Old Masters
T. Janakiraman was born on June 18, 1921, in Thevangudi near Thanjavur.(The T of T. Janakiraman does not stand for Thanjavur, where most of his stories are set. Nor does it stand for Thevangudi near Thanjavur where he was born. )
An analysis of his work by the Czech scholar of Tamil, Kamil Zvelebil:
A well-established author, who has always something to say, who does not want merely to entertain or to please; the message he has to convey is always a message of goodwill, an exhortation to more humane humanity. There is a lot of misery in the world and especially in man’s life; kindly do not multiply this misery.
When asked why he writes he says: It is as if somebody asked me
Why do you eat? For a number of reasons: because I am hungry, because this or that tastes good, etc., etc. I write for a number of reasons: for fame, for fun, for money; a little for myself and a little for you, or just because I want to manifest the fact that I am here, and sometimes just for my own amusement- well, for a number of reasons, and actually it is quite simple . . .Writing gives me much pleasure; it is a composite pleasure– like the pleasure of love: there is the thrill of expectation, the pain of disappointment, the joy of the union, but altogether it is a pleasure . . . And I write about matters I know. About the people I know and about the things I know. I never write about things I do not know.
This is the one great thing about the man and his writing: his honesty and the absence of any kind of pretense.
Three of Thi Jaa’s short stories: