Shreekumar Varma is an Indian author, playwright, poet, and columnist who served in The New Indian Express, The Economic Times Madras Plus, Ritz Magazine, and the Deccan Herald. He has written several prominent works including Lament of Mohini (2000), Maria’s Room (2010), Kipling’s Daughter (2018), and Devil’s Garden: Tales Of Pappudom (2006). Shreekumar Varma has also been a radio broadcaster and a college lecturer in Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shreekumar Varma was born in 1955 (age 68 years; as of 2023) in Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram. In 1959, his parents left Kerala and shifted to Madras. Shreekumar Varma studied at the Good Shepherd Convent School and Madras Christian College High School. He used to take part in devised programmes for All India Radio which were organised by the school. He attained an MA and MPhil degrees in English Literature from the Madras Christian College. He did a course in Journalism from the Bhavan’s College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Family
He belongs to the Travancore Royal Family. After Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma and Revathi Thirunal Balagopal Varma, now he is a senior member of the Travancore Royal Family. In an interview, when asked about what inspired him to write, he talked about the inspiration he took from his family, he said-
I’m really proud to belong to that family. I believe my cousins and I have all inherited a certain artistic sensibility, and also an entire mythology of stories, some of which went into my first novel, Lament of Mohini,”
Parents & Siblings
Shreekumar Varma’s mother, Karthika Tirunal Indira Bai, was born in 1926. She was the matriarch of the Travancore Royal Family, who died in 2017. His father, Kilimanoor Kerala Varma, was an advocate, translator, novelist, and industrialist. Shreekumar Varma’s grandmother, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, was the last ruling Maharani of Travancore, and he was the great-grandson of the Indian painter and artist, Raja Ravi Varma. He is a cousin of artist Rukmini Varma.
Shreekumar Varma’s grandmother – Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi
Shreekumar Varma’s great-grandfather, Raja Ravi Varma
Wife & Children
Shreekumar Varma lives in Chennai with his wife, Geeta, who is an educator and a former journalist. She has also published a poetry collection, ‘To My Violin.’ He has two sons, Vinayak Varma, and Karthik Varma, and a daughter-in-law, Yamini Vijayan.
Shreekumar Varma with his wife
Career
Shreekumar Varma has taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. He has taught at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), the JBAS College, the DG Vaishnav College and the Meenakshi College, Chennai as well. He worked for the Indian Express and the Film Industry Journal (Cinema Today) in Bombay. In Madras, he published a magazine named Trident. He taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. For 13 years, Shreekumar Varma taught Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He was the President of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest. He was a Writer-in-Residence at Stirling University, Scotland. He is the past president of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest. He loved teaching students and sharing knowledge and experiences. In one of his interviews, he stated that-
I do enjoy teaching, and I find that science students often come up with more out-of-the-box thinking than lit students do. I love encouraging people in whom I sense talent for writing – I literally pester them to write, actually!”
The two award-winning plays The Dark Lord and Bow Of Rama, were staged by The British Council in 1986 and The Madras Players in 1993. His play Nathu’s Dream was produced as a musical in September 2010. He has translated poetry and fiction for the OUP Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writings in Translation from the original Malayalam into English.
Novels
- Lament of Mohini (Penguin, 2000)
- Maria’s Room (HarperCollins, 2010)
- Kipling’s Daughter (AngloInk, 2018)
Children’s books
- Devil’s Garden: Tales Of Pappudom (Puffin, 2006)
- The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu (Penguin, 2009)
- Pazhassi Raja (Macmillan, 1997)
Plays
- Five & Other Plays and Midnight Hotel & Other Plays (collections of three plays each, both published by Adisakrit, 2019)
Poems
- He has written poems like Projector, Let Me, Love Song, Night At the Marine, Triumvirate, Nameless, and Beyond the Sensuals.
Awards
- In 2015, Shreekumar Varma received the R. K. Narayan Award for Excellence in Writing in English.
- In 2004, Shreekumar Varma was awarded the Charles Wallace Fellowship.
- Shreekumar Varma won the second prize in the British Council South India Playwrights Competition for his play ‘The Dark Lord.’
- In The Hindu All-India Playscripts competition, his play ‘Bow of Rama’ won the first prize.
- His children’s book ‘The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu,’ was shortlisted for the Vodafone Crossword Book Award, in 2009.
Facts/Trivia
- In 2009, Shreekumar Varma’s play ‘Deep Inside’ was longlisted for the first MetroPlus Playscripts competition.
- Shreekumar Varma’s play ‘Platform’ was selected to launch the 50th-year celebrations of The Madras Players, India’s oldest-running English theatre group.
- In an interview, Shreekumar Varma explained his journey in writing by saying-
I started small, with a couple of short stories, but by the time my play The Dark Lord (1986) came second at a British Council competition and Bow of Rama (1993) won the Hindu-Madras Players Playscripts contest, I was safely into contest mode.”
- Shreekumar is a supporter of the Right to Read campaign, and he made the children’s book Devil’s Garden and novel Maria’s Room available for free in audio format.
- His debut novel, Lament of Mohini, was longlisted for the Crossword Book Award in 2007. It was also featured on the Asian Age Top Ten List.
- In March, April, May and August 2009, his play titled Midnight Hotel had ten shows in Chennai and Bangalore which raised around 4 million for the social service programmes of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.
- Shreekumar Varma’s novel ‘Maria’s Room’ was longlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize (2007) and featured on the India Today Top 20 List in 2007.
- On 23 January 2016, Shreekumar Varma was abducted when he was travelling in Western Africa.
Award-winning Kerala novelist, playwright and scion of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, Shreekumar Varma who was taken hostage on January 23 when he was travelling in Western Africa, has been rescued, the MEA confirmed on Friday.” [1]The Hindu
