In the realm of Tamil literature, the legacy of Vai Mu Kothainayaki Ammal (1901-1960) is the power and skill of literature. His life and work had a lasting impact, even more than sixty years after his death.
According to Tiruppur Krishnan, a veteran Tamil writer and editor of Amudhasurabhi, Vai Mu Ko’s work has historical value and is an example of how a woman, against various odds, can produce a huge volume of writing, although people can continue to debate about its literary value. her work, appears in today’s definition of creative writing. He was a man of many things: a musician, a social activist, a women’s rights advocate, and a Gandhian. “More than anything else, she was a woman of courage,” Mr. Krishnan said recently at a women’s college in Chennai, which honored this unsung hero with an event commemorating her life and work. The event marked the UK launch of Kothainayaki’s biography written in Tamil by R. Prema.
Learn to read after marriage
This was the beginning of Vai Mu Ko’s writing that eventually brought out his multifaceted personality. After marriage, which lasted about five and a half years, she learned to read and write, thanks to the support of her husband and mother-in-law. Vai Mu Parthasarathi, born in a traditional Vaishnavite family in Triplicane, has been a great source of support for him. Vai Mu Ko then became fluent in Sanskrit, Hindi, and English, apart from his mother tongue Tamil. He was a prolific writer, with 115 novels to his credit. To quote the 1989 edition of Sahitya Akademi’s Encyclopedia of Indian Literature (Volume III), “As a fiction writer, he chose, after Arani Kuppuswami Mudaliar and Vatuvurar (Vaduvur Doraiswamy Iyengar), the detective novel genre as his medium to represent the social problems of his time such as unemployment among youth and domestic problems. Identifying her as one of the early and popular women novelists in Tamil, the Encyclopaedia states that she was one of those who, during the inter-war period (November 1918-September 1939), had “cultivated the general reading habit among society. “. Reviewing Vaidehi’s first novel in its October 11, 1926 issue, The Hindu stated that “the story includes some tragic incidents, but it is tempered by a glimmer of hope…” According to the biographer, the theme of the novel is “the humiliating lifestyle of the Devadasis”. Widow remarriage and the prohibition of dowry are among the subjects discussed in her novels.
Three novels were filmed
Vai Mu Ko’s work attracted the attention of the Tamil film industry. “Three of his novels were filmed – Raj Mohan, Anathai Penn, and Dayanithi.” The most famous is Anathai Penn, produced by Jupiter Pictures and directed by R. Prakash. MK Radha, PU Chinnappa (in a supporting role), TS Krishnaveni, TA Sardambal, and famous Tamil poet, writer, filmmaker and actor, Kothamangalam Subbu, are in the cast,” wrote The Hindu on January 10, 2002. , perhaps commemorating him on the occasion of his birth centenary year.
His world is not just a fantasy. Like many of his contemporaries, Vai Mu Ko was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met in 1925 in Alwarpet, Chennai, even as he became popular. It is not surprising that after Gandhi’s assassination in January 1948, he established the Mahatmaji Seva Sangham in Triplicane, which taught spinning, tailoring, and Hindi.
Under the auspices of the Sangham, he established a primary school and gave scholarships to the poor. For his participation in the protest against the British government on China Bazaar Road (now called NSC Bose Road) in Chennai, in February 1932, Vai Mu Ko, who was a member of the Madras District Congress Committee, was imprisoned for six months. .
From 1925, Vai Mu Ko ran a Tamil journal, Jaganmohini, for almost 35 years, providing a platform for various writers. Her biography shows that in a separate issue, Nandavanam, Vai Mu Ko launched more than 150 women writers. He has another hat to wear: musician. He composed many songs and had them sung before they were made into gramophone records. Quoting Congress leader S. Satyamurti’s son Lakshmi Krishnamurthi, Professor Prema stated that the importance of cleanliness and hygiene was also covered by Vai Mu Ko through his songs.
Former Madras High Court judge Prabha Sridevan, who translated Vai Mu Ko’s biography into English, in her notes, observes that Jaganmohini has dealt with subjects such as women’s rights to property, ‘Stredana’, and marriage reform, including widow remarriage. Although reforms in Hindu Law came into force in 1956, the journal had highlighted the issue of women’s equality before, the translator said. The death of his only son Vai Mu Ko Srinivasan in 1956 affected him greatly, and in February 1960, he died at the Tambaram Sanatorium, on the outskirts of Chennai, after a brief illness.
