tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57486132011-12-15T08:13:25.466+05:30P.G.Sunderarajan, affectionately called "PG" by many of his friends, is the renowned "Chitti", a highly respected litterateur and Andhra Pradesh's gift to Tamil literature. He is a bilingual author of innumerable books, which include creative works such as poetry and fiction, criticism, literary history, biographies, and books on spiritual discourse. He writes with equal felicity in English and Tamil. நா.கண்ணன்http://www.blogger.com/profile/14818436093975846251noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5748613.post-1083066392277015502004-04-27T17:16:00.000+05:302004-04-28T09:44:27.200+05:30

(Chitti considers two of his experiences as most unforgettable ones; one was the opportunity to be in close touch with the Great Saint of Kanchi, Jagatguru Sankaracharya, the Paramacharya and the other to be associated with the Gandhi centenary Exhibition in 1969. Here we take up the portion relating to the Paramacharya - Narasiah) His Holiness Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal For

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The crossing of the palk strait by the famous swimmer Mihir Sen afforded an opportunity to work for a scoop in getting the news. Melville De Mellow the star broadcaster of the All India Radio came along with me for the coverage. Our association with Mihir Sen was for more than a week as he was waiting for favorable weather condition to start his adventure. This period was quite thrilling as he

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A memorable recording of an interview during my service as senior correspondent was that of the DMK leadere Annadurai who was to assume charge of Chief Minister of Madras as a result of the historic victory of his party when it swept the polls in 1967. Another sensation at that time was the defeat of the Congress president Kamaraj by a law student P. Srinivasan. The media had gobbled up by this

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The impact of radio was very significant during the forties and fifties and a lot of glamour was also attached to broadcast. The influence of Audio medium still persists even after the advent of television to a great extent. The very nature of the medium demanded perfection in making sound pictures effective by those involved in disseminating information through the wireless medium. In this

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I understood later that all the Kings are not made of same stuff! for King Alexander of Greece was not so obliging! I had to cover the visit of King Alexander later, He was neither giving any message when asked nor did he answer any questions put to him! When I accompanied him to the Pallava temples at Mahabalipuram and asked him for his opinion, he said, “You come to Athens, I will talk about

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Working with electronic medium had its own hazards. Though occasional and trivial in nature, such hitches could cause serious crises depending upon the event. I had to record the swearing in ceremony of K.Kamarajand his cabinet in 1962 when he assumed charge as Chief Minister for the second time. After the ceremony was over and the Governor had left, Kamaraj had gone to his room to confer with

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Another magazine Grama Oozhiyan (Village worker) whose founder had succeeded in getting the services of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan as editor, formed part of the group, which enriched the literary atmosphere in Tiruchi. By 1949, it was decided to shift Vanoli to Madras, as printing facilities were not adequate in Tiruchi. We shifted to Madras and I continued in the post till 1960 when I was promoted

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028 GANDHI’S ASSASINATION AND AFTER An unforgettable was the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Godse. I did not go to Thiruvaiyaaru that year, as I was ill. As the relay continued with Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer singing, I turned to Madras B channel for the news, and the words “All India Radio regrets the death of Mahatma Gandhi a short while ago. He was shot three or four times by an

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027 CHITTI – AIR DAYS IN TIRUCHI During my tenure as scriptwriter primarily for rural programmes, I took part in many plays and created a number of characters, which were very popular. The contract was for Rs. 50/- and had to be renewed every April and when the renewal was due in April 1940. Within six months of my joining, I was talking about leaving the service disgusted at the treatment by

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026 CHITTI IN TIRUCHI – AIR DAYS I had an earlier opportunity to join AIR when the Madras station was opened in 1938. Va. Ra. was the first speaker on the second day after inauguration. I was voice tested as announcer and was asked to call again if I was interested. I did not like being cooped up in a station throughout evening and announcing programmes. So I did not respond. But Dr. Sastri who

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025 CHITTI GOES ON AIR! When in the teachers’ training college I mentioned about the speech of Jawaharlal; in this connection I cannot forget the incident involving my role in leading the other students for a meeting to be addressed by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was specially speaking for the students. The college authorities indirectly prevented the students from going to the meeting by

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024 CHITTI THE EDUCATOR! I was able to get a certificate of guarantee of appointment as a teacher after my training which was needed to join the L. T. course, from a school in Tevaram, due to the efforts again of Sri Ramalingam, who was then an Inspector of schools. It was very difficult those days to get admission into the L. T. Course. On the suggestion of Sri Ramalingam I took my application

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023 CHITTI’’S STINT WITH THE TINSEL WORLD AND PUBLISHING During this break, I was assisting one Mr. Ramarathnam, a film critic in Dinamani. I was writing some reviews also. At the insistence of Ramarathnam I wrote a story for a film, starring the famous sisters Ratna Bai and Saraswati Bai. It was a misadventure and negotiations for a production which was to be directed by Ellis R. Dungan, broke

