. Viswanathan says (Frontline, April 2006), “A natural rebel against social injustice, the tyranny of the religious orthodoxy and irrational beliefs and value systems, Pudumaippithan highlighted in his short stories the plight of the socially and economically deprived. He lent voice to the voiceless, particularly women and Dalits . . . The sufferings of the people and the absolute penury in which they lived provided the backdrop for the writer to expose social injustice and economic disparities.”

Thus we can see that he was ahead of time as Ku.Pa.Raa was. Both also left the world much earlier than normally due!

In 2002, the Government of Tamil Nadu nationalised his works.

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Lil Madras Girl has a ball at the Anna Library
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A writer ahead of his time

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