Chennai: “It’s a big recognition for my writing and a big honour for nadaswaram musicians,” an elated popular Tamil writer S Ramakrishnan said on Wednesday after winning the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2018.
The 52-year-old writer, who has written more than 125 books in diverse areas of Tamil literature, including short stories, novels, plays and books for children, in a career spanning three decades, said the Sahitya Award would motivate and encourage him to write more.
Of the 125 books, most of them were non-fiction which were also hugely popular among readers.
He was chosen for the award for his novel Sancharam, whichĀ touchingly captured the lives of nadaswaram players in the karisalĀ bhoomi (the arid lands) of Tamilnadu.
The novel placed the music and struggle of nagaswaram vidwans for a sustained livelihood due to decline in agriculture in the karisal bhoomi.
It was also a story about the shattered dreams of popular nadaswaram player Pakkiri, who wants to scale the peak after learning about great musicians and their music from his father.
“It is a big recognition for my writing… it’s a greatĀ honour for the nadaswaram musicians,” Ramakrishnan said.
“I am extremely happy for being chosen for the prestigious award,” Ramakrishnan, who had bagged the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1993 for Best Young Playwright, said.
“The award will motivate me to write more,” he added. “The motivation to write the award winning Sancharam came as I hail from the karisal bhoomi of Mallankinar village, in southern Virudhunagar district of Tamilnadu,” Ramakrishnan said.
WHO IS RAMAKRISHNAN?
Tamil writer S Ramakrishan, born in 1966, studied MA in Senthilkumar Nadar College, Virudhunagar, M.Phil in Madurai Kamarajar University and did Ph.D in the Calicut University.
About his first book, he had said once that “I was not aĀ writer when my first book Veliyil Oruvan was published.Ā Ā Until then, I was just writing whatever I wanted to write, but I was not a writer. It is like how a child with a camera takes pictures of whatever she sees… I was like that child,” he said.
His short stories and articles have been translated andĀ published in English, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and French. His novel Nedum Kuruthi, which spoke of the dark and tragic existential experiences of the tribe of oppressed people, cruelly stamped as a criminal tribe by the British,Ā secured the Gnanavaani award for best novel.
He has worked as screenplay and dialogue writer in Tamil films like Rajinikanth-starrer Baba, Album, Vishal’s Sandaikozhi, Unnale Unnale, Vikram-stareer Bhima, Jayam Ravi’s Dhaam Dhoom, and other films.