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022 CHITTI THE TEACHER! The other clerks who had expected that I had been called to be reprimanded were surprised to see me return in one piece! Much to the disgust and disapproval of my father I returned home and continued my association with Manikkodi. My father had practically written me off by then! But my brother-in-law stood by me and assured my father that there was a bright future for

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021 CHITTI JOINS THE STATE GOVERNMENT – A DISASTER! During the period I was dabbling in writing for Manikkodi with empty dreams of becoming a famous writer, I was able to get a job in the Revenue department in Tiruchi District. This was due to the interest taken by the then Secretary of the Public Service Commission who happened to be a junior colleague of my father during his tenure in the

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020 THE GOLDEN JUBILEE The Hindu as it has been told elsewhere, reprinted the notice welcoming the appearance of Manikkodi in 1933, in its column �This Day That Age fifty years later in 1983. The Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1984 were a great success and served to remind the lovers of modern Tamil literature about a golden period of its growth. Distinguished Academicians like Prof. V. I.

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019 THE RESEARCHERS VIEWS By then many scholars had delved deep into the pages of old issues for their research for studies like Ph.D., etc., Foreign scholars sought the help of those like Pichamurthi, Chellappa and myself for information on Manikkodi for their researches. Richard Stanton Kennedy who came to Tamil Nadu to undertake research on the Tamil Short Story soon discovered the

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018 A JOURNEY; NOT A HARBOUR! When Srinivasan was thinking of closing down the magazine, Ramiah, who was all along assisting Va. Raa., sought Srinivasan’s permission to continue it as a short story magazine. Till then the magazine was a miscellany of valuable essays, critical studies and poems with an occasional short story. Rather surprised at Ramiah’s daring, Srinnivasan cheerfully agreed.

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017 It was a rare privilege for me to have been welcomed into this gallery of distinguished writers. While I was not a dedicated creative writer as the members of this gallery, I was interested in the serious literature though I began writing in lighter vein initially. I was more like the circus clown who parodies the feat of the strong man in the rings. On more than one occasion I was myself

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016 Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan who passed away four years before Pudumaipithan had also left a rich legacy of lasting quality in his short stories. He revelled in dealing with human relationship, especially between man and woman, with a delicacy and tact befitting a diplomat. His portrayals of characters in embarrassing situations are like miniature paintings. His sense of form in the short story is

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015 Stalwarts of Manikkodi Pichamurthi’s range in the matter of themes is as varied as the thought patterns he derives from the behaviour of the characters. His sense of realism saves his stories from being overburdened with decorative factors lie experiments in technique and style. When symbols are detected in his stories they seem to be more the result of concept he wants to expound rather

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014 LIONS LEAVE THEIR LAIRS It had become evident with the short period of ManikKodi’s existence as a magazine, that here was the beginning of a literary revival. The diffidence of newcomers was soon dispelled by Va. Raa’s encouragement. He was generous to a fault in his recognition of new talent. He was of the firm opinion that appreciation was the staple food on which the literary enthusiasm

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013 MANIKKODI GOES ON STREAM While Srinivasan was the founder Va. Raa. assumed editorial responsibility and the issues of the journal began to appear with their writings. Chokkalingam looked after the administration of the journal. The first issue of Manikkodi came out on the 17th September 1933, which date and month happened to be also the date of birth of Va. Raa. though in a different year.

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012 Srinivasan as a correspondent in London of Free Press of India was attracted by the weekly Observer, which was the only paper that appeared on Sundays. Chokkalingam had already established his reputation as a fearless editor by running his own weekly Gandhi. Va. Raa. was hibernating in Tanjavur after trying his hand in running a few journals like Prapancha Mitran and Sudhandiran. Srinivasan

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011 Causing a sensation even in its first appearance, ‘Manikkodi'; stood as the guardian of a renascent spirit that was attempting to find expression in the midst of growing din of popular writing. The adventure of idea one was invited to join in the pages of this journal remains to this day the most exciting. Names in modern Tamil writing which are today watchwords for creative writing were

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MANIKKODI IDHAZH THOGUPPU: P. G. Sundararajan (Chitti), Ashokamitran, P. Muthukumarasamy — Compilers; Kalaignaan Pathippagam, 19, Kannadhasan Salai, Chennai-600017. Rs. 300. The Hindu - Book Review HERE IS proof positive how a reproduction of select articles, stories including translations and adaptations, poems and a play from the celebrated little magazine Manikkodi, which had a blazed a

