Joe D'Cruz
{{Short description|Tamil writer}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = R. N. Joe D'Cruz
| image = Joe D'cruz.jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1969
| birth_place = Uvari, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India
| death_date =
| other_names =
| occupation = Novelist, Ship management
| spouse = Sasikala
| children =
| parents =
| yearsactive =
}}
R. N. Joe D'Cruz is a Tamil writer, novelist and documentary film director from Tamil Nadu, India. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2013 in the Tamil language category for his novel Korkai. He is the Tamil Nadu state president of Samskrita Bharati.{{cite news | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/TN-Sanskrit-Learning-Gets-Face-in-Joe-DCruz/2015/09/06/article3012913.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118180222/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/TN-Sanskrit-Learning-Gets-Face-in-Joe-DCruz/2015/09/06/article3012913.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 November 2015 | title = TN Sanskrit Learning Gets Face in Joe D'Cruz|work = New Indian Express | date = 6 September 2015}}{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/people-have-been-misled-on-sanskrit-for-60-years/article7643813.ece | title = People have been misled on Sanskrit for 60 years|work = The Hindu | date = 12 September 2015}}
Joe D'Cruz has also been a managerial-executive in the shipping industry for a long time and is currently a member of the National Shipping Board of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/joe-dcruz-appointed-to-shipping-board/article19948086.ece|title=Joe D’Cruz appointed to Shipping Board|first=B.|last=Kolappan|date=30 October 2017|access-date=7 April 2020|via=www.thehindu.com}}
Life
Joe D'Cruz was born in a Roman Catholic Paravar family in Uvari, a coastal village in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling in Uvari and Idaiyangudi.{{cite web | url=http://www.vikatan.com/anandavikatan/En-Vikatan---Madurai-Edition/17525-.html | title=என் ஊர்! | publisher=Ananda Vikatan | date=28 March 2012 | access-date=19 December 2013 | language=ta}} He graduated with an M.A.(Economics) at Loyola College, Chennai and did his M.Phil at St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. He is married to Sasikala and has two children.{{cite news | url=http://www.dailythanthi.com/taxonomy/term/92253 | title=ஆர்.என்.ஜோ–டி–குரூஸ் | work=Dina Thanthi | date=19 December 2013 | access-date=19 December 2013 | language=ta}} He has been working in the shipping industry for more than two decades.
Works
Joe D'Cruz published a Tamil poetry compilation, Pulambazhkal, in 2004. His Sahitya Akademi award-winning novel Korkai was originally published in 2009 and prior to that his 2005 novel Aazhi Soozh Ulagu was awarded the Tamil Nadu state government literary award{{cite news | url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/131219/news-current-affairs/article/joe-d%E2%80%99cruz-wins-sahitya-akademi-award | title=Joe D'Cruz wins Sahitya Akademi award | work=Deccan Chronicle | date=19 December 2013 | access-date=19 December 2013}} and Tamil Literary Garden award. Both his novels are based on history and the lives of Parathavar fishermen of Tamil Nadu.{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/sailing-high-as-a-writer/article2291463.ece | title=Sailing high as a writer | work=The Hindu | date=25 July 2011 | access-date=18 December 2013}} The first novel Aazhi Soozh Ulagu dealt with the lives of fishermen who used catamarans and their conversion to Christianity. The second novel titled Korkai refers to Korkai, an ancient port city ruled by Early Pandyan Kingdom.{{cite web | url=http://archaeologyindia.com/korkai.asp | title=KORKAI | publisher=Archaeological Survey of India | access-date=20 December 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20131220122946/http://archaeologyindia.com/korkai.asp | archive-date=20 December 2013 | url-status=dead }} It is about the 20th century community of pearl and conch divers there.
He also filmed documentary films such as Vidiyatha Pozhuthukal (2008), Towards Dawn (2010). His films mostly based on sufferings of Tamil fishermen. He wrote the dialogue for Tamil movie Maryan. He opposed Kudankulam nuclear power project, arguing it will affect the livelihood of the fishermen.{{cite web | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article1403605.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131223033402/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article1403605.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=23 December 2013 | title=The Parathavas have come full circle | work=The New Indian Express | date=2 January 2013 | access-date=20 December 2013}}{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sons-of-the-sea-show-true-grit/article4154435.ece | title=Sons of the sea show true grit | work=The Hindu | date=2 December 2012 | access-date=20 December 2013}}
He has also expressed his reservations on the upcoming International Container Transhipment Terminal at Enayam, Kanyakumari District. He is in favour of developing existing ports over initiating new port projects in India.
Support for LGBTQIA+ Community
Joe D'Cruz along with writer Aravindan Neelakandan supported the initiatives of Gopi Shankar Madurai and served on the advisory board of Srishti Madurai under Anjali Gopalan, Bracha Ettinger.{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Its-a-great-honour-to-be-awarded-for-book-on-gender-variants-Gopi-Shankar/articleshow/38769130.cms|title=It's a great honour to be awarded for book on gender variants: Gopi Shankar | Madurai News - Times of India|website=The Times of India|access-date=7 April 2020}}
Views
The Indian Express reported that Joe D'Cruz received threats and hate-mail after he expressed support for the BJP PM Candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Narendra Modi, on his Facebook page. A translation of his work ‘Aazhi Soozh Ulagu’ into English, was also halted in retaliation by his publisher Navyana and the translator Geetha.
He turned as a strong critic of the Bharatiya Janata party, three years later.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/joe-dcruz-appointed-to-shipping-board/article19948086.ece|title=Joe D’Cruz appointed to Shipping Board|first=B.|last=Kolappan|date=30 October 2017|via=www.thehindu.com}} In an interview with The Hindu, he claimed to have realised that because Modi rose up through the grassroot levels, it was a myth that he would become a strong Prime Minister, and that the BJP leadership appears to be focused in reinforcing the caste structure and Manu Smriti. He also criticized the BJP for emboldening political forces to kill people for eating beef.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/modi-govt-bolstering-caste-structure/article19440502.ece|title=‘Modi govt. bolstering caste structure’|first=B.|last=Kolappan|date=6 August 2017|via=www.thehindu.com}} In June 2017, he claimed that there is "No place for poor" in the agenda of Prime minister Narendra Modi.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2017/jun/26/no-place-for-poor-in-pm-agenda-says-joe-d-cruz-1620890.html|title=No place for poor in PM agenda, says Joe D’ Cruz|website=The New Indian Express}} He criticized the proposed Maritime Container Terminal at Enayam by the BJP government and said the promoters of the project were claiming that the Enayam coastline was a natural harbour but the coast is vulnerable to natural calamities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2016/oct/20/joe-dcruz-not-on-bjp-enayam-page-1529957.html|title=Joe D'Cruz not on BJP Enayam page|website=The New Indian Express}}
Bibliography
=Novels=
- Aazhi Soozh Ulagu
- Korkai
- Asthinapuram
- Verpiditha Vilai Nilangal
- Kavanam thedum Kadaloram
- Padaipugalin Uraiyadal
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
| newspaper = The Hindu | date = April 14, 2014}}
}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=5647217|name=R.N. Joe D'Cruz}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education|state=collapsed}}
{{Sahitya Akademi Award For Tamil}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Cruz, Joe}}
Category:Tamil-language writers
Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil
Category:St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni
Category:People from Tirunelveli district
Category:Writers from Tamil Nadu
Category:Loyola College, Chennai alumni
Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education