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Yuvan Chandrasekar

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இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: யுவன் சந்திரசேகர் ‎

Yuvan Chandrasekar
Writer Yuvan Chandrasekar

Yuvan Chandrasekar (b. December 14, 1961) is a Tamil writer/ poet, whose works bring out a postmodern aesthetic. He wrote poetry under the name of M. Yuvan. Yuvan Chandrasekar's works express a kind of magical realism which he classifies as alternate reality.

Birth, Education

Yuvan Online Magazine Special
Yuvan

Yuvan Chandrasekar whose birth name was Chandrasekaran was born in Karattupatti, a village near Cholavandan in Madurai district, TN to M.S. Ramanathan - B.S. Parvatham Ammal couple on December 14, 1961.

His father ran a small eatery near Cholavandan and was also a priest at a temple in Karattupatti. When Yuvan Chandrasekar was ten years old, his father passed away due to a liver disease. Yuvan's father being a storyteller, jovial and down-to-earth person had a profound influence on his personality. He is a recurring character in Yuvan Chandrasekar's stories. "He could recite the whole of Kambaramayanam from memory. He had all the acts memorized including those in lection. He would even sing few verses" says Yuvan.

His family moved to Madurai town when his elder brother got a job. He grew up under his brother's support.

Yuvan Chandrasekar did his schooling up to class ten at Karattupatti, classes six and seven at Melnaachikulam Government School and class eight in Periyakulam. He then completed his schooling at Shenoynagar Corporation School, Madurai, and completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Madurai American College. During his college days, Yuvan Chandrasekar was a known singer.

Personal Life

Yuvan Chandrasekar after completing his college, passed the bank recruitment examinations and joined the State Bank of India in Ramanathapuram. On August 8, 1987, he married Usha Bhagawathi from Kovilpatti and settled there. Yuvan Chandrasekar's son Aravindan is a Computer Engineer and daughter Meera is a Food Scientist.

Yuvan Chandrasekar was then transferred to Chennai from Kovilpatti and till his retirement continued working in SBI as accountant. His wife Usha took voluntary retirement from Postal Department where she was employed. They live in Chitlapakkam suburb in Chennai.

Literary Life

Yuvan, Jeyamohan, M. Gopalakrishnan

Yuvan Chandrasekar took interest in literature when he was student at the Madurai American College. Yuvan's first short story was published in the College Annual Edition and Saavi Magazine. When he was in seventh grade, Yuvan Chandrasekar wrote his first poem in English on his father's death.

Yuvan Chandrasekar Special Solputhithu Magazine

When Yuvan Chandrasekar settled in Kovilpatti , he was acquainted with the poet Devathatchan, who introduced Modern Literature and Philosophy to Yuvan. Thus, Yuvan became one among the group of modern literati formed around poet Devathatchan. Another literary figure who influenced Yuvan Chandrasekar was poet Anand. Later, his conversations with the writer Sundara Ramasamy shaped Yuvan Chandrasekar's literary personality.

Yuvan in Vishnupuram Function
Poetry

Yuvan Chandrasekar wrote poems only initially. Yuvan's modern Poems were brought out in 1988 in the magazine Kanavu. Later he wrote in Kalachuvadu magazine run by Sundara Ramasamy. The first collection of poems Ottrai Ulagam (single world) was published in 1996. His affinity to Sundara Ramasamy led Yuvan to visit and stay often at his Nagercoil residence to engage in literary discussions. Yuvan continuously contributed to Meetchi magazine run by writer Brahmarajan.

R. Sivakumar, Yuvan, Siva Subramaniam
Alternate Reality

Once when Yuvan Chandrasekar was traveling from Trichy to Uyyakkondan with his father-in-law, he was robbed by a gang who threatened them and stole their jewellery and money. That incident gradually took a toll on his mind, and he underwent some psychological treatment. He says the consequential state changed his outlook of life to a great extent. He realized that random occurrences we witness may be connected in ways we do not comprehend and that what we perceive as co-incidences may have a different logic that we do not understand. Yuvan Chandrasekar refers to this as Alternate Reality.

Yuvan Chandrasekar expands his inner creative landscape with ideas from the physicist Roger Penrose on the one hand, and mystical fiction writers such as Carlos Castaneda on the other. Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan was a character that deeply influenced Yuvan Chandrasekar. He also extended his views on life based on the philosophy of Indian philosophers like Ramana Maharishi. Thiruvannamalai forms the backdrop in several of Yuvan Chandrasekar's stories.

To understand Yuvan Chandrasekar's fictional world, it is essential to know the concept of Alternate Reality that he presents. Yuvan Chandrasekar says that what we normally perceive is a reality made of facts and rationality that are required for the mundane, ordinary life, but underneath this reality exist other truths that make up the cosmos of which our lives are a small part. He says that there are many layers of these truths and they come to our knowledge at certain moments of our life. It is for this very reason, the element of coincidence is so important in Yuvan Chandrasekar's stories.

