He was called "Uvamai Kavignar" ("poet of comparisons").
Suratha was born in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu as T. Rajagopal on 23 November 1921.
He derived his pen name from Subburathnadasan (Bharathidasan, a poet of yesteryear).
He was also a lyricist and a dialogue writer for more than 100 Tamil films and songs such as Amuthum thenum ethatku.
[2] Another of his popular lyric was the philosophical Aadi adangum vaazhkaiyada, which was featured in the Tamil movie 'Neer Kumizhi' (Water bubble), released in 1965.