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Yuvan Chandrasekar

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Yuvan Chandrasekar
Yuvan Chandrasekar
vishnupuram Award 2023

Yuvan Chandrasekar (Born December 14, 1961) is a Tamil writer, poet, and translator whose works bring out a postmodern aesthetic. He wrote poetry under the name 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, Tamil Nadu to M.S. Ramanathan and B.S. Parvatham Ammal on December 14, 1961.

His father ran a small restaurant near Cholavandaan and was also a priest at a temple in Karattupatti. When Yuvan Chandrasekar was ten years old, his father passed away due to ascites, a liver disease. Yuvan's father being a storytelling, jovial, and down-to-earth person had a profound influence on Yuvan's personality. His father is a recurring character in many of 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 of his father.

Yuvan's family moved to Madurai town when his older brother got a job. Yuvan 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 graduated in Bachelor of Commerce degree at Madurai American College. He used to sing in college and was popular for it.

Personal Life

Yuvan Chandrasekar, after completing 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 where he worked as an SBI accountant until his retirement. His wife Usha took voluntary retirement from the postal department where she was employed. They live in the Chitlapakkam suburb in Chennai.

Literary Life

Yuvan, Jeyamohan, M. Gopalakrishnan

Yuvan Chandrasekar took interest in literature owing to the conducive environment at the Madurai American College. Yuvan's first short story was published in the College Annual Edition and later in 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 him to modern literature and philosophy. Thus, Yuvan became one among the group of modern literati gathering around poet Devathatchan. Another literary figure who influenced Yuvan Chandrasekar was poet the Anand. Later, his conversations with the writer Sundara Ramasamy shaped Yuvan Chandrasekar's literary personality.

Yuvan Attending The Vishnupuram Function
Poetry

Yuvan Chandrasekar initially only wrote poetry. Yuvan's modern poems were brought out in 1988 in the magazine Kanavu. Later he wrote in Kalachuvadu magazine run by Sundara Ramasamy. His 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 jewelry and money. That incident gradually took a toll on his mind and he underwent 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 coincidences may have a connection 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 puts forth. 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 Paatti Sonna Naarpatthiyoru Sirukathaigal (41 short fables recounted 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, and 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 named Krishnan appears 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 Ninaivuthir Kaalam are important among Tamil novels written with a musical milieu.

Literary Position

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 contain 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.

Earlier, left-wing political philosophy and individualistic existentialist philosophy were only explored in Tamil fiction. Yuvan Chandrasekar created a philosophical discussion in his fiction that presented a non-religious spirituality. His 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" Suneel Krishnan assesses Yuvan Chandrasekhar(1). "Yuvan's stories can also be identified as history told through memories" says Suresh Pradeep(2).

Awards

Creations

Poem Collections
  • Ottrai Ulagam ,1996, (Single World)
  • Verorukalam, 1999, (Another Time)
  • Pugaichuvarukku Appaal, 2002, (Beyond The Veil of Smoke)
  • Kai Marathiyaai Vaitha Naal, 2005, (A Forgetfully Kept Day)
  • Muthal 74 Kavithaigal , 2005, (The First 74 Verses)
  • Thotrap pizhai, 2009, (Mirage)
  • Theeraap pagal, complete works, 2016, (Endless Noon)
Novels
  • Kulla Chitthan charithiram (Tamilini Publications)
  • Pagadaiyaattam (Tamilini Publications)
  • Kaanalnadhi (Uyirmai Publications)
  • Veliyettram (Uyirmai Publications)
  • PayaNakkathai (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Ninaivuthir Kaalam (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Oorsuttri (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Vethaalam Sonna Kathai (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • EnkoNa Manithan (Zero Degree Publications)
Flash Fiction
  • Manarkeni (Uyirmai Publications) (2008)
Short Story Collections
  • Yuvan Chandrasekar Short Stories (Kizhakku Publications)
  • OLivilagal, 2001
  • Erkanave, 2003
  • Kadalil Erinthavai
  • Emaarum Kalai, 2012
  • Kadal Konda Nilam, 2009
  • Thalaippillaathavai
  • Ottrarithal (Kalachuvadu Publications)
  • Neerparavaigalin Dhiyaanam (Kalachuvadu Publications)
Translations
  • Peyarattra Yaathreegan (Zen Poetry Collection)
  • Enathu India (of 'My India' by Jim Corbett)
  • Kuthirai Vettai (of 'Out stealing horses' by Per Peterson)
  • Koottuvizhigal Konda Manithan (of 'The Man with the Compound eyes' by Wu Ming Yi)
  • Bommai Arai (of Llorenç Villalonga's 'Bearn o La sala de les nines')

References

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✅Finalised Page

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