Sujatha was a prolific writer of popular fiction in Tamil, writing on modern themes

with a social conscience, engaging readers to think more deeply, about their
everyday lives and the world in which they live. His audience was principally, the
readers of popular, weekly Tamil magazines, which straddle, comfortably the
current affairs and entertainment genres, in a way unfamiliar in English. His
serialized short stories and novellas, all with surprise endings, both benefitted
from the huge reach of these magazines, and at the same time, kept the readers
coming back for more, the blurb, new story by Sujatha on the cover, would
guarantee, an increase in sales and readership.

His writing career spans almost 50 years from the 1960s to 2008. His work has
never before been available to a wider, primarily English reading audience. Vimala
Balakrishnan, the translator, is bilingual and believed that his thought-provoking,
wonderfully evocative stories should be available to this wider readership.

This selection of 8 stories has been carefully chosen, for an audience of readers in
English, who are interested in fiction about India, both in India and overseas.

The proposed collection includes, “Sasi Kathirukkiral” (Sasi Is Waiting) First

published in “ Kumudam”, a leading Tamil weekly magazine it got noticed for
being different from popular fiction, published during that time. Two different
incidents----one about an accident victim battling for life and another about a
young wife who wants to start a family. The contrast between life and death was
brought out vividly. Suspense was created, and skilled craftsmanship led readers,
to the unexpected end, where both the incidents merge. The readers’ response
was so overwhelming that the editor gave Writer Sujatha, more than the normal
honorarium and sent a note, “write more”.

His stories have tended to evoke strong emotions, in readers, who remembered,
for a long time. His story Jillu, (which is part of the already published collection)
was based on the 1971, war. When Mr. Morarji Desai took over as Prime Minister
in 1978 a reader wrote in to him, asking for Sujatha to be arrested for writing such
a story as “Jillu” which presented an apocalyptic vision of the aftermath of the
cycle of never-ending war, between the two countries.

The other stories in this collection are similarly replete with heartwarming
characters, familiar life situations, and unexpected twists, with whom the reader
will enjoy an emotional connect.
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Vimala Balakrishnan’s translations from Tamil to English, have won awards from the
Sahitya Akademi and Katha, India’s premier non-profit specializing in making good
literature from other Indian languages, accessible to readers, in English. Her translation
of select short stories of Sujatha, published in 2016, was the first English translation of
his works. It has been well received, and went into reprint, within 3 months of first
publication.
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S. Rangarajan, who wrote under the pseudonym Sujatha, was a talented writer, whose
work spanned genres and creative media. He was a noted scriptwriter, essayist,
playwright, alongwith being a successful writer of popular fiction. An electronic engineer
by profession who retired as General Manager, Bharat Electronics, Mr. Rangarajan,
was part of the team, which created India’s Electronic Voting Machines. He is survived
by his wife Sujatha Rangarajan and sons Rangaprasad and Kesavaprasad.