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Yuvan Chandrasekar

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இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: யுவன் சந்திரசேகர் ‎

Yuvan Chandrasekar
Writer Yuvan Chandrasekar

Yuvan Chandrasekar (born December 14, 1961) is a Tamil writer and poet whose works bring out a postmodern aesthetic. He wrote poetry under the name of M. Yuvan. Yuvan Chandrasekar's works chronicle 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 to M.S. Ramanathan - B.S. Parvatham Ammal couple on December 14, 1961.

Yuvan Chandrasekar's father ran a small restaurant 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, humorist and simple-minded person had a profound influence on his personality. He is a recurring character in Yuvan Chandrasekar's stories. Yuvan Chandrasekar says "He could recite the whole of Kambaramayanam from memory. He had all the acts memorized including its lections. He would even sing few verses".

Yuvan Chandrasekar's elder brother got a job and his family moved to Madurai. He grew up under the support of his elder brother.

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

Personal Life

Yuvan Chandrasekar after completing his college, passed the banking examination 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 he worked as an accountant in the State bank till his retirement. Tuvan Chandrasekar lives in Chittlapakkam, Chennai. Yuvan Chandrasekar's wife Usha was an employee at the Postal department and has now retired voluntarily.

Literary Life

Yuvan, Jeyamohan, M. Gopalakrishnan

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

Yuvan Chandrasekar Special Solputhithu Magazine

Yuvan Chandrasekar met the poet Devadachan when he settled in Kovilpatti. Devadachan introduced Yuvan to Modern Literature and Philosophy. Yuvan Chandrasekar was one of the group of modern literati who surrounded Devadachan at Kovilpatti. Another literary figure who influenced Yuvan Chandrasekar was the Poet Anand. Conversations with the writer Sundara Ramasamy also shaped Yuvan Chandrasekar's personality.

Yuvan in Vishnupuram Function
Poems

Yuvan Chandrasekar initially wrote only poems. Yuvan's Modern Poems were published in 1988 in the magazine Kanavu. Later he wrote in Kalachuvadu magazine run by Sundara Ramasamy. The first collection of poems Ottrai Ulagam was published in 1996. He was closely acquainted with Sundara Ramasamy and often went to Nagercoil to stay at Sundara Ramasamy's house and engaged in literary discussions. He continuously wrote in Writer Brahmarajan's in Meetchi magazine.

R. Sivakumar, Yuvan, Siva Subramaniam
Alternate Reality

Yuvan Chandrasekar was traveling from Trichy to Uyyankondan with his father-in-law when he was robbed by a gang who threatened them and stole their jewellery and money. That incident gradually took a toll on him and he started feeling the stress and underwent some treatment. He says that the incident and the stress it caused changed his outlook of life. He realized that the random occurences 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 it 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 Dan 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. Tiruvannamalai 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 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 a alternate logic, through which a truth unknowable by everyday life emerges. Therefore, his short stories basically appear like a collection of spare stories. As an alternative to the unified story telling aspect of modern short stories, he employed multiple narratives and metafiction where the story talks about its own constructedness. These Postmodern elements distinguishes him as a Postmodern fiction writer.

Yuvan Chandrasekar's story Thayamma Patti Sonna Narpathiyoru Sirukathaigal is a best example of the 'story collection' format, which were published in the Sol Puthithu magazine. He applied the same style and format in his novels. Novels such as Kulla Chithan Sarithiram Pagadaiyattam, Veliyettram have the structure of disparate events being unified by a mysterious thread. Stories told by different people, Conversations about the events within the story, book references, and historical events are mixed and weaved together to form part of the fictional reality of these novels.

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

Music

Yuvan and Jeyamohan in Rudraprayagai

Yuvan Chandrasekhar has a fascination for Hindustani music and constantly travels to Hindustani music festivals. He has interviewed Karnatic singer Sanjay Subramaniam. Yuvan Chandrasekar has written two novels with the backdrop of Hindustani music. The two novels Kanalnadhi and Ninaivudir Kalam are important among Tamil novels written with a musical backdrop.

Literary Place

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

Yuvan Chandrasekar is one of the creators of who paved the way for Tamil literature to go beyond its modernist aesthetics. Yuvan Chandrasekar's stories rejected the three basic norms such as minimalist narration, unified form and central theme, developed by the pioneer authors till then. His stories and novels are characterized by their verbose language, incoherent form within subtexts, with decentralized arguments.

Until then, Tamil modern literature had published works that spoke of external 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 elaborated in Tamil fiction until then. 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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