Poovalur Jayaraman is 80 years old.
A Tamil Nadu-based writer, Poovalur Jayaraman, 80, who has published seven books, including novels and short stories, has to cook and sell fried fritters and appetizers on the streets to make daily ends meet.
Jayaraman sells vadas and bondas daily in Coimbatore. Starting at 4 in the morning every day, his work continues till 9 am.
“I recently had an eye surgery and have diabetes, so I only work for five to six hours and earn about Rs 200,” Jayaraman told The News Minute.
Born at Poovalur village in Trichy district in 1936, struggles have always been a part of Jayaraman’s life. He has gone through all sorts of experiences from begging on streets to working for smuggling rackets.
Jayaraman lost his mother at the age of four and his father died following a prolonged illness when he was in Class 5. Though he was placed under the care of his relatives after his father’s death, they treated him as a burden and subjected to continuous torturing. Not being able to bear the abuse, he ran away from home and reached Chennai when he was just 10 years old.
“I took a ticket of Rs 2 and saved the rest of the money with me,” he remembers.
A railway porter approached him in the guise of helping the boy and sold him to a begging racket where he was forced to beg on the streets of Chennai throughout the day. As the circumstances got worse, he again ran away and reached Bombay.
“I was once again promised a job in a company and was asked to hand over few packages to people for three months,” said Jayaraman. But, soon he realized the wrongdoings of the company when police came searching.
Even after fleeing to Goa from Bombay, his life didn’t change much. Along with many children, he was forced to work at a stone quarry in Goa. After two years, he managed to reach Chennai after being shot at while trying to escape from the quarry.
After years of struggle, Jayaraman found a comfortable job at Ganapathy Vilas Hotel in Chennai from where he learned cooking. Slowly he began the habit of reading as the love for books was alive deep in his mind right from his childhood.
“I used to save money and go buy books from Moore market. I was always eager to study. I also befriended a shopkeeper who used to let me borrow books,” he recollects.
His first short story was published when he was working at Gemini studios as a waiter at the age of 16. The story was published by Tamil magazine, Dinamani Kathir, titled “Neethi Thoongiathu” (Justice Slept).
In 2006, Jayaraman moved to Coimbatore from where Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan published his first book, “Mahabharata Muthukkal.” Even after publishing seven books, his life hasn’t changed much. According to Jayaraman, he cannot earn a living from his writing as it is a passion which can be pursued by the rich alone.