Periyars words are igniting minds again across languages – The Times of India Blog

In Alangudi near Vamban, a village 20km from Pudukkottai town, Periyars Penn Yen Adimaiyaanal has become a talking point. The book is being discussed at tea stalls, workplaces and among friends, especially among women after free copies of the book were distributed by tea stall owner S Sivakumar on the 143rd birth anniversary of the social reformer.

For 34-year-old B Kalairani, a tailor, Periyar was a revered leader, but she had no idea about his writing. This is the first time I am reading his book and I am astonished that he spoke about widow remarriage and equal rights for women 50 years ago. Many women in my neighbourhood have started to discuss his views on womens rights, says Kalairani.

Sivakumar has so far distributed 450 books in and around 20 villages. He wanted to distribute the books to celebrate the Tamil Nadu governments announcement to observe Periyars birth anniversary as Social Justice Day.

Miles away, Chennaibased publisher Kavignar Thambi set a sales target of one lakh copies of Penn Yen Adimaiyanal on September 17, Periyars birth anniversary. We received orders and sold beyond our target. About 1.2 lakh books were sold in a single day, with many buyers gifting it to students and villagers, he said.

In the past five years, more people have turned to Periyars writings, say publishers, and it is across languages. V Kumaresan of Dravidar Kazhagam says Periyars writings on a wide range of topics such as atheism, women empowerment and casteless society have piqued the interest of readers.

Rajkamal Prakashan, a publication in Hindi, has come out with three volumes of Hindi translation of Periyars writing by Pramod Ranjan since July 2020. They are Jati Vyasvstha aur Pitrisatta, Sacchi Ramayan, and Dharm aur Vishvadrishti. These books were a hit among women and students belonging to marginalised sections of society in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Delhi, said Pramod Ranjan. Periyar is re-emerging as an icon among the younger generation in the Hindi heartland, he said.

Ashok Maheshwari, managing director of Rajkamal Prakashan, plans to publish more such translations. We feel that Periyars works should have been accessible to Hindi readers much earlier, he said.

The trend began after 2014-2015, said Prabhakaran Alagarsamy of Periyar Books.in. The monthly sale of books was around 60,000 in 2017. Now, it has touched 4 lakh. Nearly 80% of the books are on Periyar writings and thoughts, while the remaining are related to social justice and other social reformers such as Jothirao Phule. And many of them are young readers, says the publisher who has received orders from Delhi for Periyars translations in Hindi. Periyars Indrum and Endrum, Collected Works of Periyar, Rationalism Why? How?, and Pagutharivu Yen Etharku are among the popular books.

Suba Veerapandian of publishing house Karunchattai Pathipagam feels the words of Periyar remain relevant. A Korean University has approached Dravida Kazhagam to translate Periyars writing, he said. Periyar said that his biggest promoters were his critics. This is what has happened in the past few years. The more criticism he has drawn from the right wing, the more people want to know about him, he said. Writer Gnana Aloysius concedes. To cater to the demand, he has started to translate articles published in Kudiyarasu into English, and plans to publish it in 10 volumes.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Periyars words are igniting minds again across languages - The Times of India Blog