Indra Soundar Rajan: A master storyteller who relished mythology, mysticism, and magic in everyday life

CHENNAI: In the passing away of Indra Soundar Rajan, Tamil literature and art lost that rare talent who could create supernatural drama for entertainment television, dive deep into mysticism, and also capture the everyday lives of simple people with equal ease.

Born in Salem on November 13, 1958, P Soundar Rajan took his mother’s name and added it to his own. Thus was born a writer who married his interest and understanding of Tamil deities, mythology and folklore, and ability to do deep-dive research, with great storytelling ability to create some of the most popular works on entertainment television.

He was prolific as well, producing more than 700 short stories, 340 novels, and 105 TV serials. These hundreds of works across various media created magic in print and on screen, and also left a lasting impact on Tamil popular culture.

His phenomenal success in storytelling can be attributed to the natural and conversational style he followed in almost every work that he produced.

Soundar Rajan could see miracles in every moment of life and recreated many household stories into undying epics. His insightful observations engaged Tamil audiences across ages and genders. Even as he stood out with his deep research and understanding of Lord Murugan's idols and Siddhars, the Tamil sage-poets, he also focussed on the supernaturalness of ordinary objects to produce works that enthralled readers and viewers.

By his own definition, it was this “cocktail of mystery and history” that made him accessible to millions.

Veteran TV producer, Bala Kailasam, son of filmmaker K Balachander, identified the power of his writing, and made several TV series with his works. ‘Rudra Veena’, a TV series based on one of his novels, is about spirituality and the multi-faith connection of music.

'Marmadesam' that he penned is one of the most successful television series ever in Tamil. What perhaps brought him closer to the public imagination of the Tamil psyche was Soundar Rajan’s ability to reinterpret some of the ancient stories and legends close to the everyday lives of the people. His reading of Madurai Meenakshi Amman, Palani Murugan, and Sathuragiri Siddhar are just a few examples.

While there are several successful works to his credit, the writer in him considered ‘Ranganathi’ as one of his best. The long fiction that told the story of love between an upper caste girl and a Dalit boy raised several philosophical questions that are in-depth and provocative.

In her book ‘Bird by Bird’, Anne Lamott put truth as the foundation of writing. Indra Soundar Rajan used writing as a tool to find his truth. An ardent devotee of Kanchi Maha Periyavar, his long series on the life and works of the Seer is a definitive experience on the subject. Lord Shiva of Chidambaram and Tiruvannamalai shrines are a big part of his storytelling and reimagination.

With his passing, we lost a man who was in constant amazement of our traditions and tales, which kept him going till his last breath.

Indra Soundar Rajan --- November 13, 1958 - November 10, 2024

(Peer Mohamed Azees is a literary agent, writer, and translator)