I don’t send conventional birthday wishes. I don’t write for any writer’s birthday. Not even for Sundara Ramasamy, Jayakandhan, Attur Ravi Varma, and Gnani… This is the 100th birth anniversary of Guru Nithya. I didn’t write about that either.
Today, Cuddalore Seenu called me and asked if I knew that Kamal was celebrating his 70th birthday today. Suddenly, memories came back, and I got a little emotional.
In 1979, at the age of 17, I first encountered Kamal through the Malayalam film Kanyakumari. I believe he was only 18 when he starred in the 1972 release of Kanyakumari. To my juvanile eyes, he was exactly like me in that movie. I identified with him naturally.
In 1980, I read an interview of his in the Malayalam magazine Nana. In it, he had talked about M.D. Vasudevan Nair, O.V. Vijayan, Perumpadavam Sridharan, and V.T. Nandakumar. That interview made me even more excited. A handsome intellectual! That was the version of myself I had always dreamed about.
Later, I followed him closely. At a time when only small magazines discussed serious literature, he began mentioning numerous literary authors in popular journals, including T. Janakiraman, L.S. Ramamrutham, Asokamitran, and Gnanakkutthan. He was the primary influence that drew me to modern Tamil literature during that period. Only later did I discover Sundara Ramasamy.
Now, almost half a century has passed. Even today, Kamal’s personality continues to excite me. Kamal is one of the few who always shares my big dreams first. At that very moment, he begins to carry them forward with enormous enthusiasm. He has never said anything negative. I shared everything, including this dream of unified wisdom, with him first. Sometimes, even these big things came to mind originally when I talked to him. He has been such an inspiring personality ever since.
Kamal is my friend today. He is one of the greatest conversationalists I have ever met. I have fond memories of his friendship with me. Even in that closeness, I keep him a little apart and treat him with the passion of an old fan.
Happy birthday.
