Sinnappah Arasaratnam

"Sinnappah Arasaratnam was born in Navaly, Ceylon, on 20 March 1930. After taking his BA with First Class Honours at the University of Ceylon in 1951, he began the first of two stints lecturing in history at that university, before undertaking doctoral research at the University of London in 1954. Arasa, as he asked to be called, graduated PhD in 1956, returned to the University of Ceylon as a lecturer, and in 1961 took up a lectureship in Indian Studies at the University of Malaya. By 1968 he had risen to the rank of Professor of History there.
In 1972 he was appointed the second professor in the Department of History at the University of New England, and he took up the post in the following year. He retired in March 1995 after 22 years of valuable service.
Arasa was the ideal academic. He was an outstanding scholar. He wrote 15 books and 93 articles/chapters, an astonishing corpus of high-quality work that is the more remarkable for the fact that most of it was produced while he was heavily engaged in other activities. His distinction in this respect was shown by the prestigious international invitations and other honours he received regularly during his lifetime. Of these the most notable was the Smuts Fellowship in Commonwealth Studies, Cambridge, the highest honour available to a scholar in his field, which he held in 1977.
Arasa also took his teaching seriously. He was not flamboyant, but he had a way of inspiring students, who seemed to have responded mainly to his personality - the gentle and dignified manner, the humility with which he carried his immense learning, his lack of pretension, his helpfulness and consideration. Many former students remember him with deep affection and respect.
Arasa made a major contribution to the running of the University. As head of the Department of History he worked very hard to promote consensus and avoid conflict, while consolidating the massive changes of the early 1970s. He was respected and influential in the Faculty of Arts and the University as a whole, being on such key bodies as the Academic Advisory Committee.
He served a long term as chair of the University's Publications Committee. In all these areas he showed not only subtlety and steeliness under pressure but also a thorough commitment to traditional university values.
Arasa effectively began and led the development of Asian studies at UNE, and he played a significant part in the burgeoning of South Asian studies in Australian universities at large. He rescued the South Asian Studies Association from potential collapse with such success that, at the end of his record 12-year term as President, its journal, South Asia, ranked as one of the top three scholarly journals on South Asia in the world.
Most important of all, he brought to the study of South Asia what he called an "indigenous perspective". Following in the footsteps of C.R. Boxer and Holden Furber, his great mentors, he looked at European colonisation of the Indian Ocean region - but from the perspective of the colonised. In this important respect he was the first, and he gathered round him a group of scholars who have carried on this great project.
Arasa had many friends at UNE and in other universities. He was interested in important things, such as history and politics, and, of course, cricket. He always had something thoughtful to say, and he was a good listener. His judgments seemed never to lack balance. His sense of humour and his sense of propriety were both strong. He was a practising Christian, attending the Uniting Church regularly during his time in Armidale, sitting in his accustomed seat in the back row near the window. He was a man of rare quality."

Read More

K. B. Sundarambal

Kodumadi Balambal Sundarambal (1908-1980) was a renowned stage artist and singer of South India. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of the Indian stage.". She was noted both for her resonant, vibrant voice and for the dignity of her performances. A political activist during the Indian independence movement, K.B. Sundarambal was the first film personality to enter a state legislature in India.

Early years

K.B. Sundarambal was born on October 11, 1908 in the village of Kodumudi (also spelled "Kodumadi"), on the banks of the Kaveri, about 35 km from the town of Erode in present-day Tamil Nadu. Little is known of Sundarambal's father; her mother, Balambal, barely managed to eke out a living. Indeed, so penurious was the family that Sundarambal, as a child, is said to have made some much-needed money by singing ditties on trains and receiving tips from the passengers.

Stage debut

Such was Sundarambal's training in music. According to some sources, it was while singing thus on a train that the 10-year-old Sundarambal attracted the attention of Natesa Iyer, an amateur stage actor, producer and talent-scout. According to other sources it was a police official named Krishnaswamy Iyer, an acquaintance of Balambal, who discovered the talent in Sundarambal and introduced the 10-year-old girl to P. S. Velu Nair, one of the reigning dramatists of that era.
In either case, Sundarambal is believed to have made her debut in 1917, on the Tamil stage, as a member of a travelling theatre troupe. This was the turning point in her life. The talented young girl honed her voice while performing small roles on stage and keeping audiences entertained between acts. Soon enough, she was essaying leading roles on stage. Her early stage plays like "Valli Thirumanam," "Pavalakodi" and "Harishchandra" proved to be great hits. In particular, "Valli Thirumanam", where she co-starred with S.G. Kittappa, was a phenomenal success.

Marriage

While working together in the theatre, Sundarambal and S.G. Kittappa fell in love. They were married in 1927. For the next few years, Sundarambal lived a life that was both personally and professionally satisfying. The couple became cult figures with theatre aficionados. Unfortunately, the phase came to a sudden end with the untimely death of S.G. Kittappa in 1932. Sundarambal left the stage sometime after this happened, preferring to pursue a career as a concert artiste.

Filmography

A celebrated theatre personality and an accomplished concert artiste, Sundarambal was to find success in films as well. Although she accepted only a few film offers, they have proved to be landmarks. Her performance as Avvaiyyar, the Tamil poet-saint, was so convincing that she has become almost synonymous with the legendary personality. "Nandanar" and "Avvaiyar," in both of which she played Avvaiyar, were runaway hits. Her other great successes were in "Manimekhalai," "Thiruvilayadal," "Karaikal Ammaiyar" and "Kandan Karunai." Singularly lacking in oomph, Sundarambal's golden voice and the devotional fervour of her singing was what set the box offices afire.

Political activism

Sundarambal and her husband S.G. Kittappa had been much affected by the Indian independence movement and had became ardent supporters of the Indian National Congress. They had harnessed their popularity and talents to further that cause. Sundarambal continued to champion the movement, recording several gramophone discs extolling the struggle and sacrifices it entailed. She also made it a point to always wear khadi. She often actively campaigned in support of Congress part candidates at various elections. After India gained independence, K.B. Sundarambal entered the Legislative Council of Madras State in 1951 as a Congress nominee, the first film artist to enter an Indian legislature.

Honours

In 1964, the Tamil Isai Sangam conferred upon her the title of "Tamil Isai Perarignar." In 1970, the government of India awarded her the Padmashri for her contributions to the arts. K.B. Sundarambal, artiste extraordinaire, died in October 1980.

Read More