Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, DMK president M.K. Stalin and other political leaders on Tuesday condoled the demise of renowned Tamil publisher S. Ramakrishnan.
In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said the veteran publisher was known for being affectionate and hardworking, with an unassuming personality. “His Cre-A: Dictionary of Contemporary Tamil is a great achievement in the Tamil publishing world,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the dictionary released by Mr. Ramakrishnan was a treasure to writers and lovers of Tamil. “That he released the revised dictionary from his death bed proves his dedication to publishing,” he said.
PMK founder S. Ramadoss added that Mr. Ramakrishnan did not consider publishing as just a profession, but as a thavam (penance).
“Though he published only a few books as a publisher, those works were really acclaimed. He was responsible for publishing several acclaimed books in other languages and in Tamil,” Dr. Ramadoss said.
Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani recalled that an appreciation of the dictionary was published in Viduthalai on November 17.
VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan said his dictionary should be presented for free to Class 12 students, in his memory.
“In 2010, the DMK announced that Class 9 students would be given Tamil dictionaries. I don’t think that the policy is being implemented today. To improve the Tamil and English skills of students, Mr. Ramakrishnan’s contemporary Tamil dictionary should be given free to students by the State government. This will be a good tribute to him,” he said.
