Ronald Eaton Asher FRSE FRAS (23 July 1926 – 26 December 2022) was a British linguist and educator specialised in Dravidian languages.
Varadarajan introduced Asher to the Sangam literature and to the works of Tamil writers Subramania Bharati, Bharathidasan, and Akilan.
[1][4] Asher translated the Malayalam novelist Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's 1947 published work Thottiyude Makan as Scavenger's Son in 1975.
He published Me Grandad'ad an Elephant: Three Stories of Muslim Life in South India in 1980 which collectively translated three workks by another Malayalam novelist, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer: Balyakalasakhi (Childhood Friend, 1944), Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu (My Grandad Had an Elephant, 1951), and Pathummayude Aadu (Pathumma's Goat, 1959).
[1] Asher mentioned that the translation for the works of Basheer and Thakazhi ahd been challenging because of their "unparalleled" style and content.
In 1983, Asher was awarded the Gold Medal by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi for "distinguished services" in Malayalam.