Jayakanthan

Jayakanthan
Jayakanthan in 2012
Born	(1934-04-24)24 April 1934 Cuddalore, South Arcot District, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	8 April 2015(2015-04-08) (aged 80) Chennai, India
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer, screenplay writer, film director
Language	Tamil
Nationality	Indian
Notable awards	Padma Bhushan, Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi Award, Order of Friendship

Jayakanthan (24 April 1934 – 8 April 2015), popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, film-maker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at an early age and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.

Jayakanthan's literary honours include Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards. He was also a recipient of Padma Bhushan (2009), India's third-highest civilian honour, the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1978), and the Russian government's Order of Friendship (2011).

Jayakanthan was born in 1934 into a family of agriculturists in Manjakuppam, a suburb of Cuddalore, a part of the South Arcot District of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Brought up by his mother and maternal uncles, he got interested in politics at a young age as his uncles were actively involved in it. As a child, he was highly inspired by the works of Subramania Bharati. Jayakanthan dropped himself out of school after completing fifth grade, as he thought studies would hinder his political activism. In 1946, he left for Madras (now Chennai) in search of livelihood, where he performed odd jobs, before ending up as a compositor in the printing press of Communist Party of India (CPI). His association with the CPI, instilled the ideas of the movement, where he got to accompany leaders such as P. Jeevanandham, Baladandayutham and S. Ramakrishnan. The leaders of the party encouraged him to write. After graduating to an active member of the party, he got to learn about topics pertaining to world literature, culture, politics, economics and journalism. It was during this time, Jayakanthan started writing for pro-communist magazines. Over the next few years, he established himself as one of the top-most writers in the party. His early works were first published in the party newspaper Janasakthi, and soon other magazines like Sarasvathi, Thamarai, Santhi, Manithan, Sakthi and Samaran published his works. His early works focussed on the plight of slum-dwellers who were settled in and around the party office.