The English translation of the biography of journalist and writer Kalki Krishnamurthy titled ‘Kalki Krishnamurthy: His Life and Times’ by his granddaughter and playwright Gowri Ramnarayanan, was released at an event organised by the Chennai International Centre on Saturday.
Releasing the first copy, former judge of the Madras High Court K. Chandru said that the book would be a blessing for many of the present generation, who sought to read in English. It would also provide in depth information on India in the last century. Detailing the many character traits of Kalki, Mr. Chandru said he was fearless and though he had many friends in the Congress, he did not defend its policies but opposed them when he had to. His film Thyaga Bhumi, was perhaps the only one that was banned by the police, since there was no Censor Board then.
Journalist Maalan said that writing biographies was not an easy task because it’s just not putting things in a chronological order. One should have the bent of mind for details and seive facts from fiction and should understand the personality of the person about whom the biography was being written. Sundha (M.R.M. Sundaram) whose work had been translated by Ms. Ramnarayanan, had gone about his work very meticulously and done a remarkable job ensuring the life and times of Kalki were recorded for posterity. On the translation, he said that Ms. Ramnarayanan had matched Sundha’s work and style. Kalki’s life was deeply embedded in the culture of south India, he said, adding that it was not easy to translate Tamil into English because it meant translating a culture into another.
Ms. Ramnarayanan said that during the lockdown, her sister Rukmini and brother Shankar had made her read out Sundha’s work on Zoom daily. That reading made her aware of his remarkable journey and how it was a sweeping chronicle of the country at that time and that it had to be shared with people who did not have access to it. “Kalki was lucky to have someone like Sundha to write his biography. The method he devised to convey the facts is amazing. He has used a zillion sources,” she said.
Actors V. Balakrishnan and Yohan Chacko read out passages from the book and Carnatic vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan sang songs by Kalki.
