As a teenager (18 or19) I have heard of a Tamil writer by name Dominic Jeeva. But I happened to read the Suthanthiran (a hard-hitting newspaper of the Tamil Arasu Kadchi) where senior writers were writing to that weekly edited by the late S T Sivanayagam who has been crowned as a doyen of contemporary Tamil Journalism. I wrote a few pieces to the teenager’s page Valarmathi and so was “Theevaan” ( Mu.Ponnanbalam.) I saw short stories by senior writers but not read them.
Good books
But it was a few years later that I became an avid reader of Lankan and Tamil Nadu fiction writing. Ramanathan, M S Iqbal, Rainbow Kanagaratnam, K Kailasapathy, Sillaiyoor Selvarajan were the people who recommended good books to me.
At that time Dominic Jeeva’s Paathukai, his first collection of short stories came to be published. I read his book critically and wrote a review in English for the then Sunday Times ably edited by K Muttiah, the well-known writer from the then Madras.(now Chennai). Kasinathan who was a professor of Philosophy at Peradeniya appreciated my review very much. I did not know Dominic Jeeva had ever read that review.
I wanted to meet him and so I went to Yaalpaanam and stayed at Lake View Hotel in Kasthuriaar Road. Jeeva was having his own hairdressing salon juts near the hotel. Having heard that I was in town, a good looking man full of enthusiasm knocked and came into my room. At once I felt that though he looked very simple he was an impressive personality. Then we made friends, whenever I visit Yaalpaanam I make it a point to visit him. He asked me to write to Mallikai and he published most of my articles. He told me the late A J Canagaratna used to like my contributions.
Evident editorials
Jeeva respected me as a critic and he liked me so much. I was humbled by his wisdom and social consciousness evident from his editorials in his well respected literary magazine. Then he moved to the Metropolis, and we had occasions to meet, chat and respect each other.
I have written a number of articles both in English and Tamil and it is not necessary to repeat all that I have said about him, his annuals, his life and experiences and books of fiction in this brief note.
Although he has stopped schooling when he was in Lower school (he was compelled to dislike the degradation he had suffered because of his accidental birth in a downtrodden caste), Dominic Jeeva, to my mind, is humanist and feels strongly for the underdogs in society.
I wish him beer health and comfort and his smile always.
A legend departs
The demise of the late A Thevarasan in New Zealand last year had left us, the Lankan Tamil people living in Sri Lanka a hiatus that could hardly be replaced. He was a non-academic researcher on the past archaeological history of Lanka that shed more light on the understanding of our own roots. He wrote both in Tamil and English. His newspaper articles in English with objectivity and readable language were appreciated even by non-Tamil readers. This was possible partly because of his independent thinking and expression of unbiased views sans emotionalism. I remember some of his articles in the now defunct Tribune, which brought revelations of our glorious past. He was a widely read ma and was rooted in Tamil Literary tradition and particularly in archaeology.
While the academics in the calibre of S Arasaratnam, K Indrapala S Pathmanathan in recent times brought different interpretations of specific periods in Lankan History in English, Thevaraan by his use of simple language enlightened the common reader the significance of understanding the past to interpret the present.
It is sad that he died early. Writers in English from the Tamil community is far and far between. Although there were many Tamils who were knowledgeable in many fields only a few cared to write in English. Thevaraan filled this role remarkably well.
Missed dialogue
My relationship with him was very minimal when he was in Lanka. Although I had seen him in the public, I respected him from a distance because he was senior to me. Never had a dialogue with him.
Ironically he worked for the Police Department while he was living in his motherland. He was loved by the people in his workplace and appreciated for his untiring work in research. Incidentally, I remember two other writers in Tamil had worked in the Police Department. They were: the late Somakanthan (Eelathu Somu) and the ever-popular Uduvai S Thillainadarajah.
We need more journalists and writers who are bilingual and trilingual to bring in reconciliation among the people of Lanka.
We sadly miss the gentle A Thevarasan amidst us.
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