Discuss the contribution of K. S. Venkataramani (1891-1952) to

Discuss the contribution of K. S. Venkataramani (1891-1952) to Indian English Literature.

Ans.

Kaveripatnam Siddhanatha Venkataramani was an Indian lawyer and acclaimed writer in English. He wrote mainly on South Indian rural life and the Indian independence movement. His works Murugan the Tiller (1927) and Kandan The Patriot (1932) had received considerable appreciation and Venkataramani was the subject of a biography by N. S. Ramaswami. Venkataramani was met by Paul Brunton during his travels in India and this incident finds mentions in his book A Search in Secret India.

Venkataramani had a pungent for writing from an early period in his life. At the age of 16, he gave an eloquent speech protesting the Partition of Bengal and the same was published in the magazine The Indian Patriot. During his stint at the Madras Christian College. Venkataramani published a series of sketches on village life which were later published in the form of an anthology Jatadharan and Other Stories.

Venkataramani met Rabindranath Tagore in 1928. Tagore inspired Venkataramani to start a magazine in Tamil and Venkataramani began a Tamil Weekly titled Tamil Ulagu.

Venkataramani’s first book was Paper Boats (1921). His first novel was Murugan the Tiller (1927). His work Kandan the Patriot was serialised in Swarajya magazine in 1931 and was published as a book in 1932. In his works, Venkataramani glorified the ‘eddy eyed Cauvery’.

Some of his famous works are:

1. Paper Boats (1921),

2. On the Sand Dunes (1923),

3. Murugan the Tiller (1927),

4. Ranascent India (1929),

5. Kandan the Patriot (1932).

6. Jatadharan and Other Stories (1937).