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| Saraswathi S.Warrier, Wariam Lane, Poonkunnam, Thrissur |
A rocket cannot be cajoled or provoked to deliver its payload earlier than destined. Similarly, some may pass through life with comparative anonymity till their hair turns grey. And then they may deliver what fate had entrusted them to. Septugenarian Saraswathi S.Warrier’s story is somewhat like this.
She dropped out of school after 8th standard and picked up learning of Tamil as a hobby. As a housewife she passed through the different stages of life but never wrote a book till she crossed 70 years of age. And yet her translations of spiritual books from Tamil are being well received by connoisseurs, readers and publishers.
After years of keeping the content of her 1st book as a personal manuscript, she had presented it to Sree Ramakrishna Ashram, Puranattukara as an offering to coincide with her mother’s 90th birthday. The 2000-copy 1st edition of this Lalitha Sahasra Nama Stotra, published by the Ashram, was sold out in 2 years. It was then that the Ashram started taking note of the book. The 2nd edition of 3000 too was sold out and the next edition of 5000 copies is now on sale.
After her 2nd book, a translation of Swami Subodhananda’s ‘Manasse Relax’ sold 5000 copies, major publishers started taking note of her. Their assessment was not wrong as her translation of Ramana Maharshi’s ‘Vachanamrutham’, was first published by Current Books and later by DC Books. The 1000-copy edition by the latter sold out in mere 22 days. The 2nd and 3rd edition followed in quick succession.
Before publishing, she had submitted the ‘Vachanamrutham’ to noted scholar Nochoor Venkitaraman for his comments. After reading 47 pages, he called Warrier and informed that he was ending the scrutiny as the import of Maharshi’s words were transparent in her translation. The scholar later visited her and expressed his surprise how she had managed to hide her talents all these years.
Wizened by age and wiser by experience, she is yet surprised by the attention from readers.
Courtesy:
Unni K.Warrier, Malayala Manorama, February 26, 2006
Contributed by: Administrator
