Sooranad Ravi (1943 February 7 - 2018 October 24) is a

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

writer and translator from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He has authored over a hundred works in Malayalam literature, including short stories, poems and translations.

Biography

He was born on 7 February 1943, at Sooranad,

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

to Ichakkattu Idayileveettil Paramupillai and Bhavaniamma. He was a teacher at Mannady High School and retired in 1998. He was a follower of Kerala renaissance leader

Chattampi Swamikal Ayyappan Pillai (born 25 August 1853 – 5 May 1924), better known as Chattampi Swamikal was a Hindu sage and social reformer whose thoughts and work influenced the launching of many social, religious, literary and political organisations and ...

. His works, which include short poems and stories for children, have been a regular feature in children's magazines.

Works

Novels and Short story collections

*''Ariyunda'' *''Onappanthu'' *''Kilippattukal'' *''Bhagyathilekkulla Vazhi'' (Meaning:The way to luck) *''Pongalpattu'' *''Aksharamuthu'' *''Kathakal kond Bhoomi chuttam'' (Meaning:Let's go around the world with stories) *''Sachthra buddha kathakal'' (Illustrated Buddhist stories) *''Kuttikalkkay 101 kathakal'' (101 stories for children)

Translations

*''Ponnarinjal katha'' *''Sreebuddhan, Asiayute velicham'' (translation of

Edwin Arnold Sir Edwin Arnold (10 June 1832 – 24 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist. He is best known for his 1879 work, '' The Light of Asia''. Born in Gravesend, Kent, Arnold's early education at King's School, Rochester, and later at Kin ...

's '

Light of Asia Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm) ...

') *''Kshemendra's Bodhisathwapadannakalpatha'' *''Gandjijiyute dayari'' (Gandhi's diary) *''101 Red Indian Nadodikkathakal'' (Translation of 101 Red Indian Folk Tales) *''Tamizh nadodikkathakal'' (Translation of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

folk tales) *''Indian nadodikkathakal'' (Translation of Indian folk tales) *''Telugukathakal'' (Translation of

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

stories *''Tanjavoorile tharattuppattukal'' (Translation of ballads of

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

) *''Thirupati Venkitesa kathakal'' (Translation of stories of Tirupati Venkatesh) *''Subala vajrathundam'' (Translation of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

play) *''Gandhijiyute andhya prabhashanangal'' (Translation of Gandhiji's Last Sermons) *''Oru Kadalora gramathinte katha'' *''Charukasera'' * Translation of ''Sreemad Bhagavadgita'' by

Kodungallur Kunjikkuttan Thampuran Kodungallur Kunjikkuttan Thampuran (1864 - 1914) was a Malayalam poet and prominent Sanskrit scholar of Kerala. His birth-name was Rama Varma. He is famous for his single-handed, word-by-word translation of entire Mahabharata within 874 days ...

*Translation of ''Thampuran Ramayanam'' by Kottarakkara Thampuran

Awards and honors

*1989:

NCERT National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) () is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Education, the Government of India. Established in 1961, it is a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Re ...

National Award for Children's literature for his work ''Ariyunda'' *2018:

Kerala State Institute of Children's Literature Kerala State Institute for Children's Literature (KSICL) is an Institution under the Department of Cultural Affairs of Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on ...

Outstanding Contribution Award for his contributions in the field of children's literature

Family

He and his wife Chembakutty Amma have 3 children Indusekhar, Srirekha and Sreelakshmi.

References

{{Portal, Children's literature 1943 births 2018 deaths Malayalam-language writers Indian children's writers People from Kollam district Writers from Kollam