Ru-ba-ru with author Vaasanthi Sundaram

Chandigarh, July 1

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The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi (CSA) organised a special an interactive session (ru-ba-ru) with celebrated author and eminent journalist Vaasanthi Sundaram, a former editor of India Today (Tamil section) at the UT guest house here today.

Akademi chairperson Prof Gulzar Sandhu welcomed and introduced Vaasanthi Sundaram as an erudite literary genius, who had been credited with over 60 books of merit, including novels, short stories, articles and four travelogues in Tamil and English during the past five decades.

“Her works have been translated into eight languages, including Norwegian, Czech and Dutch,” added Sandhu. The interlocutor, a city-based acclaimed author, poet and literary critic Nirupma Dutt conducted the programme.

During the interaction, Vaasanthi Sundaram shared her literary voyage right from her childhood days an orthodox family at Bangalore when her sensitive and inquisitive mind inspired her to observe and pen her feelings. During her studies at the University of Mysore and later at Oslo, Norway, and after marriage, her passion for writing blossomed.

Nirupma revealed many untold truths about Vaasanthi, which sustained the interest of the audience, especially about her classic “Amma”, a biography of Jayalalithaa which chronicled the transition of Ammu into an enigmatic woman politician and fhe four-time Chief Minister. Interaction about another novel “Mauna Puyal” (The Silent Storm) on terrorism in Punjab was well received besides other works, which were weaved around humanistic values. She maintained that creative writing is difficult but satisfying. — OC