Today is the birth centenary of Ala. Valliappa, one of the most popupular poets and writers for children.
When I was a school going kid, my father used to buy a lot of children's books in English and Tamil, and my mother used to explain the contents to me.
I fondly remember the writer's collection of poems published in two volumes; it was entitled 'Malarum Ullam', a Tamil term meaning 'Blossoming heart'. I remember the nicely printed contents with very child friendly font with the books bound using cloth. It had a dark blue colour covering.
I found the news about the writer's birth centenary from Google search, during my browsing. I tried to access info from Polimer News, a Tamil language TV news channel, but couldn't find any mention about it. I think that our news channels don't give due importance to writers etc. as much as they do to political rascals such Perarivalan (who was involved in Rajiv Gandhi assassination); TV news watchers would know that he was given such a lot of importance as if he was a patriot who fought for our country's independence from the British.
Following is the image of Perarivalan rascal with his mother and his supporters soon after release from Vellore prison:
Following is an image of the writer:
As Mary Hopkin sang, "Once upon a time there was a tavern ...those were the days my friend ...".
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