|
Book Review
Little magazine
MANIKKODI IDHAZH THOGUPPU: P. G. Sundararajan (Chitti), Ashokamitran, P. Muthukumarasamy — Compilers; Kalaignaan Pathippagam, 19, Kannadhasan Salai, Chennai-600017. Rs. 300.
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 trail in modern Tamil, can mellow with age.
It was a formidable task as Mr. P. Muthukumarasamy had to bend over backwards for procuring the basic requirement of the magazine copies which lay scattered. While the veteran writer P. G. Sundararajan (Chitti), nimble in his nineties, could bring to bear on this collection his intimate association with the journal, the value of the work is enhanced by Ashokamitran's touch.
In his exhaustive foreword, "Chitti" pays a glowing tribute to The Hindu as a chronicler of Manikkodi events citing two concrete examples, for its steadfastness in carrying them over again in the "This Day That Age" column. Talking about the patriotic founders Stalin Srinivasan, T.S. Chockalingam and Va. Ra., he tells how these wordsmiths were inspired by Britain's oldest Sunday paper The Observer to furl in Manikkodi like a flag on September, 17, 1933.
A repository of interesting facts, Chitti grips the attention with more details. The metamorphosis of the news weekly into a full-fledged story magazine, the part played by successive editors from Va. Ra. until the journal's closure with the issue of June 1939, revival of the magazine to last for a brief period in 1950 with Mr. B. S. Ramiah as editor once again, Manikkodi as a platform for budding writers; research scholars including Mr. Richard Kennedy of California University who have availed themselves of the fertile area for research and so on. Details of the year of publication at the tail-end of every piece will help researchers.
The poetry section opens with Bharatidasan's burning passion for Tamil. Some from Na. Pichamurthy's (Bikshu) vigorous sweep of free verses which had taken the Tamil literary world by storm and some of Suddhananda Bharathi's memorable narrative poems lend charm to this section.
Va. Ra. has flooded this collection with his charming vignettes on the ordinary folk quite unlike his favourite A. G. Gardiner who wrote on the upper classes. His fervent appeal for the establishment of Bharati Sangam, it is common knowledge, has wrought miracles over the years.
There are ubiquitous stalwarts like Stalin Srinivasan, Pudumaipithan, Na. Pichamurthy, Ku. Pa. Ra, Sangu Subramanian, B. S. Ramiah and Chitti who appear both under `Articles' and `Short Stories'. Among other eminent authors of short fiction who find place are Si. Su. Chellappa, Ka. Naa. Su, La.Sa.Raa, Mowni, T. Janakiraman, M. V. Venkataraman, Saraswathi Ramnath and above all, A. N. Sivaraman and grand old man of Tamil, Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer who effectively handled the theme of mother's heart.
P. SUNDARESAN
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
|
