Career
He has published 16 novels, 10 plays, anthologies of short stories, and essays. He is best known for his plays, "Aurangzeb", "Nandan Kathai" and "Ramanujar". He was born on July 10, 1930 in Chennai in a traditional Iyengar family.
He has written several short stories, plays and novels in Tamil that have been translated into several Indian and world languages.
He has carved a special niche for himself in Tamil literature - his characters, mostly urban intellectuals, speak very openly and analyze deeply what others say. Most of his novels are set in Delhi, where he lived during his working years, or in the Srirangam area of Tamil Nadu, where he spent his childhood.
Some of his novels, such as Kuruthi Punal intermingle these two milieus.