C. Viruthachalam (25 April 1906 – 30 June 1948),[ Pudumaipithan's literary legacy remembered, The Hindu 7 May 2007][ Tamil is not language of just a region, says President Kalam, The Hindu 19 Dec 2006][ A heart for Art, The Hindu 25 September 2003]
Life and career
Pudhumaipithan was born in Thiruppadirippuliyur (Cuddalore district). His early education was obtained in places like
Gingee,
Kallakurichi and
Tindivanam.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tirunelveli Hindu college in 1931.
In the same year he married Kamala and moved to
Madras.
His career as a writer began in 1933 with an essay " Gulabjaan Kaadhal" (Love for Gulab jamun) published in the magazine Gandhi.
Works and themes
Pudumaippithan's active writing period was less than 15 years (1934–46) in which he wrote nearly 100 short stories, an equal number of essays on a variety of subjects, 15 poems, a few plays and scores of book reviews.
His writings gave him a reputation as a maverick. His works were influenced by the French short story writer Guy de Maupassant among others. The subjects he wrote on and the characters he chose to portray were completely new to Tamil fiction. He felt that Tamil literature had been crippled by unspoken conventions and openly criticized those who adhered to them. In one of his essays he expressed his displeasure as:
He was unfazed by the hostile reception that his works received from contemporary writers and critics alike. Dismissing his critics, he wrote :
To voice his views he used a wide range of characters, both common – husbands wives, students, children, Pulled rickshaw pullers, villagers, beggars, whores, oppressed people, , revolutionaries; and uncommon – God, ghosts, monsters, hospital beds. Some of his favourite themes were – conflicts between emotion and reason, Hindu religion – its rules, rituals and laws, caste system, struggles for survival and oppression of women in the Indian society.[ Puthumaipithan – His Contribution to Modern Tamil Literature]
Short stories
Pudumaipithan is primarily known for his short stories. Of the 108 stories that have been identified as works of Pudumaipithan, only 48 had been published in book form during his lifetime. Most of his works were published in magazines like
Manikodi,
Kalaimagal,
Jothi,
Sudantira Chanku,
Oozhiyan,
Thamizh Mani,
Dina mani,
Dina Sari and
Nandan. The rest have been published posthumously in various anthologies, the latest one being in 2000.
He belonged to the
Manikodi movement (named for the magazine) which flourished in 1930s. Ku. Paa Rajakoopaalan, B. S. Ramaiya and Va. Ramasamy were his contemporaries in the
Manikodi movement.
Translations
He was also a prolific translator of literary works from other languages into Tamil. He translated around 50 short stories, including the works of Molière,
Kay Boyle,
Maxim Gorky,
Sinclair Lewis,
Ernst Toller, William Shakespeare, E. M. Delafield,
William Saroyan, E. V. Lucas, Moshe Smilansky, Robert Louis Stevenson,
Bret Harte,
John Galsworthy,
Aleksandr Kuprin,
Anton Chekhov,
Franz Kafka,
Ilya Ehrenburg, Guy de Maupassant,
Valery Bryusov,
Anatole France,
Leonid Andreyev,
Henrik Ibsen, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Murray Gilchrist,
Frances Bellerby, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Leonard Strong,
Jack London,
Peter Egge, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov,
Thomas Wolfe and James Hanley.
He had strong views on doing translations and adaptations. He equated adaptations to literary theft and held the view that translation was the proper way to bring literary works of other languages to Tamil. In 1937, he was involved in a literary feud with Kalki Krishnamurthy on the issue of translations vs adaptations
Poems
Pudumaipithan wrote about fifteen poems in total. His first published poem was
Thiru Angila arasanga thondaradipodi azhwar vaibhavam, which appeared in 1934.
Most of his poems were written as letters to his friend T. M. Chidambara Ragunathan in the form of
. The fifteen poems were published posthumously in 1954. Like his short stories, his poems are full of wit and satire. The most famous of his poems is the abusive limerick
Moonavarunasalamae written in review of a book on Tamil prose, which failed to mention the
Manikodi movement.
Political books
Pudumaipithan's political orientation was socialist. Among his political essays and books, four are considered important –
Fascist Jatamuni (a biography of
Benito Mussolini),
Gapchip Durbar (a biography of
Adolf Hitler),
Stalinukku Theriyum and
Adhikaram yarukku (both endorsing communism and policies of
Joseph Stalin). All the four books contain scathing indictments of fascism and a general agreement with Stalinist policies.
