A River
Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan (16 March 1929 – 13 July 1993)[1][2] was an Indian poet
and scholar[3] of Indian literature and linguistics. Ramanujan was also a professor of
Linguistics at University of Chicago.
Born:--16 March 1929,Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore, British India (now Mysuru, Karnataka,
India)
Died:--13 July 1993 (aged 64),Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Language:--English, Kannada and Tamil
Nationality:--Indian
Education:--University of Mysore
Indiana University
Notable works:--The Striders
Second Sight
Notable awards:--MacArthur Fellowship,
Sahitya Akademi Award
Padma Shree
Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, linguist, philologist, folklorist, translator, and
playwright.[4] His academic research ranged across five languages: English, Tamil,
Kannada, Telugu, and Sanskrit. He published works on both classical and modern variants
of this literature and argued strongly for giving local, non-standard dialects their due.
Though he wrote widely and in a number of genres, Ramanujan’s poems are remembered
as enigmatic works of startling originality, sophistication and moving artistry. He was
awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously in 1999 for The Collected Poems.
Ramanujan worked as a lecturer of English at Quilon and Belgaum; he later taught at The
Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda for about eight years. In 1962, he joined the
University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He was affiliated with the university
throughout his career, teaching in several departments. He taught at other US universities
as well, including Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan,
University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College. At the University of Chicago,
, Ramanujan was instrumental in shaping the South Asian Studies program. He worked in
the departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics, and with the
Committee on Social Thought.
In 1976, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri,[7] and in 1983, he was
given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (Shulman, 1994).[8][6] In 1983, he was appointed the
William E. Colvin Professor in the Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations,
of Linguistics, and in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. That
same year, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. As an Indo-American writer, Ramanujan
had the experience of the native as well as foreign milieu. His poems such as the
“Conventions of Despair” reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east
and west.
A. K. Ramanujan died in Chicago on 13 July 1993 as result of an adverse reaction to
anaesthesia during preparation for surgery.
Contributions to Indian studies
Attipate .krishna swami Ramanujan’s theoretical[11] and aesthetic contributions span
several disciplinary areas.[12] In his cultural essays such as “Is There an Indian Way of
Thinking?” (1990), he explains cultural ideologies and behavioral manifestations thereof in
terms of an Indian psychology he calls “context-sensitive” thinking. In his work in folklore
studies, Ramanujan highlights the inter-textuality of the Indian oral and written literary
tradition. His essay “Where Mirrors Are Windows: Toward an Anthology of Reflections”
(1989), and his commentaries in The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical
Tamil Anthology (1967) and Folktales from India,[13] Oral Tales from Twenty Indian
Languages (1991) are good examples of his work in Indian folklore studies.
Controversy regarding his essay
His 1991 essay “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on
Translation” courted controversy over its inclusion in the B.A. in History syllabus of the
University of Delhi in 2006. In this essay, he wrote of the existence of many versions of
Ramayana and a few versions that portrayed Rama and Sita as siblings, which contradicts
the popular versions of the Ramayana, such as those by Valmiki and Tulsidas.[15]
The comments written by A K Ramanujan were found to be derogatory by some Hindus[16]
and some of them decided to go to court for removal of the text from the Delhi University
curriculum. ABVP, a nationalist student organisation, opposed its inclusion in the syllabus,
Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan (16 March 1929 – 13 July 1993)[1][2] was an Indian poet
and scholar[3] of Indian literature and linguistics. Ramanujan was also a professor of
Linguistics at University of Chicago.
Born:--16 March 1929,Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore, British India (now Mysuru, Karnataka,
India)
Died:--13 July 1993 (aged 64),Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Language:--English, Kannada and Tamil
Nationality:--Indian
Education:--University of Mysore
Indiana University
Notable works:--The Striders
Second Sight
Notable awards:--MacArthur Fellowship,
Sahitya Akademi Award
Padma Shree
Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, linguist, philologist, folklorist, translator, and
playwright.[4] His academic research ranged across five languages: English, Tamil,
Kannada, Telugu, and Sanskrit. He published works on both classical and modern variants
of this literature and argued strongly for giving local, non-standard dialects their due.
Though he wrote widely and in a number of genres, Ramanujan’s poems are remembered
as enigmatic works of startling originality, sophistication and moving artistry. He was
awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously in 1999 for The Collected Poems.
Ramanujan worked as a lecturer of English at Quilon and Belgaum; he later taught at The
Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda for about eight years. In 1962, he joined the
University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He was affiliated with the university
throughout his career, teaching in several departments. He taught at other US universities
as well, including Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan,
University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College. At the University of Chicago,
, Ramanujan was instrumental in shaping the South Asian Studies program. He worked in
the departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics, and with the
Committee on Social Thought.
In 1976, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri,[7] and in 1983, he was
given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (Shulman, 1994).[8][6] In 1983, he was appointed the
William E. Colvin Professor in the Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations,
of Linguistics, and in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. That
same year, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. As an Indo-American writer, Ramanujan
had the experience of the native as well as foreign milieu. His poems such as the
“Conventions of Despair” reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east
and west.
A. K. Ramanujan died in Chicago on 13 July 1993 as result of an adverse reaction to
anaesthesia during preparation for surgery.
Contributions to Indian studies
Attipate .krishna swami Ramanujan’s theoretical[11] and aesthetic contributions span
several disciplinary areas.[12] In his cultural essays such as “Is There an Indian Way of
Thinking?” (1990), he explains cultural ideologies and behavioral manifestations thereof in
terms of an Indian psychology he calls “context-sensitive” thinking. In his work in folklore
studies, Ramanujan highlights the inter-textuality of the Indian oral and written literary
tradition. His essay “Where Mirrors Are Windows: Toward an Anthology of Reflections”
(1989), and his commentaries in The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical
Tamil Anthology (1967) and Folktales from India,[13] Oral Tales from Twenty Indian
Languages (1991) are good examples of his work in Indian folklore studies.
Controversy regarding his essay
His 1991 essay “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on
Translation” courted controversy over its inclusion in the B.A. in History syllabus of the
University of Delhi in 2006. In this essay, he wrote of the existence of many versions of
Ramayana and a few versions that portrayed Rama and Sita as siblings, which contradicts
the popular versions of the Ramayana, such as those by Valmiki and Tulsidas.[15]
The comments written by A K Ramanujan were found to be derogatory by some Hindus[16]
and some of them decided to go to court for removal of the text from the Delhi University
curriculum. ABVP, a nationalist student organisation, opposed its inclusion in the syllabus,
