His short stories in Tamil have received critical acclaim[1] and won awards in both India and Sri Lanka.
He left Sri Lanka in 1972, and spent the next eighteen years working in various countries in Africa and Asia, including assignments with the World Bank and the United Nations.
[citation needed] The first of these was Thikatasakkaram ("Ten beautiful arms", a reference to the opening verse of the Kanthapuranam, a mediaeval Tamil work), a collection of stories drawn from his youth in Sri Lanka and his time abroad, which won the Lily Devasigamani Award in Tamil Nadu.
[citation needed] Vatakku vithi ("The north road"), the third collection published after his return to writing, won the Cultural Prize of the Government of Sri Lanka.
His stories do not attempt to directly build suspense or dramatic tension, and are instead grounded in realism, particularly in description and characterisation.