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010 Three dedicated freedom fighters whose innate love of Tamil and extra-ordinary capacity for expression, marked them out as pioneers in the renaissance, were K. Srinivasan, Va. Raa (V. Ramaswamy Iyengar) and T. S. Chokkalingam. all the three were writing in various journals on topics of current and lasting interest when they promptly gave up their activity to serve the nation on Mahatma

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009 MANIKKODI and the renaissance of modern Tamil (Following is an extract from Chitti’s presentation “Trends in Tamil Writing” in Alleppe. All India Writers conference, as reported in Free India, in 1966: “…. Writers of critical and academic bent like Swaminatha Iyer and Thiru Vi, Kalyanasundara Mudaliar had set things to do in that their activity was restricted to the editing of classics or

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Thanks to Ananda Vikatan Vikatan in its Sep.22, 2003 issue carried a news about our Blog. A screen shot of that news: Thank you Vikatan. N.Kannan Adminstrator

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008 After attempts in Tamil journalism, I found a forum in THE NEW TIMES a daily, which was founded by the Raja of Bobbli the Chief Minister of Madras Province and one of the leaders of the Justice Party. My literary jottings under the pen name SCRIBBLER gained wide recognition. A strange coincidence resulted from a writing of mine on LUIGI PIRANDELLO the Italian playwright. I had said that

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007 After the encouragement given by Mani Thirunaukakarasu Mudaliar in his Tamil Journal, “Thamizharasu” I started writing in the standard Tamil magazine Kalaimagal, which was rather conservative in outlook. Anandavikatan, at that time was growing phenomenally in circulation and entertained its readers with humour and nationalistic pieces. I had been writing humorous articles in English

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006 My active interest in the freedom struggle had begun even when I was in Wesley College. In 1928 the entire country observed hartal on a particular day, protesting against the Simon Commission (named after Sir John Simon), which had no Indian representative. The shouts “Simon Go Back” became the war cry of the people. Our college union also passed a resolution to join the hartal and it was

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005 Mani Thirunavakkarasu Mudaliar was one of the two Tamil Pandits. He was a cheerful teacher and had pragmatic view of life. He used to cite the example of a soldier in the front who in spite of his awareness of death any moment, did not neglect his routine like writing to his family and hoping to return one day. The other, S. Kandaswami Mudaliar, taught Thirukkural in English as he found it

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004 Pachaiyappa days I was particularly lucky in having studied in the college under a galaxy of professors, which included some of the best talents of the day, in University education. The Principal was Mr. K. Chinnathambi Pillai, a sober humane educationist. Prof. P. Subramaniya Aiyah, handling English poetry would transport us to the realms of imagination enriched by the bards. Prof. R.

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003 Pachaiyappa days The imposing edifice built on the lines of Greek Architecture, a replica of the Parthenon in Athens, with the legend 'PACHAIYAPPAN' in bold Tamil letter, dominating the area known as the China Bazaar Road, always had a great attraction to me. So it was a dream come true when I secured admission for the B. A., degree course in that college in 1929. As I entered the portals

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002 The principal Rev. J. S.M. Hooper was well versed in Tamil and had translated the songs of Vaishnavite Alwars. He belonged to that exceptional tribe of English men who, though their main purpose was to serve the British Empire, took upon themselves the laudable task of spreading Indian culture. The most important among such scholars was Sir. William Jones, a surveyor – general who

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001 When my first story ALSO RAN appeared, I was a student in the first college year which was part of the intermediate course of two years before the degree course. The story dealt with the activities of punters who were betting on horse races in Guindy and Ooty. There were a number of bucket shops in almost every street in Madras city, being run with the grandiose name of Sports clubs where

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CHIITI P. G. Sundararajan Born on April 20, 1910, on the day the Haley’s Comet appeared, P G S took the name Chitti after his nephew Chitti Bapu (Narasiah’s elder brother) while in Visakhapatnam where he was staying with his elder sister. As a student he had started writing in English and his first story “Also Ran” appeared in STUDENT, an English journal when chitti was just seventeen! Taking

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With pranams to Lord Vinyaka we shall be posting Chitti's musings. Haley's comet has something to do with humorists. Mark Twain was born when H's comet appeared. When it appeared in 1910 Chitti was born. Barathi sang its glory in his poem. It was the year "Sadharana". Hence the book was named Sadharana Manithan; that also means Ordinary man! Once when Chitti was recording Rajaji for AIR,

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Tamil Heritage Foundation is honoured on this years (2003) auspicious Vinayaga Chaturthi to publish the musings of P.G. Sunderarajan ("Chitti") . His nephew Mr.Narasiah, a well known Tamil author has written a book about his uncle with the title "satharana manithan" (An `ordinary' man ) LAKSHMI KANNAN has written a review in Hindu on "Satharana manithan". I would say, that gives the

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