Shreekumar Varma (1955) is an Indian author, who is known as a playwright, poet, and a columnist for The New Indian Express, The Economic Times Madras Plus, Ritz Magazine, and the Deccan Herald. He has writter several prominent works including Lament of Mohini (2000), Maria’s Room (2010), Kipling’s Daughter (2018), Devil’s Garden: Tales Of Pappudom (2006), Pazhassi Raja: The Royal Rebel (1997), Five & Other Plays, and Midnight Hotel & Other Plays (2019). Shreekumar Varma has also been a radio broadcaster and a college lecturer in Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shreekumar Varma was born in 1955 (age 67 at present in 2023) in Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram. His parents left Kerala and went to Madras when Shreekumar Varma was only four years old. Shreekumar Varma studied in the Good Shepherd Convent school and Madras Christian College High School. He attained MA and MPhil degree in English Literature from the Madras Christian College. He completed his course in Journalism from the Bhavan’s College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He worked for the Indian Express and the Film Industry Journal in Bombay. In Madras, he published a magazine named Trident. He taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. For 13 years, Shreekumar Varma taught Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He was a President of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest.
Family
He belongs to the Travancore Royal Family. After Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma and Revathi Thirunal Balagopal Varma, he is the senior member of the Travancore Royal Family. In his opinion, his writing was inspired by his family as in an interview when he said-
I’m really proud to belong to that family. I believe my cousins and I have all inherited a certain artistic sensibility, and also an entire mythology of stories, some of which went into my first novel, Lament of Mohini,”
Parents & Siblings
Shreekumar Varma’s mother, Karthika Tirunal Indira Bai was born in 1926. She was the Matriarch of the Travancore Royal Family, who died in 2017. His father, Kilimanoor Kerala Varma was an advocate, translator, novelist, and an industrialist. Shreekumar Varma’s grandmother, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was the last ruling Maharani of Travancore, and he was the great grandson of the Indian painter and artist, Raja Ravi Varma. He is a cousin of artist Rukmini Varma.
Shreekumar Varma’s grandmother – Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi
Shreekumar Varma’s great grandfather- Raja Ravi Varma
Wife & Children
Shreekumar Varma lives in Chennai with his wife Geeta, who is an educator and a former journalist. She has also published a poetry collection ‘To My Violin’ . He has two sons, Vinayak Varma and Karthik Varma, and a daughter-in-law, Yamini Vijayan.
Shreekumar Varma with his wife
Career
Shreekumar Varma has taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. He has taught at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), the JBAS College, the DG Vaishnav College and the Meenakshi College, Chennai as well. His children’s book ‘The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu’, was shortlisted for the Vodafone Crossword Book Award, 2009. He was Writer-in-Residence at Stirling University, Scotland. He is the past president of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest. He loved teaching students and sharing knowledge and experiences. In one of his interviews he stated that-
I do enjoy teaching, and I find that science students often come up with more out-of-the-box thinking than lit students do. I love encouraging people in whom I sense talent for writing – I literally pester them to write, actually!”
The two award-winning plays The Dark Lord and Bow Of Rama, were staged by The British Council in 1986 and The Madras Players in 1993. His play Nathu’s Dream was produced as a musical in September 2010. He has translated poetry and fiction for the OUP Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writings in Translation from the original Malayalam into English.
Novels
- Lament of Mohini (Penguin, 2000)
- Maria’s Room (HarperCollins, 2010)
- Kipling’s Daughter (AngloInk, 2018)
Children’s books
- Devil’s Garden: Tales Of Pappudom (Puffin, 2006)
- The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu (Penguin, 2009)
Plays
- Five & Other Plays and Midnight Hotel & Other Plays (collections of three plays each, both published by Adisakrit, 2019)
Poems
- He has written poems like Projector, Let Me, Love Song, Night At the Marine, Triumvirate, Nameless, Beyond the Sensuals.
Awards
- In 2015, Shreekumar Varma received the R. K. Narayan Award for Excellence in Writing in English.
- In 2004, Shreekumar Varma was awarded the Charles Wallace Fellowship.
- Shreekumar Varma was awarded II prize in the British Council South India Playwrights Competition for his play ‘The Dark Lord’.
- In The Hindu All-India Playscripts competition, his play ‘Bow of Rama’ won first prize.
Facts/Trivia
- Shreekumar Varma’s play ‘Deep Inside’, was longlisted for the first MetroPlus Playscripts competition.
- Shreekumar Varma’s play ‘Platform’ was selected to launch the 50th year celebrations of The Madras Players, India’s oldest running English theatre group.
- In an interview Shreekumar Varma explained his growth in writing by saying-
I started small, with a couple of short stories, but by the time my play The Dark Lord (1986) came second at a British Council competition and Bow of Rama (1993) won the Hindu-Madras Players Playscripts contest, I was safely into contest mode.”
- Shreekumar is a vocal supporter of the Right to Read campaign, and he made the children’s book Devil’s Garden and novel Maria’s Room available in audio format.
- His debut novel Lament of Mohini, was Longlisted for the Crossword Book Award. It featured on the Asian Age Top Ten List.
- In March, April, May and August 2009, his play Midnight Hotel had ten shows in Chennai and Bangalore which raised around 4 million for the social service programmes of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.
- Shreekumar Varma’s novel ‘Maria’s Room’ was longlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize (2007) and featured on the India Today Top 20 List.
Award-winning Kerala novelist, playwright and scion of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, Shreekumar Varma who was taken hostage on January 23 when he was travelling in Western Africa, has been rescued, the MEA confirmed on Friday.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn