Subarayar Vembu (19 March 1928 – 1 December 2015), better known by the pseudonym of Vikiraman, was an Indian novelist, short story writer and a journalist who wrote in Tamil.
He is perhaps the only Tamil writer who has tried his hand in almost every genre, in addition to novel and short story, drama, poetry, travelogue and essay.
Nandipurathu Nayagi is in fact a sequel to Ponniyin Selvan of his better-known contemporary and mentor, Kalki Krishnamurthy, whose influence on Vikiraman is quite significant in respect of both historical novels and short stories.
With more than 150 short stories in 62 years to his credit, Vikiraman continues to write fiction for Ilakkiya Peetam, which he presently edits.
Not an unjust grievance anyway, in this fast-track cultural ambience in which literature is loved more for its entertainment value, forcing the long, time-consuming novel to yield ground to short story as a form of literary expression.