Akademi awardee Thoppil Mohamed Meeran dies aged 74

Chennai: Noted Tamil writer and Sahitya Akademi award winner Thoppil Mohamed Meeran died at Pettai in Tirunelveli district on Friday. He was 74 and is survived by wife Jaleela and two sons — Shameem Ahmed and Mirzad Ahmed. He was born in Tekkaipattinam in Kanyakumari district in 1944.

Meeran authored several novels in Tamil and Malayalam and won the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel “Saaivu Naarkkali” (reclining chair) in 1997. His other novels include “Oru Kadalora Graamaththin Kathai,” “Thuraimugam,” “Koonan Thoppu” and “Anju Vannam Theru”.

He also wrote short stories such as “Anbukku Muthumai Illai,” “Thangarasu,” “Ananthasayanam Colony,” “Oru Kutti Theevin Varippadam,” “Thoppil Mohamed Meeran Kathaigal” and “Oru Maamaramum Konjam Paravaigalum.” Meeran received a total of eight awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award and Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumantram Award (in 1992).

“I know him for 25 years and have read all of his novels except the last one. For me, Meeran was the first author to bring out the life of Muslims in south Tamil Nadu in almost all his novels,” said another Sahitya Akademi award winning author Su Venkatesan, also the CPM candidate in Madurai Lok Sabha constituency.

In the novels, Meeran explained the lives of Muslims in detail, especially fishermen and the problems faced by them, said Venkatesan. “Meeran was a good friend of all authors and encouraged authors from the next generation as well. When I received the Sahitya Akademi award for “Kaval Kootam”, he praised and wanted me to go places with the book,” said Venkatesan.

Meeran had good knowledge of Tamil and Malayalam and used both languages in his novels and short stories. “Meeran was invited by several universities across Tamil Nadu and Kerala to give speeches and he was very famous in Kerala universities,” said Venkatesan.

Political party leaders condoled Meeran’s demise. “It is a big loss to the literary world. Meeran, with his novels, portrayed the lives of Muslim people in Tamil Nadu,” said DMK president M K Stalin.

CPM state secretary K Balakrishan, in a statement, recalled the novels of Meeran and praised him for bringing out the problems Muslims faced. He said most of his novels were based on socialism.

PMK founder S Ramadoss, MDMK chief Vaiko and others too condoled his death.