Writing style
Pudhumaipithan was the first Tamil writer to successfully use a dialect of Tamil other than that of
Chennai or
Tanjore. Most of his characters spoke the Tirunelveli
dialect. His stories were set either in
Madras or in Tirunelveli, the two places where he spent considerable portions of his life. His writing style had a mixture of colloquial and classical words. Gentle satire even while handling complicated and serious situations was his hallmark.
He used harsh language while arguing with his literary opponents like Kalki Krishnamoorthy
[ Ilakkiyathil Sandai, An essay on literary feuds by Sa. Kandasamy (in Tamil)] and wrote insulting limericks in his book reviews.
Plagiarism and other criticisms
Pudumaippithan has been accused by some of his contemporaries and later critics of having
plagiarism from the works of Maupassant.
Chief among the accusers were his contemporaries Pe. Ko. Sundararajan (Chitty) and So. Sivapathasundaram
[ P.K. Sundararajan obituary, Kalachuvadu Magazine (in Tamil) ] and literary critic Kaarai Krishnamoorthy. Pudumaipitthan himself published the short story "
Tamil Paditha Pondaati" (The wife who knew Tamil) with the foreword that it was based on Maupassant's work.
Pudumaipithan's biographer T.M. Chidambara Ragunathan has identified the stories
samadhi,
Nondi,
Bayam,
Kolaikaran kai,
Nalla velaikaran and
Andha muttal venu as adaptations of Maupassant's works and the story
Pithukuli as the adaptation of a
Robert Browning poem. A few more stories like
Doctor Sampath,
Naane Kondren,
Yaar Kurravali and
Thekkangandrugal have also been tentatively identified as possible adaptations. His defenders (including Ragunathan and historian A R Venkatachalapathy) have argued that those were adaptations and not plagiarizations. Pudumaipithan did not publish the short stories which have been identified (except
Tamil Paditha Pondaati) as adaptations when he was alive. They were published posthumously only after 1953. Thus, the defenders infer he would have acknowledged them as adaptations if he had published them himself (as he did in the case of
Tamil Paditha Pondaati). Further they contend Pudhumaipithan did not know French and during his lifetime the other Maupassant stories he has been accused of plagiarizing had not been translated into English. In their view, Pudumaipithan has had to suffer the accusation of plagiarism due to the callousness of his posthumous publishers. All of Pudhumaipithan's adaptations were written before 1937, when he became involved in a
literary feud with Kalki Krishnamurthy about adapting works from other languages. During the feud he wrote biting essays equating adaptations with literary theft.
[ Review of Pudhumaipithan Mozhipeyarppukal, Kalachuvadu Magazine (in Tamil) ]
He has been criticized for just raising uncomfortable issues and not proposing any solutions for them. He had responded by pointing out that his job was only raising the issue and leaving the reader to figure out the solution.
Pseudonyms
Pudhumaipithan wrote under different pseudonyms, but the name "Pudhumaipithan" was the one that became famous. He himself preferred the name as he felt that this name was partially responsible for the appeal of his stories. Some of his other pseudonyms were
So.Vi,
Rasamattam,
Mathru,
Koothan,
Nandhan,
Oozhiyan,
Kabhali,
Sukraachari and
Iraval visirimadippu. For publishing poems he used the pseudonym
Velur Ve. Kandasamy Pillai. Due to the accusation of plagiarism his pseudonyms have been extensively researched. T.M. Chidambara Ragunathan in his pudhumaipithan biography
Pudumaippithan kathaigal: sila vimarsanangalum vishamangalum, has advanced the theory that all the works published under the name of "
Nandhan" are adaptive works rather than original ones.
