Pramil, the prominent Tamil poet who authored several short stories, novellas, and poems, inspired a realtor to build a library in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district on the occasion of the author’s 24th death anniversary.
Mayan Ramesh Raja, a realtor and owner of Mayan Constructions opened a library under Pramil’s name in Thiruppani Karisalkulam village in Tirunelveli, on January 6.
Pramil, who hailed from Sivaramalingam in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, spent most of his life in Chennai. In the 1970s, he began to write for magazines. Apart from his literary works, he was also known for his paintings and sculptures. He had an inclination towards spirituality and worked in the areas of astronomy and astrology.
The library was inaugurated by Kala Subramaniam, who was a close friend of the late poet, and several other poets, including Devadevan, Devendra Bhupathi, Jeevalakshmi, environmentalist RR Srinivasan, Mayan.
The library houses more than 5,000 books on Tamil literature and philosophical works at present.
“I was inclined towards reading Tamil literature since childhood and had interacted with Pramil during my college days. I, along with a group of friends, ran a magazine in 1988 where Pramil contributed poems. Since then, I have read his works and got exposed more to Tamil literature through him. So, when I started a library, I kept his name,” Mayan told Silverscreen India.
He said that they were gathering more books across genres to cater to the needs of all age groups and genders. “Pramil was also a good translator and had translated books to Tamil from English. He had also written for a Tamil magazine run by Kala Subramaniam.”
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Speaking to Silverscreen India, Devendra who has also contributed books to the library, said, “As a writer, I have always been drawn towards Pramil’s works. He has written more on philosophy in Tamil. I admire his style. His poetry mainly deals with philosophy and orientalism. He is known for symbolism in his poetry. He is incomparable and has a unique style of poetry.
Devendra said that Pramil was a multi-faceted person, who has written poetry, drama, essays, reviews, and also painted.
“His unique feature is that he had the ability to bring the meaning of sentences by using just a couple of words. Opening this library will help initiate the reading in the village that houses more than 500 homes. The population will definitely benefit from it,” Devendra said.