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 was des ...

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

writer and translator from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. 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 ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

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 Chattampi Swamikal (25 August 1853 – 5 May 1924) was a Hindu sage and social reformer. His thoughts and work influenced the launching of many social, religious, literary and political organisations and movements in Kerala and for the first ti ...

. 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 KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.Light of Asia ''The Light of Asia'', or ''The Great Renunciation'' (''Mahâbhinishkramana''), is a book by Edwin Arnold, Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879. In the form of a narrative poetry, narrative poem, ...

') *''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: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

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

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

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

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

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

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

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) also transliterated as ''Kotungallur Kunhikkuttan Thampuran'', was a Malayalam poet and Sanskrit scholar lived in Kerala, India. His birth-name was Rama Varma. He is famous for his single-hande ...

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

Awards and honors

*1989:

NCERT The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...

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, India. It was constituted in 1981 for publishing children's literature books and magazines. The institute published it ...

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