Bibliography
Poems
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Thiru Angila arasanga thondaradipodi azhwar vaibhavam
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Moona arunasalamae mooda
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Inaiyarra India
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Sellum vazhi iruttu
Political books
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Fascist Jatamuni
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Kapchip Darbar
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Stalinukku Theriyum
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Athikaram Yaarukku
Short stories
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Ahalyai
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Sellammal
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Gopalayyangarin Manaivi
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Idhu machine yugam
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Kadavulin Pradhinidhi
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Kadavulum kandasami pillayaum
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Padapadappu
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Oru naal kalindadhu
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Theruvilakku
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Kalanum Kizhaviyum
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Ponnagaram
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Irandu ulagangal
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Aanmai
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Athangarai Pillayar
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Abinav snap
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Andru iravu
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Andha muttal venu
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Avadharam
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Brammarakshas
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Bayam
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Doctor Sampath
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Eppodum mudivilae inbam
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Gnanagugai
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Gopalapuram
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Ilakkiya mamma nayanar puranam
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Indha paavi
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Kaali kovil
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Kapatakuram
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Kalyani
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Kanavu penn
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Kaanchanai
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Kannan kuzhal
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Karuchidaivu
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Kattilai vittu iranga kadhai
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Kattil pesugiradhu
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Kavandanum Kamamum
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Kayirravu
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Kodukkapuli maram
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Kolaikaran kai
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Konra sirippu
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Kuppanin kanavu
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Kurravaki yaar
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Maayavalai
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Magamasaanam
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Manakugai oviyangal
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Mana nizhal
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Motcham
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Naane kondren
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Nalla velaikaran
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Nambikkai
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Nanmai bayakkumenin
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Naasakara kumgal
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Nigumbalai
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Ninaivu padhai
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Nirvigarpa samadhi
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Nisamum ninaippum
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Nyayam
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Nyayamthan
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Nondi
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Oppandam
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Oru kolai anubavam
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Paal vannam pillai
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Parimudhal
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Paattiyin deepavali
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Pithukuli
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Poikaal kudhirai
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Poosanikkai ambi
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Puratchi manappanmai
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Pudhiya koondu
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Pudhiya kandapuranam
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Pudhiya nandhan
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Pudhiya oli
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Ramanathanin kaditham
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Saba vimosanam
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Salaram
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Samaavin thavaru
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Sayangala mayakkam
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Samaadhi
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Samiyarum kuzhandhaiyum seedaiyum
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Sanappan kozhi
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Sangu tharmam
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Selvam
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Sevvai dhosham
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Sirpiyin naragam
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Sithan pokku
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Sithi
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Sivasidambara sevugam
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Sonna sol
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Subbaya pillayin kadhalgal
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Thani oruvanukku
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Thega kandrugal
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Thirandha jannal
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Thirukkural kumaresa pillai
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Thirukkural seidha thirukoothu
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Thyaga moorthi
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Thunba keni
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Unarchiyin adimaigal
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Ubadesam
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Vaada malli
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Vaazhkai
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Vazhi
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Velipoochu
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Vedhalam sonna kadhai
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Vibareedha aasai
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Vinayaga Chathurthi
[ 108 short stories and 57 translated stories of Pudhumaipithan (in Tamil)]
Translations
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Ashatapoorthi
-
Aattukuttithani
-
Amma
-
Andha paiyan
-
Ashtamasithi
-
Asisriyar Araichi
-
Adhikaalai
-
Bali
-
Sithravadhai
-
Daimon kanda unmai
-
Ini
-
Indha pal vivakaram
-
Ishtasithi
-
Kadhal kadhai
-
Kanavu
-
Kalappumanam
-
Karaiyil kanda mugam
-
Kizhavi
-
Latheefa
-
Magalukku manam seidhu vaithargal
-
Manimandhira theevu
-
Maniosai
-
Markheem
-
Milees
-
Mudhalum mudivum
-
Nadakakaari
-
Natchathira ilavarasi
-
Om santhi santhi
-
Kattukathai
-
Oruvanum oruthiyum
-
Paithiyakaari
-
Palingusilai
-
Balthazar
-
Poi
-
Poochandiyin magal
-
Rajya ubadhai
-
Roger melvinin eemachadangu
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Saaraya peepai
-
Sagothararkal
-
Samathuvam
-
Scheherazade kadhai solli
-
Siritha mugakaaran
-
Sooniyakaari
-
Suvaril vazhi
-
Thayilla kuzhandaikal
-
Thayal machine
-
Thanthai mugarkarrum udavi
-
Deivam kudutha varam
-
Desiya geetham
-
Deivathukku marru
-
Thuravi
-
Uyir Aasai
-
Veedu thirumbal
-
Aei padagukaara
-
Yaathirai
-
Emanai emaarra
-
Yutha devadhaiyin thirumuga mandalam
See also
External links