Fiction

Yuvan Chandrasekar found that poetry was not the best form to present his vision of Alternative Reality and so he turned to fiction. Yuvan Chandrasekar's fictional world is characterized by the fact that many events that seem unrelated on the surface are integrated by an alternate logic, through which a truth unknowable by everyday life emerges. Therefore, his short stories basically appear like a collection of spare tales. As an alternative to the unified story-telling aspect of modern short stories, he employed multiple narratives and metafiction where the story explores its own evolution. These elements identifiable in post-modernism, distinguish him as a Postmodern fiction writer.

Yuvan Chandrasekar's story which was published in Solputhithu magazine, Thayamma Patti Sonna Narpathiyoru Sirukathaigal (41 short stories told by Old Thayamma) is a best example of the 'story cluster' format. He applied the similar style and format to his novels. His Kulla chitthan charithiram, Pagadaiyaattam, Veliyettram have the structure of disparate events fastened by a seemingly mysterious thread. He discovers his subjects accordingly. Tales by different characters, Conversations about the events within the story, book references, and historical snippets are all mixed and woven together to form part of the fictional reality in these novels.

Yuvan Chandrasekar also keeps producing micro fiction. These are another form of story cluster. In all the stories, a character Krishnan is written with characteristics of the author and these stories are also connected by a single idea.

Music

Yuvan and Jeyamohan in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand

Yuvan Chandrasekhar is fascinated by Hindustani Classical music and regularly attends Hindustani music festivals. He has conducted a long interview of renowned Karnatic Classical singer Sanjay Subramaniam. Yuvan has authored two novels with Hindustani music as the backdrop. The two novels Kaanalnadhi and Ninaivudhir Kaalam are important among Tamil novels written with a musical milieu.

Literary Place

Yuvan Chandrasekar (M. Yuvan) has written poems that represent one of the last pinnacles of Modern Poetry. Poems that are expressive, concentrated, nuanced, impersonal and that contains external depictions. Later, he moved from those to poems with postmodern elements.

Yuvan Chandrasekar is one of the creators who paved the way for Tamil literature to march beyond its modernist aesthetics. His stories disregarded the three basic norms developed by established pioneer authors till then, viz: a rigid and laconic narration, unified form and a central theme. His stories and novels are characterized by their verbose language, a form incoherent within subtexts, with decentralized themes.

Until then, Tamil modern literature had published works that spoke of outward reality and works that presented the inner world of the individual. Yuvan Chandrasekar crossed these two platforms and presented a mystical platform beyond the external reality and beyond the understanding of individuals. A world constructed entirely of fiction having its own norms and systems, an 'Alternate Reality' connected by unknowable strings.

Only left-wing political philosophy and individualistic existentialist philosophy were mostly explored in Tamil fiction. Yuvan Chandrasekar created a philosophical discussion in his fiction that presented a non-religious spirituality. Yuvan Chandrasekar's fictional world contains several realistic characters from our daily lives and their local dialects meticulously crafted for a great reading experience. His artistry lies in his micro narration.

"Yuvan stands out from other existential modernists because of the philosophical and spiritual ground achieved in his stories" Sunil Krishnan assesses Yuvan Chandrasekhar(1). "Yuvan stories can also be identified as history told through memories" says Suresh Pradeep(2).

Awards

  • 2023 Vishnupuram Literary Award
  • Sparrow Literary Award for Tamil Poetry in 2019
  • 2011 Canadian Literary Garden Award for Payanakathai Novel
  • Tirupur Tamil Sangam Award

Creations

Poem Collections
  • Ottrai Ulagam
  • Verorukalam
  • Pugaichuvarukku Appal
  • Kai Marathiyai Vaitha Naal
  • Muthal 74 Kavithaigal
Novels
  • Kulla Chithan Sarithiram (Tamilini Publications)
  • Pagadaiyattam (Tamilini Publications)
  • Kanalnathi (Uyirmai Publications)
  • Manalkeni (Uyirmai Publications)
  • Veliyettram (Uyirmai Publications)
  • Payanakathai (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Ninaivuthir Kalam (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Oorsuttri (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Neerparavaigalin Thiyanam (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Vethalam Sonna Kathai (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Enkona Manithan (Zero Degree Publications)
Flash Fiction
  • Manarkeni (Uyirmai Publications) (2008)
Short Story Collections
  • Yuvan Chandrasekar Short Stories (Kizhakku Publications)
  • Ozhivilagal
  • Erkanave
  • Kadalil Erinthavai
  • Emaarum Kalai
  • Kadal Konda Nilam
  • Thalaippillathavai
  • Ottrarithal (Kalachuvadu Publications)
Translations
  • Peyarattra Yaathreegan (Jen Poem Collection)
  • Enathu India (Jim Carpet)
  • Kuthirai Vettai (Per Petherson)
  • Koottuvizhigal Konda Manithan (Vu Ming Yi)
  • Bommai Arai (Lawrence Villalonga)

References

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✅Finalised Page

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