[Image & Text Source – Kumudam]

How much ever we know about our favorite author, we are never contented with the available information. We always would like to know that extra personal story or scoop of him/her. His favorite books, favorite authors, his childhood, his inspirations and the origin of the creativity that amazes us through his writings. More and more. That’s one I reason, I’m very excited, writing this post.

This fortnight’s Kumudam Snehidhi has a special interview with Sujatha . Not Mr. Sujatha Rangarajan but the actual Sujatha in his name, his wife. After reading it, one couldn’t avoid a feeling that they just had a direct one-on-one chat with Lady Sujatha. She seems to be extremely modest and out-spoken. Who else other than his wife can talk more of this super star of Tamil book industry. Having been around him for 43 years, lady Sujatha lists the best and not-so-best Rangarajan with atmost ease. Though she talks about how he spends money lavishly on books, she saves the best of him to the end of the interview.

Reading the interview was a revelation for me. Truly. Not just because Sujatha is one of my favorite but it subtly shows a peak into a writer’s life. I for once thought it was only Charles Dickens who wrote and wrote and wrote spoiling his health and burning midnight oil. Though I’m not comparing Sujatha to Dickens[else the puritans would jump on me fiercely], Sujatha has unconsciously sacrificed a good amount of his life for writing. As lady sujatha says that he was so immersed in his own world of books that they weren’t even intimate during the early stages of their mariage life. And after moving to BEL in Bangalore, Sujatha became so busy in his writing world that he wasn’t able to spend time with his boys during their childhood.

On the flip side, she calls him a genius for the kind of self-taught he is. Especially in music. She says that Sujatha could play guitar and many musical instruments so well without having taken training for them.

Do take time to read this rather lengthy and interesting interview. You would need a UID/Pass to read Kumudam and its free on registration.