Val. Ma. Kothainayaki Ammal (1901-1960) is one of the earliest women writers In Tamil She has not been given her due place in the books on the history of Tamil tensture. She wrote 115 novels. She wrote about contemporary social issues. She was a publisher of a magazine, a freedom fighter, a musician, social activist, a Khadi activist, a public speaker, a crusader of women's rights and a Gandhian. She went to jall because of her protests during the freedom movement. She brought to the fore many women singers and women writers. She held that education was the key to women's equality. She wrote in her magazine Jaganmohini about women's right to property, dowry prohibition and widow remarriage. She was against untouchability. In her eyes, everyone was an Indian and they were not divided by their creed. She broke more glass ceilings than you can count and deserves to be celebrated by all.
R. Prema is a former Professor in the department of Tamil, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai. Post retirement, she served as Principal in Bhaktavatsalam Memorial College for Women, Chennai. A feminist enthusiast, researcher, and writer, she has written over 20 books including a volume for Sahitya Akademi titled Penn Maiya Sirukathaigal. Her book Penniyam is constantly in demand with over 10 editions. She is a recipient of the state Government's Mahakavi Bharathiyar Award in the year 2011. Having published over 200 research articles, she is a renowned feminist writer in the Tamil literary world.
Vai. Mu. Kothainayaki Ammal is a forerunner of the Tamil novel. She was one of the noteworthy persons among the VIPs of Chennai of the 20th century. She was an ashtavadhani truly multi-faceted, and engaged herself in literature, theatre, music, journalism, nationalism, service and religion. At a time, when women were uneducated and toiling in smoky kitchens, she was the New Woman that Bharatiar dreamed of. She made her impact in many fields like society/arts/nation/religion/literature/ media, while being an ideal home-maker. She was a beacon light to women. I express my deepest gratitude to Sahitya Akademi and its Tamil Advisory Committee, for giving me the opportunity to introduce her and her life through this book in this Makers of Indian literature series.
My deepest thanks are bestowed to her daughter-in-law Padmini Srinivasan who helped me to look at most of her novels, the magazine Jaganmohini that she edited, and her diary. I am also greatly obliged to her grandchildren Vijayalakshmi and Narasimhan who happily shared their memories of her. I also thank her literary successor Kamala Sadagopan and her successor in music G.P. Kamala who shared their memories of her.
I also thank Vai. Mu. Ko's foster daughter Babu and her husband. When I asked D.K. Pattammal about her, she was moved to tears because of her love for her, and tried to recall again and again events that she could not remember because of her age; she could not remember some but what she could she shared with me with warmth.
As my fore-runners Aranga. Srinivasan had recorded from Vai. Mu. Ko's husband all about her achievements in his book Ezhuthulaga Nayaki' (The queen of the literary world) and Tiruppur Krishnan had written 'Kothainayaki in Ilakkiya pathai (Kothainayaki's literary path) at the behest of Ilakkiya Chinthanai organization to introduce her to the readers of today. I owe my thanks to them.
Lakshmi Krishnamurthi the daughter of Dheerar Satyamurti very kindly volunteered to share her memories of Vai. Mu. Ko, and so did her distant relative and resident of Triplicane A.Krishnaswami. My thanks are due to them and to the Roja Muthiah library for permitting me to read the Jaganmohini issues.
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