P. Singaram

Around September 1997, following his eviction from the YMCA hostel, Singaram took up residence in Nadar Mahajana Sangam (near Vilakkuthoon in Madurai). He gave away his entire saving of ₹. 7,00,000 to social welfare trusts. Soon , his health condition deteriorated and on 30 December 1997, he died in ambulance while being taken to hospital. He had told not to inform about his death to anyone.

This novel was written in 1962 and it didn't find any publishers -after continuous efforts by a friend, Puyalile Oru Thoni was published in 1972 by Kalaignan Publications. Many modern Tamil writers consider this as an important literary work published in Tamil in the 20th century. The story happens in Sumatra in the background of World War II.

P Singaram wrote this novel in 1950 immediately after he returned to India. Though he sent the novel to many publishers the novel kept returning without getting published. A friend sent this novel to Kalaimagal publications for a novel contest. The novel won first prize in that novel contest. Finally, he was able to publish Kadalukku Appal in 1959 through Kalaimagal publications.

He came back to India in September 1946 and lived in Madurai, working at the local Dina Thanthi newspaper office till he took voluntary retirement in 1987. He did not maintain close relationships with anybody and lived alone for 50 years in an YMCA hostel in Madurai.

After a brief return to India in 1940, Singaram once again went to Indonesia and worked in the Public Works Department, around the time of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. After the end of World War II, he and some other Tamils obtained the approval of the Indonesian government to load cargo in ships bound for Penang, Malaysia.

Pazhanivel Singaram (Tamil: பழனிவேல் சிங்காரம்), known as Pa. Singaram (12 August 1920 - 30 December 1997) was an Indian Tamil writer. Despite having authored only two novels, he is considered to be one of the greatest Tamil novelist of the modern era. His Puyalile Oru Thoni is considered to be one of the very important Tamil fiction of all time.

Singaram was born on 12 August 1920 as the third son of Ku.Pazhanivel Nadar and Unnamalai Ammal in a town called Singampunari in present-day Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu. His elder brothers were named Subramanian and Bhaskaran. The family was involved in clothes business along with Singaram's grandfather Kumarasamy Nadar.