| Krithika | |
| Pseudonym: | Krithika |
| Birth Name: | Mathuram |
| Birth Date: | 1915 |
| Birth Place: | Bombay, British India |
| Death Date: | 2009 |
| Death Place: | Delhi, India |
| Occupation: | Writer, novelist, scriptwriter |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Spouse: | S. Bhoothalingam |
Mathuram Bhoothalingam (pen name Krithika) was a Tamil writer who wrote plays and short stories in Tamil and English.[1]
Krithika was born as Mathuram in a Kannada-speaking family in Bombay in 1915.[2] At an early age, she moved to Delhi where she spent a considerable part of her life.[3] She was married to Subrahmanya Bhoothalingam, an ICS officer from Delhi.[3] The couple have a daughter, Mina Swaminathan.[3]
Krithika died in 2009 at the age of 93.[2]
Mathuram started writing under the pen name "Krithika" from an early age.[1] Making her debut with the Tamil-language novel Puhai Naduvil, an acid look at the bureaucracy, she went on to write a number of children's stories, novels, and plays based on the puranas.[3]
Her play Manathile Oru Maru was directed by another famous writer of her time, Chitti (P. G. Sundararajan), with whom she shared a strong bond of friendship.[2] [3] Chitti even authored a book titled An Introduction: Krithika and Mathuram Bhoothalingam.[4] Midway through her career, Krithika also started to write in English.
As Krithika started to write children's books apart from adult-centric stories, she began using her given name.[3] Krithika was one of the first Indian authors to regularly publish children's books in English.[3] Some of her important works in English are Movement in Stone, which looks at early Chola temples and the influence of Pallava art prior to the 9th and 10th centuries; and, Yoga for Living (1996), a contemporary look at the direction of India.[3]
Vasaveswaram is one of her works which focused on women and dealt with issues faced by them in the society.[4] Krithika has also authored books on Hindu Epics such as Ramayana.[5]
Her written correspondence with Chitti which spanned over 30 years have been brought together and published in the form of a book titled Lettered Dialogue by K. R. A. Narasaiah, a relative of Chitti.[6]