12 Sept 2024

Ku.Pa.Rajagopalan Short Stories – A Simple Introduction!

Ku.Pa.Rajagopalan Short Stories – A Simple Introduction!

Ku.Pa.Rajagopalan is an indispensable writer in the world of Tamil short stories next to the Puthumaipiththan. He was one of the pioneers who systematically experimented with Tamil short stories in various genres. One of the prominent writers of Manikodi period.

Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan born in 1902, dead In 1944. Lived forty-two years. In which he wrote only the last decade. That is the decade from 1934 to 1944. He has written over a hundred short stories in ten years. Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan’ short stories are simple background with minimal characters and normal incidents. Each fictional short story is unique in its own way.

His first short story was Visalakshi. The final short story is Mohana sirippu.

With family-style dialogues, his story behind the beauty can be close to reality. There are many stories told by him as a character through the stories. Most of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan's short stories dare to speak about intimate feelings of male-female relationship.

Short stories like Kanakaambaram, Vidiyumaa?, Sirithu velichcham, Aatraamai are the signature stories of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan.

The crux of the short story Kanakambaram is the dilemma of how to face men other than the husband as a wife, a family woman, without breaking its structure and at the same time keeping up with the modern times. Problems and knots that a woman faces with a man even after entering the family system and attaining the status of a family woman are present among men and women in today's modern age. Through this story, he speaks with only three characters. Within the three characters of husband, wife and husband's friend, the scope and dialogue that this story creates are deep and subtle. Through the unique story knot of how a woman confronts a man who comes home when she is alone, in this short story.

The short story 'Vidiyumaa?' can be said as a short story that can be interpreted as a proof of the genius of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan. In this short story he has shown the fear and temptation caused by a telegraph and the subsequent train journey so wonderfully. The short story talks about the state of mind and emotions of a person visiting an emergency in modern times. This short story seems to show that the emotional states of human minds remain unchanged from time to time. Every night there is dawn, even though there is a dilemma about whether it will dawn. In the middle of a trip for an urgent message, will the dawn break as expected? Did it turn out differently than expected? It is that anguish and hope that makes this short story 'Vidiyumaa?' read with a sense of dread. Contrary to expectations, the dawn breaks in the short story of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan. But it dawns. In this dawn it dawns, revealing what it has hidden. This story ends with sad news. The reader is left with the thought that perhaps it would have been better if their train journey had been longer before dawn that night. From the time they set out for the train journey until the train journey takes place, everything is auspicious. The result is a shocker. The omens and events that promise that this will not happen are disappointing at the end of dawn, giving this short story a tragic epic character.

One of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan 's most striking short stories is 'Sirithu velichcham'. He has used the strategy of three characters in this story as well. Those three characters represent the three great worlds. The following short story raises many questions over time. The center of this story is the problem that occurs when a man who lives in that house intervenes in the problem of husband and wife. This is a story about how much a stranger steps in and fixes the problem of a husband and wife. How will the husband's mind face it when a strange man speaks on behalf of his wife? How will the patriarchal mentality inherent in man and the misogynistic mentality inherent in woman react then? What can a man humanely do for a woman? Can you do what you want to do with humanity? Do the social environments we construct accommodate them all? Many questions cannot be avoided after reading this short story. Standing on a progressive platform, He creates this short story.

'Aatraamai' is one of the selected stories of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan. It can also be said that the grammar tells the story that the structure of a short story should be set neutrally. A story that frees up a character's backstory and emotional baggage without building it up negatively. A woman separated from her husband. A woman enjoying her youth with her husband. A separated woman naturally becomes jealous of a woman who is united with her husband. Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan has written this short story with the title of 'Poraamai' focusing on that jealousy. Karichan Gunju has changed that title and given it the title of 'Aatraamai'. The very title of 'Aatraamai' takes this short story to a different level. The title ‘Poraamai’ would make this short story seem ordinary. A estranged woman gets an opportunity to distract the relationship of united husband and wife. She got that kind of chance. In the end, her mind is struggling. She is worried about what she did. When she is troubled, we feel compassion for the woman. It is a testament to the excellent short story work of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan.

We can go on talking about each of his stories like this. This introduction is enough to leave room for the reader to read his other stories. It is well to conclude this introduction with a note on a few other short stories of him.

Short stories like 'Pen Manam' and 'Thirai' are testaments to Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan 's story weaving and writing adventure. The strangeness of a woman's mind that emerges beyond that in her stories that seem to be trapped in family relationships push the readers towards a new world.

The style of storytelling through Brahmin families is that of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan. He has subtly addressed other castes in the background of that time in stories like 'Adimai Payal', 'Pannai Chengaan', 'Minnakalai' and 'Vaalkkai Kaatchi'.

Influenced by Bharathi's poetry, he has also written short stories with titles such as 'Ninaivu Mugam Marakkalaamo?' and 'Manam Velukka'. He has also written a short story titled 'Kaadhale Saadal' inspired by Bharathi's lyrics.

In his short stories like 'Irulilirunthu', 'Amrapaali', 'Vibareetha Kaadhal', 'Kavi Vendiya Parisu' which he has written in the historical background, he has captured the subtleties of human emotions so beautifully.

It cannot be denied that some of the short stories of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan, written in the historical background, seem to promote the concepts of Hindu Dharma and Hindu Rajjiyam. It is best for readers to think and come to their own conclusions as to how to take that stories.

Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan's writing was an ideal and precursor to Thi. Jaanagiraaman and Naaraayanasaamy. In his novel Mogamul, Thi. Jaanagiraaman praised Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan as a great creator. Narayanasamy adopted his nickname of Karichan as Karichan Gunju.

Short stories of Manikodi era writers like Pudhumaipitthan, Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan, Mouni always lead to a new world of short stories. Despite the passage of time, the novelty of the story does not diminish. In structure and presentation, readers can learn new lessons and techniques. No matter how many times it is read, it creates new visual images like a kaleidoscope. Above all, the short stories of Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan can be mentioned as a kaleidoscope of male and female relationships. All the wonders of the kaleidoscope can be seen in many of his short stories which are made up of three characters like a kaleidoscope of three mirrors.

*****

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