Sooriamoorthy Ramanujam: A full-fledged artist

Mauritius, like other countries, has no dearth of talents. Sooriamoorthy Ramanujam is one such living example. He is a writer, poet, philosopher and international translator. This award winner is very down to earth.   Sooriamoorthy Ramanujam, 67 years old, narrates his enriching life. After attending primary school in Port-Louis, he then went to Royal College of Port-Louis and pursued his tertiary education in France. As a child, he showed much interest in reading and listening to English and French. “At the age of six, I mastered English, French and Tamil language. It was perfectly natural for me to familiarise myself with languages as my father was a school teacher. We would always speak either English or French on the way to school and back home. Reading was one of my passion and I still cannot remember a single day when I did not read something. I thank my father for inculcating the love of languages in me,” he recalls opening the past pages of his life. He worked as a teacher for 13 years at Royal College of Port-Louis. In 1966, he first appeared on TV. He worked both on radio and did TV programmes. 30 countries visited Sooriamoorthy Ramanujam is a well known interpreter and translator. He has worked for around 1,000 conferences around the world and visited some 30 countries. For him, it is a pleasure to work as a translator and interpreter. “This work has enabled me to travel a lot. I am fluent in both English and French but at the same time, I know other languages such as Spanish, German, Portuguese and different Creole dialects. It is not difficult at all to be an interpreter. Many times, I can even anticipate what the speaker is going to say,” he narrates. An international writer This multi-talented person has also written seven books and has contributed in many internationals journals. “Most of my books have been published in French. I have also published a book written by my father Ramoo Ramanujam. Luckily, I am one of the first Mauritians to get my book published at Garnier in France,” he says. Apart from writing, he also wrote for various international journals and magazines. He was even awarded the “Prix Thierry Sajat-Europoésie-Unicef 2013” in France. Initially, Sooriamoorthy was not very keen on the idea to publish his writings but this would later change. “I used be a film critic in 1969.” “I wanted to be an actor” At the age of 17-18, he wanted to be an actor or film director. “I was really fond of cinema and I wanted to become a film director. I have done a lot of acting on stage in France when I was 19-20 years old. I had also written a few short plays. I had even got an offer for a movie but I was more engrossed in philosophy and literature,” he reveals. “Singing is my hobby” In his free time, Sooriamoorthy likes to draw and play music. “I have composed a few songs for myself. I can even sing. At college, I used to sing. I still remember how I could not decide between singing and acting. My favourite singer is Paul Robeson. I have a little knowledge in playing flute and guitar. I love classical music,” he confides. Furthermore, Ramanu-jam has been drawing since long. “I love to paint landscape, portraits. However, I did not get the opportunity to learn sculpting. I find the architect field fantastic. But I had no time to study all these,” he says. The award winning writer was also a very good athlete. “I still remember how one day I ran from Rose Hill to Port-Louis. It is a very good memory,” he reveals. Future project After winning several awards in France, Ramanujam now plans to write two more books (philosophy and poetry) in the near future,”  he says.